# What to do with older series 2 DirecTivo units?



## vsaltv (Oct 26, 2005)

I have recently learned that DirectTV won't even activate these units no more (HDVR2 I believe).

What are some good uses for them?


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## Rainy Dave (Nov 11, 2001)

I offered my R10 to anyone that wanted to pay the cost of shipping. It now has a happy home in sunny Florida.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

The only real value is in the power supply. The hard disk is typically too small to be of interest and the mainboard is not directly usable, though I suppose it could be stripped for parts.


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## Jerry_K (Feb 7, 2002)

I just activated a Phillips DSR704 three days ago. No problem.


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

DSR704 has a RID and that's ok. DirecTV will not activate non-RID receivers unless they were previously on your account.


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## doyling (Aug 11, 2006)

I am with sevel on the power supply. It should get you $30 or more on EBay.


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## vsaltv (Oct 26, 2005)

wow thanks for the responses, i'll strip 'em down and sell for parts i guess. I thought maybe I could activate them myself and use them to transfer video from my other tivo, but I guess it's not possible no more?


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Are these boxes that were previously on your account? If so, you can activate them. There is no transfer capability, though, unless you hack both the sending and receiving boxes (and add Ethernet adapters.)


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## jpcamaro70 (Nov 23, 2011)

I'll take one and pay the shipping. My ex would absolutely love her old tivo back. Please PM me.


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## Jebberwocky! (Apr 16, 2005)

I had three old ones with issues - ebayed them and got $1.00. I lost money on shipping too 

I should have donated them to Goodwill and taken the tax writeoff.


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## HarryD (Jan 10, 2002)

My DSR7000 died... sad day after almost 9 years of excellent service (two HDs)


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## flytrapper (Sep 8, 2003)

I have a DSR7000 boxed and ready to ship (remote included), if anyone wants to pay the cost of shipping. It was working the last time I connected it...

--Mike


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## bradnic (Jan 17, 2003)

I have 5 Phillips DSR704s in the Chicagoland area, all hacked with MRV support. Each has either a 250GB or a 300GB drive and the remote. Please PM me if you're interested in them.


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## bradnic (Jan 17, 2003)

bradnic said:


> I have 5 Phillips DSR704s in the Chicagoland area, all hacked with MRV support. Each has either a 250GB or a 300GB drive and the remote. Please PM me if you're interested in them.


for those that tried to PM me about these DSR704s I have been unable to reply (not enough posts after all these years). just reply to this thread if you're interested. just pay packaging and shipping and you can have one (or all).

thanks


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## dwellar (Apr 9, 2006)

I would be interested for two. I'm just west of you in Batavia, so no need to pack or ship. I could pick up or meet at a parking lot, your choice.


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## Joe_Q (Dec 10, 2011)

I'd like one too, bradnic.

I've been without one for a couple months now. I would really appreciate it, if you could send me one.

Please respond back to this thread (and let me know), if you will, or you won't.

(I don't have enough posts, to include my E-mail address) (I need to make 2 more posts)

I've also forgotten my old Tivo Community username and password, so I can't PM you back either.

I'll be more than happy to pay S&H, to send it to me, just slightly west of Boston, Ma.

Joe Q


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## Joe_Q (Dec 10, 2011)

Just adding another post, so I can include my actual E-mail address, to my previous post.

Admins & Moderators:

Please do not delete this post. Your system says I need to make 5 posts, before I can add my E-mail address. I don't want to miss out on this offer, from bradnic.

Joe Q


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## Joe_Q (Dec 10, 2011)

System tells me I have to make one more post, before I can add my actual E-mail address.

Again,

Admin & Moderators:

Please do not delete.

Joe Q


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## Joe_Q (Dec 10, 2011)

Never mind.


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## Sgiarde (Jan 29, 2012)

Like others, recent changes to my setup mean that I have a 3 units looking for good homes. I've listed the models below and would be happy to send them as long as you pay for the shipping.

Hughes DirecTV DVR2 - works fine, comes with peanut remote

Hughes DirecTV HDVR80 - works fine, comes with peanut remote

Hughes DirecTV DVR2 - Experienced issues with one of the tuners from time to time...the other tuner works fine.

I'm in Northern California (in case you are too and a meetup would be easier). Again, if you are interested, shoot me a private message and we'll work out the details.


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## Joe_Q (Dec 10, 2011)

Almost 2 whole weeks now, without any response.

Never mind.


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## mattman1978 (Feb 29, 2012)

Hi all, I'm a Newbie. I got Direct TV about 2 years ago when the cable company ticked me off. Anyhow, the R22-200 came with my new account as a lease. I don't really need the HD service, so I'm straight SD for now. Call me cheap, but gas is high and we just had a second child. I'll wait on HD for a few more years. 

Anyhow, I learned yesterday that having a second SD DVR won't cost anymore than a regular SD receiver. (The rep told me that they only charge the DVR fee for the first DVR and the additional DVRs are charged the same as a basic receiver.. SO, I checked ebay and I'm getting ready to purchase one, but I also want the option to upgrade to get more out of the unit. I figured I'd ask which TIVO unit people liked best to upgrade. Any thoughts or comments?? I'd like to be able to use a larger or second hard drive (I have several floating around) and I'd like to be able to network it to my computer so I can burn children's shows to DVD for my sons. 

Finally, I noticed people posting old TIVO units to give away. If there are any of those left, I'd be VERY HAPPY to take it off your hands. My only concern is that has a "clear" RID number so I can activate it.  I'll be happy to pay shipping. 

