# 6.2a Forever



## texster (Mar 11, 2005)

6.2a Forever. It's more than a wish, it's a necessity.
If you are reading this thread you probably already know the pros and cons, for me it's all about the tivo interfaced MRV.

*The bad news:*
The recent guide data change seems to have caused a loss of local channels. For those in the NYC area, that means 2 (CBS), 4 (NBC), 5 (Fox) and 7 (ABC), as well as the PBS channels 13 & 21.

*The good news:* 
Those local channels (except for PBS) are still available in the (less familiar) locations in the 390s.

The ranks of SD Directv users grow fewer every day, but if any of the underground heros of yesteryear are still out there, perhaps an enhancement or tweak will be found that will restore locals properly.

How about a show of hands, who among us would prefer to remain on 6.2a (assuming a locals fix) vs going to 6.4 / changing equipment?


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## gsjenkins (Jun 12, 2005)

Yes to 6.2a. I am still not ready to make the leap to HD since my SD stuff till works perfectly. I am happy living the the SD world.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Those channels in the 390s are not available unless you have a waiver from the local affiliate.


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## kenr (Dec 26, 1999)

I too am served with the NYC locals and noticed today 4 was missing on all 4 TiVos. I rebooted one TiVo and now it's missing 2,4,5,7 and 13. The other ones I didn't reboot still get channels 2,5,7 and 13. This leads me to believe the unit is still capable of receiving these channels but the reinitialization that occurs at reboot can't set these channels back up again. I wish the hacking community was still active to figure this out.

Regardless, I'm now stuck with 4 units that run MRV, but don't receive locals. I'd like to keep using MRV but if that means the loss of locals I can't tolerate that.

Can anyone recommend a procedure to update a 6.2a TiVo to 6.4a if the slices are already in /SwSystem? I want to keep whatever hacks are still compatible.

Can I re-use the killhdinitrd kernel from the 6.2a TiVos. If so I think the procedure entails running installSw.itcl script to load the new software but you need to have modified that script first not to reboot. I assume the next step is to copy a kernel to the new active boot partition (see last question about using the old kernel). Lastly I'd copy over my hacks and repatch tivoapp with some patch that's compatible with 6.4a.

Does slicer do this all automatically? I wonder if I have to buy it 4 times (4x$20) to use it on 4 machines?


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## texster (Mar 11, 2005)

kenr said:


> Can anyone recommend a procedure to update a 6.2a TiVo to 6.4a if the slices are already in /SwSystem? I want to keep whatever hacks are still compatible.


I can recommend this procedure but I can't recommend giving up 6.2a for 6.4a


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## falstaffpac (Nov 12, 2003)

kenr said:


> Does slicer do this all automatically? I wonder if I have to buy it 4 times (4x$20) to use it on 4 machines?


You would only have to purchase the Slicer program once, and run it on each of your 4 consoles.


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## dwellar (Apr 9, 2006)

In Chicago my locals went out without the unit booting. So I wouldn't count on having them as long as the unit does not boot. I would rather have 6.2a but can't go without locals any longer. I manually updated using slices to 6.4a and did my hacks again. Am trying to get MovieLoader set up now.


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## texster (Mar 11, 2005)

Thanks for the update dwellar. 

In my case, nbc 4 appeared as blank screen first but was still in the guide/list, while all the other locals still worked and were still in the channel list with guide data. A deliberate reboot was caused the loss of the other major network locals. Still have the regional locals except for PBS (as well as the east coast feed in the 390s). Also perhaps of note, while the major network locals no longer appear in the the guide / list, nbc 4 still shows, but only with a blank screen. (All of which lead me to believe this not an unfixable problem).


Have always been intrigued by Movieloader. Seems pretty robust. Curious to hear how it compares.


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## Luv2DrvFst (Nov 7, 2005)

I'm on 6.2a, live in CT, and receive the local NY stations. Yes, they are all gone this morning after my reboots last night (blank screen on NBC), but I'm not sure why this is a problem. The equivalent local channels in the 390's all work, and even my season passes were all converted to the correct local channel in the 390's.

Maybe being in CT and getting the locals from NY has something to do with it, but for now it's TiVo as usual for me.

Am I missing something?


