Official Slicer Discussion Thread

[Lou Jacob]

Please post your Slicer related technical questions in this discussion. If you are looking for the Slicer Instructions and Release Notes (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6), they are available in the Articles, Product Overviews, Tutorials and Instructions (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=12) area of our site.

For the archived version of the discussion, which started some time ago, please see the discussion hosted at DVRplayground (http://www.dvrplayground.com/article/13324/The-Slicer---Instructions-and-Release-Notes/?page=11#16560?src=102).

[Lou Jacob]

reserved for future use

[vhkounel]

I used the slicer to update my software from 6.3d to 6.3e, all went well except that my encryption no longer works and I lost my 30 second skip (if someone can help me get this back, I would really appreciate it). The other thing that happened is that I no longer have a "network" option in my Tivo Setup, just PHONE shows up. I am able to Telnet into my Tivo, TivoWebPlus and TyTools works so I do have network comm's. Any idea?

[Lou Jacob]

I used the slicer to update my software from 6.3d to 6.3e, all went well except that my encryption no longer works and I lost my 30 second skip (if someone can help me get this back, I would really appreciate it). The other thing that happened is that I no longer have a "network" option in my Tivo Setup, just PHONE shows up. I am able to Telnet into my Tivo, TivoWebPlus and TyTools works so I do have network comm's. Any idea?

Sounds like it worked fine. Remember, Slicer doesn't preserve the hacks you put in place because it can't possibly know what hacks would apply in a future version of the software. It should have preserved your serial/bash access, telnet/ftp and your USB drivers, if used correctly. So it sounds like you are good and just need to go and reapply the hacks you must have applied at some point earlier when you either used PTVnet or the zipper to network your unit in the first place...

[vhkounel]

Lou, I am OK with the hacks not coming though but what is wierd is that I have no "network" option any more under my Settings when I go to my Tivo's menu. I only have a phone option available. I had it st up to connect through my network when it downloaded guide data, etc. Any idea on what caused that?

[Lou Jacob]

I am OK with the hacks not coming though but what is wierd is that I have no "network" option any more under my Settings when I go to my Tivo's menu. I only have a phone option available. I had it st up to connect through my network when it downloaded guide data, etc. Any idea on what caused that?

The only way you could have had a "network" option prior to installing the slicer was if you hacked your unit in some way; whatever method you used for doing that should be employed again; the "network" option is not one that is normal for 6.3d, so no reason to expect it would show up in 6.3e...

Remember, The Slicer doesn't have E.S.P. -- it can only do what it knows how to do...

[vhkounel]

Lou, I never thought of that, you are right on. I just assumed that te network option was part of the DirecTV software and not a hack. I used the PTVNet software I purchased and downloaded from your site, did this install the network option? If so, do I have to redo this process to get that network option back in or can I hack it in via FTP and Telnet? I will move to another forum after this question, nice product the Slicer is.

Bill

[Lord Vader]

I've got the 6.3e slices in MFS, but when I used Slicer to go from 6.3a to 6.3e, it responds that it successfully loaded the 6.3e slices, but in reality it just redid 6.3a, wiping out all my hacks and telnet and serial access.

I had to pull the drive and rezippered my drive to get hacks back. Now I'm still at 6.3a. It seems Slicer just redoes 6.3a and doesn't actually slice to 6.3e. How can I ensure Slicer actually loads 6.3e and not "a"?

[Lou Jacob]

Lou, I never thought of that, you are right on. I just assumed that te network option was part of the DirecTV software and not a hack. I used the PTVNet software I purchased and downloaded from your site, did this install the network option? If so, do I have to redo this process to get that network option back in or can I hack it in via FTP and Telnet? I will move to another forum after this question, nice product the Slicer is.

Bill

Well, I did say it in my initial response to you, as well as in the instructions for the slicer... ;-) Please don't move onto another forum after you've gotten what you wanted, hang around and be part of the community. The answer to your question is in the "articles" area linked in my first response.

Thx.

[Lou Jacob]

I've got the 6.3e slices in MFS, but when I used Slicer to go from 6.3a to 6.3e, it responds that it successfully loaded the 6.3e slices, but in reality it just redid 6.3a, wiping out all my hacks and telnet and serial access.

I had to pull the drive and rezippered my drive to get hacks back. Now I'm still at 6.3a. It seems Slicer just redoes 6.3a and doesn't actually slice to 6.3e. How can I ensure Slicer actually loads 6.3e and not "a"?

You should be able to check that things worked by examining your /SwSystem info, as well as looking in the /install directory to ensure all the hacks got moved over. I've not heard of things not working for anyone else, so its possible something may have gotten corrupted when loading the 6.3e slices - if that happens, the system will revert back to its last known good configuration.

[JSTaylor]

I purchased The Slicer back in March. I just used it to try to upgrade from 6.3c to 6.3e and it doesn't work. It tells me child process exited abnormally while executing "exec /var/utils/updateroot /dev/hda /install /var/packages $name >&@ stdout" and then continues with the error. Thoughts?

[Lord Vader]

You should be able to check that things worked by examining your /SwSystem info, as well as looking in the /install directory to ensure all the hacks got moved over. I've not heard of things not working for anyone else, so its possible something may have gotten corrupted when loading the 6.3e slices - if that happens, the system will revert back to its last known good configuration.

Well, I did look in MFS afterward, and it does confirm that it reloaded 6.3a and not 6.3e. For some reason, it doesn't install 6.3e, which IS sitting in MFS.

[Lou Jacob]

Well, I did look in MFS afterward, and it does confirm that it reloaded 6.3a and not 6.3e. For some reason, it doesn't install 6.3e, which IS sitting in MFS.

Well, then I guess something may be corrupted... please see my previous response for the full context of that comment.

The only general recommendation for any problem you may be having is to ensure you have the latest version, which is 1.9 and was released in August. If things are still not working, then plenty of details may be helpful, but are most likely an indication that something else is wrong (see previous response) and preventing the system from upgrading to the latest version.

[JSTaylor]

So, Lou, you're thinking that the newer version of the slicer with fix my problem? I hate to drop another twenty bones if it is just some other problem. Thoughts?

[JSTaylor]

Just checked. The slicer version I have is 1.9 so I should be current. When I manually run installSw.itcl I get the following:

11/03:23:33:39: /tvbin/installSw.itcl: Installing "6.3e-01-2-357".
Installing module utils
11/03:23:33:40: /tvbin/installSw.itcl: Executing updateroot /dev/hda /install /var/packages 6.3e-01-2-357
Path prefix is /var/utils/
Sha1hash passed for updatekernel
Sha1hash passed for checkkernel.tcl
Sha1hash passed for messagelib.tcl
Sha1hash passed for buildskeleton
Sha1hash passed for SwInstall.tcl
Sha1hash passed for builddev

Searching /etc/fstab for current root

Old root is on /dev/hda7, new one goes on /dev/hda4

Creating new filesystem on /dev/hda4

Mounting new root filesystem on /install

mount: mount point /install does not exist
while executing
"exec mount $dev$newroot $installdir"
(file "/var/utils/updateroot" line 119)
child process exited abnormally
while executing
"exec /var/utils/updateroot /dev/hda /install /var/packages $name >&@ stdout"
invoked from within
"if [catch { set fIsActive [CheckActive $db $name] } res] {
putlog "No software found in db for \"$name\", $res"
} else {
if { $eme..."
(procedure "InstallSoftware" line 7)
invoked from within
"InstallSoftware $db $name"
(file "/tvbin/installSw.itcl" line 119)

[JSTaylor]

Got it working. Just had to create a "installs" directory in root. Installed fine except didn't copy over TivoWebPlus. No biggie.

[SilentBob]

Alright I finally took the plunge and decided to upgrade my HR10-250 from 3.1.5f to 6.3c

The slice has been sitting on the unit for a while, and tonight I had a bit of free time so I purchased slicer to make my life easier.

I ran slicer, it completed, and everything appeared successful, it showed my hacks were copied over, etc.

Tivo rebooted, took a while and is now up and running.

However, I no longer have any network access.

I'm using a Netgear FA120 so it should be natively compatible.

I first tried connecting to the old IP address...no go
I ran nmap scanning ping scanning all IPs in my subnet..nothing (well, no tivo)
I ran nmap scanning for port 80 no-ping across my subnet (TivoWebPlus was installed)...nothing

So what is the deal?

I'm not sure what slicer has done for me, since it looks like I'm going to have to pull the hard drive and re-hack, I could have accomplished that by just letting it make the daily call..

Unless someone has a suggestion.

[rbautch]

Alright I finally took the plunge and decided to upgrade my HR10-250 from 3.1.5f to 6.3c

The slice has been sitting on the unit for a while, and tonight I had a bit of free time so I purchased slicer to make my life easier.

I ran slicer, it completed, and everything appeared successful, it showed my hacks were copied over, etc.

Tivo rebooted, took a while and is now up and running.

However, I no longer have any network access.

I'm using a Netgear FA120 so it should be natively compatible.

I first tried connecting to the old IP address...no go
I ran nmap scanning ping scanning all IPs in my subnet..nothing (well, no tivo)
I ran nmap scanning for port 80 no-ping across my subnet (TivoWebPlus was installed)...nothing

So what is the deal?

I'm not sure what slicer has done for me, since it looks like I'm going to have to pull the hard drive and re-hack, I could have accomplished that by just letting it make the daily call..

Unless someone has a suggestion.I have a suggestion. Connect your serial cable and check the author file to make sure the correct IP parameters are in there. For the 3.1.5 to 6.x upgrade, the slicer creates a tcl script that runs the first time you boot to set network params using the addresses you give it when prompted by the slicer. Those addresses become arguments to the network script that is run from the author file. The slicer also removes the ifconfig statements from your author file so they don't conflict with the settings in MFS. If you don't have a serial cable you'll have to pull the drive to edit the author file. The other possibility is that the kernel it copied from your original 3.1.5 installation is not compatible with 6.x software, like if you
were running a monte configuration.

[SilentBob]

Slicer never prompted me for a network address....
I'm at work right now, but I'll stop by Radio Shack on the way home to get the stuff to build a console cable.

I wasn't running anything all that custom on the 3.1.5f kernel....had just originally run the PTVNet CD to open it up and upgrade the hard drive a couple of years ago.

[rbautch]

Slicer never prompted me for a network address....
There's your problem. The Slicer checks your current software version in /State/ServiceConfig/SwSystemName, and if it starts with 3.1.5, it prompts you for IP parameters and runs the network script when you reboot. Sometimes a tivo will be missing the SySystemName attribute in /State/ServiceConfig, which could have cause the slicer to no detect that you're making the jump from 3.1.5 to 6.3x. The good news is that you can fix it easlily with a serial cable. The next steps depend on how your tivo was hacked originally. Did you use the Zipper? If so, it will be a piece of cake.

[SilentBob]

...had just originally run the PTVNet CD to open it up and upgrade the hard drive a couple of years ago.
not Zipper, PTVNet CD

[rbautch]

not Zipper, PTVNet CD
That's okay, you just need to perform a few additional steps. First thing to do is grab the network.tcl script that's included in the zip file here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=258516&highlight=wireless+script). Transfer the file to your tivo using your serial cable and a file transfer protocol called zmodem. It's easier than it sounds. Do a search on TCF or DDB to find instructions on how to do it. It might be simpler to pull the drive and rerun PTVnet on it, but you'll find that knowing how to use a serial cable is an extremely valuable tool for troubleshooting down the road.

[park_ridge_dave]

Hi:

I have 2 HR10-250's my primary (in family room) was having a "re-boot" problem (random when viewing and at about 9:00pm every night) I checked and it was still running 6.3d but with 6.3e in the "on-deck". So I sliced it and it stopped re-booting. I would like to do the same to my second receiver, but, it has not received the 6.3e software download yet. (I had this box in my RV so it was not hooked up to a dish at all times).

I now have the second box hooked up at home and wondered how long it will be until I get the 6.3e download? I will search again on this forum, but, so far, I haven't found a way to "force" a download. Is there anyway to do this?
Or do I just keep checking my system files everyday?
( I seem to recall the download comes from the satellite and that it gets activated by the "phone call" or by using slicer etc.)

OBTW both boxes originally "hacked" using PTVnet and Instantcake. Until the last three weeks or so no problems (none not caused by me, that is :rolleyes:) whatsoever.

Thanks,

Park_Ridge_Dave

[Lou Jacob]

You can try using the -d option on the unit that hasn't yet received the slices; no guarantees, but I tested it on a newly upgraded unit and it worked fine.

[rbautch]

I used the -d option and it worked just fine on my HR10-250 to download the new slices. I ran the Slicer with this format: ./slicer 6.3e-01-2-357 -dIf you're not experiencing reboots on the second tivo, I wouldn't upgrade from 6.3d to 6.3e.

[park_ridge_dave]

I used the -d option and it worked just fine on my HR10-250 to download the new slices. I ran the Slicer with this format: ./slicer 6.3e-01-2-357 -dIf you're not experiencing reboots on the second tivo, I wouldn't upgrade from 6.3d to 6.3e.


