# Applications and Hacks and Tigers, Oh My!



## Disconnect

*NEW*: Migrating to a wiki, so the authors can maintain their own links. embeem has been kind enough to offer space, so its available at http://www.alt.org/wiki/index.php/TivoHackingLinks.

As of right now (8P Eastern) its just this list, slightly reformated. Updates to come later tonight or tomorrow, probably to both locations (if the forums are accessible..)

Now back to your regularly scheduled applications, hacks and the occasional man-eating wild beast:

===

Since I was unable to find any single list of applications, hacks, etc for the Tivo I thought I would start this thread.

This is just the list I have found so far; for the ones I am missing (or have incorrect info on) please reply and I'll update this post as needed.

*Recent additions:* Joe, osdmngr, cron, tivoidentd, screensave, elseed license

*Note:* Here, "Author" does not necessarily mean the original software author. It is an indication of who ported it and/or is currently maintaining it for the Tivo. (In many cases that is the original author, but not all.)

===========
Network Access: How to get it and applications that require it.
===========

Name: *Tivo DSL HowTo*
Author: *Frank Pineau*
Homepage: http://www.pineaus.com/HOWTO/Tivo-DSL-HOWTO.html
License: *General/Free*
Description: OK, its not an application. But it *IS* a must-read for getting networking or ppp running on the Tivo.

Name: *TurboNet Installation*
Author: *Silicondust Engineering*
Homepage: http://www.silicondust.com/turbonet/turbonet.html
License: *Unknown*
Description: An excellent set of directions and a boot cd 2for installing a network card. However, it also works perfectly for unlocking a Tivo without a lot of the risk associated with some of the other hacks. It's what I used to get ppp running on my DirecTivo, and I highly recommend it; the turbonet drivers and such do not interfere at all with the normal operations of the Tivo.

Name: *TivoFTPd*
Author: *sorphin*
Homepage: http://tivo.samba.org/download/sorphin/
License: *Unknown*
Description: An ftp daemon for your newly-networked Tivo. Makes a great gift. Also makes it a whole lot easier to install software.

Name: *TivoWeb*
Author: *tivoweb AT lightn DOT org*
Homepage: http://tivo.lightn.org
License:*GPL*
Description: An excellent web server for the Tivo, allowing you to do almost everything remotely that you can do locally (and quite a few new things that were not possible before.)

Name: *TPOP*
Author: *douglas AT networkhackers dot com*
Homepage: http://www.networkhackers.com/tpop/ 
License: *Unknown*
Description: POP email client for the networked Tivo. Saves messages to the Tivo mail list.

Name: *GAIM*
Author: *hermanator*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65062 (is there a better one?)
License: *GPL*
Description: A GAIM plugin and Tivo application that prints messages on screen when buddies log in and out. Also contains information on the Windows port of Gaim.

Name: *YAC Client for TiVo*
Author: *josquin*
Homepage: http://www.sunflowerhead.com/software/yac/
License: *GPL*
Description: YAC is a Caller ID system that uses the modem in your Windows-based computer to monitor incoming phone calls. When a phone call is received, YAC displays the Caller ID info on the computer screen. Clients are available for Windows and the Tivo. (Its like elseed, for those without caller-ID capable Tivos.)

Name: *elseedyac*
Author: *pfl2000*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=700874#post700874
Mirror: http://pfl2000.dyndns.tv/tivo/elseedyac/
License: *Unknown ..GPL?*
Description: Elseed modified to do name/number aliasing and also allows your TiVo to act as the YAC server.

Name: *Tivoidentd*
Author: *RobertHamilton*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72967
License: *Unknown*
Description: Another identd (possibly the first) for the Tivo. To some reports, much smaller/more stable than micro_identd. I haven't used it here, so I can't say. YMMV.

======
OSD Info: If it goes onscreen (and works without a network) it's here.
======

Name: *screensave*
Author: *[mbm]*
Homepage: http://tivo.samba.org/download/mbm/bin/
License: *Unknown*
Description: Its a screensaver. No, really. It blanks the screen after it has been paused for too long.

Name: *osdmngr*
Author: *belboz*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=23906 .. sorta.
License: *Unknown*
Description: Converts tga files for viewing on the Tivo using osdwriter, which is already on the Tivo in /tvbin.

