# HR10-250 w/o DirecTV



## mtxrooster (Jun 12, 2009)

Hey all.. My quest started awhile back, just before the digial signal became the standard. I canceled cable and wanted to find a way to record OTA shows, and saw the DirecTV unit with the TIVO logo on it at a yard sale and bought it cheap in hopes of making it work. Low and behold (as all you know, but I didn't) you have to have DirecTV service, even to just record OTA signals.. Went round and round with about 10 reps and no one would let me just start service on it paying solely for OTA recording (though they'd sell me a NEW unit and let me activate the hr10-250 after I bought a new unit....)

Anyway, the only valuable lesson at the time I learned was that I just picked up a $8 paperweight, err that is I just bought a 250GB hdd for $8. Admittedly, I actually bought 2 of the units on day1. Turns out, even though I can't record shows, I DO use it daily for watching TV. My plasma TV is dual-tuner ATSC digital-friendly, but has no pause/stop/rev/ff features.. The HR10 might not let me RECORD shows, but I can use all the buffer features. Woot! Additionally, the 2nd unit ended up on an older TV which only had an analog tuner (woot again!!, no $40-100 convertor box necessary!).

This weekend, I saw yet another one of these things laying on a yard sale table and decided I might as well finally scoop one up to harvest the HDD (was $3). Got home and tore it out. Then, for kicks, decided to google/yahoo it up real quick as I remembered when I last looked these up, how close they were to Tivo units, and Tivo hacking (from what I've been told) is very popular. Sure enough, I found a few sites, even some posts here which specialize in HR10-250 hacking. (including the zipper mentioned here). 

Problem is, none of these places are talking about their actual service. Can I use these applications? Will they enable my recorder? I mean, if they have the ability to go in and set encryption flags, and enable this and disable that, surely my roadblock would also be covered, right? Is it, does anyone know? Is there anyone here who has hacked their unit in any way that allows them to record shows OTA? 

Do these hacks/mods make it strictly a Tivo unit (IE remove the DirecTV from the DirecTV box?) I read about using USB-to-Ethernet deals so show names can be downloaded to the box - That's a Tivo, not DirecTV feature, right? Everyone out there has these tutorials set up about how to do it (which is fine, I can handle it) but no one tells from what I've read whether their current members of DirecTV, or Tivo, or ??? and what will happen if you are or aren't. 

If someone could enlighten me, I'd really appreciate it. I could quickly go from 0 to 3 hacked units in a matter of hours were I to know the end result I could/should expect. 

Rooster


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## ForrestB (Apr 8, 2004)

Discussion is probably be a banned topic according to this forum's Terms of Service http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/rules.html


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## mtxrooster (Jun 12, 2009)

You're going to need to be more specific.. I don't believe anything I've asked breaks any rules??

The only thing I can see that comes even remotely close to it is the fact that DirecTV is not allowing me in any way, shape or form to PAY for my DVR portion of the hr10-250 to be enabled. Belive me, I've tried, and will willingly forward you at least 15 emails between them and I requesting the service be activated.

Aside of that, the rules listed specify Tivo. I'm not, nor would be paying to Tivo, as the payment would go to DirecTV (however, again, they will not LET me get service on it to pay them...).

Thirdly.. As a Tivo user, can you not use your DVR for free? Yes. Sure, you have to pay if you want the name of the show embedded or whatever, but you can use it to record... (or so I'm told by others, correct me if this is wrong, have friends with tivo, none able to "hack/modify" their units, and some pay for the program data, others do not.).

I believe - and I may be wrong - but I even asked if doing these hacks to remove the "direcTV" from said units would allow me to use them as Tivo units.. You may imply or infer from that I would be creating a Tivo account with the option to pay for program data. But - As I repetitively state over and over - I just want to be able to record on my HR10-250.

To be clear, I'm not ranting, I'm just commenting my thoughts..

Additionally, I'm not saying, "hey, can someone hook me up with an illegeal feature" or anything of that nature. I'm asking what a Non-DirecTV'd system will be able to do after these hacks/mods/updates are applied.


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## ForrestB (Apr 8, 2004)

You already have your answer - you need to subscribe to DirecTV's satellite TV service and add their DVR, which was about $65 per month last time I checked. Then they will permit you to add the HR10-250 for another $5 per month.


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## mtxrooster (Jun 12, 2009)

They will not let me create an account (IE start service) with the HR10-250, therefore I cannot start a service.. 