Lou (when do you sleep?:D) and Rbautch thanks! I'll watch box #2 to see if it develops the "re-boots" until then, "I won't fix it if it ain't broke!" ;)

Dave

[Lou Jacob]

Very rarely, indeed.

Good luck and please report back with your results (if you end up slicing).

[SilentBob]

That's okay, you just need to perform a few additional steps. First thing to do is grab the network.tcl script that's included in the zip file here (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=258516&highlight=wireless+script). Transfer the file to your tivo using your serial cable and a file transfer protocol called zmodem. It's easier than it sounds. Do a search on TCF or DDB to find instructions on how to do it. It might be simpler to pull the drive and rerun PTVnet on it, but you'll find that knowing how to use a serial cable is an extremely valuable tool for troubleshooting down the road.

Ok...well I ran into a bit of a delay building my serial cable, but I now have that built and functioning. However, something definitely seems to be wrong.

The console cable works, and I have bash access. However, when I try to run the network.tcl file, it bombs and reboots the tivo.

After it failed the first time, I ran it again, while logging the console in Hyperterminal. Attached is the output of the console log that includes the failure as well as the subsequent boot messages.

Where do I need to go from here?

[SilentBob]

Ok..I've been playing around with this a bit more, trying to figure out what is going on.

So everything is in place and it is attempting to start networking with DHCP when it boots.

I have tracked everything through rc.sysinit.author and see all of the different scripts that are being called.

It is barfing when it tries to run dhclient.

Running it manually it responds:

bash-2.02# dhclient
Internet Software Consortium DHCP Client 2.0
Copyright 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999 The Internet Software Consortium.
All rights reserved.

Please contribute if you find this software useful.
For info, please visit http://www.isc.org/dhcp-contrib.html

socket: Address family not supported by protocol
Make sure to set CONFIG_PACKET=y and CONFIG_FILTER=y in your kernel configuratio
n!
exiting.

I then attempted setting the correct static IP information in rc.sysinit.author and then changed the flags in /init/ptv_flags so that it uses STATIC vs DHCP. After the reboot, the eth0 is configured as I asked for it to be, however, I am still not able to ping the default gateway (and I have verified that the network link is good by removing the cat5 cable from the tivo and plugging it in to my laptop)

So something is definitely wrong with the Tivo networking.

after booting, typing ifconfig eth0 gives me:
bash-2.02# ifconfig eth0
eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0F:B5:FB:FE:1C
inet addr:192.168.1.200 Bcast:192.168.1.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
BROADCAST MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:54 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:504 dropped:12 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0


I'm pretty sure that 504 errors on TX is not a good thing.

Also, once the Tivo has been up for a few minutes, I am no longer able to pass network traffic through the switch that the Tivo is plugged into (my laptop in another port on the switch is unable to communicate with my router) as soon as I unplug the cat5 link to the tivo, my laptop is able to communicate just fine again.

Thoughts?

[rbautch]

Ok...well I ran into a bit of a delay building my serial cable, but I now have that built and functioning. However, something definitely seems to be wrong.

The console cable works, and I have bash access. However, when I try to run the network.tcl file, it bombs and reboots the tivo.

After it failed the first time, I ran it again, while logging the console in Hyperterminal. Attached is the output of the console log that includes the failure as well as the subsequent boot messages.

Where do I need to go from here?The FsAllocateFunction errors are caused by not having the following in your author file: export TIVO_ROOT=
export MFS_DEVICE=/dev/hda10Also, when you run the network script, you need to enter your IP address and default gateway as arguments, like this: ./network.tcl 192.168.1.106 192.168.1.1

[rbautch]

I then attempted setting the correct static IP information in rc.sysinit.author and then changed the flags in /init/ptv_flags so that it uses STATIC vs DHCP. After the reboot, the eth0 is configured as I asked for it to be, however, I am still not able to ping the default gateway (and I have verified that the network link is good by removing the cat5 cable from the tivo and plugging it in to my laptop)6.3c is such a departure from 3.1.5 software, that you cannot setup networking in this way. You have to set up network in MFS instead of using ifconfig in the author file. Put your author file back the way it was and try running the network script again. Post your author file here and we'll see if anything else needs to be changes.

[SilentBob]

Ok, I just made those changes, and same problem, Tivo is dumping when running the network.tcl file.

So unless I added those two rows in the wrong place. I'm still stumped.

Next?

[SilentBob]

6.3c is such a departure from 3.1.5 software, that you cannot setup networking in this way. You have to set up network in MFS instead of using ifconfig in the author file. Put your author file back the way it was and try running the network script again. Post your author file here and we'll see if anything else needs to be changes.

the only thing I had changed in the rc.sysinit.author file was the actual IP address...
from 192.168.1.98 to 192.168.1.200 (basically so I could see if my change was having an effect)

then in the /init/ptv_flags I renamed DHCP_ON to DHCP_OFF and renamed STATIC_ON to STATIC_OFF

So I just now changed the flags back so that I have DHCP_ON and STATIC_OFF again, rebooted and nothing has changed. Still dumping when I try to run network.tcl.

in the file I just posted in my previous post, the first thing I did was cat rc.sysinit.author so it is all in there.

Here are the flags that are set in /init/ptv_flags

bash-2.02# ls /init/ptv_flags/
DHCP_ON PHONE_OFF TELNET_ON UPGRADE_OFF
FTP_ON STATIC_OFF TIVOWEB_ON USB2_ACTIVE
bash-2.02#

[rbautch]

Ok, I just made those changes, and same problem, Tivo is dumping when running the network.tcl file.

So unless I added those two rows in the wrong place. I'm still stumped.

Next?
Try adding a line to your author file to run the network script when the tivo boots. That way you won't have to run it from a serial session.

[SilentBob]

Try adding a line to your author file to run the network script when the tivo boots. That way you won't have to run it from a serial session.

Umm..I have reservations about whether or not that is such a good idea...

I mean, the network script is causing the Tivo to dump and forcibly reboot. If I add a line to the author file, that is run on every boot, and it causes the Tivo to core dump and reboot, don't I risk getting into an endless reboot cycle?

[rbautch]

Umm..I have reservations about whether or not that is such a good idea...

I mean, the network script is causing the Tivo to dump and forcibly reboot. If I add a line to the author file, that is run on every boot, and it causes the Tivo to core dump and reboot, don't I risk getting into an endless reboot cycle?
Add a "sleep 180" on the line right before the command that launches the script. This will give you a 3 minute cushion to get in there and remove it if it causes a reboot. I think it will be okay though. Put these lines at the end of the author file, and watch the console messages on the serial console as it boots.

[Copycat]

Very rarely, indeed.

Good luck and please report back with your results (if you end up slicing).

Using the slicer I went to 6.3e very easily from 6.3a and then installed the patches to get my other hacks working on my Zippered HR10-250 (now 500GB)

I did have to grab 6.3e-01-2-357.tgz and move it to /var/packages after renaming it slices.tgz as I never got the download from DTV. Then ran the slicer with -d option.

The random reboots appear to have stopped and with patches I'm back in business.

Thanks again for the slicer Lou and your help with it rbautch.

PS: for those that need the patches for 6.3e only, I posted them here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=265929&page=367

[SilentBob]

Add a "sleep 180" on the line right before the command that launches the script. This will give you a 3 minute cushion to get in there and remove it if it causes a reboot. I think it will be okay though. Put these lines at the end of the author file, and watch the console messages on the serial console as it boots.

Well I made the changes at the end of the author file and did a restart and I still had no network. I changed the /init/ptv_flags so that both DHCP and STATIC were set to OFF, and then changed the location of the statement in the author file.

This last time it seems to have worked...at least for now. I'll have to watch it over the next few days to see how it behaves, but before I touch it too much, I'm going to take this opportunity to get some shows off of it while I can.

It still crashes outright if I run it from the bash prompt. Any idea why? *should* I be able to run the network script from the bash prompt or *must* it be run from the author script?

[Red Devil]

I was just about to download this puppy, but just read all these posts.

Is it worthwhile to get this or should I wait?

[SilentBob]

I was just about to download this puppy, but just read all these posts.

Is it worthwhile to get this or should I wait?

To get what? Slicer?

Well, I picked it up because:
a) I thought it would be less trouble than re-hacking
b) I don't have a phone line here at the house to force the update.

In retrospect, what I wish I had done was:
a) Set Tivo to do daily call via the network:
http://www.dvrpedia.com/Enable_Daily_Call_over_Network_for_Series_1_and_Di recTV_Series_2_TiVos
b) update, pull the drive and rehack with zipper
http://www.dvrpedia.com/Zipper_-_SApper_-_Enhancement_Script

I now own slicer, have done the 3.1.5f -> 6.3c upgrade with it, and I am debating on whether or not I want to use it to do the 6.3c -> 6.3e (maybe 6.3f) upgrade, or whehter I just want to force the update and re-hack fresh.

[Red Devil]

Yep, Slicer.

Thanks for the info. If I get it, are updates to it included?

BTW, I'm a DVR Upgrade virgin. I just bought a 500GB HD, and most of the softwre here to learn how to increase the capacity of my RCA DVR40.

[SilentBob]

Yep, Slicer.

Thanks for the info. If I get it, are updates to it included?

BTW, I'm a DVR Upgrade virgin. I just bought a 500GB HD, and most of the softwre here to learn how to increase the capacity of my RCA DVR40.

Well, it's a bit off topic for the thread, but if you are brand new to all of this, then that means that your unit is not currently hacked, and therefore should be running the most recent version of the software, or if it isn't there really isn't a reason to NOT get the upgrade.

Once it is hacked, an auto-update can undo all of the hacking, thus the reason for Slicer.

But if you have not hacked it yet, just go grab Zipper for free, follow that link, and you are on your way.

[Red Devil]

Thanks SB. I'm now downloading and reading everything I can find from those links you provided.

I'll also get Slicer after I learn more about what I'm going to be doing.

[Copycat]

Using the slicer I went to 6.3e very easily from 6.3a and then installed the patches to get my other hacks working on my Zippered HR10-250 (now 500GB)

I did have to grab 6.3e-01-2-357.tgz and move it to /var/packages after renaming it slices.tgz as I never got the download from DTV. Then ran the slicer with -d option.

The random reboots appear to have stopped and with patches I'm back in business.

Thanks again for the slicer Lou and your help with it rbautch.

PS: for those that need the patches for 6.3e only, I posted them here:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=265929&page=367

:eek:And now I hear folks are seeing 6.3f coming down, I think I'll wait and see how much smoke rises from this update.

[dcstager]

I can tell you that 6.3f is in the MFS of my Hughes SD-DVR80. I'm holding off upgrading to it with slicer until we know more because I really, really, do not want to pull my drive and 6.2a is working well.

[StanSimmons]

I had a problem with Slicer on my S2DT 9.1a upgrade.

My S2DT (649) is PROM hacked. I had used SApper to setup the hacks on v9.1

Last week I saw that the box was "Pending Restart" so I ran Slicer to move my hacks into the new partitions. I answered yes to moving the backported network drivers into the new setup.

When the system rebooted, I was seeing errors and kernel panics after the network drivers loaded. It was in an endless loop of rebooting everytime the network drivers loaded.

I had to pull the drive anyway, so I just re-ran SApper on it to correct the issue. I was too lazy to chase down whatever went sideways.

Later in the week I had the need to run Slicer on an HR10-250, so I told it NOT to move the backported drivers. That Slicer upgrade ran with no problems, and I later installed the backported drivers by hand.

Is there anything that you guys would like me to look at on my S2DT to diagnose what went wrong?

Here is the serial out that I was seeing:
eth0 Link UP.
ehci-dummy: dummy EHCI module loaded
Unaligned Access to 0x00000019 in kernel mode at 0x80047c14
Unhandled kernel unaligned access in unaligned.c::emulate_load_store_insn, line
497:
$0 : 00000000 80180000 83aedf14 83aedf14 00000001 00000000 817716d8 00000003
$8 : 00000000 81771c98 00000000 50040000 83aed94c 00000000 00000000 00000000
$16: 00000000 83c23b40 83c23b40 83aed920 00001988 801509c8 801509a0 80017e90
$24: 00000000 2aabb9a0 8036a000 80017cf8 7fff7650 800db8a4
Hi : 00000000
Lo : 00000c00
epc : 80047c14 Tainted: P
Status: 90009c03
Cause : 00800010
Process myworld (pid: 222, stackpage=8036a000)
Stack: 809541c0 809546c0 00000000 00000000 800db8a4 83aed920 8010c138
8391ce00 0a000033 ccb03141 83c23b40 00000000 800db8d8 c05beb86 00000000
50040000 00000000 8010cf28 83c23b40 800dba78 00000000 00000000 00000001
d6b65102 00000000 00000000 8010d294 00000000 000001df 00000001 00000000
00000000 00000000 83c23b40 00000018 00000006 800f212c 801509c8 801509a0
80017e90 ...

