Walkthrough for upgrading to 6.2 on already hacked unit

[josetann]

This is a howto on upgrading your already-hacked Series2 DirecTV DVR to 6.2. You do so at your own risk! You'll need at least some basic knowledge to follow along, if you type blindly, you may come out ok, or you may end up with a dead TiVo. Also, the steps given may not be the best way to do certain things! I did it my way because I wanted a quick and easy way to get both upgraded to 6.2, and I admit I took some shortcuts with non-essential items (such as copying over the old busybox files instead of installing a newer package). I've also included some files that you may want to use, or you may not. Please read the guide before using any of the files.

You will need several files to complete this guide. One is a killhdinitrd'd 3.1.5 kernel. This will be the hardest to get, since you can't just download the kernel already killhdinitrd'd.

First, go to this thread: http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/sh...&postcount=181. Connect to the tivo.edidas.com server using ftp, username tivo, password tivo. Go to the kernels directory, then 3.1.5. Download the vmlinux.px file. You may want to rename it to vmlinux-3.1.5-virgin.px so you don't get it confused with others you may have downloaded or will download. Make a copy of it named vmlinux-3.1.5-hacked.px. Next download killhdinitrd from http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=36692. You will need to run killhdinitrd from a linux box, cygwin may work, it may not. Support thread is http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=36692. If you have a FAT32 drive in your PC, you can transfer the kernel and the killhdinitrd file to a directory on it. Boot to a Linux CD, run killhdinitrd on the kernel (after you changed to the directory with the files, you'd type:

chmod 755 killhdinitrd
./killhdinitrd vmlinux-3.1.5-hacked.px

Type YES to agree to the terms, pretty self-explanatory. If you don't have a FAT32 partition in your computer, there are other ways to accomplish this. If you have VMWare or Virtual PC, you can install linux in a virtual drive, connect to it via ftp, transfer the files over, run the commands above, then ftp them back to your main pc. If you have an actual linux server you can use (a webhost account that has ssh/telnet and ftp access would probably work fine), you can use that as well.

You also need the superpatch-67all file that can be found http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/sh...ad.php?t=43325 . Lastly, download the files.zip file attached at the bottom of this post.

Ok, you will need to download the slices. You need edonkey or emule running. Here's the link:

ed2k://|file|62_dtivo_slices.zip|54621252|0C19FAA0C99F4724A412EF546FAA71C0|h=ZVLMOOM7MJ6YEEY4ND7YU5JIRDELUU EY|/

Now, unrar to a directory on your computer using WinRar. FTP all the files to your TiVo's /var/packages directory (from the root directory in your ftp client, select the var directory, then packages). Also ftp the dbload file included in the zip file below to /var/packages. Telnet to your TiVo. Type:

mount -o remount,rw /

This remounts your root partition writable. Next, type:

cd /var/packages
chmod 755 dbload
gzip -d *gz
mv loopset-dtv-Series2.slice loopset-dtv-Series2.slice.gz
gzip -d *gz
./dbload GZ*
./dbload loopset*
./dbload swsystem*
./dbload utils*

Ok, now you need to edit installSw.itcl in the /tvbin directory. You can probably use the one in the zip file provided, but it's not guaranteed. If you want to use it, ftp it to /tvbin/ and then type:

chmod 755 /tvbin/installSw.itcl

Otherwise, you can manually edit the one you have. I started with 4.0, your installSw.itcl may look different (it should be similar). First, change to the /tvbin directory:

cd /tvbin
joe installSw.itcl

If you get an error starting joe, search for how to install it.

Around line 86, change:

set fSafe 0

to:

set fSafe 1

Line 146, change:

exec /var/utils/updateroot /dev/hda /install /var/packages >&@ stdout

to:

exec /var/utils/updateroot /dev/hda /install /var/packages $name >&@ stdout

Line 156, change:

reboot

to:

exit 0

That's all for installSw.itcl. Press Ctrl-K, then press X to save.

If you had a monte install using the Sleeper's ISO (or a manual install where you used separate partitions, the "old" monte), your bootpage needs to be flipped. Please make sure you know what you're doing before you flip it! Make sure you have the old style monte, or used the Sleeper's ISO, before you use this. If you're not sure, then do not go any further!

If you are absolutely sure you're using the old style monte, type:

bootpage -f

If you are using a killhdinitrd kernel, then you do not need to flip the bootpage. If you don't know, then do not go any further!!!

