Wow standard def stuff is cheap now

[ChadTower]

The Series 1 DirecTivo in my living room ate another hard drive over the weekend... that's the second one (to be fair, over several years).  Rather than drop another one in I started poking around to see what just buying a replacement DirecTivo would cost...

...and ended up picking up a working Series 2 DirecTivo off craigslist for $29 shipped.  Jesus Christ.  For people still willing to hang with standard def for the time being this crap is practically free.

[JimmyU]

Let's hope you didn't the lifetime service plan with that TiVO since they're non-transferable between units.

[ChadTower]

It doesn't take very long to make the Tivo think it has that plan, which is what I've done with all of mine.  I still pay the service fee to support the company, but if the Tivo thinks it is all set, a DirecTivo doesn't have to call home so you don't need a phone line.

[Ed_McCarron]

Let's hope you didn't the lifetime service plan with that TiVO since they're non-transferable between units.

Theres companies that'll do it.  I always assumed the serial was hard coded into some chip they swapped.

It doesn't take very long to make the Tivo think it has that plan

Oh?

[ChadTower]

Theres companies that'll do it.  I always assumed the serial was hard coded into some chip they swapped.

I'm not up on the models in the last couple of years but in the ones I've done it is done via config files and the linux command line.  No physical mods on Series 2 that I can remember, you had to add a custom ethernet card to series 1 but the motherboard edge contact was there for it.

Oh?

The Tivo hacking community is as big and mature as the Xbox community but has far less of the kiddie noise that Xbox Scene has.  Using a linux boot disc I bought for $20 I was able to take a used 300gb hard drive last night and fully install linux, the Tivo software, and a whole suite of homebrew software for Tivo, ready to drop right into the Tivo and run... in less than an hour.  Most of that hour was opening up the Tivo and the spare PC.  It's pretty cool what is out there and how easy it is to use.

[Ed_McCarron]

I've been doing the Tivo thing since the Series I first came out, removed the 20G drives, blessed and added 2 80G, been in a Tivo Beta, but never saw anything about fooling it into thinking it had lifetime service.

Seems the Tivo folks would crack down on that right quick.

[ChadTower]

I've been doing the Tivo thing since the Series I first came out, removed the 20G drives, blessed and added 2 80G, been in a Tivo Beta, but never saw anything about fooling it into thinking it had lifetime service.

Seems the Tivo folks would crack down on that right quick.

It has been out there, just not as public as the other stuff.  I seem to remember it being wrapped up in some of the DirecTivo specific hacks... though it also applied to the regular Tivos.  Many, many, many of those "lifetime service" Tivos you used to see on ebay were unpaid back in the day.  Guys would buy a Tivo, lifetime it, and sell it for nearly double a week later.

[AtomSmasher]

The Series 1 DirecTivo in my living room ate another hard drive over the weekend... that's the second one (to be fair, over several years).  Rather than drop another one in I started poking around to see what just buying a replacement DirecTivo would cost...

...and ended up picking up a working Series 2 DirecTivo off craigslist for $29 shipped.  Jesus Christ.  For people still willing to hang with standard def for the time being this crap is practically free.

Hehe, yup.  My old one started having a few problems, so I bought one on ebay for $35 shipped a couple months back.

[ChadTower]

One of the things we've never had is the HMO and MRV because DirecTV won't allow it... the software is there, however, on the Series 2 DirecTivos but disabled.  Now that I'll be replacing the living room DirecTivo with a Series 2 I should be able to hack those functions open so the bedroom and living room DirecTivos can talk to each other... that will be sweet.

Anyone know off the top of their head if XBMC can talk to Tivos?  I seem to remember seeing Tivos mentioned in the config files when I set up my XBMC menus.