This is not a guide but simply the steps I took to upgrade and hack two of my Tivos. If you are a Linux person who can understand what is going on here it could save you a lot of time, but be sure to make adjustments based on your situation...
Here are the new Tivos I bought:
I got both of these working for about a week and they both upgraded to newer software before I proceeded.
Here were my goals:
Here was the extra hardware I purchased:
I could have just ordered the brackets from weaknees.com and found my own drives elsewhere and saved a few bucks. But I didn't want to worry about getting bad drives (which happens to me a lot) and Weaknees came very recommended as having good customer service (which they did -- I messed up my order and they fixed it right away). So, I think it was worth it. The drives they sent me had already had 'blesstivo' run on them so I did not have to do that step. Their brackets were excellent.
First, I downloaded the $5 LBA48 boot CD w/ enhancements from PTV Upgrade. This is a nice boot disk with pre-hacked kernels on it.
I also downloaded the FTP daemon onto a floppy disk.
I'm not going to go into details about removing the drive from the Tivo, but basically I removed the drive and did not touch the power supply or dislodge the cable going to the front panel.
I used the boot CD to boot a Win98 system configured as follows:
Log of activities on PC w/ boot CD
# First, backup Tivo drive onto Win98 drive > mkdir /mnt/dos > mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos > mkdir /mnt/dos/tivo > mkfsbackup -f9999 -6so /mnt/dos/tivo/dvito.bak /dev/hdc ... Backup done! # Now, figure out which root/boot partition is being used > bootpage -p /dev/hdc root=/dev/hda4 # Now, that means my root partition is hdc4, # and my kernel partition is hdc3 # Save exisitng kernel > dd if=/dev/hdc3 of=/mnt/dos/tivo/dtivo_kernel_hdc.img 4+0 records in 4+0 records out # Copy over new kernel > mount /dev/hdb /cdrom > cp /cdrom/s2_kernels/3.1.5/vmlinux.px.gz /tmp > cd /tmp > gunzip vmlinux.px.gz > dd if=vmlinux.px of=/dev/hdc3 # Now, enable serial console and disable software upgrades # (note, if this was being run from the tivo itself, the command is a bit different) > bootpage -P "root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true console=2,115200 upgradesoftware=false" -C /dev/hdc # OK, now get networking working > mkdir /mnt/tivo > mount /dev/hdc4 /mnt/tivo > mount /dev/hdc9 /mnt/tivo/var > cd /mnt/tivo/etc # Only for software version 6.2, disable the netfilter > vi netfilter-enable # Add 'exit 0' before the first command > cd rc.d > touch rc.sysinit.author > chmod a+rx rc.sysinit.author > vi rc.sysinit.author
#!/bin/bash insmod /lib/modules/usbcore.o insmod /lib/modules/ehci-hcd.o insmod /lib/modules/ax8817x.o sleep 15 ifconfig eth0 10.1.1.101 broadcast 10.255.255.255 255.0.0.0 sleep 60 tnlited 23 /bin/bash -login & /var/hack/tivoftpd.mips
#!/bin/bash export TIVO_ROOT="" export MFS_DEVICE=/dev/hda10 # start telnet tnlited 23 /bin/bash -login & # start ftp /var/hack/tivoftpd.mips # add two static routes so the tivo doesn't phone home (stops breakage) route add -host 204.176.49.2 gw 127.0.0.1 route add -net 204.176.49.0 gw 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0
> chmod a+rx rc.sysinit.author # Now, copy over the FTP daemon > mkdir /mnt/floppy > mount /dev/fd0 /mnt/floppy > mkdir /mnt/tivo/var/hack > cd /mnt/tivo/var/hack > cp /mnt/floppy/tivoft~1.mip tivoftpd.mips > chmod a+rx tivoftpd.mips # Make sure that in the future when we do apply an upgrade it does # not reboot allowing us to re-hack via telnet > cd /mnt/tivo/tvbin > vi installSw.itcl # Search for 'reboot' and change the command to 'exit 0' # Now shut down and try it out > cd / > umount /mnt/tivo/var > umount /mnt/tivo > umount /mnt/dos > umount /mnt/floppy > umount /cdrom > sync > halt
I returned the hard drive to the tivo and booted it and made sure the network worked. I then removed the drive again and installed it and the new second drive on the bracket and hooked it all up. Again, I booted it and verified the drive space. Finally I shut it down once more and screwed the bracket in and closed the case.
