swapping out hdvr2s because of bad tuner 2

[jangelj]

My hdvr2's tuner 2 failed recently. It has the problem where it pixellates on tuner 2 when an s-video cable is being used. When I disconnect the s-video and use composite it works fine.
I happen to have a brand new hdvr2 in a box. Can i just put the hard drive from the bad unit into the good unit and move the card over? Will a call to Directv be necessary?

TIA,
John

[Gunnyman]

unless the unit has been hacked, nope
the shows are encrypted and the encrytion key is tied to the motherboard.

[hiker]

...
Can i just put the hard drive from the bad unit into the good unit and move the card over?You might get this to work but you won't be able to view the recorded programs. A Clear and Delete Everything would be necessary. And the access card won't work in the new unit without getting DirecTV to remarry it.

I would just replace the old unit with the new, move over the old access card and call DirecTV to tell them that you're replacing a defective unit. Don't use a new access card or you're probably going to get marked with a new commitment and/or lease. And for safety, call back after a few days and ask if your unit is marked as "owned" and you have no new commitment.

[jangelj]

Well, I'd like to keep my recordings if possible...there's lots there I haven't watched yet. Gunny, you mentioned hacking the unit. I have no desire to hack the unit (I just don't need most of those features, other than the 250 GB HD that I put in there). Is there a way to put the HD in my pc and remove the encryption from the recordings prior to installing it in the new unit so they will play on the new HDVR2? MODS- if this is a violation feel free to delete.

As an alternative, if I hook up the new HDVR2 and move the access card over (calling DTV to activate it) will I still be able to watch the old recorded programs off the failing unit? In other words, is an HDVR2 able to play from the NP list if there is no card in the unit?

Thanks,
John

[hiker]

Without getting into too much detail, you would have needed to hack the unit before the recordings were made.

You should be able to view the recordings on the old unit but you will probably get a message on the screen, "please insert access card". You might be able to get rid of the message by using the unactivated access card from the new unit in the old unit.

[John T Smith]

I do not think a DirecTv box will work at all without an access card

You may disconnect from DirecTv and still watch recorded shows... I did that when I sold my last house and lived in a rental for a year while building a new house... watched recorded shows until they were all gone, then put the DTivo in a box for a few months until new house was done and connected to DirecTv again

I don't understand how it works (you need to go to the Underground forum for more information) but from reading here it seems that recorded programs are encoded to the specific DTivo box (something on the motherboard?) and there is no way to decode or transfer the programs... which is why moving the hard drive to a different box will not work

I do have to ask... if the signal is working after changing S-Video to a different type of connection... why the rush to swap the DTivo box?

While it is certainly POSSIBLE for the box to totally fail, I don't remember reading any messages at all concerning this that said "first the S-Video caused problems, then even after swapping to a different type of connection, the box quickly failed anyway"

Forum for DTivo Hacking, Upgrades, Networking, etc
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?f=24

[Gunnyman]

you won't need an access card to watch old recordings or even use MRV to view them on the replacement Tivo, (also a reason for hacking)
hacking now won't decrypt the recordings alredy on there, so watch the shows on the old unit, or hack both and move them over to the new one with MRV.
There isn't a way that I am aware of, to decrypt the shows in a PC.

[hiker]

I do not think a DirecTv box will work at all without an access card
...I have an old Philips DSR6000 DirecTiVo not connected to dish and without access card and I can view the recordings but I see a message at the bottom of the screen, "Please Insert Access Card". YMMV with the HDVR2.

[jangelj]

I do have to ask... if the signal is working after changing S-Video to a different type of connection... why the rush to swap the DTivo box?

-----------------------------------------------
It's not a rush, but I have a unique setup that works best when I can use BOTH the Svideo and composite outputs. I use the Svideo to hook up to my 36" TV in the living room, then use the composite to go to a channel modulator to send the signal to the other TVs in the house. So by unplugging the Svideo I cannot watch it on the living room TV (well, I can, but I have to do it through the modulator which is acceptable, but not desirable in the living room).

I have 3 tivos and 3 baby cameras modulated to the rest of the house so I can watch anything anywhere. I've been getting by for a couple of months without Svideo on the living room TV, but eventually I'd like to get it hooked back up (ala the new HDVR2).

BTW, Gunny, since I have everything modulated to all the rooms in my house I don't really need to hack the units to do MRV. About the only other cool feature I know about on a hacked HDVR2 that would insterest me (mildly) would be the callerid feature. But it is not enough of a motivation to go through the learning curve and time to hack the HDVR2 (see above re: the 3 baby cameras :))

Maybe i'll wait till summer when there is less new programming on TV and I'll get thru some of the old shows that are stored on the bad unit, then I can switch to the new one.

John

[The Bird]

Jangelj, I have 2 HDVR2's with the same problem and a simular setup as you. I was going to try a powered composite splitter so I can feed 2 devices from 1 TiVo output. I'm away and can't try this until next week but if you want to give it a try here's the device I was looking at http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103065&cp=2032057.2032187.2032188.2032195&fbx=0&allCount=58&fbn=Type%2FAmplifiers&f=PAD%2FProduct+Type%2FAmplifiers&fbc=1&fr=StorePrice%2FRSK%2F00001000%2F00004999&parentPage=family