# TiVo HD Hacking



## kenttowns (Dec 23, 2006)

I need some help here. My local cable provider has screwed up my ability to receive proper guide information and I'm stuck in a finger pointing war between the cable company and TiVo as to why they can't fix it.

I believe that if I can use the channel map features of the TiVo, I may be able to solve my own problem. But to do that, I need to hack my TiVo.

I've managed to follow the various guides on the web to successfully remove the SATA drive from my TiVo HD, mount it in my PC, boot up a Linux Live CD, mount the partitions (4, 7, and 9), copy Jenkins files to partition 9 in a /hack directory, and create an rc.sysinit.author file on both active and inactive partitions that starts telnet (tnlited). I've actually done this several times using on-line examples to script my bash script file.

The problem is that every time I put the drive back in my TiVo HD, I'm never able to connect via telnet. Worst of all, when I put the TiVo HD drive back in my PC, all of my changes have been reverted back to the standard TiVo files (my rc.sysinit.author is gone, and my /hack directory on partition 9 is gone). My changes on the inactive partition remain, but that doesn't help me much since it's...well...inactive.

Can somebody help me understand how to make my changes stay put?


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

You need to hack the PROM in order to make any changes to the software. Unless you know how to work with surface mounted components, it's beyond the capability of most people to even consider doing this. You'd also need to know how to flash a replacement PROM. There are services available that will modify the PROM for you, but they're not cheap or always readily available.


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## kenttowns (Dec 23, 2006)

mr.unnatural said:


> You need to hack the PROM in order to make any changes to the software. Unless you know how to work with surface mounted components, it's beyond the capability of most people to even consider doing this. You'd also need to know how to flash a replacement PROM. There are services available that will modify the PROM for you, but they're not cheap or always readily available.


Thanks Mr. Unnatural...

I think I'll sell this TiVo HD and rent the new TiVo Premier that Suddenlink is now offering. You've saved me a lot of wasted time.

Sincerely...


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

kenttowns said:


> Thanks Mr. Unnatural...
> 
> I think I'll sell this TiVo HD and rent the new TiVo Premier that Suddenlink is now offering. You've saved me a lot of wasted time.
> 
> Sincerely...


Is Suddenlink your cable provider? Your internet provider?

If your cable provider hasn't given Tribune Media Services correct and up-to-date information about their channel line-up, then it doesn't matter which model TiVo you have.


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