Name: *text2osd*
Author: 
Homepage: 
License:
Description: The original command-line OSD display. But I can't find it anywhere 

Name: *newtext2osd*
Author: *cwingert*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=550677#post550677
Alternate Version: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=74564
License: *Unknown*
Description: The newer fancier command-line text2osd program. Some programs below require this one, some the older, some both and even (in at least one case) neither.

Name: *Tivo Control Station*
Author: *Zirak*
Homepage: Umm... http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=78060
License: *Unknown*
Description: This application sort of crosses the line between network and OSD. It does many convenient things locally, and shortcuts many preexisting features (3 clicks for backdoors, for example) but it's true utility is unlocked with an internet connection. It can display current local weather, stock information, sports, etc. Very cool application. It allows commands to be issued locally (remote) or over the network and programmers will find that it is easily extendable.

Name: *Elseed*
Author: *Greg Gardner (greg AT bah DOT org)*
Homepage: http://www.bah.org/~greg/tivo/
License: *GPL*
Description: Mainly (only?) for DirecTivo units, this works with text2osd to display caller ID information onscreen. Reported not to work on some DirecTivos and most SA, but it works like a champ for me and does not require a network connection or Windows machine. Very high "wife factor" - my fiance considers this to be the true 'killer app' for the hacked Tivo.

Name: *TivoVBI*
Author: *[MBM]*
Homepage: http://tivo.samba.org/download/mbm/
License: *GPL*
Description: VBI (vertical blanking interval) is used to send closed-captioning info and some program stats (title, etc). This cool app decodes that info either to the screen or to stdout/console and is also the basis for most (all?) of the OSD routines.

===========
Development: Languages, compilers, scripts, etc.
===========

Name: *tivo-bin*
Author: *Tivo, Inc*
Homepage: http://pvrhack.sonnik.com/tivo/dl_info.asp?DLID=30
License: *GPL*
Description: Lots of useful binaries and such, prebuilt for the Tivo. Essentials like "ls" contained here. Originally from older Tivos, removed after some software updates.

Name: *tivo-build-xcompiler*
Author: *[MBM]*
Homepage: http://tivo.samba.org/download/mbm/
License: *Unknown*
Description: An excellent script for building a cross-compiler for the Tivo. (A cross-compiler lets you compile programs on your desktop to be run on the Tivo. If you don't know what a compiler is, this section is not for you  ..)

Name: *Tivo Software Releases*
Author: *Tivo, Inc.*
Homepage: http://tivo.com/linux/index.html
Mirror: http://tivo.samba.org/download/tivo_releases/
License: *GPL*
Description: The sources to all the GPL software the Tivo runs. (Kernel, utilities, compiler, etc. Necessary for the build-xcompiler script as well as just generally useful to the Tivo developer.)

Name: *WebPHP*
Author: *enigma2175*
Homepage: http://www.corruptdb.com/
License: *GPL*
Description: PHP binary and TivoWeb module to run PHP shell scripts and CGI binaries on the Tivo. Also includes information on a MySQL database client.

Name: *menuboot*
Author: *TivoTechie*
Homepage: http://tivo.samba.org/download/tivotechie/
Mirror: http://pvrhack.sonnik.com/tivo/dl_info.asp?DLID=20
License: *Unknown*
Description: Allows you to select rc.sysinit's to boot, and get a failsafe shell, if you screw something up.

Name: *Crond*
Author: *Dtype*
Homepage: http://alt.org/tivo/
License: *GPL*
Description: Standard Unix cron. Runs things at specified times.

Name: *Textutils*
Author: *Dtype*
Homepage: http://alt.org/tivo/
License: *GPL*
Description: Grep, awk, sed for the Tivo. Standard - and damned useful - Unix text processing tools.

===========
Console: General-purpose applications that run on the commandline w/o network or OSD.
===========

Name: *Elvis*
Author: *dtype*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=70019
License: *GPL*
Description: elvis is a small implementation of vi, with all the expected behaviors.

Name: *Joe*
Author: *Mr. Belboz*
Homepage: http://pvrhack.sonnik.com/tivo/joe.asp
License: *GPL*
Description: Joe is another editor for the Tivo. Not sure how the Tivo version differs from the standard one, but I liked that one for a long time before I got the hang of vi.

