# Is there a remote way to send a message to the Tivo?



## bryanjef (Jul 3, 2008)

I have a S3 Tivo, and after reading up on some of the Telnet support that was recently published, I was wondering if anyone has found a way to display a message remotely. For instance, if I want to say something like "I'll be down in a minute" to the person watching the TV.


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## djl25 (May 26, 2005)

"Screentext" comes with TivoWebPlus, and does exactly what you're describing.



bryanjef said:


> I have a S3 Tivo, and after reading up on some of the Telnet support that was recently published, I was wondering if anyone has found a way to display a message remotely. For instance, if I want to say something like "I'll be down in a minute" to the person watching the TV.


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## JonHB (Aug 28, 2007)

Doesn't TivoWebPlus require a hacked PROM?? 

Since the TivoHD and S3 both have the Telnet interface, it sure would be nice to have some type of banner popup available by simply sending the unit a telnet command. This would work great for interfacing caller id and home automation systems.


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## wmcbrine (Aug 2, 2003)

JonHB said:


> Doesn't TivoWebPlus require a hacked PROM??


Yep.



> _Since the TivoHD and S3 both have the Telnet interface, it sure would be nice to have some type of banner popup available by simply sending the unit a telnet command._


If you mean the Crestron interface, there doesn't appear to be anything like that in it.


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## JonHB (Aug 28, 2007)

wmcbrine said:


> Yep.
> 
> If you mean the Creston interface, there doesn't appear to be anything like that in it.


Yes, I was referring to the Crestron telnet interface.

I wonder if lobbying for new telnet features/enhancements would get any response?


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

JonHB said:


> Yes, I was referring to the Crestron telnet interface.
> 
> I wonder if lobbying for new telnet features/enhancements would get any response?


Considering that the crestron info was discovered by hacking, not documentation anywhere, I find it quite unlikely that tivo is interested in opening up and expanding the offerings (could be, but I seriously doubt it)


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## JonHB (Aug 28, 2007)

BTUx9 said:


> Considering that the crestron info was discovered by hacking, not documentation anywhere, I find it quite unlikely that tivo is interested in opening up and expanding the offerings (could be, but I seriously doubt it)


Now that Tivo actually has a menu option to enable/disable the telnet control (new 9.4 release), they may be more open to enhancing this for additional Home Automation systems support. The new menu option for it does not mention Crestron and in fact refers to it as an automation interface.


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## Markman07 (Jul 18, 2001)

I have been using TivowebPlus on my Directivos for years.. I don't recall seeing any ScreenText item under any menu. So I ask? Where is this found? /goes back into cave.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

I think you need to do it from the terminal, with an osdout or similar command.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

screentext was added to 2.1 beta within the last few months


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## unclemoosh (Sep 11, 2004)

BTUx9 said:


> screentext was added to 2.1 beta within the last few months


And works very well. Thanks djl!:up:


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## djl25 (May 26, 2005)

Thanks Moosh; it's a great way to annoy your family!
BTW, I just posted a small file at the FORUMTHATMUSTNOTBENAMED that lets you send TWP commands via batch file. It works really well with screentext, so I thought I'd mention it here.



unclemoosh said:


> And works very well. Thanks djl!:up:


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## ehgreen (Apr 28, 2002)

Explicitly, How does one open a telnet session with a locally attached TiVo S3 box?

How does one, from a PC Console, having normal XP sp2 facilities, plus Tivo Desktop (free), open a telnet session with a locally attached TiVo S3 box? That assumes I know the local 192.168.1.xxx IP addresses of such machines, as well as the Media access key and the service numbers and the nicknames, if those are important.

Once I have opened a Telnet session, what can I see in the directory (ls output)? I realize this is Old Hat and documented elsewhere, but in the MILLIONS of bytes of TiVo discussion, is there a nice, CURRENT view of S3 file system archecture and TiVo brand s3 internal functional routines & program name listing?

TIA


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

To get a system level telnet, you need to hack your TiVo, which for that model begins with a PROM mod. Once you do that, you can open a telnet session like on any other telnet server.

Without hacking, you can only get the automation telnet interface, discussed here.


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