Tivo hacking forums

For the dates and times to be accurate, you will need tzoffset. You will need to change the number depending on the time zone you are in. The value is the number of seconds between your time zone and GMT time. For Eastern, the offset is 5 hours difference x 60 x Central is Mountain is Pacific is MFS Tools Freeware.

TiVoWeb Plus Freeware. Access your TiVo's features from your computer's web browser. Allows you to do complicated searches for upcoming programs and record them. It is developed by jdiner, a regular contributor and moderator on the DealDatabase Extraction Forum. Here is the latest TyTool DealDatabase thread. If you plan on doing any video editing or DVD authoring, you will need to download the cygwin1.

If you don't feel brave enough to do the upgrade yourself, you can just buy an upgrade kit after you have bought your DVR that will increase your recording capacity within minutes.

For those of you that are feeling a bit more adventurous and want to try some more creative hard drive upgrades, you can find some great step-by-step instructions that are specific to your particular type of TiVo here.

The standard way to add a second hard drive to your TiVo and increase your recording time is to first create a backup of all your data and then to install the second drive. But if you're short on time and money, you can skip the whole backup process by using the program "mfsadd". The "mfsadd" hack is a bit more complex than the standard hard drive upgrades discussed above, so I wouldn't recommend it if you haven't cracked open your TiVo before.

But if you do decide to give this one a try, O'Reilly will give you some excellent step-by-step instructions. Hacking your TiVo is not without risks, and one of the biggest risks is the possibility of accidentally losing your recorded shows and data. But even if this does happen to you, don't panic, because your info may be recoverable through this little recovery hack. Wouldn't it be wonderful if you had remote access to your TiVo via the net?

Lightn of the AVS Underground. TiVoWeb allows you to access most of your TiVo's on-screen functions, as well as a host of additional functions that are not accessible via your TiVo's standard menus, through a Web browser. That means that if you forgot to record your favorite show before you left on vacation, you can now do it anywhere you can get web access. If you aren't satisfied with TiVoWeb, you can try Tivo Web Plus, a download that will give you a whole new set of web interface innovations for your TiVo.

For those of you who want to get really serious about accessing your TiVo via the web, the ultimate plug-in is the Hackman which is an add on to both TiVoWeb and TiVoWebPlus that will let you turn your hacks on and off remotely or reboot your entire TiVo system via the web. For those of you that like to watch shows and videos on both your TiVo and your laptop, it can be a real hassle that the two aren't compatible with one another.

If you are a Mac user, you'll need to use a slightly different hack, but the Mac hack isn't any more difficult to do, and with it you can still get the same Mac to TiVo transfer capabilities as PC users.

YouTube junkies: want to avoid the hassle of first downloading your videos on to your PC, and then transferring them to your TiVo? So you won't need to download anything new to get this feature, you will just need to access the hidden command. Otherwise you will have to go through the hassle of starting up each hack individually every time you reboot. Most hacks don't run automatically when TiVo boots because the commands needed to start them up aren't in your TiVo's standard startup files.

So getting your hacks to automatically startup comes down to just transferring the hacks start up commands to your startup folder. For detailed instructions, see section 5 of Steve Jenkins' How-To guide. This happens because your TiVo is set to get the information it needs about how to access your local network from what's called a DHCP server. For detailed instructions, go through Jenkins' how-to guide, section 9.

How boring is it to have just a standard Now Playing list that does not let you customize! If you have TiVo OS 4. With this simple hack you can sort your Now Playing list by expiration date or in alphabetical order. Some older TiVo's OS 3. Lifetime subscription is for the life of the unit, not the owner. If you sell your unit, the lifetime subscription you paid for goes with the unit. The new owner would have the lifetime sub. This is one of the more misunderstood things about the TiVo service.

I'm not sure why. Seems pretty clear to me. Compare the prices on ebay. Tivo boxen with lifetime sub always goes for more money. If yours is broken and has a lifetime sub, someone will buy it just for the subscription in hopes it can be brought back to life On a side note, be careful about buying used Tivos on ebay with subscriptions.

You can change the serial number of the Tivo using the crypto command. Have a search on the Tivo hacking FAQs and forums. Only do it if the other Tivo is dead however as they do check to see if multiple units are downloading guide data using the same serial number. Can't you get the Tivo repaired?

Anyone here done it? I bought a gig HD last night and am going to attempt to clone the 80 gig WD drive currently in my Tivo series 2 and replace it with the for more recording time. I have the MFS tools and torx screwdrivers, so should be all set.

I am also hoping, and most people say it works, that the 80 gig speed being replaced with the speed, 8 meg cache drive will help the Tivo respond a bit faster. So, anyone else here done any hacking and how did you make out?