# I don't think this question is about video extraction...



## pgs92109 (Nov 8, 2003)

...but here's my problem. I have an standard definition R10 DirecTivo unit (with 2 hard drives) about 2 yrs old. On it I have literally hundreds of hours of archived shows. Today, all of a sudden it won't boot up, even after unplugging and replugging it back in. It is stuck on the screen that says "Just a few minutes more..." Is there a way that I transfer the data on those hard drives to another DirecTivo unit, DVR, computer or onto DVD? I really do not want to lose these shows. I have several other DirecTivo units that do boot up. Is there any way to get these shows onto another DirecTivo unit?


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## Da Goon (Oct 22, 2006)

Since the recordings you have are encrypted, and therefor tied that tivo, and the problem you are having is likely to be a failing hard drive, there may not be much hope for recovering those shows. If you are adept at pulling hard drives and playing with them in your pc, then do a search for dd-rescue and you may have a chance at recovering those shows.


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## Redux (Oct 19, 2004)

pgs92109 said:


> hundreds of hours of archived shows. Today, all of a sudden it won't boot up, even after unplugging and replugging it back in. It is stuck on the screen that says "Just a few minutes more..." Is there a way that I transfer the data on those hard drives to another DirecTivo unit, DVR, computer or onto DVD?


You are in fact asking about video extraction which is a forbidden topic here. The answer, BTW, is yes (probably), but even if we could discuss it here the road is long, complicated and arduous, made more so by the fact that you didn't hack the drive in the first place and therefore made yourself more vulnerable to loss and the recovery more difficult (I have trouble even comprehending that people would do that).

Saving the drive via traditional means, as has been mentioned, is worth pursuing.

After that fails, either give up (my recommendation) or go to a place where using your tivo is fully discussed and prepare for pain.

EDITED to add: If you take anything in the above as ripping you I apologize. The difficulty of hacking an R10 is not trivial, and my describing it as complicated, arduous and painful is not a reflection of my assessment of your capabilities but of the task itself.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

Redux said:


> You are in fact asking about video extraction which is a forbidden topic here. The answer, BTW, is yes (probably), but even if we could discuss it here the road is long, complicated and arduous, made more so by the fact that you didn't hack the drive in the first place and therefore made yourself more vulnerable to loss and the recovery more difficult (I have trouble even comprehending that people would do that).


WTF?!? it's an R10 and you're ripping on him for not hacking it?!?


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## pgs92109 (Nov 8, 2003)

Redux: I'm not insulted. Actually, I believe I have an R10 that has been "hacked" by WeaKnees (the company I bought it from). It has a recording capacity of 527 hours of standard definition TV.

Da Goon: Thanks for the search tip. I've learned a lot.



Since regaining access to these recorded shows on my own is going to be complicated and painful, can't I just pay a data recovery company to recover what they can and transfer the shows to another DirecTivo unit? After all, I have no interest in wrestling control of these shows from TIVO or changing their files. I just want to regain my rightful access to them.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

short answer: no
long answer: shows on the tivo are encrypted... part of the key is on the crypto chip on the motherboard... so, if the problem IS the HD, and that data were successfully recovered, then the new HD could possibly work in the original dtivo, but making it work in a different tivo would require transplanting the crypto chip (soldering)

p.s. an r10 with extra storage isn't necessarily "hacked" as such... you can add extra storage without hacking the o/s... I'm pretty sure weaknees doesn't do any prom mods, which are (currently) the only way to hack an r10


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## pgs92109 (Nov 8, 2003)

BTUx9: Well then, maybe a data recovery company could recover the data, transfer it to a new working hard drive, and put it back into the same R10. I realize that would be expensive, but do you think it would work??

Certainly I'm not the first person in recorded history that this has happened to. Why isn't repairing the broken hard drive or transferring the data to a new hard drive while preserving the video files on it a commonly offered service?

Also, thanks for the explanation re the definition of "hacking." What is the benefit of hacking the OS on a DirecTivo unit anyway?


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## ForrestB (Apr 8, 2004)

Here's a list of extra's you'll get if you hack a DirecTivo Enhancements

I think two of the best features on a hacked DirecTivo are MRV - Multi-Room Viewing where shows are transferred between Tivo's and HMO - where Pictures and Music that reside on a networked computer can be played on a DirecTivo.


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## Finnstang (Sep 11, 2003)

ForrestB said:


> Here's a list of extra's you'll get if you hack a DirecTivo Enhancements
> 
> I think two of the best features on a hacked DirecTivo are MRV - Multi-Room Viewing where shows are transferred between Tivo's and HMO - where Pictures and Music that reside on a networked computer can be played on a DirecTivo.