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## kenr (Dec 26, 1999)

Luv2DrvFst said:


> I'm on 6.2a, live in CT, and receive the local NY stations. Yes, they are all gone this morning after my reboots last night (blank screen on NBC), but I'm not sure why this is a problem. The equivalent local channels in the 390's all work, and even my season passes were all converted to the correct local channel in the 390's.
> 
> Maybe being in CT and getting the locals from NY has something to do with it, but for now it's TiVo as usual for me.
> 
> Am I missing something?


I think you and I have the identical problem. I'm in NJ and served by the NYC locals. The first problem was channel 4. The program data existed, but there was no video. After I rebooted the unit, the channel 4 problem continued without change, but channels 2,5,7,13 completely disappeared from the list of available channels. We're fortunate we have those channels in the 390's because I still have all my networks except PBS and the season passes automatically switch to the 39x channels without any intervention except for the channel 4 season passes. Because I was still getting program guide data for channel 4, I had to deactivate channel 4 in my channel settings to get those season passes to switch.

On this same unit, I made a backup of my 6.2a and upgraded it to 6.4a. Upon doing so, channels 2,5,7,13 returned. Channel 4 still has the problem with no video. In order to get channel 4 back, I had to use the reset command that clears the todo, season passes and guide data. Once I did that, all was well (except for the tragic loss of MRV).

I've also discovered that I can switch to FIOS with a solution that has 2 whole house DVRs (thus 4 tuners) and HD. This will cost only $20 more than my DirecTV plan. I'll have more storage than the sum of the 4 TiVos I have now. I'll also be able to save much money by now eliminating my cable modem cost from the cable company and drop my local POTs line charge.

Perhaps this problem is a blessing and it's the kick I need to finally upgrade my infrastructure and move to HD. With the money I'll be saving on my monthly subscription costs, I can fund purchases of new TVs.


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## Boiler81 (Aug 10, 2002)

Did you have to do anything to get the 6.4a to download? I have three hacked units which I had MRV running on. Since I can not have MRV with the new software, I don't need them hacked. I assume plugging them to a phone line and making the call will force a download and will install 6.4a over the hacked 6.2. Is this correct?



kenr said:


> I think you and I have the identical problem. I'm in NJ and served by the NYC locals. The first problem was channel 4. The program data existed, but there was no video. After I rebooted the unit, the channel 4 problem continued without change, but channels 2,5,7,13 completely disappeared from the list of available channels. We're fortunate we have those channels in the 390's because I still have all my networks except PBS and the season passes automatically switch to the 39x channels without any intervention except for the channel 4 season passes. Because I was still getting program guide data for channel 4, I had to deactivate channel 4 in my channel settings to get those season passes to switch.
> 
> On this same unit, I made a backup of my 6.2a and upgraded it to 6.4a. Upon doing so, channels 2,5,7,13 returned. Channel 4 still has the problem with no video. In order to get channel 4 back, I had to use the reset command that clears the todo, season passes and guide data. Once I did that, all was well (except for the tragic loss of MRV).
> 
> ...


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Luv2DrvFst said:


> I'm on 6.2a, live in CT, and receive the local NY stations. The equivalent local channels in the 390's all work, and even my season passes were all converted to the correct local channel in the 390's.


You're in a privileged position, as your locals are the same as the east coast "distant networks" feeds in the 390s, hence you can get the 390s. That leaves out some of the channels you would otherwise receive as locals. People outside the NYC and LA locals areas can't get the DNS channels.


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## kenr (Dec 26, 1999)

Boiler81 said:


> Did you have to do anything to get the 6.4a to download? I have three hacked units which I had MRV running on. Since I can not have MRV with the new software, I don't need them hacked. I assume plugging them to a phone line and making the call will force a download and will install 6.4a over the hacked 6.2. Is this correct?


If you followed any of the popular methods to hack your TiVo, you've already put it in a mode where it won't install new software. In this mode, the new software will arrive from the satellite and will be put in your TiVos MFS filesystem, but it will never get installed.