So that's why I'm asking if this deal removes the DirecTV from this HR10-250 tivo unit. Tivo users do not have to pay to record shows. Seems legal to me. Not like I'm looking to get satellite service, just want to record OTA, like any Tivo user can, for free. I'm guessing based on your answer, this is not possible, which is unfortunate.


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

mtxrooster,

In order to get the HR10-250 to record OTA, you need to subscribe to DirecTV. There is no other way to say it more plainly. There is a reason why you were able to buy it at a yard sale for $3. The HR10-250 is old and cannot receive the feeds from the new DirecTV satellites, so people are selling them to get rid of them. There is no hack available on this website that will enable the OTA recording feature of the HR10-250. Hacking to enable TiVo service is a banned subject on this website.

However, there is a thread in the HD DirecTiVo section that will show you how to setup the HR10-250 to receive and view OTA. It will not let you record, only trick play (pause/rewind/fast forward). This might be your best option.

Hope that helps,
robomeister


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## David Platt (Dec 13, 2001)

mtxrooster said:


> So that's why I'm asking if this deal removes the DirecTV from this HR10-250 tivo unit. Tivo users do not have to pay to record shows. Seems legal to me. Not like I'm looking to get satellite service, just want to record OTA, like any Tivo user can, for free.


I think you've been misinformed about TiVo's functionality. TiVo users cannot record OTA for free. Every TiVo (except for some older series one machines, which cannot record OTA) need a subscription to record anything at all.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

DirecTV will not start any new accounts with old equipment. You can only open an account with new hardware, although you can add used receivers and DVRs once the account has been established. As you have discovered, the HR10-250 will actually work as an OTA tuner with no monthly fees. If you have a DirecTV satellite dish connected you can also get the local channel guide data for free once you've gone through guided setup (an access card is required, although it does not have to be activated; basiclly any DirecTV access card will work, as long as it's a fairly recent version).

You will not find any hacks on this site, or any other site for that matter, that will tell you how to use a Tivo without the DVR/Tivo service. If you want a DVR for recording OTA local channels without paying any monthly fees, look into building yourself a HTPC (Home Theater PC). It's basically just a PC with one or more tuner cards installed. If you have either Vista Home Premium or Vista Ultimate then it has the Media Center software included that lets you set up your PC as a DVR with just the addition of a tuner card and an antenna feed.


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## mtxrooster (Jun 12, 2009)

Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it - This whole thing is (was) very confusing. I've no idea what Series equipment the fellas I know who have Tivo are running.. I just know they have both mentioned that they can DVR OTA signals for free, but if they want the guide data (including show names on the recordings) you have to pay. While the monthly fee is quite reasonable (for Tivo), it seems it's not an option for me. I had hoped I could rid this "Tivo" unit (which, everything except the background images) call this unit I have of the DirecTV part, and utilize it as a Tivo, but seems that unfortunately just can't happen. It's a shame. These units seem great. HD, crisp clear tuners yet totally unusable  I can't shell out several hundred bucks for a Tivo of similar quality.

I had once considered building a HTPC - Even bought my last mobo around that thought - A Asus board with a Wifi/TV card featuring a digital tuner. Asus, as it turns out, totally sucks - Their wifi/tv card utilizes DVB-T, not ASTC, so it's a paperweight now. 

Would these be of value to anyone (obviously with DirecTV account) on ebay, or should I just continue my original backup plan of rippin out the 250GB hdd's and chuck em in the garbage. I figure ya'll here would know better to ask than anyone. I mean, no matter what I charge for them, shipping on them is gonna suck as they aren't the lightest component out there, heh!

Thanks, 

Roost


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

It is very simple. 

All DirecTV TiVos have their DVR features (including manual recording) enabled by DirecTV subscription. Because of that, any talk to enable the DVR features without an appropriate DirecTV subscription are considered hacking and service theft.

You really cannot "remove" the DirecTV portion. What would need to happen is TiVo re-write the software to enable ATSC only DVR capabilities with their service. They won't do that, nor can you.

Only some standalone models do not require subscription to manually record.

