General TiVo Questions

[TheSiege]

are the only differences in models the hard drive size?
how hard is it to hack? ive modded xboxes, is it harder then that?
if i got the lowest model would it be easy to put in a 250 gig HDD?
does it work fine with comcast?
and how do you like your TiVo?
can you hack anything on it besides the HDD?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
are the only differences in models the hard drive size?

Yes, if you're talking about comparing series2's straight from Tivo.

how hard is it to hack? ive modded xboxes, is it harder then that?

Very easy, bordering on ridiculously easy if you buy a kit from weaknees.

if i got the lowest model would it be easy to put in a 250 gig HDD?

Yes it would be very easy, but their bios's don't recognise anything over 137GB, so you're wasting space.

does it work fine with comcast?

I don't see why not, works fine with TWC digital.

and how do you like your TiVo?

Love it, can't live without it!

can you hack anything on it besides the HDD?

Sure, you can add a cache card to some models to speed up the db, there are TONS of software hacks to run web/ftp servers off of it to update scheduling, caller ID on screen, etc, etc

 

[Argo]

www.tivocommunity.com

 

[TheSiege]

i can connect to my computer with my xbox, i think via SMB to stream divx and mp3 could i use my tivo and stream with it?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
i can connect to my computer with my xbox, i think via SMB to stream divx and mp3 could i use my tivo and stream with it?

Divx, no; mp3/photos, yes.

 

[TheSiege]

Replace your drive(s) with 311 Hours* - Dual 160gb Drives - more info
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i thought anything over 137 isnt recognized?

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
Replace your drive(s) with 311 Hours* - Dual 160gb Drives - more info
Includes PowerTrip and TwinBreeze
(to add a fan to your kit, check "Advanced Cooling Pak" box)
$329 + FREE SHIPPING

i thought anything over 137 isnt recognized?

Only 137 GB of each drive is utilized.

Straight from Weaknees, where you got that info:

Note about 160 GB drives:

The Linux operating system version of the TiVo can only see 137 GB of any one drive, so 160 GB drives are seen as 137 GB, which explains why their capacity isn't twice as great as 80 GB drives. This is also the reason that we don't offer larger drives - going beyond 160 GB wouldn't add any extra recording capacity.

 

[TheSiege]

is there a webpage dedicated to TiVo Hacking?
so i can use multiple drives?

oh what format is TiVo in, cause i can stream any kind of data to my xbox
mpeg mpeg2 mpeg3 mpeg4 except qt
so could i still not stream recorded shows to my xbox?

 

[Linflas]

I finally made the leap and bought a DirecTV TIVO back in June. I love it and can't imagine going back to VCR's. I then got a WinTV-PVR-350 and stuck it in one of my PC's and it works great as well. I use my old DirecTV receiver with it and get some great quality recordings that I can dump directly to DVD.

 

[loup garou]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
is there a webpage dedicated to TiVo Hacking?

Originally posted by: Argo
www.tivocommunity.com

so i can use multiple drives?

yes

oh what format is TiVo in, cause i can stream any kind of data to my xbox
mpeg mpeg2 mpeg3 mpeg4 except qt
so could i still not stream recorded shows to my xbox?

I don't know, some proprietary format, but why would you want to stream it to your xbox?
I know it's possible to extract the video to a pc, but very slow. I've never bothered with it. If I wanted to archive shows other than the 200+ hours on my tivo, I'd buy another tivo with a dvd recorder.

 

[TheSiege]

Originally posted by: werk

Originally posted by: TheSiege
is there a webpage dedicated to TiVo Hacking?

Originally posted by: Argo
www.tivocommunity.com

so i can use multiple drives?

yes

oh what format is TiVo in, cause i can stream any kind of data to my xbox
mpeg mpeg2 mpeg3 mpeg4 except qt
so could i still not stream recorded shows to my xbox?

I don't know, some proprietary format, but why would you want to stream it to your xbox?
I know it's possible to extract the video to a pc, but very slow. I've never bothered with it. If I wanted to archive shows other than the 200+ hours on my tivo, I'd buy another tivo with a dvd recorder.

there is 4 modded xboxs in my house, 2 in the living room and 2 in my buddys room, if i could stream the video to any xbox then i could watch it on any TV i wanted

 

[TheSiege]

is there even a networking plug on the TiVo?

 

[Haps]

Series 1's have an expansion slot sort of that you can get a network card for it. Called a Turbonet card. Think there is a wireless version called Airnet or Aeronet or somthing like that.