Trace: 80047c14 800db8a4 800db8d8 800dba78 8010d294 800f212c 800f1c94 800f2370
800f1ef0 800e0c4c 800e0efc 800e10dc 8002eb08 800ab484 800aba04 800aaf18

Code: 27bd0018 27bdffe8 afbf0010 <8c820018> 00021382 30420001 1440000a 8fbf
0010 c0830014
Kernel panic: Die called

In interrupt handler - not syncing
Core of 0 bytes written
Panic logged
Rebooting in 1 seconds..

[Copycat]

If I wanted to use the slicer to move my Philips 7000 from 6.1 to 6.2a what file name would I have to insert when using the slicer, such as "slicer 6.2aXXXX -d" as I would need to download them as they are not on my DVR.

[StanSimmons]

If I wanted to use the slicer to move my Philips 7000 from 6.1 to 6.2a what file name would I have to insert when using the slicer, such as "slicer 6.2aXXXX -d" as I would need to download them as they are not on my DVR.

6.2a-01-2-101

The last three digits match the first three digits of your system service number.

Other v6.2a slices that are on my dsr7000 are:
Directory listing of /SwSystem
Name Type Id Date Time Size
6.2-01-2-101 tyDb 60888 03/24/05 00:33 724
6.2a-01-2-101 tyDb 1433005 02/17/07 03:33 700
6.2a-01-2-121 tyDb 1433009 02/17/07 03:33 700
6.2a-01-2-151 tyDb 1433010 02/17/07 03:33 700
6.2a-01-2-301 tyDb 1433011 02/17/07 03:33 700
6.2a-01-2-321 tyDb 1433012 02/17/07 03:33 700
6.2a-01-2-351 tyDb 1433013 02/17/07 03:33 700
6.2a-01-2-381 tyDb 1433014 02/17/07 03:33 700
6.2a-01-2-3F1 tyDb 1433015 02/17/07 03:33 700
ACTIVE tyDb 60888 03/24/05 00:33 724

[Copycat]

Thanks, getting it up and running was a snap once I had that information.
6.2a-01-2-3F1 tyDb 1705729 12/26/07 13:25 700
ACTIVE tyDb 1696719 12/26/07 13:33 724

Slicer is the way to go :)

[jacrag51]

I hope I'm doing this right, and apologize if I'm not replying/asking in the right place. I've been reading TiVo hacking forums and hacking my TiVos for over 5 years now, but am overwhelmed with the number of forums to search and the multitude of solutions to the vast number of problems hacking presents. I've hacked two Series 1, a DirecTiVo DT, and a Series 2 DT (and another Series 2 just waiting to be hacked!).

I've resorted to Zipper and SApper to upgrade my Tivos However, I have yet to be successful in getting Slicer to work for me. For the second time, I have been unsucessful in getting Slicer to work on a prom modded 649 TiVo Series 2 DT. The last attempt was used to upgrade to 9.1. After the Slicer install, my TiVo went into an endless reboot loop. I ended up re-installing my original TiVo drive, let it take the update, then used SApper and the Enhancement Script on a new drive.

I recently received the 9.1a update, so thought I'd try to get Slicer to install the update for me. All the messages I got made it appear I was sucessful with the install, but now I'm back to the endless reboot. I thought all the info on USB drivers would be irrelevant as I am using a direct Ethernet connection to my network. Now having failed at getting the Slicer to work , I am again letting my original drive take the 9.1a update, after which I will again SApper to a new drive, run the Enhancement Script, and try to get back to what us hackers believe a Tivo should be.

I attached the Telnet session for my 9.1a Slicer upgrade below. What am I doing wrong? Most of what I read raves at how easy it is to use the Slicer, but I've yet to get it to work for me. I'm using a version of Slicer dated 7/24/2007. The manufacturer and model I selected when I purchased Slicer, has always been the same TiVo I'm trying to upgrade.

Thanks for any help that can be provided.

<Slicer telnet log follows...>

Checking your system for required utilities...
find is present
wget is present
tar is present
sed is present
cut is present
All required binaries are present. Proceeding...

Editing installSw.itcl

Installing new software. This will take several minutes...

installSw.itcl ran successfully, and set up your new partitions.
Please note the following:
Your new root filesystem partition is 4
Your new kernel partition is 3

Hit <enter> to continue, or <cntrl-c> to exit:

Post-install update script, we may put something here at a later date...

Copying your hacked kernel to the new boot partition...
2048+0 records in
2048+0 records out
kernel copied successfully!


Mounting your new root filesystem /dev/hda4 now...
New filesystem mounted successfully!

Creating dummy iptables...

Do you want to copy your backported USB 2.0 drivers to your new installation? [y
/n]: n
Skipping driver copy

Copying your existing hacks to the new root partition...

Copying author file...
Copying TivoWebPlus from /TivoWebPlus

Copying your enhancements directory from /enhancements
Dont forget to run the /enhancements/var-symlinks.sh
script after you reboot to re-establish your symlinks
in var.

Copying your hacks directory from /hacks
cron installation detected in /var/spool/cron
/install/enhancements/varhacks/spool/cron
/enhancements/varhacks/spool/cron.
Copying user definitions
Copying your busybox directory from /busybox
Copying the contents of /var/hack
Copying your profile from /.profile
Copying /var/spool

IMPORTANT!! Please review the above list of hacks that were
copied to your new root partition. If you have any hacks that
were not copied, you must copy them manually to the
corresponding location in the /install directory before rebooting
Hit <enter> to continue:

9.1a-01-2-649 installation is complete!!

Hit <enter> to reboot your TiVo and start using your new software,
or hit <cntrl-c> to exit and check things out first.

[Lou Jacob]

I've not been able to play with The Slicer on standalone units, but I'm hoping rbautch can chime in, as I'm pretty sure he has. I've heard of a few others having a reboot problem with the 9.1 upgrade on these units, but am not sure what the cause of it might be.

[bdhull]

to update my Hughes SD DVR40 to software version 6.3 from 3.1. Now my TIVO is in a endless boot loop with a gray screen that says "Welcome Powering Up" and flashes a black screen every once in awhile.

I believe I purchased my InstantCake update as well as PTVNet from you a while back. Does the new version install version 6.3? I was wondering if you'd allow me to DL copies of InstantCake and PTVNet to bring my TIVO back to working again.

Unless y'all have a suggestion to break the endless loop. After 45 minutes I did pull the plug to power the unit down for a "cold" boot.

Thanks

Bart D. Hull
Tempe,AZ

[boiler_man]

not sure to ask here but the last thing I did was use the slicer so here goes.

I have an HR10-250 with 6.3d and was experiencing the random reboots talked about elsewhere.

I did not have the 6.3e slices so I used the slicer with the -d option and it worked fine. It even kept my 200m v2 drivers intact so I didn't lose connectivity.

It only worked for one day and then when I got up this morning it was stuck on the "almost there" screen. I tested my drives with WD diag software without finding any errors.

I installed my original drive and it works fine so I know the other hardware is ok. I was wondering if I should try to recake the drives?

Any advice?

Thanks

update:
I attempted to start over with a 3.1f (special edition) image and use slicer both with the 6.3a slices and the -d option for 6.3e and could not get the slicer to work. I finally purchased the 6.3e image on 1/26/08 and all is fine now. Haven't had any reboots since and I didn't have to do anything to gain telnet access with my 200m v2.

Thanks to all who inform us dummies on this site.

[MikeRaffety]

I've been very happy with my HR10-250 (DirecTV HD Tivo), upgraded by PTVupgrade for network access and a 500 GB drive.

I recently got my OTA feed working a LOT better -- but now the Tivo reboots every 10-15 minutes when watching FOX-HD (32-1 in Chicago). So I decided to upgrade from 3.1.5f to 6.3e with the Zipper script.

The upgrade went well (full transcript available), except that the reboot still seems to happen -- and no network access. It appears that the driver for the NetGear FA120 USB Ethernet port is missing:

bash-2.02# ifconfig -a
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:0.0.0.0 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0

bash-2.02# ifconfig eth0
eth0: unknown interface.
bash-2.02#

Could someone explain what I need to do to reinstall the Ethernet USB driver? I'm a Unix person, but not very familiar with the specific flavor that Tivo uses here. I do have console access.

And, any insights into the reboot due to one OTA channel would help too (only happens when tuned into that channel). I thought the upgrade was likely to fix that, but I guess not.

Thank you!

[Barefooter]

If you have the 6.3F slices go with those. Rumor has it they fix the problem.

[Lou Jacob]

I am noticing some subtle differences with 6.3f from 6.3e, namely the lack of /sbin/dhclient and /etc/dhclient-script -- this affects the normal PTVnet 6.3X installation and we are working on a newer version of PTVnet which will work with both 6.3f and 6.3e.

Not sure how this will affect, if at all, Slicer installations, but if you are using DHCP, be careful and be sure to use a serial cable, just in case.

[MikeRaffety]

Thanks, I'll watch for 6.3f to fix the channel 32 reboot problem.

Any ideas on the drivers need to re-enable the USB/Ethernet port (above)? That's a more pressing problem for me right now.

Thank you!

[Lou Jacob]

Thanks, I'll watch for 6.3f to fix the channel 32 reboot problem.

Any ideas on the drivers need to re-enable the USB/Ethernet port (above)? That's a more pressing problem for me right now.

Thank you!

The drivers are the same. But if you used the slicer, lost connectivity and had things set up for DHCP, then the reason you've lost connectivity is because of the missing files I just mentioned.

You'd need to copy them over from the inactive user partition, and for good measure, type:

rm -rf /var/state/dhcp/*

and restart your unit and it should come up fine.

[Barefooter]

Mostly for Lou,

I ran slicer upgrades on 2 HR10s to 6.3f one went great and one I can't seem to get to messages and settings. After some checking I downloaded a set of slices
and tried to dbload them myself, the version I started with came from D*TV. Still no luck.
I doubt this is a slicer problem. But who knows. Bottom line the slicer got me back up and running just fine on 6.3e.

Thanks again for a great product !

[Lou Jacob]

I've been very happy with my HR10-250 (DirecTV HD Tivo), upgraded by PTVupgrade for network access and a 500 GB drive.

I recently got my OTA feed working a LOT better -- but now the Tivo reboots every 10-15 minutes when watching FOX-HD (32-1 in Chicago). So I decided to upgrade from 3.1.5f to 6.3e with the Zipper script.

The upgrade went well (full transcript available), except that the reboot still seems to happen -- and no network access. It appears that the driver for the NetGear FA120 USB Ethernet port is missing:

bash-2.02# ifconfig -a
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:0.0.0.0 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0

bash-2.02# ifconfig eth0
eth0: unknown interface.
bash-2.02#

Could someone explain what I need to do to reinstall the Ethernet USB driver? I'm a Unix person, but not very familiar with the specific flavor that Tivo uses here. I do have console access.

And, any insights into the reboot due to one OTA channel would help too (only happens when tuned into that channel). I thought the upgrade was likely to fix that, but I guess not.

Thank you!

Mike...

I've confirmed that a straight running of Slicer 1.9 (the current version) on a PTVnet / InstantCake Build 6.3e ---> 6.3f will definitely not work with DHCP settings intact.

From your description, this is the problem you are having. Here is the code you can use, from your console shell, to get things going again. I am working on a patch that I will test, and should work for users of the current version of the Slicer, so that this configuration should work moving forward.

Meanwhile Mike, try doing this (I don't know what your primary user partition is, but lets assume its /dev/hda4; do a bootpage -p to find out what it is, its either /dev/hda4 or /dev/hda7):


mount /dev/hda4 /install
cp /install/sbin/dhclient /sbin
cp /install/etc/dhclient-script /etc


You could probably just do an /sbin/dhclient at that point or just sync and reboot and you should come up on your network. If you don't, try also typing:


rm -rf /var/state/dhcp/*


and then re-run the dhclient stuff. I'm still doing some testing, but I think that will re-plumb your network for you.

Lou

[Lou Jacob]

Ok, just a follow-up. I've added an update script on our server that will automatically be run in the final steps of using Slicer 1.9, which has been available for some time now.

The update script (downloaded into /var/package as update3 and run at the very end of the installation), will do three things:

1) it will check to ensure that /init/ptv_flags/STATIC_ON is NOT set. the implication there is that you are then using the default DHCP implementation of PTVnet for 6.3.

