# Serial PPP and networks



## bluel39 (Dec 27, 2002)

Hi

Sorry if this question has been asked before..

I have managed to setup a serial connection with my tivo from a laptop running XP that is connected to my wireless network. 

Can I access the tivo from elsewhere on the network? 

ie while the laptop is attached to the tivo could bring up tivoweb (access the IP address assigned to the tivo) on other machines on the network through that laptop?

Thanks


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## gavinss (Jun 20, 2002)

Yes, you can access it. I have recently done this set-up and can now access by Tivo at work, through my broadband.

In setting it up I read that the XP needs set-up as the server (i.e. you connect into it) for it to do proxyarp, which will allow other systems on the network to access it as it will proxy for your Tivo's IP address. Also note that the addresses you assign to the Tivo and the XP box should be on the same network as the Ethernet network your XP is on (just make sure they are blocked out of any DHCP allocation that may be done.)

Gavin


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## bluel39 (Dec 27, 2002)

Thanks for that.

Are there any guides around about setting up the network so that the laptop that is connected to the tivo serially acts as a proxy so the wireless network can access tivoweb etc?

Have I understood this correctly?

I have set the tivo with an IP address in the range of my wireless router, bit confused what to do next.

Actually I am confused generally. Still I was pleased about linking the PC and tivo as I had tried before with XP to no avail. This other laptop had a proper serial connection where before I had been trying with a USB-serial converter.

Thanks


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## K_Shaw (Dec 4, 2005)

Sorry to hijack this thread, 

Just a quick question where did you get the serial cable from or was it home made? I am in need of a 10m cable to reach my pc. 

Also am I right in saying that if I have tivoweb on my HD with the cachecard drivers bought pre-installed from tivoheaven, can I just plug in the serial cable ftp in and install the relevant software? 

Cheers 

Keith..


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## gavinss (Jun 20, 2002)

bluel39 said:


> Thanks for that.
> 
> Are there any guides around about setting up the network so that the laptop that is connected to the tivo serially acts as a proxy so the wireless network can access tivoweb etc?
> 
> ...


I used a combination of guides, as one guide was from Release 2.5.x to Win 98, and another was from Release 3.0 to XP. The info on setting up on XP which I used is from here.

Note that I did not use WinGate or WinRoute Pro, but just standard XP software. I have a router which does NAT for me. Also, I added some extra lines into the mdmhayes.inf file, so that any data would trigger it to indicate a connection (not sure if it was necessary, but it worked.

The lines I added were:


```
HKR, Responses, "~",       1, 08, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00,00,00,00 ; Server side - the client is requesting a connection
HKR, Responses, "<h00>",  1, 08, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00,00,00,00 ; Server side - the client is requesting a connection
HKR, Responses, "<h00>~",  1, 08, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00,00,00,00 ; Server side - the client is requesting a connection
HKR, Responses, "<hff>",  1, 08, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00,00,00,00 ; Server side - the client is requesting a connection
HKR, Responses, "<cr>",  1, 08, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00,00,00,00 ; Server side - the client is requesting a connection
HKR, Responses, "<lf>",  1, 08, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00,00,00,00 ; Server side - the client is requesting a connection
HKR, Responses, "<cr><lf>",  1, 08, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00, 00,00,00,00 ; Server side - the client is requesting a connection
```
NB: ensure you follow instructions to delete the mdmhayes.pnf file - I forgot that at first, which meant my changes had no effect as it was using the old pre-compiled file. Note I did not follow instructions for setting up the phone on the TiVo, as I thought that may be 3.0-specific.