-Matt


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## stevel (Aug 23, 2000)

Matt, I'd suggest the HR10-250. You can probably find a lot of these for sale by people who upgraded to the THR22. It's pretty easy to install a larger hard drive - you will need a PC to connect the old and new disks to copy and enlarge the partitions.

As for networking, none of the older DirecTV TiVos natively support that. You can "hack" most of the models (except for the R10) to enable networking and disabling encryption so that you can copy to DVD. But this requires some playing with Linux and "hacking". You can read some more about that in the Underground section of the forum.


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## mattman1978 (Feb 29, 2012)

Yeah, I was looking at the R10, but I'll look around for the HR10-250. Only problem is that I don't have the HD service yet. I'm told if I activate anything that starts with an H, I'll be paying significantly more. I'm trying to watch the budget right now. 

Besides, I don't mind tinkering around with the software on it. I have a dual-boot linux/XP box here under my desk for my spare. I've done a little work with linux so I can probably figure it out. I have a few spare hard-drives so it's no biggie if I mess it up, I'll keep the original intact in case I need to throw it back in. 

Now, here's a question.... On these older units, do I need a phone line? I know on my current receivers, I don't have any phone lines connected, they update or whatever over their system. I don't have a home phone, except for Magic Jack, So, is that a problem?


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## litzdog911 (Oct 18, 2002)

mattman1978 said:


> Yeah, I was looking at the R10, but I'll look around for the HR10-250. Only problem is that I don't have the HD service yet. I'm told if I activate anything that starts with an H, I'll be paying significantly more. I'm trying to watch the budget right now.
> 
> ....
> 
> Now, here's a question.... On these older units, do I need a phone line? I know on my current receivers, I don't have any phone lines connected, they update or whatever over their system. I don't have a home phone, except for Magic Jack, So, is that a problem?


You should be able to activate an HR10-250 without worrying about HD Services fees because the HR10-250 cannot receive any of DirecTV's HD satellite channels. The only HiDef it can receive is off-air antenna local channels.

Yes, you'll need a phone line for the initial Guided Setup. Magic Jack might work. Or do it at a work, or at a neighbor's house with regular phone service. You can begin the Guided Setup without a satellite connection, then complete it at your home connected to your dish.


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## MikeekiM (Jun 25, 2002)

My Sony SAT-T60 is still operational... Great unit!


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## mattman1978 (Feb 29, 2012)

Are you offering it to me? 

I've heard some people have been able to get magic jack to work with some fax machines if you slow down the connection speed... may be worth a shot.


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## SouthTivo (Jan 12, 2004)

Magicjack does work, at least the Plus version.

Just had an R10 blow a hard drive and had to start over with a fresh R10 image and do the initial setup. It took a few tries to find a Tivo modem number that still worked in my area but it did eventually connect and do a data download. All good now. 

Still rocking two R10s, an HR10-250, and an SDDVR40 because I own them. Not DTV. They're all upgraded and work fine. DTV lost me on the new Tivo as soon as they said "lease" and "contract" -not all at once of course. 

About to drop another drive in the SDDVR40 & quadruple the space. No way is this old box done being active.


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## CrashHD (Nov 10, 2006)

the non-RID units are not useless, even though DirecTV will not activate them.

You just use them without activating them. If you put the card from a subscribed, activated box, in a non-RID box, and refresh your services, it will go to working in that box. Because the non-RID boxes do not have a Receiver ID, the card has no idea it's in the wrong box.
Really, this makes non-RID boxes the perfect "backup/spare" box. Plug it in, put in the card, refresh services from DTV website, and you are back running on your spare without making a phone call faster than a DTV CSR can treat you like crap!


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

CrashHD said:


> the non-RID units are not useless, even though DirecTV will not activate them.
> 
> You just use them without activating them. If you put the card from a subscribed, activated box, in a non-RID box, and refresh your services, it will go to working in that box. Because the non-RID boxes do not have a Receiver ID, the card has no idea it's in the wrong box.
> Really, this makes non-RID boxes the perfect "backup/spare" box. Plug it in, put in the card, refresh services from DTV website, and you are back running on your spare without making a phone call faster than a DTV CSR can treat you like crap!


I believe you need to have non-RID receivers already on your account for that to work. In fact, I've been keeping an eye on ebay for a couple of cheap S2 DSR7000's/HDVR2's for just that purpose.


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## CrashHD (Nov 10, 2006)

I have 0 non-RID receivers on my account, but I have replaced two failed tivos with non-RID tivos this way. It is much easier than hassling with a CSR activating a used unit to replace a failed one for multiple reasons.

1) It takes a phone call to DirecTV. That never fails to be as pleasant as the average colonoscopy.
2) Usually, when activating a used unit, they will make you order a new card. You don't usually get to reuse your old one. That's another $25 and wait 4 days on the mail.
3) You have to explain to them very carefully that they are not to activate your used, owned, receiver as a LEASED unit, which falsely puts you under a renewed committment. That's one that gets me. I think it's a ripoff tactic to put you under a committment for leasing another box.


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

Interesting, I was under the impression that you had to have non-RID units on your account to do the swap with a new non-RID box. I've been keeping my eye out for a couple of affordable S2 non-RID units because I can activate them myself without having to get a clueless CSR involved who will likely screw things up (like make my lifetime DVR service disappear!). It certainly was nice when I slid the free DSR6000 I got from a forum member here in place of my old non-DVR receiver a few years back.


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## bradnic (Jan 17, 2003)

logged in to this community 7 years later... lolol.
These boxes are long gone, as is my DirecTV and replacement cable services, years ago.
I still have 2 TiVo Premieres with lifetime sub I bought around this time, repurposed for live HD recording

actually trying to get kmttg working on these things


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