Now, type:

./installSw.itcl 6.2-01-2-101

If you get errors here, stop. If you had to flip the bootpage, you may want to flip it back so your monte will still work. If all goes well (as it should), then you can continue.

If you have the old style monte, there's more you have to worry about. Type:

bootpage -p

You'll get something similar to this:

No device name given, assuming /dev/hda
root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true console=2,115200 BASH_ENV=`mount$IFS-n$IFS/dev/hda $IFS/mnt;echo$IFS/mnt/runmonte`

Now, we need to change this (note, can anyone confirm this is required?). You MUST keep the root=/dev/hdaX part the same as the output you saw above. It will either be hda4 or hda7 (I will assume it is hda4, if someone does a blind copy/paste and I have hdaX, it will not boot; if I choose one of the other, there's a 50% chance they'll be lucky). Type this all on one line:

bootpage -P "root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true console=2,115200 upgradesoftware=false"

Substitute the root=/dev/hda4 with the output you got above, it will either be hda4 or hda7. This is very important! If you just copy/paste exactly what I have without changing the root= part, you have a 50% chance of your TiVo becoming unbootable! Make sure the changes took, type:

bootpage -p

You should get:

root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true console=2,115200 upgradesoftware=false

/dev/hda4 may be /dev/hda7, depending on what you typed earlier

Now, take the killhdinitrd'd 3.1.5 kernel, ftp it to /var. Type:

dd if=vmlinux-3.1.5-hacked.px of=/dev/hda3

It will either be /dev/hda3 or /dev/hda6. Remember the bootpage command? The kernel will be one less than what was in the bootpage results. So if you had root=/dev/hda4, then you would type:

dd if=vmlinux-3.1.5-hacked.px of=/dev/hda3

If you had root=/dev/hda7, then you would type:

dd if=vmlinux-3.1.5-hacked.px of=/dev/hda6

Note, if in doubt, type both commands. It should not hurt anything to copy the kernel to both hda3 and hda6, since you no longer will be using a monte setup.

You need to mount the new root partition, again assuming a new root of /dev/hda4 (could be hda7 in your case):

mount /dev/hda4 /install

Next, we need to copy some of our old files over to the new partitions. Type:

cp /bin/tivoftpd /install/bin/
cp /bin/hostname /install/bin/
cp /bin/dir /install/bin/
cp /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author /install/etc/rc.d/

I didn't have to chmod these files, but you may want to just in case. The commands would be:

chmod 755 /install/bin/*
chmod 755 /install/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author

Now, we need to disable the netfilter and dhclient (if you want to use dhcp then you can leave dhclient alone; I have not tried dhcp and can't guarantee it'd work, but others have reported it works fine).

cp /install/etc/netfilter-enable /install/etc/netfilter-enable.bak
cp /install/etc/netfilter-disable /install/etc/netfilter-enable
mv /install/sbin/dhclient /install/sbin/dhclient.bak

Now, change to the /etc/rc.d directory on the new root, remember to add the /install!

cd /install/etc/rc.d

Ok, now we need to edit your rc.sysinit.author file.

joe rc.sysinit.author

This will open up rc.sysinit.author in your joe editor. There are a few things you will want to take out or comment, so they will not load. If you were running 3.1.1 before, then you need to take out the lines that loaded the network drivers. Either delete or comment like so:

#Load ax8817x ethernet drivers
#insmod /lib/modules/usbcore.o
#insmod /lib/modules/hcd.o
#insmod /lib/modules/ehci-hcd.o
#insmod /lib/modules/ax8817x.o
#sleep 10

Next we need to set the IP address. If you had 4.0 it's possible you never set this up, if you had 3.1.1 then you already have this. If you want to use dhcp, you can leave this out, but I won't guarantee it'll work (it should, but no guarantees). My example below has the IP address set to 192.168.1.25, and the gateway is 192.168.1.1. If your IP addresses are in a different range you may need to change a few things, the main one being the broadcast IP (it generally is the same as the ip address, except with 255 at the end).

#Set the IP address
ifconfig eth0 192.168.1.25 broadcast 192.168.1.255 netmask 255.255.255.0
route add default gw 192.168.1.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 metric 1

Ok, now edit out any lines that load mfs_ftp, tivoweb, and most importantly kmem! Now hit Ctrl-K, then X. This will exit joe, saving your changes.

