DirecTV R10 Serial Connection

[kantoo]

On a DirecTV R10 that was upgraded with InstantCake is there any was to get a bash prompt through a terminal connection to the serial port and do zmodem transfers? I have read that it would be necessary to replace the chip to get usb and networking activated, but I don't need tcp/ip networking. Just want to add ncid to this relatively useless unit. Thanks.

[Lou Jacob]

On a DirecTV R10 that was upgraded with InstantCake is there any was to get a bash prompt through a terminal connection to the serial port and do zmodem transfers? I have read that it would be necessary to replace the chip to get usb and networking activated, but I don't need tcp/ip networking. Just want to add ncid to this relatively useless unit. Thanks.

The reason why a chip must be replaced (with different firmware) to allow you to get USB and Networking activated is that the firmware implementation on the R10 prevents modification to the software on the R10 hard drive. For that very same reason, accessing the serial port and installing other types of software on the drive are also prevented due to R10's firmware.

Your best bet would be to ditch the R10 and look for a different Series2 DirecTV TiVo unit.

[kantoo]

The reason why a chip must be replaced (with different firmware) to allow you to get USB and Networking activated is that the firmware implementation on the R10 prevents modification to the software on the R10 hard drive. For that very same reason, accessing the serial port and installing other types of software on the drive are also prevented due to R10's firmware.

Your best bet would be to ditch the R10 and look for a different Series2 DirecTV TiVo unit.

Ah, understood. Thanks Lou!

This unit was sent to me for free by DirecTV after the hard drive died in my Philips DSR 7000. I used IC and replaced the hard drive in the DSR7000, so the R10 is basically a free extra. I am fine just letting it live as a unhacked dvr (even though ncid would be nice on it). I probably will be moving to HD soon anyhow, so then I guess I'll be stuck with the (unhackable?) DirecTV HR20/HR21 non-tivo units.

[Lou Jacob]

Ah, understood. Thanks Lou!

This unit was sent to me for free by DirecTV after the hard drive died in my Philips DSR 7000. I used IC and replaced the hard drive in the DSR7000, so the R10 is basically a free extra. I am fine just letting it live as a unhacked dvr (even though ncid would be nice on it). I probably will be moving to HD soon anyhow, so then I guess I'll be stuck with the (unhackable?) DirecTV HR20/HR21 non-tivo units.

That sounds like a plan. The R10 is really no more useful than that, unless you know how to solder and program eproms. With that said, it is still a TiVo and many folks prefer that over the DIRECTV flavor of DVR.

The HR20/HR21 is not hackable, but it can be upgraded (we sell eSATA enclosures and TenBox units for capacity expansion).

You can also get an HR10-250 on ebay for a decent price, and that does HD, but is somewhat limited because most of the channels are now MPEG-4 and the HR10-250 only handles MPEG-2. It does work well for OTA, though.