Series 2 units have USB ports so a USB nic like a linksys USB100TX work perfect.

tivocommunity is a good source of information on hacking your tivo. dealdatabase.com's forums are another great resource.

The standard Tivo Kernel only recognizes 137gb. But you can get around that with a kernel hack to get it to recognize larger drives.

But if all your looking to do is buy a 40hr series 2 and upgrade the recording capacity putting a 120gb hard drive in it is a piece of cake.

You can use multiple drives but the series 2 units come with pretty s hitty power supplies that aren't designed to run 2 drives. This may cause problems especially during startup of the unit(there is a method to delay the spin up of the second drive)

Probably the most popular mod besides capacity upgrades is Tivoweb. Allows you to access a web server and manage your Tivo(schedule recordings resolve conflicts etc) from your computer(or any computer if you leave it exposed to the net).

Do I like my Tivo. Yes. I love it. I can't imagine living without it.

 

[imported_FishTaco]

Check out XBMC, its suppossed to be able to stream from ReplayTV and Tivo but I'm not sure how well its working yet.

 

[TheSiege]

Originally posted by: Haps
Series 1's have an expansion slot sort of that you can get a network card for it. Called a Turbonet card. Think there is a wireless version called Airnet or Aeronet or somthing like that.

Series 2 units have USB ports so a USB nic like a linksys USB100TX work perfect.

tivocommunity is a good source of information on hacking your tivo. dealdatabase.com's forums are another great resource.

The standard Tivo Kernel only recognizes 137gb. But you can get around that with a kernel hack to get it to recognize larger drives.

But if all your looking to do is buy a 40hr series 2 and upgrade the recording capacity putting a 120gb hard drive in it is a piece of cake.

You can use multiple drives but the series 2 units come with pretty s hitty power supplies that aren't designed to run 2 drives. This may cause problems especially during startup of the unit(there is a method to delay the spin up of the second drive)

Probably the most popular mod besides capacity upgrades is Tivoweb. Allows you to access a web server and manage your Tivo(schedule recordings resolve conflicts etc) from your computer(or any computer if you leave it exposed to the net).

Do I like my Tivo. Yes. I love it. I can't imagine living without it.

i dont have a home phone line, so if i bought a series 2 tivo how would it update the schedules for tv shows

do i have to boot linux to format the new 120 gig drive for the tivo?

 

[Fiveohhh]

Originally posted by: FishTaco
Check out XBMC, its suppossed to be able to stream from ReplayTV and Tivo but I'm not sure how well its working yet.

I don't think it can stream tivo... I know it can stream replaytv though, have 2 replaytvs and a modded box on my network here, Also have DVArchive on my server which can store/transfer/serve replaytv shows

 

[TheSiege]

is replayTV a better solution
is it hackable?
is tivo and replayTV basically the same, i see replay has RJ-45, was TiVo just better marketed?

 

[kaizersose]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
i dont have a home phone line, so if i bought a series 2 tivo how would it update the schedules for tv shows...

it can use a LAN connection or a phone line. its actually better to run it over a LAN because it updates faster and more often. you can either use a USB network adapter or a standard RJ-45 connector.

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
is replayTV a better solution
is it hackable?
is tivo and replayTV basically the same, i see replay has RJ-45, was TiVo just better marketed?

If you want to do all this why not just build your own? A PVR card and software like Beyond TV etc will function in a similar fashion to TIVO and allow you to customize whatever you want.

 

[allisolm]

i dont have a home phone line, so if i bought a series 2 tivo how would it update the schedules for tv shows

I believe you have to have a phone line for the initial setup.

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: Linflas

Originally posted by: TheSiege
is replayTV a better solution
is it hackable?
is tivo and replayTV basically the same, i see replay has RJ-45, was TiVo just better marketed?

If you want to do all this why not just build your own? A PVR card and software like Beyond TV etc will function in a similar fashion to TIVO and allow you to customize whatever you want.

and NO MONTHLY fees

 

[TheSiege]

yeah but a computer is a pain in the a$$, whatr PVR card do you suggest?

 

[Linflas]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
yeah but a computer is a pain in the a$$, whatr PVR card do you suggest?

I am using the one linked in my post up towards the beginning of the thread and so far it is working great for me. Hauppauge WinTV-PVR-350.

 

[TheSiege]

i have an ati AIW8500DV would that work ok? can i use third party software cause i dislike ATIs alot

 

[RossMAN]

Originally posted by: TheSiege
yeah but a computer is a pain in the a$$, whatr PVR card do you suggest?

Hauppauge WinTV PVR250 with remote which is ON SALE this week.