Since your unit is already hacked, you can see if the new software is present by doing

```
echo mls /SwSystem | tivosh
```
In my case it showed:

Name Type FsId Date Time Size 
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- 
6.2a-01-2-101 tyDb 2301409 02/17/07 08:23 700 
6.2a-01-2-121 tyDb 2301413 02/17/07 08:23 700 
6.2a-01-2-301 tyDb 2301415 02/17/07 08:23 700 
6.2a-01-2-321 tyDb 2301416 02/17/07 08:23 700 
6.2a-01-2-351 tyDb 2301417 03/12/07 04:23 724 
6.3e-01-2-381 tyDb 3030608 08/17/07 06:43 780 
6.4a-01-2-151 tyDb 3196339 05/09/10 06:47 780 
ACTIVE tyDb 2301417 03/12/07 04:23 724

The ACTIVE line lists the active SW version and you can see it matches up with 6.2a. You can also see SW versions 6.3e and 6.4a are on my disk waiting to be installed; but won't be because SW upgrades are disabled.

If I type:

```
bootpage -p
```
I get:

```
bash-2.02# bootpage -p
No device name given, assuming /dev/hda
root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true console=2,115200 upgradesoftware=false
```
Note that it says


> upgradesoftware=false


 That's what prevents the automatic software upgrades.

Now you could force the upgrade yourself this time but if you don't undo the upgradesoftware=false, should another SW upgrade arrive, it won't install.
That's because the SW upgrade only modifies the root parameter in bootpage and leaves the rest alone. If you want to allow future updates, take the output you get from bootpage -p and use it modified as input to bootpage -f -P. For example with the output I had, I copy all if it except for the upgradesofware=false part and run bootpage as follows:

```
bootpage -f -P "root=/dev/hda4 dsscon=true console=2,115200"
```
Now that you've reenabled future (post 6.4a) SW upgrades, you can now force the upgrade by executing:

```
/tvbin/installSw.itcl 6.4a-01-2-151
```
If the output from your mls SwSystem showed a different 6.4a string, i.e, the numbers after 6.4a are different, use that string instead.

Once that command finishes running your TiVo will reboot with version 6.4a. It will say "Preparing the service update...This may take up to an hour". At this point your unit is no longer hacked and it should receive future SW upgrades.

This information is accurate to the best of my knowledge, but proceed carefully and make backups first if you're unsure of what you're doing.


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## Boiler81 (Aug 10, 2002)

Thank You for the effort in documenting this. I chose to download and use Slicer. It was just easier for me. Hopefully someone can take advantage of your instructions.


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## Ilovetorecord2 (Mar 21, 2000)

I have 6.2 and don't have HD tv and won't until my tv dies which can take some time.

I still get my locals but I am in the San Francisco Bay Area.

I like have MRV as I sometimes burn tv shows for trips on dvd.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

You don't need MRV to extract and burn recordings.


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## sk33t3r (Jul 9, 2003)

stevel said:


> You're in a privileged position, as your locals are the same as the east coast "distant networks" feeds in the 390s, hence you can get the 390s. That leaves out some of the channels you would otherwise receive as locals. People outside the NYC and LA locals areas can't get the DNS channels.


I couldnt get VIGGLE to understand this, Im in Texas so when we tried viggle it gave us some error about locals in the 390's. I emailed them and they didnt understand when I was trying to state.


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## dy123 (May 28, 2010)

When I run - echo mls /SwSystem | tivosh

This is what I see.

bash-2.02# echo mls /SwSystem | tivosh
Directory of /SwSystem starting at ''

Name Type FsId Date Time Size
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
6.2a-01-2-351 tyDb 4815 03/07/07 20:00 724
ACTIVE tyDb 4815 03/07/07 20:00 724

bash-2.02#
bash-2.02#

I have never had my tivo attacted to a phone line. Is that why I don't see 6.4 listed? 

It is attacted to a phone line now. I wonder if the updates will arrive.


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## Ilovetorecord2 (Mar 21, 2000)

Spoke too soon. My locals went also. Upgrade one of my tivo to thr TR24 which is quite different. I don't have a HD tv and won't for quite awhile.

Miss the MRV and messed up on trying to get Movieloader on it.

Trying to get the tivo I replaced and upgraded to 6.4 back to 6.2 without losing the recordings but have not found the answer yet.


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## darrin75 (Jul 22, 2004)

Has anyone ever tried to compare the 6.2 code to the 6.4a code to figure out where Mrv code is in 6.2 and place the code back into 6.4a. Is 6.4 a completely revamped or overhaul of the code from 6.2 or 6.3 for that matter. I am surprised no one out there has figured out a way to do this?


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