Paying it forward. My guide for complete neophytes (such as myself)

[milder]

Before this, I'd never run linux. I still don't know what half the crap I did here is/does, but it works.

Get yourself a PC. I got one for $100 on Craigslist. I was told to be sure to get one that has two SATA inputs. I'm not entirely sure that's necessary. I THINK (not sure) that one could do this with externals attached.

Get Debian. Be sure that you're running the 32-bit version. I had trouble with some of these instructions using 64 and had to start over.

Once you're running Debian, you're getting pretty darn close. Now pop into Terminal. The rest follows:

So, this is what I did:

0. fdisk -l (check your drives, see how they're, um, named?)

1. Make a \hack directory
# su (to log in as administrator)
# cd /
# mkdir /hack
2. Choose the desired binaries from the following zip files and put into \hack directory:
bootpage - from bootpage-20040921.zip (no rename necessary)
tivopart and pdisk - from tivopart-20040530.zip
(renamed from tivopart.x86 and pdisk.x86 respectively)
replace_initrd.x86 and null-linuxrc.img.gz null initrd - from replace_initrd.x86.tar.gz
(no renaming is necessary)
3. Connect tivo drive, boot into linux and check device map (drive size should indicate):
# cat /proc/partitions
major minor #blocks name

8 0 78125000 sda
8 1 78123008 sda1
8 16 156290904 sdb

4. Check which partition is currently "root", can be 4 or 7
# su (to log in as administrator)
# /hack/bootpage -p /dev/sdb
root=/dev/hda4 (So root:
is 4 (kernel = 3), and map would be to /dev/sdb4
is not 7 (Kernel = 6) , and map would be to /dev/sdb7

To enable serial output during boot process:
# /hack/bootpage -P "root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true consol=2,115200 upgradesoftware=false" -C /dev/sdb

# /hack/pdisk -l /dev/sdb

5. Now run tivopart to display the tivo drive as a device and place the required tools in place
# /hack/tivopart r /dev/sdb
Two or three new 268 MB Filesystems should appear in "Devices"
If from backup, two, the one with a VAR directory is the root (Partition 4 or 7)
And the one without a VAR directory is TivoVar in partition 9
This can be varified using "Disk Utilities" to view all partitions

If three, then two will have VAR
And the one without a VAR directory is TivoVar in partition 9
Again, this can be varified using "Disk Utilities" to view all partitions

6. Mount sdb4 as tivoroot and sdb9 as tivovar
# mkdir /tivoroot (this directory will probably already exist so skip)
# mount /dev/sdb4 /tivoroot
# mkdir /tivovar (this directory will probably already exist so skip)
# mount /dev/sdb9 /tivovar

# mount /dev/sdb4 /tivo (If running tivoapp hack program...I DID NOT DO THIS)

7. Copy kernel partition sdb3 to sdb6 and root partition sdb4 to sdb7 for unhacking later:
# dd if=/dev/sdb3 of=/dev/sdb6
# dd if=/dev/sdb4 of=/dev/sdb7

OR, IF ROOT IS 6 # dd if=/dev/sdb6 of=/dev/sdb3
# dd if=/dev/sdb7 of=/dev/sdb4

8. Modify the kernel and save the original just in case
# /hack/replace_initrd.x86 /dev/sdb3 /hack/null-linuxrc.img.gz /hack/Saved_Kernels/BackupKernel
OR IF ROOT IS 6 # /hack/replace_initrd.x86 /dev/sdb6 /hack/null-linuxrc.img.gz /hack/Saved_Kernels/BackupKernel
9. Backup necessary files
#cp /tivoroot/sbin/iptables /tivoroot/sbin/iptables.old

10. Make the necessary changes to /tivoroot
# cp /hack/tivohacks64/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author /tivoroot/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author
# chmod 755 /tivoroot/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author
# cp /hack/tivohacks64/sbin/iptables /tivoroot/sbin/iptables
# cp /hack/tivohacks64/etc/bash_logout /tivoroot/etc/bash_logout
# cp /hack/tivohacks64/etc/profile /tivoroot/etc/profile
# mkdir /tivoroot/utils
# cp /hack/tivohacks64/utils/* /tivoroot/utils

11. Make the necessary changes to /tivovar
# cp -r /hack/tivohacks64/var/* /tivovar (This adds two directories to var, "hack" & "TWP")

12. Place drive in TiVo and enjoy...almost.

13. Use an FTP program to log into your TiVo.

14. Inside /var is /hack. Open it up.

15. Put hack_tivoapp inside. You can compile it from lrhorer's great S3 Hacking Script.

16. Put hacks.fil inside. You can get this from the same post...I used the "second one."

17. Telnet into /var/hack. On a mac, use Terminal. Command: telnet (address). cd /var/hack

18. Run the hack_tivoapp — ./hack_tivoapp

19. You may need to reboot the TiVo. But that should do it.

[unitron]

You need a PC where you can hook directly to the SATA ports so you can run wdidle3.exe to disable Intellipark on Caviar Greens to fix the warm boot problem.

Also, when you need to run the drive maker's long test on a new drive before putting it into service or on a suspect drive to see if it's the problem or if something else is, or if you're dd'ing from one drive to another, you'll save yourself some time over having to go through USB adapters.

And if you work with S1s and S2s, it helps to have at least one IDE header on that motherboard as well.