Again, the OP has an R10 and needs to do a PROM mod before being able to do any software hacks.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

I believe ForrestB's post was in response to the question "what's the benefit of hacking"

He missed a biggie, though... hacking forces the tivo to record shows unencrypted, making recovery of those shows after a failure that much more doable


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## pgs92109 (Nov 8, 2003)

BTUx9: Well that perks up my interest. So...are there directions somewhere on this forum on how to hack R10s and HR10-250s? The enhancements link above seems to indicate what to do after you've already hacked the DirecTivo, but not how to actually hack it.

And what about my suggestion above? Has it ever been tried? That is, having a data recovery company recover the data, transfer it to a new working hard drive, and put it back into the same R10. I realize that would be expensive, but do you think it would work??


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

pgs92109 said:


> And what about my suggestion above? Has it ever been tried? That is, having a data recovery company recover the data, transfer it to a new working hard drive, and put it back into the same R10. I realize that would be expensive, but do you think it would work??


yes... if they can recover the key pieces, it should be doable... some people have had success with spinrite, which would be considerably less expensive than sending the drive out


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## ForrestB (Apr 8, 2004)

In the first sentence in the Enhancements link above, you'll see a reference to the Tivo Zipper. The Zipper is a method to install Enhancements on most series 2 DirecTivo's EXCEPT an R10. Installing the Zipper is fairly simple assuming you have access to a PC with dual IDE channels, can burn a CDR discs and are familiar installing hard drives in a PC/Tivo.

The R10 is a different animal and it's generally not recommended you try to hack an R10 because you'll need to be highly skilled at desoldering/soldering and acquire a modified PROM chip.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

If the PROM mod was performed, you could still use the Zipper to hack the DTivo. You just wouldn't need to install the killhdinitrd'd kernel, although it hurts nothing to do so.

You'll pay through the nose to get a data recovery company to recover your lost shows, assuming you could even find one that knows anything about the Tivo mfs filesystem. Someone suggested using SpinRite and I would second that. First, I would recommend trying the drive manufacturer's diagnostic program, available for download from their webste. 

You never did mention whether or not the drive was spinning up so there's no guarantee the problem is even drive related. Make sure the drive is spinning up when you plug it in as well as the fan. Check all of the internal cables to make sure they're firmly connected. If everything is running and plugged in correctly, then I would take the next step and diagnose the drive for failures. 

If the manufacturer's diagnostic fails, then try using SpinRite. The cost of the software is about $90 but will be far less expensive than using a data recovery service. You could always check the bittorrent sites to get an "evaluation" copy to try before you buy.  If SpinRite won't fix your drive then it's unlikely a data recovery service could either. Note that SpinRite can literally take several days to run on your drive if you have a very large drive. I have used it to recover Tivo drives that previously would not boot and also failed the manufacturer's diagnostic. After running SpinRite the Tivo booted into a GSOD for a short while and then recovered on it's own. The drive also passed the diagnostics program with flying colors.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

OK... backing up a few steps...
1) the tivo boots to the almost there screen meaning that linux is being loaded and the boot process is stalling within the tivo startup scripts (under etc/rc.d/stage*)

2) the tivo isn't throwing a gsod (green screen of death), so it isn't likely to be a problem with mfs (with the possible exception of the 2nd drive being completely unreadable... not sure WHAT a tivo does in that circumstance)

getting log info for the boot process would help narrow down the problem... that requires getting a serial cable, pulling the drive and adding bootpage params "dsscon=true console=1,115200" (although I'm not 100% sure it'd work properly because the serial port on series2.5 machines requires an insmod for serial bash... not sure if that is necessary for boot logging)


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## pgs92109 (Nov 8, 2003)

Thanks for the suggestions! :up: 

I didn't know about Maxtor diagnostics or SpinRite. I'm kind of embarrassed to ask this  , but how do I run these programs on the R10 DirecTivo unit when it is physically separated from my PC? Could someone spell it out for me?


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

pull the drive out of the tivo, connect it to your pc, DON'T boot XP or NT because they scribble on connected drives... 
boot the maxtor diagnostics disc or spinrite (I think it's bootable)

find a tivo-specific linux utility boot cd for other access to the drive (like changing boot params)


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## pgs92109 (Nov 8, 2003)

So disconnect my PC's hard drive [c:] from the PC motherboard and connect the tivo hard drive to the PC motherboard in it's place? Then just insert the Maxtor diagnostics or SpinRite CD into the CD reader and follow prompts?

And forgive me  , but what would be an example of a tivo-specific linux utility boot cd or where could I find one?


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