Name: *lsof*
Author: *Craig*
Homepage: http://www.xse.com/leres/tivo/downloads/
License: *GPL*
Description: LSOF shows open files, network connections, etc. Quite handy, quite missing from the standard Tivo software load. Requires the libtivohack elsewhere on that page. (There are *many* applications on that page. Check it out. I'm just going to list the ones that catch my eye.)

Name: *micro_inetd, micro_httpd*
Author: *Craig*
Homepage: http://www.xse.com/leres/tivo/downloads/
License: *GPL*
Description: A small inetd and a small webserver for the Tivo. Also requires libtivohack.

Name: *Netstat, ping, traceroute*
Author: *Craig*
Homepage: http://www.xse.com/leres/tivo/downloads/
License: *GPL*
Description: Useful network testing/debugging apps: netstat is like lsof, specifically for network connections and routes. Ping and traceroute are just what you think they are. Get down and party with the Libtivohack.

Name: *One Per Week*
Author: *CptanPanic*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=79471
License: *Unknown*
Description: For programs that run one episode per week, but have no guide data, this TCL script will remove the other showings from the Todo list. You need the fsid of the program (available via TivoWeb) and it works well with cron (since it needs to be rerun periodically).

===========
Upgrades: Software to upgrade your Tivo in some way or another.
===========

Name: *MFStools*
Author: *Tiger*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=63606
License: *Unknown/GPL*
Description: Everything you need to access the Tivo drives from your desktop (and then some..) Broke the rc.sysinit? Boot up the MFStools cd and fix it. Adding a drive? Just read the Hinsdale HowTo and all will become clear.

===========
TivoWeb: Addons, modules, themes for TivoWeb.
===========

Name: *tivocomm theme*
Author: *stevejenkins*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=73873
License: *GPL..?*
Description: A theme for TiVoWeb that looks like the TiVo Community.

Name: *channelmap*
Author: *Zirak*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=61830
License: *Unknown*
Description: A TivoWeb module that remaps channels. (So if Tivo thinks CNN is 50, but your cable/sat/etc provider puts it on 30, this is what you need to fix it.)

Name: *Recording History*
Author: *qqx*
Homepage: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=72230
License: *Unknown*
Description: A module for TivoWeb 1.9.4b3 which allows viewing of the Recording History. Reports are that it works on most everything, including DirecTivo 2.5.x.

====================
Edit: License info now added, along with more of the basic core utilities. Moved PHP down to the development section since it occurred to me it is done up to be both a shell scripting language as well as a cgi.

Edit: I'll probably be poking it all day (10/08/02) but it is about as close to done as I can get it. There are many more applications out there, the problem being that there are often no descriptions associated with them.

Edit: Updated link to wiki

This is *your call* to start responding and PMing with applications I missed, updated information, etc.


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## Tiger

So where do I fit into this, eh?


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## Disconnect

On rereading it (I need more coffee in my life sometimes) it should have been "Apps and Hacks and Bears, Oh My!" .. maybe I'll fix it when I do the next edit.


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## zvonar

Why not include links essential to Tivo upgrades as well? For example:

1) Hinsdale's How-to Tivo upgrade
2) Tiger's Mfs Tools 2.0
3) Dylan's boot disk


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## Tiger

I'd wager because those are well covered in the upgrade forum, and this forum is more about going beyond that.


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## devnull

Don't forget the following:

YAC Client for TiVo - josquin
Displays caller ID info on TV (similar to elseed) from a YAC server on your home network.

elseedyac, yac_srv - pfl2000
Elseed modified to do name/number aliasing and allows your TiVo to act as the YAC server.

gary


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## embeem

shameless plug -
If you try to load tivovbi and don't get any output (2.5.2 and later tivo versions) try grabbing tvbi.o or tvbi-dtv.o from http://tivo.samba.org/download/mbm/bin/ ; load the module (ignore the device busy error) then restart tivovbi.


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## Disconnect

Hooray for shameless plug 

As far as YAC, that is on my list but I had to find it first.. now that you have shortcutted that problem (yay) I'll get it in there with the next update.

The Hinsdale Howto is definitely worth listing, but I think it should go as part of the MFS tools listing since this is primarily for applications.


