# svr 2000



## alkap (Apr 21, 2007)

I recently acuired sony svr 2000 tivo. I also currently have phillips sa1 which I was able to hack and get a bash prompt. This one, however, doesn't behave the same, almost like serial port is dead.

I read at least one post on web about someone having problem with svr 2000 serial port. I have opened the unit and visual check finds nothing abnorma?

anyone one know if there ant trick to activate the serial port?

thanks

alkap


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

It is the same as on a Philips. Later ones may need an additional hack (killinitrd IIRC).


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## ciscokid911 (Mar 29, 2008)

Hi Bud Need Help hacking my Tivo Svr 2000 for me to get My Viewsat 2000p Going .. If Please send me some help ..


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

"Going" on what?


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## PortlandPaw (Jan 11, 2004)

classic, you're entirely too patient of late!


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## ciper (Nov 4, 2004)

The SVR-2000 is exactly the same as all other S1 units with the exception of the face plate and the IR codes so whatever you did to the Phillips should work with the Sony


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## alkap (Apr 21, 2007)

ciper said:


> The SVR-2000 is exactly the same as all other S1 units with the exception of the face plate and the IR codes so whatever you did to the Phillips should work with the Sony


Thats what I undserdtood, however, I cant get to boot menu like phillips. I also read on this forum that you needed to change boot prom like Dtivo, is that true? I changed the kernel with kill_initrd before any of my hacks would servvive, hence the question.
thanks
Alkap


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## ciper (Nov 4, 2004)

alkap said:


> Thats what I undserdtood, however, I cant get to boot menu like phillips. I also read on this forum that you needed to change boot prom like Dtivo, is that true? I changed the kernel with kill_initrd before any of my hacks would servvive, hence the question.
> thanks
> Alkap


You dont need to change the boot prom and you shouldn't change the kernel with kill_initrd. I can't imagine the Tivo even booting if you did the kernel hacks to it!


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

FWIW, I had to kill_initrd my SVR2000. It might have been a later one though.


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## ciper (Nov 4, 2004)

Really? You sure it wasn't an SVR-3000?


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

I think the point of confusion is this: 
killinitrd = just removing initrd from the kernel - used in a variety of ways on S1, S2, and S2.5 tivos

killhdinitrd - hack that causes initrd not to be run, only works on S2 machines with certain kernels


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## ciper (Nov 4, 2004)

You are right. My mistake. I was confusing the tool used to modify the S2 with the general term.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

It was definitely an SVR2000. 

I couldn't get my mods to stick so on a lark, I ran killinitrd (said to be for SAT-60s only), and that did the trick.


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## alkap (Apr 21, 2007)

classicsat said:


> It was definitely an SVR2000.
> 
> I couldn't get my mods to stick so on a lark, I ran killinitrd (said to be for SAT-60s only), and that did the trick.


did you also do prom flash?
alkap


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## Da Goon (Oct 22, 2006)

alkap said:


> did you also do prom flash?
> alkap


tivoflash is only necessary for directv units


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Nope, just killinitrd.


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## alkap (Apr 21, 2007)

thanks
alkap


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## MikeRivers (Sep 22, 2008)

New dummy here. I got a FreeCycled SVR-2000 with no intention of using it like a real TiVo, just as replacement for my aging VCR for recording TV programs off the air for later viewing. It bugs me about not making its daily phone call (no subscription here, of course) but that doesn't seem to keep it from doing what I want to do with it. 

The only annoyance is that its clock time is off by about 13 minutes (it had been disconnected for several months before I got it) and I have to remember to set the timer to compensate. I've read that the way to set the clock is to use the BASh. I've connected a PC via the serial port and can access the Diagnostic (I think that's what it's called) menu but getting to the shell seems to be more involved than the simple "it's right there" described in the "Setting the time" page on the WeeHet TiVo web site. 

It looks like in order to get the shell to start up, it's necessary to edit a file on the TiVo drive. Is that what I must do? If so, is the disk formatted in a way that Windows can recognize it so that I can edit it on a PC? I don't have a Unix or Linux setup. 

I'd really love for my TiVo to know what time it is so I don't have to figure it out every time I want to set it up to record a program.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

You can have it call home with serial PPP, with no modifications tot he system, if it has 3.0 software.
You can use it as a free recorder, if it was manufactured before October 2001.

To manually enable BASH, you need a custom linux (on a boot CD) that knows how to mount [bitswapped] TiVo partitions. I recommend you look for the Steve Jenkins TiVo howto.


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## MikeRivers (Sep 22, 2008)

Thanks for the quick reply. It's nice to now that there's still some life left in these old machines.



classicsat said:


> You can have it call home with serial PPP, with no modifications tot he system, if it has 3.0 software.