Now, once it is up, I had to figure out which IP was assigned to the Tivo by your DHCP server (6.2) or use the static IP I assigned to it (3.1.5).
Using FTP, I transefered the following files into /var/hack:
Using telnet, I proceeded to do the rest of this:
> cd /var/hack > mkdir bin > cd bin > cpio -idu -H tar < ../devbin-s2.tar > PATH="$PATH:/var/hack/bin" > tar xvf ../netbin-s2.tar > mv ../ps-s2 ps > chmod a+rx * > cd / > tar -xvf var/hack/vim61-s2.tar > cd /var/hack/bin > mv vim61 vi > chmod a+rx vi > cd .. > rm netbin-s2.tar devbin-s2.tar vim61-s2.tar # Do NOT forget to remount the drive 'ro' before you reboot! > mount -o remount,rw / > vi /.profile
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=$LD_LIBRARY_PATH:/var/hack/lib export PATH=$PATH:/var/hack/bin export PS1='DirecTiVo ($PWD)# ' alias ro='mount -o remount,ro /' alias rw='mount -o remount,rw /' alias ls='ls --color=auto' alias ll='ls -l' alias la='ls -a' alias lla='ls -al'
> chmod a+rx /.profile > vi /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit.author
#!/bin/bash export TIVO_ROOT="" export MFS_DEVICE="/dev/hda10" export PATH="$PATH:/var/hack/bin" ( while true ; do tnlited 23 /bin/bash -login ; sleep 10 ; done ) & /var/hack/tivoftpd.mips echo Rebooted | /var/hack/bin/mailfile stdin 'DirectTivo Rebooted' 'kirk@kaybee.org' /var/hack/endpadplus.tcl 2 3 -auto >> /dev/null & route add -host 204.176.49.2 gw 127.0.0.1 route add -net 204.176.49.0 gw 127.0.0.1 netmask 255.255.255.0 /var/hack/tivowebplus/tivoweb
#!/bin/bash insmod /lib/modules/usbcore.o insmod /lib/modules/ehci-hcd.o insmod /lib/modules/ax8817x.o sleep 15 ifconfig eth0 10.1.1.101 broadcast 10.255.255.255 255.0.0.0 sleep 60 PATH="$PATH:/var/hack/bin" ( while true ; do tnlited 23 /bin/bash -login ; sleep 10 ; done ) & /var/hack/tivoftpd.mips echo Rebooted | /var/hack/bin/mailfile stdin 'HD Tivo Rebooted' 'kirk@kaybee.org' /var/hack/endpadplus.tcl 2 3 -auto >> /dev/null & /var/hack/tivowebplus/tivoweb
> mount -o remount,ro / > cd /var/hack > chmod a+rx dailymail_jazz.tcl endpadplus.tcl > tar -xpf tivowebplus-1.X-XXXX.tar > rm tivowebplus-1.X-XXXX.tar
Now, for 6.2 I had to make these changes to TivoWebPlus.
For the HD Tivo, I also had to make these changes to support HD local channels.
In addition to TivoWebPlus, I love DailyMail and EndPadPlus (the Plus supports my dual tuners).
I have left my phone line connected but with the changes I have made any upgrades should not be applied. Although it might keep rebooting until I do get it applied, hence the email that is sent after each reboot. If/when an upgrade comes out, my plan is to take out the upgradesoftware=false and then reboot and let it apply and then, since I commented out the reboot, I can re-hack the kernel, etc.