Series 2 as a plain PVR (no guide)

[jono]

Hi.

I've recently acquired a series 2 Tivo. I'm fully aware of the problems associated with series 2's in Australia, and was just intending to use it as a plain PVR. Unfortunately I need to somehow get around the guided setup just to get the thing up and running.

I am not concerned with having a tv guide, because the main purpose for this will be with a video camera to assist with swimming coaching (i.e. instant replays for swimmers on pool deck). I have seen them used for this purpose in the states and was hoping to emulate this here.

I have seen the posting on how to start hacking a S2, but wasn't overly interested in setting it up for the TV guide. If I end up using the tivo for tv I will be using a NTSC capable STB and just use the guide from that.

It is a TiVO Series 2 DVR Model TCD24004A if that is any help.

Thanks for any help.

Jono

[petestrash]

Do you have an NTSC Video camera and Monitor ?

You will need these for the setup you are proposing.

Unfortunately there is no simple method of using S2 Tivo's as dumb VCR's it will require you to hack your unit. The S1's can be easily used as a dumbVCR without hacking.

Peter.

[jono]

I'm all sorted from the NTSC aspect.

I found on the official Tivo website forums that you can trick the terminal in using your internet connection by making the dialling prefix ",#401" (note the ",") and then using a wired connection to your computer/router.

I am in the process of acquiring a usb-ethernet adapter and will give that a try. Are there any more advances being made on hacking the S2's or have people given up?

Jono

[petestrash]

I found on the official Tivo website forums that you can trick the terminal in using your internet connection by making the dialling prefix ",#401" (note the ",") and then using a wired connection to your computer/router.

All this does is set your TiVo to use the USB port for Daily calls and guided setup. You still need to hack your TiVo for it to connect to minnie instead of the US server. Or you will need a paid tivo account to run GS on their servers.

But like I said earlier, unlike the S1 Tivo's I believe the S2's cannot be used as a dumb VCR without either hacking the unit or a paid subscription.

Are there any more advances being made on hacking the S2's or have people given up?

I have one in use every day as a backup machine.

Although it's rough, the guide you mentioned will get you a functioning S2. The picture quality is not as good as an S1 because of the jerkyness of the frame rate conversion in the STB. Beyond the guide, some work has progressed in making the S2 accept PAL input, but again the results are not as good as an S1.

[jono]

Thanks Pete.

I am not too concerned about guide data yet so I am happy to let the box think it is in the US and download that. The box states that it still has an active subscription, not too sure what it will do with that.

I have used both S2's and S1's in the US with video cameras and they both worked fine without a guide. The S2 I used was just sitting on the pool deck without a phoneline. It gave error messages to say that the guide was not up to date but operated fine with a live input.

As soon as I have a go with the ,#401 bypass I will let you know.

Thanks.

Jono

[petestrash]

The box states that it still has an active subscription, not too sure what it will do with that.

The box will show what ever the last status was until it next connects to the TiVo server sucessfully. unless you have an active account or lifetime, the status will probably change to inactive when you connect.

Good luck.

Peter.