TiVo Community Forums Archives - Want to hack, but have some questions...

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Want to hack, but have some questions...
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Posted by: jatf

First...WOW...there is a Lot of info on the hacking the Tivo out there!

I have a Series2 80 Hr (240080A) that we have been using for a month or two. I just installed a new WiFi card (bypassing my Squid transparent proxy!) and I'm 'on the net', eliminating that unsightly phone cord.

Now, time for some more fun. I would like to add some hacks to it like tivoweb-tcl, and a telnet interface. Reading through the mfctools documentation it says that:

a) the backups don't take up nearly the space
b) it can backup all the video files with the system
c) it can be restored to any disk the same size or larger than the original.

Problem is I do not have a hard drive that is large enough to take a full restore of the A disk. If the backup doesn't work and I test the restore to the factory disk, I'm hosed. I could (probably) get two 50-60G drives that I could restore to, but I wasn't sure that mfctools would be able to do that.

So the questions boil down to this:

1) Can I backup the A disk and then restore to two drives if they are both smaller than the original, but larger than the original in aggregate?

2) If Q1 is no, what are the odds of the backup being good without a test?

3) If Q1 is no and the backup fails, is it possible to download a new system image to start from scratch, understanding that I would lose all the videos that I have recorded.

NOTE: I am totally uninterested in doing anything remotely considered unethical or illegal. I am not interested in downloading a new image file if it is illegal or if Tivo forbids it. I'm looking for some guidance here, since different tivo-hack sites seem to imply one thing while others say another.

TIA for the help.

Posted by: azitnay

So, if I understand you correctly, you're not upgrading the capacity of your TiVo, you simply want to create and verify a backup before you start hacking.

1) I'm not sure I even know the answer to this, most likely because it rarely comes up. Usually, a person making a backup is also upgrading the capacity, so they have a spare 80, 120, or 160GB drive lying around that's about to go into the TiVo. I'm guessing it won't work, because TiVo stores certain special things on drive A and everything I've ever heard maintains that drive A needs to be at least as big as the original drive A, but I'm definitely not sure about that.

I'm sure someone out there knows a definite answer to this, but if you can get the two 50-60GB drives easily, it's worth a try to see if you can mfsbackup and then mfsrestore to them (and you haven't lost anything if it doesn't work).

2) I've heard a fair amount of people say they never tested their backup, but I'm just not the kind of person who can do that :).

3) It's certainly possible to obtain images on the internet, the locations simply aren't openly discussed on this forum. Google searches can work, or you can post a message and someone who has it will PM you. Just make sure you get the exact image for your TiVo (you mentioned 240080A, which I'm assuming means TCD24008A). Don't just grab any 80-hour Series2 image, since the TCD240080 is out there as well.

Drew

Posted by: jatf

Thanks!

I was able to call my brother who had a 200GB IDE Raid mirror and borrow 1/2 his mirror for a few days to test the backup with. I used MaxBlast to change the size to appear as 120GB and all is well. Thanks.