# Maintaining Sapper



## jjdolphin (Jan 16, 2005)

I have a few questions that I would like to see if someone can answer for me.

I applied the sapper onto my 8.3 software and it seems everything is working well. I had to dump my wireless card for the Tivo branded one, but things work.

I find reference to having to maintain the Sapper hack as the different upgrades are sent to the Tivo. Can someone tell me what those maintenance procedures are. Everyone keeps referring to the need to allow the update, re-apply the hack etc., but I do have some questions.

1. If the sapper is installed with setting the updates to false (eg. hda4), how is the update received? Is it received but just not applied? Do you have to change the false to true and then the Tivo applies the update? Do you then apply the Sapper again?

2. Is the software update applied to another root partition (eg. hda7), then that root partition becomes active and the old partition, hda4, inactive? Does this mean you have to now run the Sapper on the new partition? 

3. What happens to the old partition that had the original hack? If another update is downloaded can that old partition be updated, or is it blocked by the original software update=false command? 

4. How is the slicer involved in this process with Sapper? After the upgrade downloads do you run slicer from the hack directory of hda4?

Like I said, there are a few references about maintenance, but it is not spelled out clearly.

I ask this because I had a Tivo hack and ended up loosing the whole drive because the machine kept doing the download and prompting for the unit to be restarted. I restarted the unit and the old software was still there, and I was out of the guide data and could not even watch any of the recorded shows. I just could not get answers for the Sapper. Most of the posts are vague on how this whole software update procedure works.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

Did you run tweak.sh? That's where the hacks are. I believe SAper just installes ftp and telnet and a few other get you in stuff. Also, did you use the correct version of superpatch? You need the one with 678 in the title.

I'm a newb so consider the source. Yes, the updates will down load but not install. This really gives you a chance to move things to the inactive partition before you reboot. My understanding is the var partition is what wipes but with the symlinks and an entry that was put in the author file, that partition will rebuild itself so I dont think we have to worry. One of the other guys will be along with a more definate answer but I wanted to make sure you ran tweak to get the real benefit.


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## Da Goon (Oct 22, 2006)

When tivo decides to push out a new update, you're unit will download slices that are basically compacted versions of the new root fs and kernel, etc and will store them in MFS until the unit is ready to update itself. When the update occurs, yes, it will install the new sw on the alternate partition and then boot from it. The upgradesoftware flag keeps the tivo from installing the new sw on its own, but once the slices are downloaded, your unit will reboot at 2am every night in a vain attempt to install the sw.

When you're ready to take the upgrade, you can manually run installSw.itcl which will install the new sw on your alternate partition set. Then you can hack it again manually, use the slicer or pull the drive and run the sapper on your new partition, provided the sapper still works on the new sw. The slicer automates the process in the sense that it edits and runs installSw.itcl for you and copies over your hacked kernel and other hacks for you.

I do agree that the sapper is good way to get started, but if you're using a SA tivo, I'd highly recommend to learn how to a manual upgrade yourself. It's quite easy, and given the fact that tivo does update SA sw quite frequently, it will give you the chance to learn and understand the process, and do it yourself, without having to wait for the slicer/sapper to be updated each time, as well as giving you the advantage of not having to deal with those annoying nightly reboots in the mean time. Look over on ddb for a thread by scanman, where he documented his manual upgrade to 7.2.2. Things change with each update, but the general principle stays the same. This is probably best evidenced by posters stating they manually updated their hacked S3 tivos. Good luck, at some point you WILL need it. Hope this helps.


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## jjdolphin (Jan 16, 2005)

That is an excellent thread you pointed me to, thanks Goon.

I think I have a better understanding now of what goes on internally with the update.

Do I copy the /hacks directory and /enhancement to hda7? Should I delete them on hda4? Any other directories or files need to be copied? 

I did run the tweak on (hda4), so should I uninstall the tweak before commencing with the manual upgrade?

Is there a way to copy the hacked kernel from hda3 to hda4 or hda7 in order to dd to hda6? Or do I have to move it from the Sapper CD? Is there a fakecall that is compatible with 8.3 software?


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

So what advantage do we gain by keeping the hacks out of the /var directory?


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

JJ, you don't need fake call. That is for direct tivo's.


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## jjdolphin (Jan 16, 2005)

I don't get my PPV channels in the guide. I thought the fakecall enables that. Does this mean something is wrong with my Tivo if the ppv channel are missing in my guide? I switched recently to Dish from Directv. For some reason when I had Directv all my PPV showed.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

jjdolphin said:


> I don't get my PPV channels in the guide. I thought the fakecall enables that. Does this mean something is wrong with my Tivo if the ppv channel are missing in my guide? I switched recently to Dish from Directv. For some reason when I had Directv all my PPV showed.


Sorry, I may have given you bad information. I assumed you had a SA series 2 because of your software version being 8.3. I guess I was wrong???


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

Soapm said:


> So what advantage do we gain by keeping the hacks out of the /var directory?


Periodically the var directory gets emptied by your tivo as part of its routine housekeeping chores. If you keep your hacks there and the directory gets wiped your hacks also get wiped. If your hacks are somewhere else say /enhancements/varhack then your hacks don't get wiped.


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## jjdolphin (Jan 16, 2005)

Soapm said:


> Sorry, I may have given you bad information. I assumed you had a SA series 2 because of your software version being 8.3. I guess I was wrong???


Actually you are not wrong. I had the series 1 prior and from what I remember I had my PPV guide. Now I have the SA 2 with 8.3 and wondered if the PPV guide was available for recording. It would probably be a call to Dish to schedule the event and then set the recording on the SA 2. But, if it is not in the guide then no go. I didn't know if that was a function of Dish and/or SApper or Tivo.


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## rbautch (Feb 6, 2004)

jjdolphin said:


> I have a few questions that I would like to see if someone can answer for me.
> 
> I applied the sapper onto my 8.3 software and it seems everything is working well. I had to dump my wireless card for the Tivo branded one, but things work.
> 
> ...


As far as maintenance goes, I suggest periodically running this command

```
echo mls /SwSystem | tivosh
```
which will tell you what your current software system is, and if any new software updates have been downloaded to your tivo. Because you have the upgradesoftware=false bootpage parameter set, new software will still get downloaded to your tivo, but it won't become active until you perform a manual slice upgrade or use the slicer. I agree it's good to do a manual slice upgrade to know what's going on during the upgrade process. The Slicer is just an automated way to do the exact same thing. I've used the same Slicer program to do numerous software updates on many different tivo types, and I think the program has stabilized to the point where it should be compatible with just about any software upgrade, unless Tivo pushes out substantial changes. Anyway, it's good to "be prepared", know what your doing, and always have a backup.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Nothing is broken with your TiVo if you get no Dish PPV, Dish just doesn't submit that data to Tribune, TiVo's guide provider.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

I noticed Hackman has this link "Copy active to inactive partitions (CAUTION)" 

Is this what you do after getting updated software?
Has anyone done this? Does it work?


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