At this point, it'd be a good idea to double-check everything. If you reboot now and something wasn't done right, your TiVo will most likely not boot up, or you won't have access to it via the network. Worst case would probably be that you have to open it up and use a utilities cd to figure out what went wrong and fix it. How to fix a non-booting TiVo is beyond the scope of this how-to, but I'd start by flipping the bootpage around again, dd'ing the kernel to both hda3 and hda6, etc.

Now, cross your fingers and reboot. If you did everything right, then in a couple minutes you'll see a screen that says its updating. This may take a while, and the TiVo will not be reachable via the network. Once it reboots itself, networking should come up before the main screen does. Once it's done, telnet in. We have a few more things to do.

Remount the root partition writable:

mount -o remount,rw /

Now we need to mount the old root partition. By now you've probably forgotten what was hda4 and hda7, so let's just double-check. Type:

cat /etc/fstab

And you'll get something like:

/dev/hda4 / ext2 ro 1 1
/dev/hda9 /var ext2 rw 1 2
/dev/hda8 swap swap defaults 0 0

The first line has hda4, so the old root is hda7. If it had said hda7, then the old root would have been hda4. Assuming hda7 is the old root, type:

mount /dev/hda7 /install

We're going to copy some old files over, but we don't want to overwrite any newer versions. We get around this by copying the new files over the old, any that aren't overwritten, were not part of the original TiVo installation. When we're copying the files back over, you may get a "Text file busy" message, that can be safely ignored.

cp -rd /bin/* /install/bin/
cp -rd /install/bin/* /bin/
cp -rd /install/busybox /
cp -r /install/usr /

Again, I didn't have to do a chmod, but if you want to, the commands would be:

chmod 755 /bin/*
chmod 755 /busybox/*

Open your ftp client and connect to the TiVo. You need to ftp superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.0.zip and netconfig.tcl to the var directory.

In your telnet client, change to the /var directory and unzip the superpatch file.

cd /var
unzip superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.0.zip

We need to chmod the tcl files, quick way is:

chmod 755 *tcl

This next step is purely optional. I did not like the idea of having backdoors always enabled, and running the superpatch does this. I edited out the line that enabled backdoors. Open superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.0.tcl with joe:

joe superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.0.tcl

Around line 102 you see this:

array set patch_6_2 {

0x00a67d58 "1040001d 1440001d"
0x00ae521c "00008821 24100001"

0x0053412c "00408021 24100001"
0x00542fe4 "00408021 24100001"
0x0055a9d4 "00408021 24100001"
Etc.....

Take out that second line with the hex numbers, so it'll be:

array set patch_6_2 {

0x00a67d58 "1040001d 1440001d"

0x0053412c "00408021 24100001"
0x00542fe4 "00408021 24100001"
0x0055a9d4 "00408021 24100001"
Etc.....

Close the file by pressing Ctrl-K, then X.

Now run the superpatch.

./superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.0.tcl

If you are upgrading from 4.0, had networking setup, and are using the same ip address as before, this step is not needed. If you are upgrading from 3.1.1 or never setup networking in 4.0, then this part is required to be able to use HMO and MRV. We need to have the network values entered in mfs, make sure the values you use here are the same as in your rc.sysinit.author file. The syntax for netconfig.tcl is "./netconfig.tcl ipaddress subnetmask defaultgateway dns-server" without quotes. Using the sample values we used earlier in this guide, the command would be:

./netconfig.tcl 192.168.1.25 255.255.255.0 192.168.1.1 192.168.1.1

In this example, 192.168.1.25 is the ip address, 255.255.255.0 is the subnet mask, the first 192.168.1.1 entry is the gateway address, and the second 192.168.1.1 entry is the dns server (you may substitute an actual dns server address, but this is unneeded and possibly undesired for most setups).

