Applying the SuperPatch by NutKase

NutKase, a member of the DealDatabase forum, made a really cool patch for your TiVo called the SuperPatch.

More details can be found in the SuperPatch thread and the SuperPatch Support Thread.

Before asking question: READ what these threads have to say. It's most likely that your problem (if you run into one) is not unique and others might have already addressed the issue in these threads!

The SuperPatch enables HMO (Home Media Option - music, photo's, etc) and MRV (Multi-Room Viewing - ie. share TiVo recordings amongst your other TiVo's). It also prevents the recordings from being encrypted (so we can copy the recordings to our PC), brings you the nice 30-seconds skip feature, etc.

First you will need to go to the SuperPatch thread and download the latest version. At the bottom of the first article in this thread you will find the file. Note that you will need to sign up for this forum before you can download the file - don't worry, it's all free and does not suddenly start generating a load of spam.

At the time of this writing version 1.1 is the most recent (superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.1.zip).
Download the file and extract it with your favorite un-zip tool (for example WinRar, WinZip, etc).

In the archive you will find 3 files (well, at least with version 1.1):

set_mrv_name_67.tcl
superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.1.tcl
superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.1.txt

We will need the first 2 ... but please read superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.1.txt as well.

The now following hack(s) can only be applied to a running TiVo - so do not even think of trying to apply this hack on a TiVo disk in your PC.

Copy the files to your TiVo

We will use FTP to send the files to your TiVo (told you we would need FTP!).

You can use your favorite FTP program for that.

Either use the FTP client build in Windows (not recommended, but it does work) or use a tool like FileZilla or LeechFTP (both a free FTP client). We assume that you decided to use FileZilla for now.

Start FileZilla, enter the IP-Address you found in the field "Address:" and press "ENTER".

Next (and DO NOT FORGET THIS!!!) we need to set the transfer mode to BINARY.
Click the menu "Transfer", choose "Transfer Type" and select "Binary" from the menu.

If you FORGET to do this, executing the scripts will result in a "No such file or directory" error.

FileZilla will instantly connect to your TiVo and show a list of folders on the right side ("Remote Site:").
In this box we will copy the SuperPatch files.

Double click the "var" folder, and then double click the "hack" folder so you end up at a folder called "/var/hack" (just to keep things organized). As of this point, I assume you did too.

In the box called "Local Site:" you will see your local harddrive, browse through it to find where you extracted the SuperPatch files.

Once you found the files in the box on the left (Local Site), and you opened the folder "/var/hack" in the box on the right (Remote Site), you can now drag the 2 TCL files there (you do not need to copy the .TXT file).
FileZilla will show some messages on the top box and finally the box on the right shows the files being added.

Now we need to make the files ending with .tcl executable.

Most likely they already are - but just to avoid issues later on; right click the file, select "File Attributes" and make sure that in the upcoming window the field "Numeric value:" says "755".

Repeat this for the second TCL file, and we're done with this step.

Once you're done, you can close FileZilla.

Applying the Patch

OK, so the files are there. Now we need to setup a Telnet connection to your TiVo so we can execute the scripts.

My favorite tool for this is PuTTY (you can download it for free from our downloads page for free).

Start PuTTY.

PuTTY: Accessing your TiVo using Telnet

Make sure you enter the IP-Address of your TiVo, check "Telnet", and verify that the portnumber is set to 23.
Then click "Open". Now a window will open showing the "shell" of your TiVo - this is where will execute all commands/scripts we need.

First we need to change directory so we can access the scripts, use: cd /var/hack/
(I'm assuming that's where you copied the scripts)

Note: the BOLD RED text is what you typed in these following screens.

bash-2.02# cd /var/hack/
bash-2.02# _

Now we will execute the SuperPatch script, use: ./superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.1.tcl

Note: if you get a "No such file or directory" error, FTP the files to the TiVo again,...
this time do NOT forget to set the transfer type to BINARY.

bash-2.02# ./superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.1.tcl

superpatch-67all-NutKase-1.1.tcl
(C) 05/08/2005 by NutKase, et al - COMMERCIAL USE PROHIBITED

Credit goes to CapablePerson66, rc3105, and others who wish to
remain anonymous.  We thank ESPECIALLY alldeadhomiez for his time and knowledge.

All errors are the fault of Anonymous :-) .

Your TiVo Software version is 6.2-01-2-351
Please write down your TiVo Software version.

Checking your tivoapp patch locations...

Patching your tivoapp...

Success!
________
1. Your 6.2-01-2-351 tivoapp was updated with the proper superpatch-67all
2. Your original tivoapp was backed up and is called /tvbin/tivoapp.original.
3. You'll need to run the set_mrv_name_67.tcl, I've included, to 'name' your tivo.
bash-2.02# _

Since we're using a 6.2 TiVo, the next step will be naming your TiVo.

