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Total Newbie
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Posted by: RangerDoc

So I have lurked here for the last couple of days and read a boatload of posts. However there seems to be quite a bit of scattered info.

I am a new convert from UltimateTV. I have had my Tivo for exactly 4 days.

I am already seeing the need to modify it.

I purchased the DirecTV deal. It is a Hughes SD-DVR40. 35 hour recording time.

I found links to purchase a HD upgrade that is a drop-in. This is awesome.

What I cannot find is one list of other "options" available to the Series 2 D*Tivos. Does this exist? If not, would someone be kind enough to list the major ones that work for this model?

From what I have read, I am interested in turning on the USB ports to enable the Tivo to use the Web for updates rather than calling. I have no desire to share files.

I am somewhat intrigued by the ability to control the Tivo via the Web. It would be great to have it record a program I heard advertised on the radio while driving to work...

From what I read, the Tivo is much more configurable than the UTVs that I used to have. The only thing you could do to those was to add a larger drive. However, it did have features I liked like Caller ID. I found a few mentions of this, but none that seem to work on the series 2 Tivos.

Thanks in advance.

Posted by: RangerDoc

Another thing that I found was the 30 second skip. This is great as it performs just like the UTV and that's one less thing to have to teach to the wife.

Can this be made permanent?

Thanks again.

Posted by: RangerDoc

Did I do something wrong within this forum? Is there no one willing to answer a few questions for this new Tivo owner?

I see lot's of folks helping others with their questions, so what ever I did, I didn't see it in the FAQs BTW, so please help.

Thanks again.

Posted by: stevel

The 30-sec skip at present can't be made permanent, though it resets only on a restart, which should be rare.

The changes needed to enable the USB ports requires OS mods that aren't discussed in this forum. If you do some Google searching on terms such as HDVR2, USB and network, you may find something useful. It's not straightforward.

Similarly, other add-ons for the second-generation DTiVos aren't discussed here, because the forum owner doesn't want such things here - they require tricking the DTiVo into loading an alternate kermel image.

Posted by: RangerDoc

I appreciate your reply, but this only brings up more questions.

I see hundreds, if not thousands, of posts about Hacking, modding, upgrading....

Why was my question offensive? Is it just the D*Tivo models we can't discuss here? However, I see plenty of questions about them as well.

I have done several searches using your suggestions. They provide a lot of links. Too many to be honest for a new Tivo owner.

I'm just looking to find a concise list of available modifications so that I can narrow my searches, make a list of priorities, and then start learning what I need to do.

Thanks again.

Posted by: DougF

I don't think your questions were offensive. But as stevel said, the changes needed to hack a DirecTiVo require modifications that we cannot discuss at this site.

Why? I'm not exactly sure, but I think it has to do with the fact that a lot of people do modifications to DirecTiVos in order to steal service. Regardless, the ownership has probably decided not to discuss such things in order to protech itself liability-wise.

As for finding a concise list of mods, good luck. :) When hacking my Series 1 SA, I had to go to many sources to find everything I wanted. All I can recommend is to make good use of google.com and the search function on this and other forums.

Posted by: stevel

There is a book "Hacking the TiVo" by William Von Hagen which discusses the various software hacks for the series 2 TiVos. While I like Jeff Keegan's book "Hacking TiVo" in general, it does not contain details on this issue but sends you elsewhere. You can find both of these at amazon.com Keegan's book is excellent for Series 1 owners, and does cover disk upgrades for S2. I especially appreciate the CD included which collects a lot of the cool software for S1 boxes and makes it easy to install.

I agree that your post was in no way offensive. But what you're trying to do is not something commonly done, and it may require signfiicant mods to the software on your TiVo and the way you use it - you may decide that the end result isn't worth it.

I will admit that I am not conversant with all of what software mods are available for S2 boxes, especially the DTiVos. I don't know, for example, if web control is available.

Posted by: RangerDoc

Well, that helps a little. Just to let you all know, stealing service is not even on my mind. I've been a loyal D* customer since 1996. Haven't had cable or OTA since. I have six receivers in my house that I pay $4.99 each to have mirrored.

I just wanted to get a more clear picture of what was available for the D*Tivos. This receiver is seriously lacking functionality that is readily available on UTV. You can't even stop a recording that you are watching and start it over. God forbid the 30 second skip function is lost and you accidentally skip to the end of a hockey game and see the final score before you ever get to see the game (happened last night).

As difficult as it seems to modify this, I may just go back to UTV. In the six days we have had Tivo, we have not been that impressed. But, the mods that I have read about on some of these forums seem to make it a better device for the consumer.

I'll keep searching.

Posted by: stevel

Certainly you can restart a recording you are watching. What makes you think otherwise? To go to the beginning of a recording, press skip-to-end twice. Or use the fast-rewind to go back since you're using 30-sec skip.

Stick with it - DTiVo has a lot going for it. It may be harder to mod the newer boxes than the old, but there's still a lot you can do, and the TiVo service is overall better than UTV, I think.

Did anyone say anything here about stealing service? However, the one thing you asked for, the ability to move DVD content digitally to the DTiVo, is part of the general "video extraction" topic which is banned here by the forum hosts. It seems a bit antiquated nowadays, but there are other forums where this and other series 2 hacks are actively discussed. (We're not supposed to mention the name of the other forums here, though...)

Posted by: RangerDoc

Thanks again. I didn't mention stealing service, it was suggested that that is a topic that is often disguised by misleading threads. I merely wanted to point out that this is not my intention.

I also never mentioned anything about extracting DVD content. You must have read that in another thread and attributed it to me.

I would just like to make this thing a little more user-friendly. I am certain that some of what I am experiencing is just the transition effects of moving from UTV to Tivo.

As for not being able to start a program over, this is the exact behavior that one cannot do with the D*Tivo. You must either rewind it (not good for a long hockey game) or fast forward to the end (not good for any game where you don't want to see the final score).

UTV has an actual "Stop" button that allows you to Delete, Restart, or Continue. Its just going to take some getting used to. But if I can make it function more like what I am used to then half the battle is over.

See ya in here later...