2) it will then check and copy the files listed in the aforementioned post; ie /sbin/dhclient and /etc/dhclient-script from the current root partition into the new one

3) it will also (and this is completely unrelated) check and rename the gotomydvr_untested folder -- gotomydvr, if installed in your active root, will be renamed to a working gotomydvr directory in your new root

VERY IMPORTANT: If you are running The Slicer to get from 6.3e to 6.3f (or even an earlier version of 6.3 to 6.3f and you are currently using a STATIC IP address configured in any way other than the default PTVnet methods and/or you've setup your IP in mfs, even for DHCP, then you should do the following AFTER The Slicer completes:


rootwrite
rm -rf /sbin/dhclient
rm -rf /etc/dhclient-script
Confused? Don't use The Slicer without a serial cable, or you are asking for trouble! :-)

[kantoo]

I ran slicer 1.9 to upgrade from 6.2a to 6.3f on my Philips DSR7000. Root filesystem is on partition7 and the kernel is on partition 6. All appeared to go well, and most of my hacks worked until I discovered I didn't have any network connectivity. I followed the instructions posted earlier in this thread with no success. I verified that my flags were set correctly DHCP_OFF and STATIC_ON. update3 does appear in my /var/packages dir.. I also typed the following:

mv /sbin/dhclient /sbin/dhclient.orig
touch /sbin/dhclient
chmod 755 /sbin/dhclient
sync

After this, I did the restart. Watching the terminal window I saw the adapter appear:
eth0: register usbnet usb-00:0d.2-1, Linksys usb200m v2 AX88772 USB 2.0 Ethernet

the DVR continued to startup until it got to about 84% of acquiring satellite information. After this the DVR rebooted. It went into a reboot loop for about 4 times while acquiring Satellite info. Eventually it came back up but I still have no networking. Ifconfig only returns the local loopback adapter.

lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:0.0.0.0 Mask:255.0.0.0


Any ideas how to get the networking restored? Unfortunately, without networking I can't even upload anything to try to repair. Thanks for any help you can offer.

[Lou Jacob]

I've not tested The Slicer on any DIRECTV SD systems yet, only the HR10-250, so really have nothing to add there. If/when I get a chance to tinker with 6.3f on an SD unit, specifically going from 6.2a to 6.3f, I'll update here. Might be awhile though, 6.2a is still my OS of choice for SD units. You should still be able to use ZMODEM or other file transfer mechanisms within teraterm to move reasonably sized files. Otherwise, you'll have to mount the drive in a PC once you know what the issue is (remember, you can still mount your inactive partitions under the new OS and still copy things over, so you may not need to transfer anything).

[Barefooter]

Question, for you on the Slicer 1.9. Can you tell me if the new version will resolve the issue I am having with the messages and setup screen not showing up followed by a reboot. I have gone back and fourth a few times between 6.3e and 6.3f on an HR10-250 built from DRVUpgrade software. 6.3e works exactly as expected but each time I slice upgrade to 6.3f a visit to that screen give me a blank menu and from there after a few a reboot.

Currently running Slicer 1.7 but happy to upgrade if you think this will fix the problem.

Regards,

[kantoo]

Just a quick note, I don't know if this will help anyone help me... The last couple of output captured befor entering the reboot loop is as follows:


Illegal read at 00000458

do_page_fault #2: sending signal 11 to dssapp(93)

$0 : 00000000 9001fc01 00000000 100bd7a0 02180900 021805b5 00000400 100c6b58

$8 : 021808c0 100bd7a0 00000000 00000002 00006920 00000010 1330c000 98b060e0

$16: 00000000 100c6b58 100b9e60 00000000 7fff7b70 100bf6c0 100bf6bc 100bf6b8

$24: 00000000 02405940 10008fe0 7fcff918 0040c15c 02405980

Hi : 00001900

Lo : 000015e0

epc : 0240df0c Tainted: P

Status: 8001fc13

Cause : 80000008

800c0570 800c058c 800c48a4 800c4bf8 800c6a9c

0240df0c 02405980 0040776c 0042b798 00463d38 00460864 004511d4 0042c7a0

0040c9bc 02406b10

/tvbin/dssapp: caught signal 11

Rebooting the system

flushing ide devices: hda

Restarting system.


Ideas on the /tvbin/dssapp: caught signal 11 ?
I'll try some things such as DHCP when I get home from work. I guess I'll also download a copy of TeraTerm since I use Putty and I don't think it does zmodem. I'll post any success I have. Thanks for the help!

[Lou Jacob]

I really don't know for sure, but that does not sound like a Slicer type of problem; it sounds like some aspect of the new software didn't load properly. I'd like to think that DTV does some checking when the actual software slices are dbloaded into your OS, but I don't know what happens if things aren't perfect.

BTW, version 1.9 was released in August, so its really not that new...

[Lou Jacob]

I'll try some things such as DHCP when I get home from work. I guess I'll also download a copy of TeraTerm since I use Putty and I don't think it does zmodem. I'll post any success I have. Thanks for the help!

Don't forget.... you can still mount your inactive partition and grab whatever files you need (eg /sbin/dhclient, /etc/dhclient-script, etc) so you may not even need to grab any other files through the serial connection...

[kantoo]

Okay, Thanks Lou. I am not much of a UNIX user, could you please refresh me on mounting the inactive partitions. I believe my previous root partition was hda4.

[Lou Jacob]

Okay, Thanks Lou. I am not much of a UNIX user, could you please refresh me on mounting the inactive partitions. I believe my previous root partition was hda4.

I'm sorry, can't turn this into the Linux 101 thread (that is sort of a prerequisite to using tools like this) but with that said, see post #60 from this thread - I already did it!

[kantoo]

Well, I tried a few things copying the dhclient and dhclient-script files back from the inactive partitions and still didn't have networking after another reboot. Unfortunately, things seem to be rather unstable and files seem to be disappearing from the active partition (not just in /var). Ncid/tivocid that worked immediately after the 6.3f Slicer upgrade now don't work after another reboot. I was able to restore backups and get ncid/tivocid and sendkeyplus working again but still no networking.

Unfortunately, I don't have hours to spend here trying to figure out what is wrong or went wrong. I plan pull the drive over the weekend and restore my backup. If that doesn't work, I'll re-bake with 6.2a instantcake and ptvnet since everything was working fine before applying the 6.3f slices. If anyone has any ideas befor then, please let me know. Thanks!

[Lou Jacob]

Well, I tried a few things copying the dhclient and dhclient-script files back from the inactive partitions and still didn't have networking after another reboot. Unfortunately, things seem to be rather unstable and files seem to be disappearing from the active partition (not just in /var). Ncid/tivocid that worked immediately after the 6.3f Slicer upgrade now don't work after another reboot. I was able to restore backups and get ncid/tivocid and sendkeyplus working again but still no networking.

Unfortunately, I don't have hours to spend here trying to figure out what is wrong or went wrong. I plan pull the drive over the weekend and restore my backup. If that doesn't work, I'll re-bake with 6.2a instantcake and ptvnet since everything was working fine before applying the 6.3f slices. If anyone has any ideas befor then, please let me know. Thanks!

I just built a PTVnet kit for my HDVR2 with 6.2a (this should be essentially the same as one created with PTVnet and InstantCake) and ran The Slicer (v1.9) with no issues.

The system was in its default state (DHCP flag set to ON) and aside from an ugly page-fault panic during the 'updating phase' after the first boot (not clear what that was all about) the system came back up just fine and grabbed the same DHCP IP address off my network.

[kantoo]

Stayed home from work today and restored back to 6.2a, was a tivo sick day:D Everything is working great. I don't know what might have gone wrong with my The Slicer 1.9 upgrade to 6.3f. The upgrade was performed on a system that was fairly clean only having sendkeyplus, ncid/tivocid, TivoWebPlus 2.1b3 and hackman. The upgraded system was only built about a week ago with a fresh WD300GB drive and Linksys usb200m v2 network adapter using InstantCake 6.2a and PTVnet. Also had static ip address using the standard ptvnet method. I followed the standard Slicer instrictions and it did appear to work correctly untill after the first couple of reboots. Maybe DTV is trying to kill the old DVR's so we'll upgrade to HD and their HR20/21:) Anyhow, since things work well at 6.2a, I guess I shouldn't re-attempt 6.3f. Thanks for the help.

[Barefooter]

Going back to the Messages and Settings error. As Lou thought it isn't a slicer error. It seems if you used SuperPatchStandby.tcl to update your menus this causes problems. I had updated one menu on one HR10 with the tcl and not the other. Seems for some strange reason the FSID in the MFS gets set to a location 6.3f can't find.

The solution is to get a copy of in my case TvSettingsMainMenu.brf from a working 6.3f HR10 and import it into the non-working unit. TuikHelper.tcl export TvSettingsMainMenu.brf will pull it out and TuikHelper.tcl import TvSettingsMainMenu.brf will put in back in.

Did that and my problems went away.

[Lou Jacob]

Also had static ip address using the standard ptvnet method.

My guess is that it had something to do with this. I will try to run some more tests, but if its really important that you get to 6.3f, I'd recommend you try again now, and then work on setting up the static IP address once you are at 6.3f...

[Lou Jacob]

Going back to the Messages and Settings error. As Lou thought it isn't a slicer error. It seems if you used SuperPatchStandby.tcl to update your menus this causes problems. I had updated one menu on one HR10 with the tcl and not the other. Seems for some strange reason the FSID in the MFS gets set to a location 6.3f can't find.

The solution is to get a copy of in my case TvSettingsMainMenu.brf from a working 6.3f HR10 and import it into the non-working unit. TuikHelper.tcl export TvSettingsMainMenu.brf will pull it out and TuikHelper.tcl import TvSettingsMainMenu.brf will put in back in.

Did that and my problems went away.

Bingo. Nice catch!

[kantoo]

I don't really need 6.3f. Most of my reasons for applying it went away after rebuilding with 6.2a, a couple of days before I tried slicing to 6.3f. Since the cover is still off and drive not screwed in, I'll try again after the slices come back down if it will help help others. Have to do another backup first though.

So are you saying I should switch back to DHCP before applying the 6.3f slices?

BTW, using zmodem was like a bad flashback.... but it did work:)

[Lou Jacob]

So are you saying I should switch back to DHCP before applying the 6.3f slices?

BTW, using zmodem was like a bad flashback.... but it did work:)

Pretty much, yes. I'd have to go back and review the code and method for setting up STATIC to make sure that going back to DHCP puts you in the same spot as just staying with DHCP after a clean install.

I would sit tight for now until I can do some additional testing; if your slices don't come down, I can post some instructions on how to grab them and load them, as well. But for now, just sit tight and hopefully I can do some testing within the next week on my bench system and will provide some additional info...

Lou

PS I hear you on flashbacks... I remember the old days using xmodem, kermit, etc. myself.

[Lou Jacob]

I don't really need 6.3f. Most of my reasons for applying it went away after rebuilding with 6.2a, a couple of days before I tried slicing to 6.3f. Since the cover is still off and drive not screwed in, I'll try again after the slices come back down if it will help help others. Have to do another backup first though.

So are you saying I should switch back to DHCP before applying the 6.3f slices?

BTW, using zmodem was like a bad flashback.... but it did work:)

kantoo -

Are these the instructions you followed (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvrupgrade-support-center/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&id=110), and if so, what where the the steps you took to set up your static ip settings before attempting to slice?

IE, did you use the steps from part 1 or part 2 (netconfig) of the instructions? I want to try and simulate what you did to see if I can repeat the problem.

[rbautch]

Stayed home from work today and restored back to 6.2a, was a tivo sick day:D Everything is working great. I don't know what might have gone wrong with my The Slicer 1.9 upgrade to 6.3f. The upgrade was performed on a system that was fairly clean only having sendkeyplus, ncid/tivocid, TivoWebPlus 2.1b3 and hackman. The upgraded system was only built about a week ago with a fresh WD300GB drive and Linksys usb200m v2 network adapter using InstantCake 6.2a and PTVnet. Also had static ip address using the standard ptvnet method. I followed the standard Slicer instrictions and it did appear to work correctly untill after the first couple of reboots. Maybe DTV is trying to kill the old DVR's so we'll upgrade to HD and their HR20/21:) Anyhow, since things work well at 6.2a, I guess I shouldn't re-attempt 6.3f. Thanks for the help.There seems to be an epidemic of random rebooting of HR10-250's lately, including mine. In a topic discussed here (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=57619&highlight=HR10-250+rebooting)
others also share your suspicion that DirecTV is messing with our Tivos. The bottom line seems to be that a software upgrade will fix this. I'll post my results after the upgrade.

[kantoo]

kantoo -

Are these the instructions you followed (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvrupgrade-support-center/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&id=110), and if so, what where the the steps you took to set up your static ip settings before attempting to slice?

IE, did you use the steps from part 1 or part 2 (netconfig) of the instructions? I want to try and simulate what you did to see if I can repeat the problem.

Lou- Those are partially the steps I followed. I followed the steps outlined in this post PTVnet: Creating a Static IP Address (two methods) (http://www.dvrplayground.com/forum/thread/10952/?textpage=1) . Thanks again for all your help.

[Lou Jacob]

Lou- Those are partially the steps I followed. I followed the steps outlined in this post PTVnet: Creating a Static IP Address (two methods) (http://www.dvrplayground.com/forum/thread/10952/?textpage=1) . Thanks again for all your help.

OK... That is a very old post from DVRplayground and that may explain it. If you look at the last part of those instructions, it is basically telling you to remove the dhclient application and create an 'empty' version... so basically, you are not running dhclient.