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## Disconnect

Sure, I figure on starting it as a sort of freshmeat-for-tivos .. a very few documents and basically any application I can find. (It will probably not live primarily here forever, but it seemed a good place to kickstart it..)

Tcl hacks, tivoweb modules, etc... its all welcome.


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## Tiger

To fill in a little missing information, the tivo-bin collection is straight from TiVo. Those are the GPL applications that were included on some of the older TiVos before any software updates.


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## Mars Rocket

Now that this post is stuck to the top of the forum you may want to change the Subject to something a little more descriptive (but probably less cute.)

Maybe something like "Almost Complete TiVo Hacks and Appllications list".


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## jelwell

I wrote some tcl scripts a long while back to send and receive email. Very few in the forums seemed to like it at the time, and I was told to stop developing.

http://www.tivonews.com/features/sendemail.shtml
http://www.tivonews.com/features/email.shtml

Joseph Elwell.


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## geowar

>I was told to stop developing. 

By whom? TiVo? or the forum?


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## problematic

You should include the script mentioned in the post I've linked below in your list! I can't even begin to count how many hours it has saved me!
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?postid=588203#post588203


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## yotta

NCID ( http://pvrhack.sonnik.com/tivo/jlc/ ) is absent from the list


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## riekl

Why would you need NCID ? Yac is on the list and is a much better product ..


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## troycarpenter

Because YAC does not offer a non-windows server.


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## dms92969

Hello,

I am trying to activate telnet on my Tivo Series 2 (4.x software).

I followed the instructions found Here

Can someone have any Ideas???


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## Anonymouse

About changing the subject of thiis thread, I like this subject just fine! It got me to read it. It also implies very well what's to be found within, perhaps even more so than a more conservative subject.


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## Zirak

Tivo Control Station has a real homepage now: http://www.zirakzigil.net/tivo/TCS.html


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## RC3105

woooho!

--
Riley


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## jkeegan

To go along with this thread, there is:

the New Hacks Announcement Thread

There we can post just URLs to new threads about new hacks (and new versions of those hacks) as they come out. No discussion, just URLs of threads. That way we can all subscribe to one thread and get a low-noise email report of when new hacks are available for use.

Feel free to help out filling the thread with URLs for various hacks until it's current.


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## sanderton

You are missing the TiVoWeb season pass backup/restore module:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=98723&perpage=40&pagenumber=1

http://www.boygenius.co.uk/tivo/


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## jlc

The NCID homepage changed to ncid.courceforge.net

NCID currently has clients that run on the TiVo, Linux, Windows, Macintosh, FreeBSD, and LCD displays. It will also send Caller ID to a pager or cell phone when a ring count is reached.

---
John


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## sanderton

EndPad is a program that runs in the background on the TiVo and adds "soft" start and end padding. That is, extra recording time is added but only if there is no adjacent recording. Lets you set up extra recording time without triggering clashes because of the extra couple of minutes.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=136658


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## sanderton

Here is a TiVoWeb module for people with two TiVos, which shows which clashes can be resolved by recording them on the other machine.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=138225


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## sanderton

A script to send a status e-mail from the TiVo, listing conflicts, expiries and upcoming recordings.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=140252


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## BIGBLACKKEITH

Is there an easy way to add caller ID to my TIVO?


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## sanderton

New TiVoWeb Module: New Episodes

A TiVoWeb module which displays all episodes on a given day which, according to the guide data at least, have never been shown before.

Wrote it as I thought it might flag up some interesting shows that I would otherwise miss.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=143639


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## sanderton

New TiVoWeb Module: Re-order Season Passes

A TiVoWeb module which lets you edit the priorities of your SP list. The rescheduling then takes place in the background.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=144391


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## sanderton

Script to remove duplicates from the To Do List if a programme with incomplete episode data has multiple showings per day.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=1783430#post1783430


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## PortlandPaw

*Hack Manager* is a plug-in module for TivoWeb and TivoWebPlus that allows the user to start and stop TiVo hacks, such as telnet, tivoftp, TiVo Control Station, cron, YAC, etc.

Optionally, the user may elect to include remote reboot capabilities and the ability to execute bash command lines. _NOTE:_ Please read the warnings about these features!