Name your TiVo

To identify your TiVo (mainly for the purpose of multi-room viewing - MRV) we will need to give it a name. This is where the second script comes in place.

The format used is: ./set_mrv_name_67.tcl thenameofyourtive

bash-2.02# ./set_mrv_name_67.tcl LivingRoom
Setting nametable for "LivingRoom"...
Reboot your tivo for the changes to take effect.
bash-2.02#

In this example I called my TiVo "LivingRoom" - which is the name that will show up on the other TiVo I have in the "Now Showing" list.

Now we need to reboot the TiVo, use: reboot

bash-2.02# reboot

Many kudo's to NutKase and the others that contributed to this patch!

Getting "STANDBY" back in the main menu

This step is optional.

After the SuperPatch you will notice (if you ever used it) that the "Standby" option disappeared from the main menu.
Now some people do not use this and some do (I do).

For that purpose "TivoWare" published a script in this DealDatabase article on how to get this back.
So if you never used this feature - then you can probably skip this step.

Note: the "StandBy" feature still exists even without applying this patch. It can be found in the "Messages & Setup" menu.

So what does this patch do?

- Bring back the "StandBy" option in the main menu (and remove it from the "Messages & Setup" menu)
- Remove "Search by Title (demo)" from "Programs to record" (you can still search by title)

TiVo Hacked: Get back the "StandBy" option

If you want to apply this patch download the scripts from this thread.

Repeat the steps you used to upload the SuperPatch files to your TiVo and copy them again in the /var/hack folder.
Do not forget to set the transfer type to BINARY. (Auto will not work properly)

Again use PuTTY to go into your TiVo and execute the following commands (red bold text):

bash-2.02# cd /var/hack/
bash-2.02# ./Superpatch67Standby.tcl
Applying Superpatch67Standby Mod...
DIRECTV Central: Adding Standby
  Searching for ui/TivoCentral/TivoCentralDocument.brf IndexPath...
Messages & Setup: Removing Standby
  Searching for common/ui/Menus/SetupMainMenu/SetupMainMenuDocument.brf IndexPath...
Programs to Record: Removing Search by Title (Demo)
  Searching for ui/PickPrograms/PickProgramsDocument.brf IndexPath...
Done!
bash-2.02#
bash-2.02# reboot

Many kudo's to TivoWare and others for this great modification.

Video Extraction and further reading

One of the goals of these hacks was to be able to extract (download) recordings from your TiVo to your PC.
Thanks to NutKase for his SuperPatch (and the good folks that contributed to that), the recordings are no longer encrypted.
This means we can now use a tool to download recordings to our PC so we can process them further and burn them on a DVD, VCD, or SVCD.

I wrote a rather long article on that, you can find it here.
I have used TyTools10r4 for that. There are other tools out there that do a similar job, however I found TyTools to be the easiest in use.
So go ahead and read How to extract Recordings from your TiVo using TyTools !

Further reading and other TiVo related links:

TiVo Supplies:

PTVupgrade - Supplies image, tools, disks, etc and has great TiVo forum and the best TiVo images.
TiVo - The TiVo company ...
DirecTV - Supplies DirecTV TiVo's that work with the DirecTV service.
9thTee - Supplies, more aimed towards the older TiVo's, more specialized in cables, jacks, etc.
Weaknees - Supplies and TiVo's.

Video Extraction:

EtiVo - Alternative to TyTools, which supports transcoding to other formats (like DivX) as well.
gtivo - a GTK/Gnome (Linux) application for TiVo
TyTool - homepage of TyTool?
Old TyTool/TyStudio Sourceforge project
ty-mp4-rrs - Transcode ty-files to MP4 for RSS feeds.
TiVoTool - The TyTool alternative for Mac OSX and Linux (see also wiki).
TiVo-MPlayer - plays Ty-streams, now part of mplayer (for Windows, Max OS X, Amiga, and Linux).
TyShow - DirectShow help so you can play Ty-files in Media Player.
Media Player Classic - cool and flexble replacement for Windows Media Player.

Hacks, Patches:

Sleeper Hack - Hack your OS 3.x DirecTiVo
OS 4.x Hack - Hack your TiVo to OS 4.x enabling HMO and MRV
OS 6.2 Hack - Hack your TiVo to OS 6.2 enabling HMO and MRV (this article)
DealDatabase - THE forum for (advanced) TiVo fans!
6.2 Slice Upgrade Guide - by David Dellanave

Forums:

PTVupgrade forum - from the makers of InstantCake and PTVnet - highly recommended.
DealDatabase - THE forum for (advanced) TiVo fans!
TiVo Techies

Home Media Option (HMO):

JavaHMO - Media server for use with the new TiVo HMO features (view pictures etc on your TiVo).
Galleon - Free open source media service for the TiVo.

TiVoWeb

TiVoWeb Modules