Reusing Old TiVo Hardware?

buss_error writes "I have old TiVo hardware that I'd like to reuse — however, I find in searching that the most frequent reply is: 'Don't cheat TiVo!' I don't want to cheat TiVo — in fact, I'd like to nuke the drive with a completely open-source distro with no TiVo drivers at all. Some uses I think would be interesting: recording video for security cameras or a drive cam; a unit for weather reporting; fax/telephone; a power monitor for the home; or other home automation. I would prefer a completely TiVo-free install — this is because I have major issues with TiVo and don't want the slightest taint of their intellectual property. But, since I paid for the hardware, I'd like to wring some use out of it rather than simply putting it in the landfill."

Comments

They call it Tivoization.

[Akir]

Everyone knows that you can't do anything with a tivo. It may be using open-source software, but the hardware checks the software's checksum, and if it doesn't match, it simply doesn't run the software. If you remember, this is a major reason (if not the only reason) why Richard Stallman got all upset and created GPL v3.

Re:They call it Tivoization.

[Antique Geekmeister]

It's not the only reason. The American software patent system is, fundamentally, insane unless you're a large corporation that can afford a suite of patents large enough to provide Mutual Assured Destruction for anyone who sues you. But the NVidia kernel drivers, Microsoft's McCarthy-like claim of "47 infringing patents" and the lack of software patents in Europe made software patents important to deal with.

Similar problems are inherent in Microsoft's Palladium digital rights management system, relabeled "Trusted Computing". The idea that it is for "protection" is naive and not based on looking at how the software works: it's designed to block software, and files, and _hardware_ from working with anything else but vendor authorized components.

The security cam recording might be easy

[jandrese]

A Tivo without service doesn't just up and die. Rather it loses its guide data but can still be programmed like an old VCR. Having it record from a security cam should be super easy to do, just program 24 different one hour recordings on whatever port the camera is on and let it go. The Tivo will even manage its disk space and everything, removing the oldest recordings as the disk fills up and replacing them with new ones.

Re:The security cam recording might be easy

[RobinH]

Now THAT is interesting. Great idea. The cool thing is that a series 2 can record 2 channels at the same time, so you could have 2 security cameras. You can also use Tivo Desktop to move the videos off to your PC if you wanted longer term storage.

Re:The security cam recording might be easy

[kithrup]

That's only true for the oldest, Series 1 TiVo's sold before a certain date. After that, TiVo requires service. No service, and no manual recording.

And, as I recall, it'll also nag you about the lack of service every time you go into the menus.

Re:The security cam recording might be easy

[Anonymous Coward]

This is only true of certain very specific models. It's called something like "Tivo Basic". Most Series 2, DirectTV Tivo (aka DirecTivo) and all Series 3 and Tivo HD do not function in this way. Most Tivos will only support watching and pausing live TV without Tivo service.

Some possibilities

[cwolfsheep]

*MIPS Debian
http://www.debian.org/ports/mipsel/

* An older thread on video sharing hacking with TIVO boxes
http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=25139

* Knoppix MythTV
http://www.mysettopbox.tv/

Re:Some possibilities

[cesman]

* Knoppix MythTV

http://www.mysettopbox.tv/

As the creator of KnoppMyth (now LinHES), I can tell you that KnoppMyth doesn't work on a TiVO (neither does LinHES).

Warm regards,

Cecil

Re:Don't buy TIVO, or any other locked down device

[Maximum Prophet]

Seriously, why do people buy a locked down piece of hardware, then wonder why they can't do anything that hasn't specifically been authorised with it? Your solution starts with not buying the damn product in the first place!!!

I my case, it's because I heard Tivo used Linux, and they allowed hackers. Turns out, that's only on the series 1 machines, and some early series 2's. I got a series 2.5.

This is the case with any business that want's to rent hardware to do a specific purpose. Tivo just decided to avoid the hassles of actually renting it, so they "sell" you a locked down box.

Anyway, no-one's mentioned it yet, but you can desolder the boot prom, and substitute one that has the checksums bypassed.