Additionally, one can adjust the start-up parameters for EndPad from TivoWeb. It's even possible to switch from TivoWeb 1.9.4 to TivoWebPlus and back again, all on the fly!

Version 2.0.0 update includes support for xPlusz commands and backdoor codes as well as incorporating JJBliss's bufferhack, KeepUpTo and TCTimout utilities. Hackman also provides protection against reboot cycling caused by corrupted guide data.

TivoWeb Hack Manager thread


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## PortlandPaw

This is a shortcut to Now Playing available from TivoWeb's main menu.

This could be easily modified to provide a shortcut to any section of a TivoWeb module, provided that the section stands alone and isn't dependent upon other variables. Your mileage will certainly vary.

Shortcut to Now Playing


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## Snoopy

Detailed List
Dates, version numbers, descriptions, associated issues, screenshots, the works
Please HELP


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## rodney896

The link for tpop seems to be down  , i cant find it on google can someone please send it to me or a link to it


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## sanderton

Tracker: Module to mark shows in the To Do List which have been recorded in the past, so they can easily be removed.

Currently a beta, here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?postid=2231066#post2231066


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## Brad3480

Is there one of the caller ID programs that will work for a Tivo Series 2 Box?

Thanks


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## abramoa

There is no tivo,samba,org/download/mbm/bin 
Where can I find tvbi.o ??

Plese?

A>


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## PortlandPaw

I've got links to tvbi in my hackman documentation. Follow the link in my sig.

p.s. Google or the search feature on this forum could also provide the answer.


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## abramoa

Sorry, but all the links end up in dead ends.

So does extensive search of Google, Yahoo and Altavista. In many languages.

There is nothing at Samba. Nothing at all.

Would some kind soul please share the current location of tvbi.o (for Tivo Series 1) or just post the fily (it's tiny)? 

No offense, but.... Please please please don't tell me that "searching should help" - done that. It does not. I also have received several helpful emails with dead links (same).  

REAL help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


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## Fozzie

abramoa said:


> Sorry, but all the links end up in dead ends.


Not true. As PortlandPaw kindly posted, there is a link in his Hackman documentation where you can download TiVoVBI.


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## abramoa

Fozzie, you are absolutely correct, there are links to tivovbi.

BUT there is no working link to tvbi.o anywhere, and tvbi.o is a kernel module necessary for tivovbi to work. It is NOT included in tivovbi distribution either.

Still looing for help...


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## abramoa

Dear embeem, the link you gave goes nowhere. Is there a new location for tvbi.o?

Thanks!


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## Paradinglunatic

Looks like the Wiki was taken over


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## Redux

Paradinglunatic said:


> Looks like the Wiki was taken over


But this thread, which you have effectively bumped, has links to some fascinating history that I thought was long gone from TCF. A very brief time during which real hacking was at least alluded to here.

Even mfs_ftp, which is still useful today.


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## Paradinglunatic

Yeah. Sadly I'm a noob to tivo hacking, which is why this thread caught my eye. I checked the wiki a few times the past couple of weeks. For a while I was just getting forbidden errors..now it's a bunch of links that point to an online pharmacy site. Anyways, I've been trying to find some of the old hacks and modules and other things and it seems I'm coming across a whole lot of broken links. I've been interested in hacking a tivo for about a year or so now since I've had an R10 and I was rather annoyed that DTV decided to cripple their DVR's. So I bought a hard driveless Phillips DSR704 on ebay, and ran the zipper on a drive I had. Anyways...it's good to see hacking the older stuff has gotten easier, but kind of sad there has been little updates in development. It kind of sucks to have to dig through with searches on a lot of very old threads for fixes to bugs from 1 to 2 years ago in hacks that seem to have been forgotten about. I'm almost tempted to type up a post with links to all the bug fixes for the most current releases for patches, especially since I'm just starting and have most of the stuff bookmarked. It seems that even a lot of the "FAQ" threads have gotten way out of date and sloppy.


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## xiojason

Since the new DirecTiVo Series 1 system upgrade to v3.5 late last month, tivovbi has ceased working. Loading the tvbi-test.o kernel module causes an instant reboot. 

Is there any chance in heck that a new tvbi.o kernel module for DTiVo 3.5 might be available?


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