Customize TiVo HDD-image

From NLTiVo

Abstract

This howto describes how to adjust a TiVo-installer CD-ROM and the included harddisk images which are used in the unofficial TiVo-communities. There are currently two types of images: Philips (HDR) and TiVo (SVR).

This is what you need

• A TiVo Installer CD (can be obtained here)
• A PC with Linux (for preparing the Installer CD)
• A PC with a CD-ROM drive and two harddisks (one harddisk to restore the TiVo-image to (hdb), and one to backup the adjusted TiVo-image to (hda)). This PC can also be the PC with Linux installed.
• The harddisk that is going to be used for backup should contain a partition which is mountable from Linux (ext2/ext3/reiser/vfat)
• Some Unix/Linux-knowledge
• An long evening of spare time on your hands.

Overview

Basically there are 6 steps to come to an adjusted Installer CD:

1. Mount the Installer CD-ROM locally and insert the to be included software/scripts on the Installer CD and burn the prepared ISO
2. Restore the image you want customized to the TiVo harddisk
3. Mount the harddisk and change your stuff
4. Reboot again from the CD-ROM and turn of byteswapping
5. Backup your TiVo-disk
6. Make the ISO-file

Detailed instructions

Step 1. Prepare an adjusted TiVo Installer CD:

1) Mount the Installer CD-ROM locally

# mount -o loop -t iso9660 -r nlTiVo_installer_MULTI-20051128.iso /mnt/tivo

2) Copy the contents from the cd to a new directory:

# mkdir /whatever/nltivo
# cd /whatever/nltivo
# cp -R /mnt/tivo/* .

3) Create a directory inside directory mentioned above for the to be included software/scripts for the Installer CD and fill it with the stuff you want to include in the harddisk image

4) Create and ISO-file:

# rm isolinux/boot.cat

# mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -V "TiVo Installer" -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c \
isolinux/boot.cat -hide-rr-moved -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 \
-boot-info-table -o ../mynewoztivoinstaller.iso .

5) Burn the prepared ISO using a disk-burning tool. Tip: Use a CD-rewritable, because this is only an intermediate image.

Step 2. Restore the image you want customized to the TiVo harddisk:

1) Boot the PC from the prepared ISO CD-ROM.

2) Restore the image you want to customize to the TiVo harddisk via the menu.

Step 3. Mount the harddisk and change your stuff:

1) Choose edit rc.sysinit.author from the menu. This mounts one of the TiVo-partitions

2) press ALT-F2, a new console appears (ALT-F1 brings you back)

3) Mount the /hack-partition:

# mkdir /mnt/tivohack
# mount -t ext2 /dev/hdb2 /mnt/tivohack

4) Edit the image at will. Make sure the changed files have the correct rights set. The CD-ROM-files can be accessed via /cdrom/

5) Delete the nltivo.conf or oztivo.conf from /mnt/tivo/etc before backing up the disk

6) Change the contents of the file nltivo_version or oztivo_version in mnt/tivo/etc before backing up the disk

7) Reboot (via the prompt), leave the CD-ROM in the drive

# reboot

Step 4. Reboot again from the CD-ROM and turn off byteswapping:

1) Make sure the system boots from the CD-ROM again. At the boot-prompt type: 'nobswap', to turn off byteswapping.

Step 5. Backup your TiVo-disk:

1) Do not enter the menu, just press ALT-F2 for a fresh console.

2) mount the filesystem of choice on /dev/hdaX so you'll have a place to store the backup-image (in this example fat32):

# mount -t vfat /dev/hda6 /mnt/tivo

3) Backup your TiVo harddisk-image:

# mfsbackup -6vso /mnt/tivo/imagename.mfs /dev/hdb

4) Repeat these steps for each harddisk image (Philips, Sony) and place the mfs-files in the directory of where you've copied the contents of the TiVo Installer CD.

5) Clean-up the contents of the installer-CDROM

Step 6. Make the ISO-file:

1) Take the following steps:

# rm isolinux/boot.cat

# mkisofs -pad -l -r -J -V "TiVo Installer" -b isolinux/isolinux.bin -c \
isolinux/boot.cat -hide-rr-moved -no-emul-boot -boot-load-size 4 \
-boot-info-table -o ../mynewoztivoinstaller.iso .

2) You should know have your own TiVo installer CD-ROM. Burn it to a CD-ROM and test it.