PTVUpgrade releases network hacks for Series 2 DirecTiVo

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PTVUpgrade releases network hacks for Series 2 DirecTiVo

PTVupgrade, a site that has been around for years selling pre-upgraded TiVo hard drive kits and upgrade services, has recently started work on a package for hacking DirecTV Series 2 TiVos, called PTVnet. The current Series 2 DirecTiVo hardware can run all the applications the standalone hardware can, but DirecTV never released the 4.0 OS to their customers. To let those users make the most of their crippled hardware, PTVnet will make upgrades and hacking easy by selling a pre-built hard drive ready to drop into a DirecTiVo box.

It sounds a lot like the Sleeper ISO method in this guide to hacking a Series 2 DirecTiVo I pointed to last month. My guess is that they have taken all the best and most useful tools out there in the hacking community, and baked them into these drives, ready to drop in with no muss and no fuss.

What's funny is that I just got back from a trip to Fry's to buy a new upgrade drive for my own Series 2 DirecTiVo, which I intend to upgrade tonight, but now I'm not so sure. The DirecTiVo hacking world doesn't have too many tools beyond the Sleeper ISO and it's not that easy to tweak out a drive for all the capabilities. I'm shooting for adding the TiVo 4.0 OS and TiVoWeb to my own drive, and will document it for later republishing on this site. Maybe the PTVUpgrade guys can get me a kit to test out here as well, which I can compare with the "doing it by hand" method. [thanks MegaZone]

by Matt Haughey November 20, 2004 in Hacks, News, TiVo

Comments

I've read the detailed description of PTVnet, and as best I can tell it does NOT install OS 4.0 nor HMO (music & photo sharing, multi-room viewing) features on the Series 2 DirecTiVo. It merely upgrades the hard drive, enables networking, as well as the basic tools beyond that (FTP, telnet, TiVoWebPlus, etc.)

Posted by: Josh at Nov 21, 2004 10:26:59 PM

Yeah, I noticed from the screenshots it's still running the 3.1 OS, so they're just adding networking. Still, a cool package compared the pain of doing it by hand (I had to give up on the sleeper ISO due to a funky PC setup that wouldn't work with it).

If I get one of these drives, I can finally write some scripts to post my current Now Playing and Season Pass list to this blog, which should be fun.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Nov 21, 2004 10:52:55 PM

It will be interesting it if someone can apply update slices to this drive to get HMO up and running.

Posted by: rudiger at Nov 22, 2004 8:21:06 AM

Question: If you hack the software MUST you disable the Direct Tivo from being able to call home? Is there really a risk that Tivo or DirecTV will send a KILL message to your Tivo if they detect the hack? I want TiVoWeb, MFSFTP, etc, but I like the idea that my viewing habits are being measured in aggregate and count for something.

I spent an entire day digging through DD getting up to speed on the current state of the hack. After all that when it seemed that I had to hack the kernel to add features I settled for simply adding a hard drive.

My main problem is I'm a packrat and like to keep things around, which eventually eats up the disk space. If I could transfer the shows off the TiVo I would be in heaven.

Posted by: Mike Easter at Nov 23, 2004 8:00:52 AM

If you're still running the same version of TiVo OS that your machine would be at, then currently the only repercussions of dialing in are that with a software update, your hacks are usually wiped out and you need to reinstall them. Sometimes that's not always convenient (as it requires pulling the drive to reestablish the BASH prompt.) Although there's been some movement in that area as well -- new mechanisms to preserve hacks through software updates. On my previous Series 1 DirecTiVo hack I found that to be a pain and did things differently with my Series 2.

If you're running a newer OS (such as 4.x on a DirecTiVo) then it's probably *not* a good idea to let it call home. It would detect the anomaly and try to fix it, I suppose. That said, one nice thing about 4.0 is that you can use the network cable for shell access, FTP, MRV and HMO, but tell TiVo to *not* dial home over the Internet and instead use the phone line. Which of course, you then leave unplugged. You can then suppress the daily nag screens that result from not calling home by installing a "fake call" hack.

Until a new (compelling) feature comes out, or it suddenly becomes required for some reason, I'm content to no longer dial-in.

Posted by: Josh at Nov 23, 2004 8:45:39 AM

Matt, as long as you're doing the hack and pulling the drive, I think it's way worth it to try again for the 4.x install. Folders in the NP list are very appreciated, not to mention access to your Music and Photos via HMO. With a second non-RID DTiVo you also could enjoy Multi-Room Viewing (ie: show sharing.)

What's the "funky PC" problem you're speaking of? I had to try a few times on my crappier-than-crap eMachines PC but I eventually got it going. (I'm a Mac guy, so I just keep this guy around for projects like this.) I just had to swap out some IDE cables and move jumper switches around to match the tutorials' master/slave configurations. Can I help in any way?

Posted by: Josh at Nov 23, 2004 8:49:27 AM

Josh, my funky PC problem is that I recently fried my home-built PC and had to buy a pre-built replacement, from HP. The new box has multiple DVD drives and loads of card readers, which mess up all the drive mounting. I kept booting into the Sleeper ISO with my drives mounting at hde, hdf, and hdg (instead of hda,b,c), so the scripts couldn't run.

I really do wish I had HMO going on my Dtivo -- I've got something like 12,000 photos I've taken ever since I started my tenyearsofmylife.com project, and it'd be nice to be able to browse photos on TV.

Posted by: Matt Haughey at Nov 23, 2004 1:47:30 PM

Yes, PTVnet adds networking, as well as LBA48 support. Its not as easy as you'd think (for most, especially the non-technical). We can run 4.0 on these units (I'm staring at one right now), but the hacks required to do so cannot be used for commercial use, so we can't offer that service to our customers. Plenty of info at dealdatabase.com on how to move your 3.1.1 system to a 4.0 system with all the goodness, should you decide to do so. A PTVnet system on your network will get you most of the way there, then you can remote login and do the rest which isn't so hard.

Cheers,
Lou

Posted by: Lou Jacob at Nov 28, 2004 8:51:51 PM

I used this guys tutorials they are very easy to follow and I have 4.x on my DirecTivo with all the goodies. He has now added hacks fo rthe latest 6.2 software too. I would recommend this to everyone looking to hack their DirecTivo as a newbie to advanced he has a great tutorial.

http://www.dellanave.com/projects/tivo/

Posted by: BigD at Jun 3, 2005 1:33:32 PM

Has anyone resolved the HMO/MRV issue? Is there a way to use this upgrade and also apply additional hacks to enable these other (most important) features?

Posted by: Dave E at Jun 15, 2005 3:43:27 PM

Is there a way to pull a saved video from a non-hacked TIVO.

Posted by: nubee at Aug 30, 2006 6:36:59 PM

PTVUpgrade releases network hacks for Series 2 DirecTiVo

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