Tivo series 2: can it be hacked to become a stand alone digital video?

Question

O.K., Let me ask the question differently. How can i modify a Tivo series 2 hardware to become a simple stand alone DVR without using any subscription service. All I want to do is use it as a digital version of a VCR. I dont want to use anyones proprietary subscription service or violate any laws, I just want to record digitally from my TV just like a VCR and I want to know if and how to use a Tivo series 2 aquired at a garage sale. I have cable and I just want to record what I watch on my TV. I dont want a verbal war of semantics of thelegality of using proprietary software. If it requires me to reformat the hard drive then so be it. Is that question simple enough for an answer? Please help without overthinking the question. Thank you all

Answer 1

Nope, nobody has ever done the work to get around the need to pay TiVo for the schedule. It's been the policy of the TiVo hacker community to not do this because in the past (up until later versions of the series 3) TiVo was extremely tolerant of people hacking its box (it's not so now, however). Most people in the TiVo hacker community paid the $300 lifetime subscription fee, so it wasn't an issue for them anyway (my series 1 original TiVo from 1999 still gets schedule updates on my lifetime subscription).



If you want, the places to go are http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/ and http://www.tivocommunity.com/ (the first one being more technical). But if you ask this question there, you will be rebuffed.

Answer 2

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RE:

Tivo series 2: can it be hacked to become a stand alone digital video?

O.K., Let me ask the question differently. How can i modify a Tivo series 2 hardware to become a simple stand alone DVR without using any subscription service. All I want to do is use it as a digital version of a VCR. I dont want to use anyones proprietary subscription service or violate any laws,...

Answer 3

Yes...but it will just be a VCR. It won't use the guide service, and as such won't be able to make use of most of the Tivo's services.



However, what is the point? The Series 2 could only use a TV antenna, but in 2008, the over-the-air format changed to Digital. This means that the Series 2 Tivo can't pick up anything without an external converter - which it won't be able to control.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

There's no need to hack it. It will work like a VCR without service. You have to Repeat Guided Setup to set it up to your TV service. Then you'll have to set every recording by manually entering the time and channel.