If you follow the instructions in the link to our knowledgebase, you probably won't have any problems. Alternatively, just sticking a 'real' dhclient into /sbin will probably solve the problem, as well.

I'm still going to do some experimenting by slicing a system that is set to STATIC and post some observations.

BTW, when experimenting with this stuff, you don't have to keep rebooting; you can run commands like dhclient from the console.

Also, you might want to just set your IP address in MFS as mentioned in the knowledge base article; Russ has confirmed that once you've set things up in MFS, you should be able to happily slice away...

[kantoo]

I'll probably try the other networking instructions either tonight or tomorrow. I guess that is the main problem with these forums, you never know what is current or the best way to accomplish something. Good to know I can test the networking without having to reboot, the reboots make the wife a bit angry:)

I just connected to the unit remotely from work and the 6.3f slices have not come back down again. Can you hook me up with the method (or point me to it) you mentioned earlier to force them to come down? I have seen a couple of scripts out there that say they'll do it, but not sure about the source(s). I know if it comes from you that it'll be from a reputable source. I appreciate all your assistance with this and will let you know how it all works out.

[Barefooter]

Go here http://rapidshare.com/files/76862446...vo_slices_.tgz I downloaded them and they are fine. Just make sure to read the readme.

On another note. I think we are starting to see memory issues with the HR10s seems that when I loaded up TivoWebPlus 2.0 and a few other hacks all of a sudden the unit became very unstable and recycled at will on menu choices. Went back to 1.3.1 and the problem went away.

[Lou Jacob]

On another note. I think we are starting to see memory issues with the HR10s seems that when I loaded up TivoWebPlus 2.0 and a few other hacks all of a sudden the unit became very unstable and recycled at will on menu choices. Went back to 1.3.1 and the problem went away.

That is spooky. What else are you running? I've had TWP 2.0 running on my HR10, with no other hacks, and things seem to be running fine (under 6.3e). I may split this post off into a separate thread at some point.

[Lou Jacob]

I'll probably try the other networking instructions either tonight or tomorrow. I guess that is the main problem with these forums, you never know what is current or the best way to accomplish something. Good to know I can test the networking without having to reboot, the reboots make the wife a bit angry:)

I just connected to the unit remotely from work and the 6.3f slices have not come back down again. Can you hook me up with the method (or point me to it) you mentioned earlier to force them to come down? I have seen a couple of scripts out there that say they'll do it, but not sure about the source(s). I know if it comes from you that it'll be from a reputable source. I appreciate all your assistance with this and will let you know how it all works out.

Agreed on all counts.

What is your make/model; I've already pre-made some scripts and can probably give you a single wget command that will grab and load just the correct slices for your unit.

Lou

[Barefooter]

That is spooky. What else are you running? I've had TWP 2.0 running on my HR10, with no other hacks, and things seem to be running fine (under 6.3e). I may split this post off into a separate thread at some point.

The unit is a stock PTVnet/InstantCake unit built on 3.1.5 back in December of 06. I upgraded the unit with Slicer going to 6.3a through 6.3e. Never had a problem with any prior release up to and including 6.3e. I don't have anything else besides FTP, Telnet, TivoWebPlus and the usual Cron job your software sets up to do the phone changes.

As I have said all along I am fairly sure there is nothing wrong with the slicer or what it is doing. I really think D*TV has made some major changes in 6.3f somewhere that is causing this. After each problem I had over the past few days I went back to 6.3e using slicer and the machine worked perfectly.

Right now with 6.3f and TWB 131 I seem to be running fine.

If you would like me to try anything specific feel free to ask.

[kantoo]

Agreed on all counts.

What is your make/model; I've already pre-made some scripts and can probably give you a single wget command that will grab and load just the correct slices for your unit.

Lou

That would be great! I have a philips DSR7000R/17.

[Lou Jacob]

That would be great! I have a philips DSR7000R/17.

Try this (at your own risk):


cd /var/packages
wget http://www.dvrupgrade.com/software/update_tool/getslice-6.3f-01-2-101
sh ./getslice-6.3f-01-2-101

[Lou Jacob]

The unit is a stock PTVnet/InstantCake unit built on 3.1.5 back in December of 06. I upgraded the unit with Slicer going to 6.3a through 6.3e. Never had a problem with any prior release up to and including 6.3e. I don't have anything else besides FTP, Telnet, TivoWebPlus and the usual Cron job your software sets up to do the phone changes.

As I have said all along I am fairly sure there is nothing wrong with the slicer or what it is doing. I really think D*TV has made some major changes in 6.3f somewhere that is causing this. After each problem I had over the past few days I went back to 6.3e using slicer and the machine worked perfectly.

Right now with 6.3f and TWB 131 I seem to be running fine.

If you would like me to try anything specific feel free to ask.

ok, good to know. i will have to take a closer look at my own unit to see whether there are any strange things going on that could be causing problems. i don't want to generalize about anything until i have more data.... thx

[NytOwl]

No Joy:

- Slicer 1.9
- Static IP address
- Slices verified and installed
- Slicer said it copies everything
- at end, exited and it looked okay
- rebooted

When it came up, all hacks were gone, no network, and instead of 6.3f it was now vanilla 6.3c

Guess I'll be pulling drives and instantcake/zippering

Sadness

Peace

P.S. Perhaps Slicer should make sure the /install directory is there. Had to create that to get it to go...

[Lou Jacob]

No Joy:

- Slicer 1.9
- Static IP address
- Slices verified and installed
- Slicer said it copies everything
- at end, exited and it looked okay
- rebooted

When it came up, all hacks were gone, no network, and instead of 6.3f it was now vanilla 6.3c

Guess I'll be pulling drives and instantcake/zippering

Sadness

Peace

P.S. Perhaps Slicer should make sure the /install directory is there. Had to create that to get it to go...

Difficult to comment without knowing what type of system you have. What OS were you running before? What make/model do you have?

The fact that you had to manually make /install is not a good sign.

Please see my previous posts on what has been verified as working / not working, so far...

[NytOwl]

Sorry:

TiVo HR10-250 instantcaked with 6.3c and Zippered

Tried to slice with 6.3f (wget from dvrupgrade)

[Lou Jacob]

Sorry:

TiVo HR10-250 instantcaked with 6.3c and Zippered

Tried to slice with 6.3f (wget from dvrupgrade)

Well, as I said in a previous post, I was able to slice with no problems from 6.3e to 6.3f; but that system was done with PTVnet - you might want to try from a clean install, though. According to rbautch, he has used the current version on his system with the zipper and it worked fine.

[kantoo]

Try this (at your own risk):


cd /var/packages
wget http://www.dvrupgrade.com/software/update_tool/getslice-6.3f-01-2-101
sh ./getslice-6.3f-01-2-101


Success!
I switched back to DHCP and restored my dhclient file to the original. Ran the the script above to get and dbload the 6.3f slices. Pulled the drive and did a complete backup! Put the drive back in the unit. Next I uploaded and ran Slicer 1.9 to apply the 6.3f slices. Reboot. System booted cleanly and NCID, SendKeyPlus/RouterPlus, Hackman and TivoWebPlus 2.1b3 all ran correctly (althought TivoWebPlus was running in the wrong directory, easily fixed) using DHCP. Next I set back to Static IP Address using these instructions (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvrupgrade-support-center/index.php?x=&mod_id=2&id=110). Rebooted again and the dvr is up and running with the correct static ip address. TivoWebPlus is acting a little strange, hopefully a re-install of TWP will fix this. Also getting an e2fsck error, but no big deal (I hope!).

Going from 6.2a to 6.3f seems to have gone much better this time. Time and a couple of reboots will tell the full story... Thanks for all the help!

[NytOwl]

okay, 0 for 3.

First try as above. No good and had to pull the drive and reimage to get it to work. Lost all recordings.

Tried another unit same config: Zippered 6.3c HR10-250 with fixed IP, loaded the 6.3f slices, sliced with 1.9, all went well, ran Zipper before reboot this time, all said good. When it rebooted it said it was doing the upgrade, rebooted and was 6.3c again with no hacks and no network.

Tried a 3rd unit: same zippered 6.3c on HR10-250, this time pulled drive and used the 6.3f instantcake with latest Zipper. It came up as 6.3f but all recordings were gone. Except for the loss of recordings, this one looks more like a success.

Sounds like the only clean way to do this is to not use slicer and just reimage the drive clean with latest zipper and instantcake 6.3f. Also superpatch-6.3f.tcl.

This is frustrating. This isn't my first time doing any of this. I've got >9< TiVos - all hacked, 5 of them HD and have been doing this since the v3 days within minimal issues through 6.x until now. Not so good now that I'm pulling a lot of drives.

Two more to go but will lose hours of programming...

Still saddness.

[Lou Jacob]

Sounds like the only clean way to do this is to not use slicer and just reimage the drive clean with latest zipper and instantcake 6.3f. Also superpatch-6.3f.tcl.



Another alternative is to use PTVnet & InstantCake together; then use slicer, if needed. I don't know of any reason why zipper should cause a problem, but having never used it myself, I don't know if or how it could be a factor here...

[NytOwl]

Yeah, wish I wasn't so invested with Zipper.

BTW, I also noticed that for some reason all 3 units are showing Chicago stations and not my local stations even after I repeated the Sat setup. Those are local DVRupgrade market right? Doing a clear all programs/To Do list hoping that clears it. Don't remember ever having to do that before.

lost programs, to do, and shows on 3 boxes. Tough night. Wouldn't even be doing this if D*TV hadn't mucked things up in the first place. Grrr...

What's really bothering me is why before the reboot after slicing does it show that it is 6.3f but once it reboots it does the upgrade screen and ends up in a vanilla 6.3c?? I could see a vanilla 6.3f but why is it going back to base 6.3c. Almost like the partitions got flipped wrong? Is there an easy way to boot it from the other partition/root?

Thanks for the help.

[Lou Jacob]

Yeah, wish I wasn't so invested with Zipper.

BTW, I also noticed that for some reason all 3 units are showing Chicago stations and not my local stations even after I repeated the Sat setup. Those are local DVRupgrade market right? Doing a clear all programs/To Do list hoping that clears it. Don't remember ever having to do that before.

lost programs, to do, and shows on 3 boxes. Tough night. Wouldn't even be doing this if D*TV hadn't mucked things up in the first place. Grrr...

What's really bothering me is why before the reboot after slicing does it show that it is 6.3f but once it reboots it does the upgrade screen and ends up in a vanilla 6.3c?? I could see a vanilla 6.3f but why is it going back to base 6.3c. Almost like the partitions got flipped wrong? Is there an easy way to boot it from the other partition/root?

Thanks for the help.

The 'locals' issue will go away with time on its own, or pretty much right away if you log into the DIRECTV site and refresh your services. That is a function of building a new drive with an image that was originally set up in Chicago but as the database populates with current guide info, and your unit 'figures out where it is' it will all work out. Don't do a C & D, it will just slow you down.

I don't understand why you are having a 6.3f --> 6.3c problem; I have not seen that here. Someone at TCF posted a similar problem in a zipper-related thread.

I don't want to draw any conclusions about the zipper and PTVnet / Slicer not playing well together - in theory, they should. And I've done my best to coordinate and collaborate with Russ on issues we can identify. So it might actually be something else. Its really tough to say because there are certain things I have to do certain ways with PTVnet and Russ has to do with the zipper, but we do try to make sure they don't step on each other. I'd check at TCF, or possibly remove zipper from the equation with the hopes of narrowing it down further, if possible.

[NytOwl]

Just went back through my logs for the three units. On one unit the slicer version was 1.4 and not 1.9. The 4 and 9 look so much alike I hadn't noticed before. My bad on that one.

The other 2 were 1.9.

In all 3 cases I had to mkdir /install to get slicer to work.

All of these systems/drives were originally created clean with 6.3c InstantCake, LBA48, and Zipper. All on brand new Seagate DB35 500GB drives. They all worked fine except for the FoxHD/CBSHD bugs/reboots.

Got some more units to do...

Peace

[NytOwl]

Unit 4

Slicer 1.9, instatcake 6.3c TiVoHD plus zipper.

Ran slicer and it said it flipped the bootpage to hda4. Rebooted and it did a service upgrade but came up as generic 6.3c no hacks and no network.

Pulled the drive to just zipper - did not apply the instantcake. It says that the default bootpage points to hda7?

I did notice one error in slicer at the end where it tries to copy the /dhcpclient directory and fails because it doesn't exist but it said slicer was successful.

Is it possible that my hacked 6.3f in on the other partiton? Can't remember how to flip it... bootpage -f doesn't appear to do it - -p still shows hda7 after the -f.


Ideas?

[Barefooter]

Well upgraded TivoWebPlus to the lastest Beta version and my reboots on menu choices are still there. I also seem to be rebooting each night.

It was starting to look like a memory / timeout issue.

Game plan now it to offload the recordings and re-image the drive back to 6.3e.

Lou, Did you get a chance to try this with your HR10 ?