On the Tivo side, I did the following -

Start PPP (in your favourite file called at boot time):

/

```
var/hack/ppp/startppp &
```
where script _startppp _ contained:


```
while :
do
        stty 115200 </dev/cua3
        echo "CLIENTCLIENT" > /dev/cua3
        sleep 1
        /var/hack/ppp/mypppd file /var/hack/ppp/options.cua3 nodetach
        echo "pppd started on /dev/cua3"
        sleep 30
done
```
The file _/var/hack/ppp/options.cua3 _ contained:


```
/dev/cua3
115200
debug
nocrtscts
lcp-echo-failure 2
lcp-echo-interval 60
local
noauth
nodetach
xonxoff
asyncmap 0
name tivo
defaultroute
```
Note that I think "name tivo" is not required, as I don't do PPP authentication, but I never got round to taking it out.

Note that as it uses device /_dev/cua3_, it needed created as follows (with the root partition mounted as writable):


```
mknod /dev/cua3 c 5 67
```
The file _/var/hack/ppp/mypppd _ is a version of pppd, which is not the 2.5.5 one, as that is said to have a bug. Also it is not named pppd so it is not killed by the TiVo software.

Note that the above _options.cua3_ file will affect the Tivo PPP guide access, and you should make it go over your broadband connection by adding the following line to file /_tvlib/tcl/tv/TClient-lib.itcl_ (with the root partition mounted as writable):


```
catch {file delete /var/tmp/pppaddr}
```
before lines:


```
if [file exists /var/tmp/pppaddr] {
        if {[connectPPP $phone $pppUser $pppPass] != 0} {
            delete object $idb
            delete object $tcd411
            putlog "PPP has failed, we've warned the user, set status to Failed"
```
Cheers, Gavin


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## gavinss (Jun 20, 2002)

K_Shaw said:


> Just a quick question where did you get the serial cable from or was it home made? I am in need of a 10m cable to reach my pc.


I made up my own serial cable. I got a 3 metre heaphone extension lead, and cut off the end with the female plug, and then crimped on an RJ45 connector, and plugged this into a connector which when from RJ45 to serial. The attached picture from the following page shows how to wire this.

If you wanted a longer cable, you could get a number of headphone extension cables, and plug them together. I also see you can currently get a 10 metre cable on ebay - enter "stereo extension cable 3.5mm 10m " in the search.

Gavin


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## K_Shaw (Dec 4, 2005)

Thanks for the info.


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## bluel39 (Dec 27, 2002)

Can I hijack it back again? 

So we are at the point where a PC on a wireless network can talk serially to Tivo, how can the rest of the network also get access to Tivo?

The PC connected to the Tivo needs to be made into some sort of router?

I can't seem to find any information on this, or is it so obvious?

All machines are running XP.

Thanks


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## gavinss (Jun 20, 2002)

bluel39 said:


> Can I hijack it back again?
> 
> So we are at the point where a PC on a wireless network can talk serially to Tivo, how can the rest of the network also get access to Tivo?
> 
> ...


I just set up the XP as in the OzTivo guide I referenced earlier, and it just worked! I think it does not need routing, as the Tivo serial link is actually on the same network as the Ethernet network. And with the XP doing procyarp for the Tivo's IP address, packets sent to your local network will be sent by your router to your XP PC, who will see it has a PPP link to the Tivo and forward them on to it.

Are you connecting OK from the XP PC to the Tivo, and is it just that you cannot connect from other machines?

Gavin


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## bluel39 (Dec 27, 2002)

Thanks for that.

The tivo connection to the XP PC is great, it was just seeing TivoWeb (for example) on other machines in the network that the XP PC was attached to.

I wonder if firewalls or other blocking mechanisms are at play? Maybe I shall just fiddle some more.


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## gavinss (Jun 20, 2002)

bluel39 said:


> Thanks for that.
> 
> The tivo connection to the XP PC is great, it was just seeing TivoWeb (for example) on other machines in the network that the XP PC was attached to.
> 
> I wonder if firewalls or other blocking mechanisms are at play? Maybe I shall just fiddle some more.


It is likely to be due to the firewall. I set mine up to forward HTTP, TELNET, and FTP TCP ports received externally to the IP address of my Tivo.

Gavin


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