Series2 DirecTivo newbie, many questions

[JaserLet]

I now have three un-hacked, factory condition Hughes DVR-40 DirecTivos. Each is connected to my multiswitch and each is serving a different room in my house. They are working well but I am now ready to hack and network them.

My primary desire is to network these units so they can share recordings with each other over the network. Is this the feature that's called HME?

I have heard rumors that the Series2 DirecTivo hardware supports USB 2.0, however most of the drivers installed/available only use USB 1.1, which I understand is much slower. Is there any way to install and use USB 2.0 drivers for faster networking?

Are there any hacks for the Series2 DirecTivo that will add local weather information, so that I may check on the weather without having to leave my TV? How about on-screen Caller ID?

Are there any working hacks to allow a Series2 DiectTivo to view movies/videos that are hosted on a computer? Or does the unit lack the CPU power to decode MiniDV, DivX, etc formats?

Thanks a bunch!

[rbautch]

I now have three un-hacked, factory condition Hughes DVR-40 DirecTivos. Each is connected to my multiswitch and each is serving a different room in my house. They are working well but I am now ready to hack and network them.

My primary desire is to network these units so they can share recordings with each other over the network. Is this the feature that's called HME?

I have heard rumors that the Series2 DirecTivo hardware supports USB 2.0, however most of the drivers installed/available only use USB 1.1, which I understand is much slower. Is there any way to install and use USB 2.0 drivers for faster networking?

Are there any hacks for the Series2 DirecTivo that will add local weather information, so that I may check on the weather without having to leave my TV? How about on-screen Caller ID?

Are there any working hacks to allow a Series2 DiectTivo to view movies/videos that are hosted on a computer? Or does the unit lack the CPU power to decode MiniDV, DivX, etc formats?

Thanks a bunch!
Check the Zipper link in my sig. When you're done, check out the tivoserver thread. It's easy to to everything you describe, and then some.