# How do I find the MAK for a DirecTV TiVo?



## TaoMacGuy (Jun 3, 2006)

Hey all,

A (somewhat more than cursory rummaging through the forums turned up nothing obviously helpful).

I've hacked my Hughes (40GB) TiVo to a 500GB drive today. Added the Zipper hack and it's on the network with 400+ hours of recording time. Woo hoo!

I loaded TiVo Desktop (2.3) on a Windows XP box. It can see the TiVo in the preferences section (i.e. the netowking should be OK, I'm also able to telnet to the TiVo box from all systems on my network). I'm stuck not knowing my Media Access Key.

I can't find anywhere obvious to look this up at the DirecTV web site, and on my TiVO, the "Messages & Setup" does not have an "Account & Settings" menu (just a "Settings" menu) which I understand would show me my MAK.

Do I have one? Have I missed an FAQ or some such (it's entirely possible as my "hacking" was not without incident and my brain is pretty fryed right now). I've come so far, I don't want to be stopped by a missing MAK!

Thanks for any advice, pointers, etc.

John


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

No such thing as a valid MAK for a DirecTivo. You can't use Tivo Desktop 2.3 with it, either.

What are you trying to accomplish?


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## the new guy (Oct 29, 2004)

The USB network device you use will have a MAK, but the DTiVo itself will not. You can find the MAK on the adapter's package, or get it from your router through the info screens.

Tim

edit: D'OH!


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## rpdre1 (Feb 20, 2005)

Network devices have MAC addresses, not a MAK.


If you want to find the MAK to extract shows with Tivo Desktop, stop right there. You can't with Tivo Desktop.
You will need to look into other tools. Check the zipper wiki.

If you just want to serve MP3 & Photos to your dtivo with Tivo Desktop, you can skip the question and it will work without a MAK (I use Tivo Desktop 2.0, don't know if you can skip the question in later versions.)


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

I was given to understand that later versions of Tivo Desktop simply don't work with 6.x.

You can use JavaHMO; works beautifully.


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

the new guy said:


> The USB network device you use will have a MAK, but the DTiVo itself will not. You can find the MAK on the adapter's package, or get it from your router through the info screens.


MAC != MAK.

MAK: Media Access Key, used by Tivo for TivoToGo/MRV/etc. "Media" as in "videos."

MAC: Media Access Control address, a hardware addressed used at layer 2 by networking devices (ethernet cards, token-ring cards, wireless adapters, etc.). "Media" as in "network transmission media" such as unshielded twisted-pair copper.

Two VERY different things.


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## ttodd1 (Nov 6, 2003)

the new guy said:


> The USB network device you use will have a MAK, but the DTiVo itself will not. You can find the MAK on the adapter's package, or get it from your router through the info screens.
> 
> Tim


 Now this made my morning....


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## the new guy (Oct 29, 2004)

Yeah, I realized later that I had the terms mixed up, but I had already shut my computer down for the night. That's what I get for posting so late.  

I knew I would be corrected at least 6 times by the time I logged back in to correct my error.  

Tim


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## TaoMacGuy (Jun 3, 2006)

Hi guys,

Thanks for the pointer to the zipper wikki.

I'm trying to (ultimately) transfer recorded shows from my TiVo to my new Intel iMac. I have Parallels Desktop running Windows XP on that iMac, so if I end up needing the Windows version of TiVo Desktop I should be all set with a single-box setup. I'm off to check out the zipper wikki reference.

The more I get into this, the more I'm looking for a reason to dump DirecTV.



rpdre1 said:


> Network devices have MAC addresses, not a MAK.
> 
> If you want to find the MAK to extract shows with Tivo Desktop, stop right there. You can't with Tivo Desktop.
> You will need to look into other tools. Check the zipper wiki.
> ...


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## cheer (Nov 13, 2005)

the new guy said:


> I knew I would be corrected at least 6 times by the time I logged back in to correct my error.


Glad to be of service!


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## TaoMacGuy (Jun 3, 2006)

This just gets more and more fun by the minute!

I tried going to the Zipperwiki site and keep getting various errors about the site being not found or having errors in the server's configuration file. I've tried posting details but the (mumble, mumble, mumble) bulletin board software keeps telling me I'm not allowed to post URLs yet (though I see nothing in my message which looks like a URL, but I digress).

Anyone know how to contact the keeper of Zipperwiki (assuming they are not aware of this problem)?

Thanks again.


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## JWThiers (Apr 13, 2005)

TaoMacGuy said:


> This just gets more and more fun by the minute!
> 
> I tried going to the Zipperwiki site and keep getting various errors about the site being not found or having errors in the server's configuration file. I've tried posting details but the (mumble, mumble, mumble) bulletin board software keeps telling me I'm not allowed to post URLs yet (though I see nothing in my message which looks like a URL, but I digress).
> 
> ...


Try PM'ing Gunnyman. I just went there and got no problems. I have a PC not a MAC but a tool you might want to check is TivoTool its MAC only (Darn it) but does _INTERESTING _things


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## TaoMacGuy (Jun 3, 2006)

Thanks JWThiers, but Zipperwiki seems to be back this morning. Go figure. I'm in the middle of fighting the first nasty cold I've had in years and so I bailed last night. I'll give it another go today.

I will not be denied!

Thanks to all on this and the other various forums for the invaluable help in getting my TiVo hacked! You know you're a geek when you find this exercise fun!


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