[Lou Jacob]

Well upgraded TivoWebPlus to the lastest Beta version and my reboots on menu choices are still there. I also seem to be rebooting each night.

It was starting to look like a memory / timeout issue.

Game plan now it to offload the recordings and re-image the drive back to 6.3e.

Lou, Did you get a chance to try this with your HR10 ?

I've not had any problems. I did create this thread which will allow you to quickly downgrade the TiVoWebPlus version by copying and pasting a few simple commands into the terminal window:

See Here (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?t=392)

Not sure if I want to add beta software to that list but at some point, I will definitely update it with a newer version if it is more stable.

Lou

[Barefooter]

Thanks Lou.

I did revert back to 1.3.1 Linux is my thing so no problem there.

I think I will still re-image the drive back to 6.3e. Just don't like the way the unit is acting under 6.3f. My wife's HR10 is working ok but also rebooting nightly around 2 AM.

I may be nuts but I just really have bad feelings with what 6.3f is doing.

[Lou Jacob]

I may be nuts but I just really have bad feelings with what 6.3f is doing.

I'm not convinced that there is any value there, as well. It may be helping those who have had reboot problems previous to that, but beyond that, I think there is always more downside than upside with any of the software updates DIRECTV has released in the past several months.

[MikeRaffety]

Finally had an afternoon to play with this. (Read back to my prior post in this thread about losing Ethernet connectivity after a Zipper upgrade from 3.1.something to 6.3e).

I found that I was missing module load, easily fixed, see below. Now, my question is, what file should I put this insmod command into so it's automatically done after every reboot? Looks like Zipper should be updated to cover this. (I'm using a NetGear FA120 USB/Ethernet dongle.)

Telnet and FTP and ping are all working, but TivoWebPlus is not working. I have it configured to run on port 81, and it's not even showing up in the list of ports with a server process connected (see below). There's no process running with a name like that, though there are six "httpd" processes, is this the same thing?

Lastly, an odd one, not serious -- whenever I use the "more" command, my serial line session (via Putty) hangs up at the "more" prompt (after 24 lines). NOTHING breaks it, control-C, break, etc. I have to reboot the Tivo. Anything obvious there?

Thank you!

bash-2.02# ifconfig -a
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:0.0.0.0 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0

bash-2.02# insmod /lib/modules/ax8817x.o
bash-2.02# ifconfig -a
lo Link encap:Local Loopback
inet addr:127.0.0.1 Bcast:0.0.0.0 Mask:255.0.0.0
UP LOOPBACK RUNNING MTU:16436 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0

eth0 Link encap:Ethernet HWaddr 00:0F:B5:8A:27:3B
inet addr:192.168.0.41 Bcast:192.168.0.255 Mask:255.255.255.0
UP BROADCAST RUNNING MULTICAST MTU:1500 Metric:1
RX packets:0 errors:0 dropped:0 overruns:0 frame:0
TX packets:0 errors:185 dropped:1 overruns:0 carrier:0 coll:0

bash-2.02# netstat -t -a
Active Internet connections (servers and established)
Proto Recv-Q Send-Q Local Address Foreign Address State
tcp 0 0 *:8074 *:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 *:3565 *:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 *:2190 *:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 *:2191 *:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 *:ftp *:* LISTEN
tcp 0 0 *:telnet *:* LISTEN
bash-2.02# ps | grep -i http
334 root 5004 S httpd
335 root 5004 S httpd
336 root 5004 S httpd
337 root 5004 S httpd
338 root 5004 S httpd
339 root 5004 S httpd
340 root 5004 S httpd
485 root 516 S grep -i http
bash-2.02#

[texaskiwi]

This is my last resort, I have spent many hours reading forums and just can’t identify these issues
I bought three DSR704 to upgrade, instant cake (6.2a) and PTVnet ,as well as slicer.
On the first DVR I used a 40mb drive and practiced installations. Instantcake, PTVnet and even superpatch went without a hitch. But slicer gave me these errors.
Checking your system for required utilities...
find is present
wget is present
tar is present
sed is present
cut is present
All required binaries are present. Proceeding...

Editing installSw.itcl

Installing new software. This will take several minutes...

installSw.itcl failed to set up your new partitions. Please
run /tvbin/installSw.itcl manually to pinpoint the error.
Also check to see if installSw.itcl was edited properly.
Since your bootpage was not flipped, you will not lose your
existing hacks if you reboot, and The Slicer may safely be
run again. Exiting now...
bash-2.02#
I even tried a “successful” installsw.itcl downloaded from a forum with the same result.
What am I doing wrong?

[JSTaylor]

Texaskiwi, go to the root directory and see if you have a folder called installs. If not, create one. Then try again to run the software. I had a similar issue and once I created the "installs" directory, everything worked fine.

[texaskiwi]

Texaskiwi, go to the root directory and see if you have a folder called installs. If not, create one. Then try again to run the software. I had a similar issue and once I created the "installs" directory, everything worked fine.


Tried creating the “installs” directory and still got the errors.

I guess it must be my superpach that has screwed things up. Is there a version of superpatch that has been used successfully with instantcake 6.2a, ptv net and slicer?

should I forgetPTVnet, install instant cake and install the zipper?

Here is eactlly what I have done.

Installed PTVnet and instant cake.
I patched, the CONTENTS of superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.2.zip, and superpatch-1.2to1.12.diff.txt to the tivo in a folder such as /var/hack.
Now, in your telnet window, type:
cd /var/hack
./patch -o superpatch-678all-NutKase-1.12.tcl < superpatch-1.2to1.12.diff.txt
chmod 755 superpatch-678all-NutKase-1.12.tcl
./superpatch-678all-NutKase-1.12.tcl
Copied slicer then ran
bash-2.02# ./slicer 6.2a-01-2-301
/var/packages/update0: !DOCTYPE: No such file or directory
/var/packages/update0: html: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: head: No such file or directory
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: meta: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: LINK: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: title: No such file or directory
/var/packages/update0: /title: No such file or directory
: command not founde0:
/var/packages/update0: link: No such file or directory
/var/packages/update0: line 104: syntax error near unexpected token `src="js/overlib.js"></'
/var/packages/update0: line 104: `<script type="text/javascript" src="js/overlib'js"></script>

The Slicer - Version 1.9

WARNING!! We are about to install 6.2a-01-2-301 software on your TiVo
Once you start this process, there is no way to restore your
previous software version without re-imaging. Before you begin,
we suggest you make a backup image of your hard drive, and read
the forums at www.tivocommunity.com and dvrplayground.com that
pertain to The Slicer.

Hit <enter> to continue, or <cntrl-c> to exit:

Great! Here we go...

Your root filesystem partition is hda4
Your kernel partition is hda3
Your alternate root filesystem partition is hda7
Your alternate kernel partition is hda6

6.2a-01-2-301 software slices are correctly loaded and ready to install.
Hit <enter> to continue, or <cntrl-c> to exit:

Checking your system for required utilities...
find is present
wget is present
tar is present
sed is present
cut is present
All required binaries are present. Proceeding...

Editing installSw.itcl

Installing new software. This will take several minutes...

installSw.itcl failed to set up your new partitions. Please
run /tvbin/installSw.itcl manually to pinpoint the error.
Also check to see if installSw.itcl was edited properly.
Since your bootpage was not flipped, you will not lose your
existing hacks if you reboot, and The Slicer may safely be
run again. Exiting now...
bash-2.02#

Any ideas wwould be great.

[JSTaylor]

I would try starting fresh by using ptvnet and instant cake together to get a fresh install. That should be seamless. Then let the receiver get the new slices. Then use the slicer to update. Once all of that is working well you can mess with superpatch if you like. I'm just using ptvnet, instantcake, and the slicer to get running and then installed the newest version of TivoWebPlus. I have no experience with any of the other patches.

[texaskiwi]

I would try starting fresh by using ptvnet and instant cake together to get a fresh install. That should be seamless. Then let the receiver get the new slices. Then use the slicer to update. Once all of that is working well you can mess with superpatch if you like. I'm just using ptvnet, instantcake, and the slicer to get running and then installed the newest version of TivoWebPlus. I have no experience with any of the other patches.

ok I started fresh. I Installed PTVnet and Instantcake. Unzipped slicer and got the same error message. What is going on?. Is there some way I unzipped slicer wrong?(used Vista unzip tool) I verified the software version ir is definitly 6.2a-01-2-301.

What else can I try?

[JSTaylor]

Sorry man, I'm out of ideas. I'd get in touch with Lou and see what he thinks.

[MikeRaffety]

Back on Feb. 29 (one page back in this thread), I posted my latest news, that I had been able to resolve my network access problem by using insmod to load the network driver.

But I still don't know which RC file is the right place to permanently fix this omission?

Also, the web software (TivoWebPlus) is still not working, even when I do bring up the Ethernet interface with insmod -- maybe it'll work when the network interface is brought up by the normal boot process?

Lastly, an odd one, not serious -- whenever I use the "more" command, my serial line session (via Putty) hangs up at the "more" prompt (after 24 lines). NOTHING breaks it, control-C, break, etc. I have to reboot the Tivo. Anything obvious there?

Thank you!

[texaskiwi]

To get what? Slicer?

Well, I picked it up because:
a) I thought it would be less trouble than re-hacking
b) I don't have a phone line here at the house to force the update.

In retrospect, what I wish I had done was:
a) Set Tivo to do daily call via the network:
http://www.dvrpedia.com/Enable_Daily_Call_over_Network_for_Series_1_and_Di recTV_Series_2_TiVos
b) update, pull the drive and rehack with zipper
http://www.dvrpedia.com/Zipper_-_SApper_-_Enhancement_Script

I now own slicer, have done the 3.1.5f -> 6.3c upgrade with it, and I am debating on whether or not I want to use it to do the 6.3c -> 6.3e (maybe 6.3f) upgrade, or whehter I just want to force the update and re-hack fresh.

I have a couple of questions. I bought instant cake, ptvnet and slicer and three DSR704's instant cake install and ptvnet went great. However Slicer install hangs up on all units and Slicer support has been Zero. Lou has chosen to not to repond to any of my slicer questions.

So without slicer, I need clarification on my options:

Can I stay on version 6.2a forever and set the DVR never to download the new software(Will Directv eventually require a call)?
Or if I do get a software updates, can I pull the drive and reinstall hacks every time? (using Zipper)

[Lou Jacob]

Lou has chosen to not to repond to any of my slicer questions.


Please understand that I can't possibly read, or respond to every question and every circumstance related to each of our products in every corner of the Internet; not only is it not physically possible, its not the type of support (since there officially is none) offered for these products.

I don't know the answer to your question, which is why I didn't respond. In other environments, using PTVnet to image the drive with an InstantCake CD, and then using the slicer works fine; so the problem must be something else or related to some other combination of variables in your particular environment.

Please don't expect me to personally address every issue, or imply that it is my responsibility; this is a community and others should be helping out, as well; that is part of using DIY software.

[Lou Jacob]

Can I stay on version 6.2a forever and set the DVR never to download the new software(Will Directv eventually require a call)?


During the PTVnet install, you should be asked whether you want to suppress the daily call / upgrade and if you do so, your unit will stay at 6.2a; just don't plug it into a phone line; please take a look at the PTVnet screen shots here for more info (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/screenshots/ptvnethd63-IC/index.cfm) and refer to the PTVnet discussion thread (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17) for more specifics, as well.

[texaskiwi]

Please understand that I can't possibly read, or respond to every question and every circumstance related to each of our products in every corner of the Internet; not only is it not physically possible, its not the type of support (since there officially is none) offered for these products.

I don't know the answer to your question, which is why I didn't respond. In other environments, using PTVnet to image the drive with an InstantCake CD, and then using the slicer works fine; so the problem must be something else or related to some other combination of variables in your particular environment.

Please don't expect me to personally address every issue, or imply that it is my responsibility; this is a community and others should be helping out, as well; that is part of using DIY software.


Sorry Lou, for us newbies there is so much information so it is dificult to interpret your silence. If my environment is producing something you have n't seen before thats my bad luck.

[rbautch]

ok I started fresh. I Installed PTVnet and Instantcake. Unzipped slicer and got the same error message. What is going on?. Is there some way I unzipped slicer wrong?(used Vista unzip tool) I verified the software version ir is definitly 6.2a-01-2-301.

What else can I try?Not sure why you are trying to use the Slicer in the first place. You installed a 6.2a Instantcake image, and it looks like you ran the Slicer to upgrade to 6.2a. That may have something to do with the error you received when running the Slicer and/or installSw. Usually if installSw.itcl fails outside of the Slicer it's something funky going on with your environment. It's pretty rare, but it happens.

Anyway, you shouldn't need to upgrade with Slicer. Just install Instantcake, PTVnet, and you're done.

[Barefooter]

Well 6.4a just showed up in my MFS this morning. Do we have any word if it's safe to slicer upgrade to it ?

[Ellipse]

I have good news, and bad news.

First, the good news....