Lastly, we need to name our TiVo, you can pick something other than LivingRoom

./set_mrv_name_67.tcl LivingRoom

Ok, you're pretty much done. You can stop here, but you may get nags about not calling in. Use the fakecall.tcl provided in the zip file. If you used sleeper's iso in the past, you probably have a file named fixsub.31.tcl in your /usr/scripts directory, and a line that says "/usr/scripts/callfixsub.sh /usr/scripts &" near the bottom of rc.sysinit.author. You can check this by typing:

dir /usr/scripts

If you see callfixsub.sh and fixsub31.tcl, then check your rc.sysinit.author:

cat /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author

See a line that says "/usr/scripts/callfixsub.sh /usr/scripts &" anywhere? If so, then here's the easy way to get it going. Ftp fakecall.tcl to your /usr/scripts directory (from the root directory in your ftp client, select usr, then scripts). From your telnet window, type:

mv fixsub31.tcl fixsub31.tcl.bak
mv fakecall.tcl fixsub31.tcl
chmod 755 *

You can of course use other methods to call fakecall, cron would be a good choice, but this is a quick and easy way to do it. It's not necessary, but does stop the nags. Now reboot, and enjoy!

[mrblack51]

I have not checked whether this "walkthrough" will work as is. however, keep ALL support questions related to this thread in this thread. thanks

[hayreass]

Originally Posted by mrblack51

I have not checked whether this "walkthrough" will work as is. however, keep ALL support questions related to this thread in this thread. thanks

I get the feeling poor josetann is going to have a LOT of support questions if folks try and use this walkthrough.

[PlainBill]

Originally Posted by hayreass

I get the feeling poor josetann is going to have a LOT of support questions if folks try and use this walkthrough.

PlainBill

[captain_video]

I'll take a chance and throw my 2 cents into the ring. While I haven't tried your walkthrough or attempted the upgrade to 6.2 yet, I see a problem with the inclusion of the Tivoscripts references and extraneous steps. Anyone that's gotten to the point where they want to try the 6.2 upgrade should have killhdinitrd'd their Sleeper-monte'd DTivos before getting to this point. I would take out all of the references to Sleeper's tivoscripts and a monte'd Tivo and just start with a killhdinitrd'd 3.1.1x or 4.x version as your baseline. The Sleeper references will just cause mass confusion for the unintiated. The killhdinitrd conversion from tivoscripts is well documented and is a tried and true method so there's no reason to reinvent the wheel.

[NutKase]

Observation: Most 'guides' are written by people with less than 50 posts.

...kinda makes you go Hmmm. What's the motivation? Helping others? I think it's more of a quest for recognition...




"Hey, look what I can do?" "I'm better than you, see?" "I just have to tell someone."




Hey, I 'had to tell someone' too! BUT, I told my kids then called my wife and told her on the phone. No list of commands, commonly called a guide by newbies.

Anyway, if you'd posted this in the 'Newbie Forum' you'd get more love. Most of your admirers won't find it here. Or better yet, you should post it on www.tivocommunity.com.

Originally Posted by josetann

You'll need at least some basic knowledge to follow along, [b]if you type blindly[/], you may come out ok, or you may end up with a dead TiVo.

Then why did you post just a 'list of commands' with a few comments added? Ya' think anyone may just type them? OH, I guess that's why you needed the disclaimer.

Originally Posted by josetann

Also, the steps given may not be the best way to do certain things! This is what worked for "me", other ways may or may not work for you, but this worked for "me."

Then why did you post this? I could counter most steps in your post with what works for me but I don't.

EDIT= Ok, I'll do just a few...


For instance,

You said: "You will need to run killhdinitrd from a linux box"

I would say:

"You need to boot into a linux OS. One easy way is, Dylan's Boot Disk which is a floppy. This is what I use and it can handle byteswapped S1 tivos as well as un-byteswapped S2s.

There are several more linux boot cds that recognize tivo drives including, but not limited to: mfstools, knoppix, Kazymyr, various p t vupgrade ripoffs and others."


THEN I would say to you... booting from a linux cd or floppy does NOT make your 'box' a 'linux box'. Also, what made you think this belonged in 'SUPPORT'? What are you supporting?




My comments here may be inflammatory, but are meant to dissuade you and others from posting 'lists of commands' that will only become support nightmare's. I'll follow this thread to watch the horror.


NutKase

[gbertler]

Nice work! i will give it a try!

[JJBliss]

Oh for god sakes !!!!!!!!!!!

Moved to Newbie

[snake98]

Thanks, I'll give this a try also, as soon as a backup my tivo :-)(I've learned that when doing 4.1b, but I didn't have to learn the hardway). Thanks again, I just needed a generic guide or walkthrought to get me started. I'll let you know how it goes, I'll try it this weekend.

[hayreass]

Here they come Jose, get ready.