Welll . . . okay. I looked up the Steve Jenkins reference and, while I understand it all, I don't think I really want to go through all that. Same with installing a custom Linux.

I don't mind hooking it up to a phone line and letting it make a call once a month or so to correct the clock (as long as it doesn't try to call Hong Kong or something), but what I don't want is for it to say "Sorry, you aren't a subscriber" and disable the functions that I have now. I don't know how insidious it is, but I know how insidious it _could be_ if they were nasty about it.

So, is it safe to make the call occasionally? And will that set the clock?

You can use it as a free recorder, if it was manufactured before October 2001.

To manually enable BASH, you need a custom linux (on a boot CD) that knows how to mount [bitswapped] TiVo partitions. I recommend you look for the Steve Jenkins TiVo howto.[/QUOTE]


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Yes, you can safely make the call. Without a sub you are entitled to that, and having guided setup available (should you need that).


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## MikeRivers (Sep 22, 2008)

classicsat said:


> Yes, you can safely make the call. Without a sub you are entitled to that,


Thanks again for the info. Connected the phone line, forced the call, the clock is now set, and the TiVo didn't blow up. Only difference is now instead of telling me that it hasn't made its daily call it tells me that my subscription has expired and that I don't have any TiVo features without a subscription.

I think I'll retire my dreams of being a certified TiVo hacker for now and just plug in the phone line once every couple of weeks when the clock gets far enough off time to worry about.


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## PortlandPaw (Jan 11, 2004)

If you decide to continue hacking, you can install hackman which has a function to manually set the clock.


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## MikeRivers (Sep 22, 2008)

Is anybody still here? I'm using a Sony SVR-2000 without an account, just for a recorder and buffer.

It's been about a year since I last posted, and my TiVo doesn't seem to know what time zone it's supposed to be in. I can make a test call successfully, it says it sets the clock, but it's off by an hour. thinking it's an hour later than the actual time. It was doing that when it was on Daylight Saving Time, too.

I tried booting up from power unplugged, and it displayed the correct system time, but after making a test phone call, it still thinks that TiVo time is an hour later. I read the instructions for replacing the operating system with something that will allow me to manually set the clock, but I really don't want to dive in that deeply.

I suppose I could try setting the phone number to some city in the next time zone and letting it make a test call there. At 3 cents/minute a couple of times a year, it won't kill me. I'll probably try that before I get any answers here, but I wonder what's going on that's causing it to update its clock incorrectly. I'm guessing that it's getting the current local time from the phone call whether it's DST or standard. I've looked all over to see if I could find an option to implement Daylight Saving Time or ignore it, but I didn't find one.

[Later] Well, that idea didn't work. A little further research suggests that the place where you tell it your time zone is only in the Guided Setup. I've never run that - I got the TiVo second-hand and the timekeeping was correct, until it wasn't. Since this procedure carries dire warnings, as a user without an account and no intention of getting one , what are my risks if I run through the setup? Will it just not give me the TiVo stuff? Or will it blow me off and tell me to come back when I have an account, leaving me with a doorstop?


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

When the DST rules changed a few years ago, TiVo didn't update the software for the Series 1s. At the beginning and end of the extended period they send a "runme" command to each box that does something to the time and reboots it at 2:00am. Without a valid sub that probably doesn't happen.


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## bengalfreak (Oct 20, 2002)

MikeRivers said:


> Is anybody still here? I'm using a Sony SVR-2000 without an account, just for a recorder and buffer.
> 
> It's been about a year since I last posted, and my TiVo doesn't seem to know what time zone it's supposed to be in. I can make a test call successfully, it says it sets the clock, but it's off by an hour. thinking it's an hour later than the actual time. It was doing that when it was on Daylight Saving Time, too.
> 
> ...


Every year for two weeks in the fall, you are going to have this problem due to the DSt change. Without hacking the Tivo, or paying for a subscription, your choices are to live with it or live with it.


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## MikeRivers (Sep 22, 2008)

Interesting . . . Thanks. This unit is pretty old so it may not know when DST changes. 

When I got it, it had been unplugged for several months and the clock was off by an hour and several minutes. Making a test call (DST was in effect at the time) bumped it up by an hour, which corrected it. But a few months later when I made a test call to get the clock back to the right time (it had drifted off by a few minutes) it got bumped up by an hour, that's where it seems to be stuck now. It was an hour ahead during DST, and now it's an hour ahead on standard time. I'll have to see if it corrects itself in a couple of weeks, but based on the past year's (non) performance, it probably won't. 

It's not a big deal. I can live with it since I rarely use it for making a programmed recording. I just have to remember to add an hour to the time I want to start recording. It would be useful to find out about the Guided Setup thing, though. I wonder if I can find a text walkthrough on the web somewhere.


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