Slicer v1.7 (the latest one I have, but 1.9 IS available...just do not want to buy it again...) does the upgrade from 6.3f to 6.4a on an HDVR2 without issue. Just remember to make sure that the '/install' directory exists or it will fail. I have not tried it with my HR10-250 yet because....

...the bad news....

The -d command does not seem to want to let me download the 6.4a slices for my HR10-250. They were already on the HDVR2s, but for some reason my HR10-250 does not have them. I also tried to modify the URL for the getslices script, but no luck there.

Any ideas?

[Lou Jacob]

The -d command does not seem to want to let me download the 6.4a slices for my HR10-250. They were already on the HDVR2s, but for some reason my HR10-250 does not have them. I also tried to modify the URL for the getslices script, but no luck there.

Any ideas?

Slices for 6.4a are not yet available on our server, so they cannot be downloaded with the -d option...

[Ellipse]

That would explain it. :) Thanks for the VERY quick response.

[bdhull]

I was on version 3.1 as installed with Instant Cake. All looked well on the slicer script but when it reboots I get the gray screen with "Welcome. Powering Up."

Any suggestions or do I need to find a newer copy of Instant Cake instead of trying to get slicer to work?

Of course I didn't do a backup image.

Bart D. Hull
Tempe, AZ

[bdhull]

The original version was 3.1.1e-01-2-351.

Thanks

Bart

[Lou Jacob]

Something sure seems missing with the information you've provided. If you built the drive with just InstantCake, how did you actually run the Slicer script?

Either way, if you are stuck at 'Welcome, powering up..." at this point, there is probably not much you can do. I'd rebuild the drive, and try again - but try to provide more information...

[rbautch]

I was on version 3.1 as installed with Instant Cake. All looked well on the slicer script but when it reboots I get the gray screen with "Welcome. Powering Up."

Any suggestions or do I need to find a newer copy of Instant Cake instead of trying to get slicer to work?

Of course I didn't do a backup image.

Bart D. Hull
Tempe, AZif you post the serial output we could tell for sure, but it sounds like the old kernel may not be compatible with the new software. It should work if you dd a new killhdinitrd kernel to the appropriate partition. Search on tivocommunity.com or DealDatabase for instructions.other than that, starting with a sluggly newer version of instantcake should work as lou suggests.

[bdhull]

can I use my old version of PTVUpgrade with the 6.2 Instantcake?

Thanks

Bart

[bdhull]

Well I purchased InstantCake 6.2a and used the PTVUpgrade disk I had. Do I have to wait for satellite update (hours?) before I can FTP, telenet, or use the UI? It all appeared to work correctly.

Can I get a credit on the slicer and get the new PTVUpgrade instead since slicer doesn't seem to work on my particular TIVO? (Hughes SD-DVR40) ( I know it's a plain Jane unit, but the slicer doesn't seem to "cut it" Sorry for the pun.

Can I apply PTVUpgrade again after InstantCake + PTVUpgrade or do I have to start from scratch again?

Thanks

Bart D. Hull
Tempe, AZ
480-452-9208

[rbautch]

Well I purchased InstantCake 6.2a and used the PTVUpgrade disk I had. Do I have to wait for satellite update (hours?) before I can FTP, telenet, or use the UI? It all appeared to work correctly.

Can I get a credit on the slicer and get the new PTVUpgrade instead since slicer doesn't seem to work on my particular TIVO? (Hughes SD-DVR40) ( I know it's a plain Jane unit, but the slicer doesn't seem to "cut it" Sorry for the pun.

Can I apply PTVUpgrade again after InstantCake + PTVUpgrade or do I have to start from scratch again?

Thanks

Bart D. Hull
Tempe, AZ
480-452-9208You don't have to wait for the satellite update to use the UI, but you will have to wait for guide data before you can start scheduling recordings. You can apply PTVnet at your leisure. I'm afraid you won't be able to get a refund on your Slicer purchase, which is the policy of DVRupgrade for DIY products. You were using a software version that was hidiously out of date, and most users aren't expected to be running. If you want to customize your Tivo with even more cool stuff, check out this (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=250680) free script. You'll have to wait a few days until I work out some compatibility issues with the script and PTVnet. I'll post a new version soon.

[justmeed]

I'm trying to upgrade from 6.2 to 6.4a using the slicer on a DSVR2 unit. First I noticed a strange thing, if I telnet over the network, I can run the 'echo mls /SwSystem | tivosh' fine. But using a serial connection when I do that command my Tivo reboots.

So then trying to run the slicer over the serial connection, it again just re-booted without updating to 6.4a. I did capture the process from the serial connection. Any help is appreciated.

The modified hard drive is one I got from PVTupgrade, I have played with it a bit including installed software, but never did any actual software version updates before. I also have never done a serial connection to it before, I've always just done telnet. Any help is appreciated.
Thanks



bash-2.02# ./slicer 6.4a-01-2-151
/var/packages/update0: !DOCTYPE: No such file or directory
/var/packages/update0: html: No such file or directory
/var/packages/update0: head: No such file or directory
/var/packages/update0: : command not found
/var/packages/update0: line 967: syntax error near unexpected token `playing=setTimeout('PlayingSlide(i'
/var/packages/update0: line 967: ` playing=setTimeout('PlayingSlide(i+1);SetSlide(i+1 );', playspeed);'
Tmk Assertion Failure:
FsAllocateFunction, line 159 ()
Tmk Fatal Error: Thread tivosh <371> strayed!
Paste the following into a shell to get a backtrace...

bt -t /tvbin/tivoapp <<END_OF_BT
read 0x2aaa8000 /lib/ld.so.1
read 0x2ab04000 /lib/libutil.so.1
read 0x2ab48000 /lib/libdl.so.2
read 0x2ab8c000 /lib/libpthread.so.0
read 0x2abe8000 /lib/libm.so.6
read 0x2acb0000 /lib/libc.so.6
0x012cdf04 0x01384aa4 0x0138518c 0x013851e0 0x00f58a3c 0x00f58124 0x00612c48
0x00403090 0x2acc13fc
END_OF_BT

Tmk Fatal Error: Thread tivosh <371>: assertion failure
flushing ide devices: hda
Restarting system.

[rbautch]

You are missing an environmental variable. Search for your error on DealDatabase.com. For instructions.

[bdhull]

or can I use the old version and rerun it on the already 'caked drive. I can ping the unit but can't telenet or ftp to it. If I get a new version of PTVUpdate can I run it against the 'caked drive as well. Hate to lose my settings a 4th time due to Slicer.

Thanks

Bart

[justmeed]

Dealdatabase searched, it looks like a simple path problem. But when I look at the path of the serial connection and compare it to the path of the telnet session everything is there. In fact there are more paths present in the serial connection.

[BarryGrubb54114]

Are the 6.4a slices available on the server now to allow Slicer to download ??

[deathmachine]

I have a dsr704 instacaked 6.2 (drive failure upgrade) I have not touched it out side of adding some tytools streaming for extraction so I can use the same software as my SA, so its instacake stock. I bought slicer to preserve the 30 hours of kids movies. I followed instructions and ran slicer to get to 6.4a and get this

Assertion Failure:
FsAllocateFunction, line 159 ()
Tmk Fatal Error: Thread tivosh <345> strayed!
Paste the following into a shell to get a backtrace...

bt -t /tvbin/tivoapp <<END_OF_BT
read 0x2aaa8000 /lib/ld.so.1
read 0x2ab04000 /lib/libutil.so.1
read 0x2ab48000 /lib/libdl.so.2
read 0x2ab8c000 /lib/libpthread.so.0
read 0x2abe8000 /lib/libm.so.6
read 0x2acb0000 /lib/libc.so.6
0x012cdf04 0x01384aa4 0x0138518c 0x013851e0 0x00f58a3c 0x00f58124 0x00612c48
0x00403090 0x2acc13fc
END_OF_BT

I read the rbautch post about a missing environmental variable, however I am lost as to what they should be or what Im missing or how to list them , its very cryptic. I little more direct help would be greatly appreciated as I don't mess with the dtivo much and have to relearn everytime. Also im kinda disapointed that the "stock' instacake 6.2 will not work with the slicer (same people wrote and or created you would expect it to work together) thanks in advance

[justmeed]

Not sure if this will solve your problem, the environment variables I needed to set during the serial connection to do the upgrade were:

export TIVO_ROOT=
export MFS_DEVICE=/dev/hda10

[deathmachine]

First off Thank You very much!
Is there any problem with adding that in the .author file for boot up? Because it seems that the superpatch also needed it to function so Im thinking other things may need it to. Additional it seems that DHCP will not work I had to add an ip manually in the .author file (static_off did not work either) had to go the ifconfig eth0 route.

[benji1234]

I have an SD-DVR40 that had been working just fine with PTVNet for about 2 years when I decided to purchase The Slicer and upgrade to 6.4a last week. The upgrade process went fine, per the instructions, and the machine appeared to be working just fine, until I realized that there was no more network access.

I ran Look@Lan to find the IP address (it had been 10.1.1.108) but it was no longer on my LAN. I then brought out my old laptop with a serial port and connected it directly to the machine, but could get no BASH access any way I tried (Tera Term, Hyperterminal, etc)

Could someone please point me in the right direction? I'm pretty good with computers and followed the directions, but I'm stumped on this one ...

[benji1234]

It's been 3 days ... is there anyone that can point me in the right direction (see last post)?

[deathmachine]

pull your drive mount it using one of the many cd's (jenkins, ptvupgrade lba48, etc)

add
#!/bin/bash
tnlited 23 /bin/bash -login &
to rc.sysinit.author
save
chmod to execute
reinstall in tivo
boot it up.
Now you have serial and then you can trouble shoot the network

[lmcdougall]

Got my new HD from DVRupgrade installed and running.
Now, I will like to have access to bash on my tivo box, I read this http://www.dvrplayground.com/article/13324/The-Slicer---Instructions-and-Release-Notes/

Maybe I missed the part were it mention how to install The Slicer!!!

I will like to know how I do that Please.

-L:confused:

[Lou Jacob]

Got my new HD from DVRupgrade installed and running.
Now, I will like to have access to bash on my tivo box, I read this http://www.dvrplayground.com/article/13324/The-Slicer---Instructions-and-Release-Notes/

Maybe I missed the part were it mention how to install The Slicer!!!

I will like to know how I do that Please.

-L:confused:

The link to the most current version of the instructions is in the very first post of this thread; here it is again (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6). Remember, you must already have bash access to your TiVo to use the slicer, so if your TiVo is not already networked and/or has serial bash access, you'll need to do that first in order to use the slicer to manage your software updates.

[lmcdougall]

The link to the most current version of the instructions is in the very first post of this thread; here it is again (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6). Remember, you must already have bash access to your TiVo to use the slicer, so if your TiVo is not already networked and/or has serial bash access, you'll need to do that first in order to use the slicer to manage your software updates.

G, I feel so lost now!!! :eek:

How do I login to the tivo box?
When you say the tivo need to be networked is that = to having it connected to my router?
in which case I should be good to go since it does has an static ip address on my local network.

I apologize for being so thick!

-L

[BruceS]

G, I feel so lost now!!! :eek:

How do I login to the tivo box?
When you say the tivo need to be networked is that = to having it connected to my router?
in which case I should be good to go since it does has an static ip address on my local network.

I apologize for being so thick!

-L

1. Open a command prompt on your computer.
2. Enter "telnet ip-address", where ip-address is the static ip address of your box.
3. The next prompts you will see are for user and password. If I remember correctly, you can just hit enter at each one.

If you did everything correctly, you should then see "#", which I believe is the standard bash command prompt.

Anyway, try entering something like "ls", which should show you a list of the files in the current directory.

Enter "exit" to close out the telnet session.

I believe you were originally asking about installing the Slicer on your box. To do this you will also need to use FTP to copy the slicer executable from your PC to your box.

1. Open a command prompt on your computer.
2. Use cd to change to the directory where you have the slicer executable on your PC.
3. Enter "ftp".
4. Enter "open ip-address", where ip-address is the static ip address of your box. I don't remember whether you will also be asked for a userid and password at this point, but if you are, just hit enter for each.
5. Enter "cd directory", where directory is the directory on your box where you want the slicer to reside.
6. Enter "binary on", to make sure that no changes are made to the slicer during the transfer.
7. Enter "put slicer", to start the copying of the slicer from your PC to your box.
8. Enter either "quit" or "bye" to close your ftp session.

You might also have problems with permissions.

Before you start the ftp session, open a telnet session and enter "cd directory", where directory is the directory on your box where you want the slicer to reside.

Then enter "cd .." to change to the parent of that directory, and "ls -altr" to show the permissions for your directory. Where your directory shows up in the listing, it should show the directory name and three groups of rwx to show the read, write and execute permissions for various users.

The only thing you need to check is that the "w" shows in all three groups, indicating that you will be able to write to that directory. If it doesn't, enter "chmod 666 directory" to enable all users permissions to read from and write to that directory.

After you use ftp to transfer the slicer, you will also need to make sure that the permissions are correct for it as well.

