Instantcake drive with external modem

[alarmman15613]

Hello All,
My HDR312 with lifetime sub lost it's internal modem recently. I ordered an external modem from weaknees, and while waiting it's arrival I upgraded to an 80 gig HD using Instantcake. The modem came today and it won't work. I have tried everything I know, verified connection, checked dialing prefix (,#319), made sure stereo cable was in serial port, hooked a phone to modem and listened in. Unit is not even breaking dialtone. Keep getting "modem not responding" error. When internal modem died I started getting "no dial tone" message. Any ideas? Does the Instantcake use cause any problems using an external modem? I called weaknees and they said send the modem back, they will check it!! (another 2 weeks)
I appreciate all the help!

[alarmman15613]

I put the original smaller drive back in my HDR312 and the external modem worked fine. Apparently the Instantcake CD creates a drive that is NOT compatible with external serial modems. Hope this helps save someone else a lot of headaches!
Regards!!

[tivoupgrade]

InstantCake for this model enables the serial port on the unit so you can connect with a PC; it is part of the NetReady product offering. If you wish to use an external modem with your unit, you will need to disable BASH on the serial port.

What you can do to disable that is to use a program like hyperterminal or teraterm pro, along with a PC-TiVo serial cable. Establish a terminal session and rename the file called /BASH_ON to /BASH_OFF. More specifically, once you have a BASH prompt within hyperterm type the following:


rootwrite
mv /BASH_ON /BASH_OFF
rootread
sync
reboot


Your unit will restart and BASH will no longer work on the serial port - it will now be free for use with an external modem.

BTW, if you have a home network, you can avoid the use of modems altogether. you can use a TurboNet card (available from 9thTee.COM) and set your dialing prefix to ,#401 and your daily call will be made via the Internet, instead of by telephone.

TurboNet drivers are native within the TiVo OS, so no software modifications are required at all.