[josetann]

Originally Posted by captain_video

I'll take a chance and throw my 2 cents into the ring. While I haven't tried your walkthrough or attempted the upgrade to 6.2 yet, I see a problem with the inclusion of the Tivoscripts references and extraneous steps. Anyone that's gotten to the point where they want to try the 6.2 upgrade should have killhdinitrd'd their Sleeper-monte'd DTivos before getting to this point. I would take out all of the references to Sleeper's tivoscripts and a monte'd Tivo and just start with a killhdinitrd'd 3.1.1x or 4.x version as your baseline. The Sleeper references will just cause mass confusion for the unintiated. The killhdinitrd conversion from tivoscripts is well documented and is a tried and true method so there's no reason to reinvent the wheel.

Reason I don't have many posts, is because I follow the advice of the great ones, that is, I search search search! If I can't find an answer, I search some more! I may eventually give up and post here, but it's rare (as you can tell).

I think there may be a lot of people here who still use a monte setup. I know I was. I might have changed to a killhdinitrd solution earlier, but could never get it to chain-load a kernel the way it should (the "new" monte). Since I have two 250GB drives in my main TiVo box, I had to run a custom, non-killhdinitrd kernel. Quick solution was to just monte as always. If it works it works, right?

Plus, if someone who has a monte setup followed my directions without flipping the bootpage, well, they'll come screaming! I figured it'd be best I just tell them how to handle it with and without the old monte setup, and if they're not sure, to just stop dead in their tracks.

[josetann]

Originally Posted by NutKase

Observation: Most 'guides' are written by people with less than 50 posts.

...kinda makes you go Hmmm. What's the motivation? Helping others? I think it's more of a quest for recognition...

"Hey, look what I can do?" "I'm better than you, see?" "I just have to tell someone."

Hey, I 'had to tell someone' too! BUT, I told my kids then called my wife and told her on the phone. No list of commands, commonly called a guide by newbies.


NutKase

Sorry I didn't quote the whole post, just wanted everyone to know who I was replying to. I've followed several guides, and figured it'd be nice to contribute back. Not looking for recognition; though I spend a lot of time here I don't post much since I don't have much time to contribute. I try to at least search before asking any questions, hence the low post count.

I called it a walkthrough in the title, didn't really think that would be misleading. I just posted what "I" did and tried to explain a few things that they may want to do different. If anyone has questions about what something does, I'd hope they would search as I do and find the answers for themselves.

I do hope a few brave people who know what they're doing (and probably don't need this "guide"/"list of commands"/whatever) will try it and post how it went, what they'd do differently, etc. I hope someone can take this and rewrite it, making it even better. I'd still include all the commands that need to be typed, but perhaps someone would include better ways of doing things, explain what's going on, etc.

Ok, this post is getting too long, I see my time's about up. Just take this for what it is, the way one guy (newbie, expert, moron, whatever you want to think I am) was able to upgrade his DirecTiVos to 6.2. It's probably not the best way, but if you follow it blindly it "might" work (it actually should work fine, but even the smartest people can screw up the simplest things, so who knows). Hopefully it gives you some ideas of the basic steps to take, and you can modify it for your own needs (install new utilities instead of copying over the old, using crond for fakecall, etc.).

[newbie]

AFAIK the slice files for 6.X are D/L via the satellite. Is there any reason to use the emule slice files as opposed to just waiting for the D/L from the satellite?

Looks like extra work to me.

[PlainBill]

Originally Posted by newbie

AFAIK the slice files for 6.X are D/L via the satellite. Is there any reason to use the emule slice files as opposed to just waiting for the D/L from the satellite?

Looks like extra work to me.

It depends on the software you're running. If you have 3.1.1c or 3.1.1e, you could do that. If you're running 4.0.x, it's not an option.

That aside, if ftping 4 (5?) files and editing a script pose a major challange, you definitely want to let DirecTV do the upgrade for you.

PlainBill

[newbie]

FTPing a few files and editing a script poses no challenge. I didn't realize there was an FTP site for the slice files, I'll have to read through all the threads. I thought you needed to use eMule to get the slice files via P2P and that's a real PITA. Firewall and router settings have to be changed and it seems to take days to D/L even a small file.

Originally Posted by PlainBill

It depends on the software you're running. If you have 3.1.1c or 3.1.1e, you could do that. If you're running 4.0.x, it's not an option.

That aside, if ftping 4 (5?) files and editing a script pose a major challange, you definitely want to let DirecTV do the upgrade for you.

PlainBill