Activating a replacement Tivo with DirecTV

[alfredojahn]

This may be a dumb question...

I have a hacked TiVo right now that is on the blink. I love it, I can transfer files from my other hacked tivo in the bed room, it has all sorts of cool hacks. But like I said, it is on the blink. Since I didn't hack it, I don't know anything about replacing the hard drive, etc.

The good news is, I have aquired 2 other DirecTivos that are stored in my attic.
I believe each one has the access card in it.

So my question is, while I'm waiting for my friend (who originally hacked it) to hack one of my new ones, or fix this one, can I just activate one of the other tivos with DirecTV? How is that done? Do I just call a number? Do I have to talk to someone? Also, when I want to re-activate my current one back, do I just call up and activate again? I figure since I already have a Tivo, that there is no extra cost for the re-activation, etc.?

Thanks in advance.

[John T Smith]

You will become familiar with CSR - Customer Service Roulette

You will most likely be told you can't transfer your active card to a different unit, you will need to buy a new card for $20 (which includes shipping)

You MAY be able to call again (and again... and...) and find someone who will let you transfer your active card

But... if your "aquired" DTivos have a balance on the original account, you have ZERO chance of being able to use that unit... DTivo simply will not activate a unit with a balance

Also... read at http://mfslive.org/winmfs/ for a way to clone your existing drive

I had the 80g drive in one of mine fail, and immediately cloned all of the other drives to new 320g drives I bought from Newegg... winmfs has a module which will expand the cloned drive into the larger space

[wscannell]

It is unlikely that you can use an access card that you received with the used TiVo. However, you should be able to use the access card from one of your active receivers in one of the used TiVos. You will need to go through Customer Service to do this in most cases.

[halfempty]

Getting a CSR that knows how to transfer cards on the old DTivos and is willing to do it is hit or miss, like John T Smith said. Having been through that hassle I definitely wouldn't attempt it if I knew there was a chance of having to try to change it back again. I agree with wscannell, the chances of them letting you use other people's cards that are in the other units is nil.

If it were me I would give them the $20 for a new card and avoid the headache of trying to get a card transferred again.

[catocony]

I hit the jackpot Friday morning. I managed, in one call that took about 10 minutes total, to get a card swapped from my R15 to the used DSR708 I picked up a couple of days ago. No arguing, no false information, nothing. The old box checked out clean and she knew the procedure for swapping a card. Very nice.

I've run into the Roulette before, it is very frustrating. I fondly remember the days prior to RID when life was always easy, but I also remember a lot of people having bootleg cards and such. My one friend went a couple of years I think without paying for more than basic service and had every channel unlocked. So, I do understand RID. What I don't understand is the guff you get when you want to swap cards from one receiver to the next. DVRs are just stripped-down PCs, so they won't last forever and periodically need to be repaired/replaced. So, not uncommon is the need to swap them out without being charged $20 and having to wait a week for a card to arrive.

[halfempty]

I hit the jackpot Friday morning. I managed, in one call that took about 10 minutes total, to get a card swapped from my R15 to the used DSR708 I picked up a couple of days ago. No arguing, no false information, nothing. The old box checked out clean and she knew the procedure for swapping a card. Very nice.
I'm jealous! It took me 3 or 4 CSR's and several hours. Once I got to one that really knew what she was doing it took a while with the help of a supervisor to rebuild my account from all the mess ups in it from the other CSR's trying unsuccessfully to do it. After that the card swap went quickly. I'm glad to hear you didn't have to go through the same ordeal.

[goony]

I hope I get lucky... in a few weeks I'll be trying to activate an "attic" DTivo (-w- Zipper and V6.2a) that I'll be putting a larger HD into and doing an xfer of programs from the original (Zippered) DTivo with a stock 40GB drive. The old box will donate its card to the new box and then retire.

[catocony]

I'm jealous! It took me 3 or 4 CSR's and several hours. Once I got to one that really knew what she was doing it took a while with the help of a supervisor to rebuild my account from all the mess ups in it from the other CSR's trying unsuccessfully to do it. After that the card swap went quickly. I'm glad to hear you didn't have to go through the same ordeal.

Well, let's see past times......when first swapping out, on a trial about 2.5 years ago, my beloved 704 for an R15, they shot both cards (the one in the 704 and the new one that came with the R15), necessatating a trip to a storage unit 10 minutes away to scrounge out an old non-DVR receiver with a usable card. The only good thing from that experience is that I now keep an old Sony receiver with a good card in at standby. By the way, the trial lasted about an hour before I switched from the R15 back to my Tivo.

Then, about a year ago, when putting the R15 into service in place of my trusty standby Sony non-DVR, they again shot two cards and had to rush out replacements, leaving me with no spare cards at all now. Two Tivos and my Sony backup, with an R15 with no card and two other older non-DVR receivers with no cards.

[halfempty]

Well, let's see past times......
Wow. It's time you had some good luck and a smooth transition.:up:

After the last time with the CSR games I bought a non-RID HDVR2 from eBay, tested it, and stored it under the bed. That way I can put it in service with the ext. 722 trick while I send my unit out for repair and not have to call D*.

[halfempty]

I hope I get lucky... in a few weeks I'll be trying to activate an "attic" DTivo
What model is that unit? If it's a non-RID you can do it without involving a CSR. If it's a RID unit I hope you get the same CSR catocony got. The other option is just putting the bigger drive in your current unit and transfer the contents.

[catocony]

It was amazing, the CSRs nearly led me to ditch DirecTV a few years ago. I've had service since 1997, and in the first 9 years I made about 4 calls total - 1 to order service, 1 to activate my first two receivers, 1 to activate my Tivo about 7 years later, and 1 to do a move when I switched houses about 2.5 years after the Tivo. Zero problems, I used to rave about D* quality and service.

Then I moved to an area and all I had was Vonage and not a hard line. So I couldn't make calls anymore and missed the ease of use of doing PPV through the system, which led to them giving me an R15 to try, which led to a massive flurry of calls to get cards and everything, then another flurry to make sure the R15 was really free since I wanted to blow it up after screwing around with the crappy interface for an hour. Then about 8 months later, I needed the DST patch (March 2007) which had me bitching at D* about the one-day notice on that (plus me running about 125 feet of barrel-connected phone wire across a parking lot to a neighbor with a hard-line phone), then another flurry of calls when I changed houses again, then a flurry of billing issues, then the R15 swap. So, basically, I had 9 years of no problems, a year and a half where I probably made two dozen calls trying to get minor things taken care of, and now a year of relative bliss.

I did learn one very valuable lesson - never ask a CSR about anything. I ask all my questions here or on D*-specific sites. CSRs will tell you whatever the call sheet says to say and that seems to be some evil Rupert Murdoch directive to tell customers the EXACT OPPOSITE thing you really need to do.