I'd look into an HTPC again. Tuner cards are rather reasonable priced.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

mtxrooster said:


> Thanks for all the replies. I appreciate it - This whole thing is (was) very confusing. I've no idea what Series equipment the fellas I know who have Tivo are running.. I just know they have both mentioned that they can DVR OTA signals for free, but if they want the guide data (including show names on the recordings) you have to pay. While the monthly fee is quite reasonable (for Tivo), it seems it's not an option for me. I had hoped I could rid this "Tivo" unit (which, everything except the background images) call this unit I have of the DirecTV part, and utilize it as a Tivo, but seems that unfortunately just can't happen. It's a shame. These units seem great. HD, crisp clear tuners yet totally unusable  I can't shell out several hundred bucks for a Tivo of similar quality.
> 
> I had once considered building a HTPC - Even bought my last mobo around that thought - A Asus board with a Wifi/TV card featuring a digital tuner. Asus, as it turns out, totally sucks - Their wifi/tv card utilizes DVB-T, not ASTC, so it's a paperweight now.
> 
> ...


The model you have is the HR10-250 and is considered a series 2 Tivo. It's the only DirecTV Tivo model that can also record OTA signals. The information you received about having to pay for guide data is erroneous and competely false. All you need to do is connect it to a dish and run guided setup. The guide data will fill in automatically within 24 hours, even without an active subscription.

Guide data that requires a subscription only applies to standalone Tivos that work with cable or analog OTA reception. They have to dial into Tivo HQ to get their guide data whereas the DirecTV models download it from the satellites. When a Tivo dials in to get the guide data, the Tivo is checked against the database at HQ to confirm the current status of the Tivo's account. If the Tivo Service No. does not show up as being on an active account, it terminates the connection and you don't get any guide data. DirecTV DVRs do not require a phone or network connection to function.

You do need a DirecTV subscription and have to pay the monthly DVR fee in order to record anything. The DVR fee is a flat fee of $4.99 per month (it may be up to $5.99 now) and allows you to have multiple DVRs on your account for one single flat fee. However, since the HR10-250 will only record OTA HD local channels and standard definition mpeg2 channels from DirecTV, it's not worth it to subscribe to DirecTV when there are better options available.


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## mtxrooster (Jun 12, 2009)

classicsat said:


> It is very simple.
> 
> All DirecTV TiVos have their DVR features (including manual recording) enabled by DirecTV subscription. Because of that, any talk to enable the DVR features without an appropriate DirecTV subscription are considered hacking and service theft.


I can understand this.



classicsat said:


> What would need to happen is TiVo re-write the software to enable ATSC only DVR capabilities with their service. They won't do that, nor can you.


This is where you lost me. These forums are full of exactly this - People writing and describing how to add features that don't exist. Wouldn't this be exactly one of those features?

Only some standalone models do not require subscription to manually record.



classicsat said:


> I'd look into an HTPC again. Tuner cards are rather reasonable priced.


Will do. While I'm sure the TivoCommunity forums aren't the place to ask q's about this, can you recommend any site that might help me find say the best/most popular options for the buck?



mr.unnatural said:


> The model you have is the HR10-250 and is considered a series 2 Tivo. It's the only DirecTV Tivo model that can also record OTA signals. The information you received about having to pay for guide data is erroneous and competely false. All you need to do is connect it to a dish and run guided setup. The guide data will fill in automatically within 24 hours, even without an active subscription.
> 
> Guide data that requires a subscription only applies to standalone Tivos that work with cable or analog OTA reception. They have to dial into Tivo HQ to get their guide data whereas the DirecTV models download it from the satellites. When a Tivo dials in to get the guide data, the Tivo is checked against the database at HQ to confirm the current status of the Tivo's account. If the Tivo Service No. does not show up as being on an active account, it terminates the connection and you don't get any guide data. DirecTV DVRs do not require a phone or network connection to function.
> 
> You do need a DirecTV subscription and have to pay the monthly DVR fee in order to record anything. The DVR fee is a flat fee of $4.99 per month (it may be up to $5.99 now) and allows you to have multiple DVRs on your account for one single flat fee. However, since the HR10-250 will only record OTA HD local channels and standard definition mpeg2 channels from DirecTV, it's not worth it to subscribe to DirecTV when there are better options available.


That is pretty cool. At least in the meantime between now and my finding a solution for DVR'ing OTA. At worst case, even for using it as a digital conversion box w/o the DVR ability (like I'm using it now). I mean, not my highest priority, but would be cool nonetheless to have a working guide I suppose. Thanks for the info. Will have to keep my eyes out for a DirecTV sat dish.. This house (we just moved a few months ago) was owned by an AV junkie - Had 4 sat dishes, but their all Dish Network. On the bright side, house is totally wired for everything as a result, so if I can track down a cheap dish and mount it out there, plenty of wiring everywhere, lol. Appreciate the tip!


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