TiVo Network Hack How-To Guide

Boot CD Version

A step-by-step guide for first-time TiVo Network Hackers

By Steve Jenkins (a.k.a. TiVo sTeVe-o) - http://tivo.stevejenkins.com/

For use with Series 1 Standalone TiVo or DirectTiVo units and a PC with a bootable CD-ROM drive. Click here for the Boot Floppy Version.

Version 6.0, Last updated: April 11, 2005

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i. Introduction.. 2

ii. Location of this Document 2

iii. Before you Get Started.. 3

iv. Usage Notes. 4

v. A Word About Security. 4

1 Installing a Network Adapter in your TiVo.. 5

1.1 Opening your TiVo. 5

1.2 Creating an access hole for your network cable. 5

1.3 Connecting the network adapter 5

2 Gaining Telnet Access to your TiVo.. 5

2.1 Removing your A drive. 5

2.2 Making a backup copy of your A drive. 5

2.3 Creating the necessary Boot CD.. 6

2.4 Installing your TiVo’s A drive in your PC.. 6

2.4.1 Using the correct jumper setting and IDE channel 6

2.4.2 Disconnecting your PC’s current IDE channel 2 MASTER.. 6

2.4.3 Connecting your PC’s CD-ROM drive to IDE channel 1 SLAVE (/dev/hdb) 6

2.4.4 Connecting your TiVo’s A drive as the IDE channel 2 MASTER (/dev/hdc) 7

2.5 Booting your PC with the Linux Boot CD.. 7

2.5.1 Unlocking your TiVo’s A drive. 7

2.6 Logging in to Linux. 7

2.7 Flashing your DirecTiVo’s PROM (DirecTiVo users only) 8

2.8 Mounting your TiVo’s drive partitions. 8

2.8.1 Active vs. Inactive Partition. 9

2.8.2 If You Seem to be Missing a Partition. 9

2.8.3 Creating mount points. 9

2.8.4 Mounting the partitions. 9

2.9 Mounting Errors and Warnings. 10

2.9.1 EXT2-fs Warnings. 10

2.9.2 fatfs amd VFS Errors. 10

2.10 Creating your hack directory on partition 9. 11

2.11 Copying files into your hack directory. 11

2.12 Creating rc.sysinit.author on partitions 4 and 7. 12

2.13 Disabling initrd with kill_initrd (DirecTiVo users only) 14

2.14 Unmounting all partitions and exiting Linux. 14

2.15 Re-installing your TiVo’s A drive in your TiVo. 14

2.16 Booting your TiVo and connecting via Telnet 15

3 Configuring your TiVo to Make its Daily Call via the Network Adapter. 15

4 Installing Binaries on your TiVo that are Useful for Further Hacking.. 16

4.1 Installing the joe editor 16

4.2 Installing the tivo-bin binaries. 17

4.3 Installing tivoftpd – the TiVo FTP server 17

4.4 Using http_get to download files to your TiVo. 18

4.5 Installing TiVoWeb. 19

5 Starting Programs Automatically When Your TiVo Boots. 19

6 Including your Hack Binaries in your PATH for Easy Access. 22

6.1 Verify your current PATH.. 22

6.2 Creating your .profile file. 22

7 Automating READ/WRITE and READ ONLY switching in the file system... 23

7.1 Understanding different levels of remount automation. 24

7.2 Writing the automation scripts. 24

7.3 Creating aliases in your .profile file. 25

7.4 Creating a .bash_logout file. 26

7.5 Testing your automation settings. 26

8 Editing your .profile file. 27

8.1 Editing your PATH.. 27

8.2 Editing your Prompt 28

8.3 Adding More Aliases. 28

9 Setting up a static IP address. 29

9.1 Finding the info you’ll need. 29

9.2 Editing your rc.net file. 30

10 Mark your TiVo as Hacked! 31

11 Acknowledgements. 32

i. Introduction

The purpose of this document is to explain the step-by-step details of some initial TiVo network and shell hacks for beginners. “Network hacks” and “shell hacks” refer to procedures t