Once again, open a telnet session and cd to the directory where you put the slicer. Then enter "ls -al slicer" to show the permissions for the slicer. In this case the "x" permission needs to be shown, indicating that you have the right to execute that file. If it doesn't, enter "chmod 777 slicer" to make sure you can read, write and execute that file.

Hopefully, I haven't confused you too much or scared you off. Any book about unix should describe the use of telnet and ftp in much more detail than I have.

[FreydNot]

Can I use slicer to upgrade my S2-240 single tuner SA from 9.3-01-2-140 to 9.3.2-01-2-140?

Is there a way to get a refund if slicer doesn't work on the current software versions?

[FreydNot]

Since nobody replied and I have not seen any mention of Slicer working on 9.xx software, I am going to assume slicer will no longer work and not spend the $20.

Please post if I've got this wrong.

[Lou Jacob]

Since nobody replied and I have not seen any mention of Slicer working on 9.xx software, I am going to assume slicer will no longer work and not spend the $20.

Please post if I've got this wrong.

Odd logic... Might be better to assume that noone has tried it since Series2 standalone units which are upgraded/modified for networking are a rarity.

Would be a good idea to stay away from the product if you are unwilling to be a pioneer or resolve any issues that you may encounter, though; there are no refunds on DIY software products, including the Slicer.

Lou

[FreydNot]

Odd logic... Might be better to assume that noone has tried it since Series2 standalone units which are upgraded/modified for networking are a rarity.

I figured since slicer is a product intended to get your system up to the current software release and there isn't any discussion about using it with any of the 9.xx series of software, it didn't seem likely that slicer was under active development. It seems like a safe bet that some things have changed in the tivo software between 7.xx and 9.xx which would break a slicer that was designed for 6.xx software.

I am a bit suprised nobody is moding SA series 2 tivos. I understand Dtivos are frozen in time version wise, but presumably if you have a SA then the mother ship is forcing you to keep fairly current software. I like to have tivoweb and msf_ftp running on my tivo, so I hack it. I also have a nightlite series 2 and a HD both of which would require prom modding to hack, so I leave them alone (for now anyway).

Would be a good idea to stay away from the product if you are unwilling to be a pioneer or resolve any issues that you may encounter, though; there are no refunds on DIY software products, including the Slicer.

I would be happy to help troubleshoot any problems with using slicer on 9.xx software. Since it is a binary file and not a script I can edit, about the only thing I could contribute is yes it worked or no it didn't. If you are saying you are willing to work with the users of slicer to continue its development then count me in.

I just don't want to blow $20 on a crap shoot.

At the time of my posting, my tivo was warning that guide data would run out in 1 day. This seemed to have become an issue when 9.3.2-01-2-140 was pushed out. I decided to just let it run out and deal with upgrading the software in a few days. To my surprise, after it completely ran out of guide data and gave me all kinds of warning, it started working again. When it was giving warnings I could force a call and it would complete properly but the guide data wouldn't get loaded. I assume the keys had been changed somehow. Now, it seem to be working again. Maybe Tivo decided it will still okay for me to run 9.3-01-2-140 software after all.

So long story short, I am not as pressed for time as I was when I started looking at slicer which means that I could contribute some time to testing and troubleshooting. Just let me know.

[gbonawitz]

I have a dumb question regarding using Slicer. After it's done running (which I do through a serial cable), the last line states ~ "Hit enter to reboot or Ctrl-C" to check the results before rebooting".

I can never figure out how to send Crtl-C through either HyperTerminal or Putty, and end up rebooting before I can move my backported usb adapator drives over.

Does anyone know how to do this with HypterTerminal or Putty (or do you use other programs)? Thanks

[Lou Jacob]

I have a dumb question regarding using Slicer. After it's done running (which I do through a serial cable), the last line states ~ "Hit enter to reboot or Ctrl-C" to check the results before rebooting".

I can never figure out how to send Crtl-C through either HyperTerminal or Putty, and end up rebooting before I can move my backported usb adapator drives over.

Does anyone know how to do this with HypterTerminal or Putty (or do you use other programs)? Thanks

Don't know if there is a quick/easy answer for that one. It's related to job control (or the lack thereof) in serial terminal sessions. There is a more detailed discussion, and a recommended approach to the solution (http://www.dealdatabase.com/forum/showthread.php?t=34133) (nothing cookbook) on dealdatabase.

If there is a quick and dirty answer, please post it here or elsewhere on the forums it does affect more than just slicer use - it affects anything when run from the serial console.

With that said, if your unit is still accessible on your network, you could now telnet into it and check things out before rebooting from the bash prompt...

[rjameson]

Lou - question - just purchased the slicer on an already running PTVnet drive with 3.1.1e (came with TWP1, hackman etc.

Ran slicer, all showed ok - but there was a note it found monte files and need to copy them over manually or need to update. I assume this means that PTVnet kit used monte and I can see in the /init folder the files there and in the 101lba48 file - it calls monte near the end.

Well, all said was ok, then reboot and grey screen only & keeps rebooting. Serial connection and I can see many parts saying compiled for 2.4.20 but was 2.4.4 Tivo3. So, research says the kernel copied was hosed.

So I downloaded the 2.4.20 kernel via the virgin 7.2 vmlinux.px - ran killinitrd on it, followed procedure to dd that file to the BOOT partition (which was 6 (root was 7)) and also did to the inactive 3. Copied that also to the /init folder on the root's of 4&7 as there was the vmlinux.px there and see it was called or referenced in some PTV scripts. Setup the root to point to /dev/hda7 per the forums.

Now when it boots - it gets to the part where it appeaers to load monte - then after it errors with a General Protection. So my question being this is all PTV stuff - if this was indeed a monte setup back then, should I not have applied a killinitrd kernel here and just applied a virgin one? Should I use the 3.1.5 and not the 7.2 version and virgin or killinitrd? I feel I am close to fixing this after days of digging so I won't lose my programs.....hope you can help.

Ron

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Running boot Stage A_PreKickstart scripts
Scanning for configuration files
starting test.conf
starting /init/001_bash.init
starting /init/010_lba48.init
bash: no job control in this shell
bash-2.02# monte: Two-kernel Monte for MIPS (Version 0.1)
monte: MuscleNerd (MIPS version), Erik Arjan Hendriks (x86 version)
monte: loaded kernel image (target load_addr=0x80001fe0, len=0x1a9e6e) at 0x83f0
monte: total pages used: 428 for image, 2 for indirect tables, 1 for reload code

general exception
cause = 00001008 epc = 801ac298 status = 00410002 badaddr = ffffc298
@epc-2 = 00000000 @epc-1 = 00000000 @epc = 801ac298 @epc+1 = 801ac298
r00 00000000 b0019400 80196c2c 80004000
r04 80400020 00000eea 5469566f 80400000
r08 00000000 00000000 080014d6 83b75000
r12 c00051cc 00000000 83b75148 800c5ef0
r16 800207ac 800c7520 00000eea 00000000
r20 83b75000 83b75148 83b75100 83ca7540
r24 00000000 c3b6fec0 bfc00000 a1fe0000
r28 83f40000 83f40ea8 c000445c c00051cc

<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<

[rjameson]

Problem resolved by swinging and it worked. I commented out the references to monte & kmonte.0 in the /init/010_lba48.init then after reboot - it started to finish up & update for the next hour. I reapplied TivoWebPlus, Hackman - then renamed the folder to all lowercase (old PTVupgrade requirement). Reapply other items I use and am back in shape.

The only problem I see now on boot up (from the serial connection) is it is trying to load /ptvupgrade/modules/usb20/2.4.4/ (several .o files) and errors with not right for 2.4.20 kernel. Yet, my USB still works on the Linksys200m (v1 I think) - odd.. Somewhere it must have picked up the right driver.

Should I correct this and put in 2.4.20 USB .o drivers then modify the scripts that are calling it (011_usb.init). Not sure if because it is working - if I should just ignore it.

MRV working also - so all in all - the slicer worked for most of it (except for the problem with monte).

Ron

[Lou Jacob]

Problem resolved by swinging and it worked. I commented out the references to monte & kmonte.0 in the /init/010_lba48.init then after reboot - it started to finish up & update for the next hour. I reapplied TivoWebPlus, Hackman - then renamed the folder to all lowercase (old PTVupgrade requirement). Reapply other items I use and am back in shape.

The only problem I see now on boot up (from the serial connection) is it is trying to load /ptvupgrade/modules/usb20/2.4.4/ (several .o files) and errors with not right for 2.4.20 kernel. Yet, my USB still works on the Linksys200m (v1 I think) - odd.. Somewhere it must have picked up the right driver.

Should I correct this and put in 2.4.20 USB .o drivers then modify the scripts that are calling it (011_usb.init). Not sure if because it is working - if I should just ignore it.

MRV working also - so all in all - the slicer worked for most of it (except for the problem with monte).

Ron

I wish I could give you more insight on this. We haven't worked with the slicer code in quite some time and I don't think it was ever used to update from versions as old as the one your tried to use it with; glad you got it working, though!

Lou

[A.D.I.D.A.S]

Hello,
This is sort of a two part question.

1) I had everything hacked on my TCD540080 had tivowebplus up and running. Well I got a idea to upgrade the tivo using Slicer. So I did and it said everything should be good. So I rebooted the Tivo and lost ftp. So what I did was open the tivo back up and re Sapper it. Got FTP back.

2) After all that is there something I'm missing to get Tivowebplus 2.0 back?

I posted here because I used Slicer for the new update. If you feel it needs to be moved please do so.

Thank you.

[A.D.I.D.A.S]

OK I got it....I just redid everything. What I would like to know is the proper way to use the slicer to upgrade Tivo software.

I currently have 9.3-01-2-540 I would like to get the 9.3.2b-01-2-540
I tried it once but this is why I had to redo everything I believe.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[tec007]

OK, I've got a hr-10 that is at 6.3e. Used slicer a while back to do the upgrade. Can I use the same version of Slicer (dated 2006) to go to 6.4a?

[juansupreme]

Hey,

Just a question(long) I just got Instantcake 6a and the latest ptvnet for my SDVR40 with a new 250 gig drive. all works well.

I have a home theater PC setup and dvr is on top of the rack, how do I physically connect to the dvr to run scripts or just communicate with it? I have a vista pc 4gigs ram 5000mhz and 3.5tb worth of drives. the house is n wireless, Flawless.

Sew How to communicate with Hughes SDVR40?

Gracias..:k=

[Lou Jacob]

Hey,

Just a question(long) I just got Instantcake 6a and the latest ptvnet for my SDVR40 with a new 250 gig drive. all works well.

I have a home theater PC setup and dvr is on top of the rack, how do I physically connect to the dvr to run scripts or just communicate with it? I have a vista pc 4gigs ram 5000mhz and 3.5tb worth of drives. the house is n wireless, Flawless.

Sew How to communicate with Hughes SDVR40?

Gracias..:k=

This is not related to "The Slicer" at all...

... take a look at the PTVnet usage article for starters (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?t=20) - connect your unit to your network via the supported USB 2.0 Ethernet adapter and you can telnet into the unit to do additional stuff...

[Harbinger]

I have Slicer v1.7 and am getting ready to upgrade my new TiVoHD with 11.0h software. I wanted to install the slicer ahead of time so it will be there when I need it. Will my version work with the newer TiVoHD units? If not, what is the version number of the latest slicer?

[panna2000]

I am OK with the hacks not coming though but what is wierd is that I have no "network" option any more under my Settings when I go to my Tivo's menu. I only have a phone option available. I had it st up to connect through my network when it downloaded guide data, etc. Any idea on what caused that?

[jporter12]

So, I have a debacle where I have to upgrade to 6.4a on my DTivos. I downloaded the slices with wget as posted on TCF, and bought the slicer. After running the getslice script, I ran the slicer, just as the script suggested and I get returned to the bash prompt with "Segmentation Fault"

I'm not a linux guru, so I'm a little lost!

[jporter12]

So, I have a debacle where I have to upgrade to 6.4a on my DTivos. I downloaded the slices with wget as posted on TCF, and bought the slicer. After running the getslice script, I ran the slicer, just as the script suggested and I get returned to the bash prompt with "Segmentation Fault"

I'm not a linux guru, so I'm a little lost!

A couple more details, I downloaded it twice to make sure it was a good transfer, unzipped it through Windows the first time, then with 7zip a few other tries. I transferred it over using filezilla. I'm thinking there was something different I have to do to transfer it via ftp, but can figure it out!

Thanks in advance for any assistance! I'm not looking for a hand-hold, just a little direction where to find the info I need!

[jporter12]

After some more searching, I finally "remembered" what I was doing wrong. I forgot that I needed to put my FTP client into binary transfer mode. I knew it was something simple all along!

[wallydilbert]

I have a Samsung DirecTV with Tivo. I have purchased the slicer and get the "installSw.itcl failed to set up your new partitions" error. I have manually edited the installSw.itcl file from information on other forums. How do I continue with the install?