Hackman -- A Hack Manager module for TivoWeb

[PortlandPaw]

I apologize for the snide comment -- enjoy!

[SeanC]

Hey PP,

As always, great work . I updated to the new version of HM last night with no problems but as I was doing it I had a thought. Because of Dailymail crashing every 1-2 weeks I have to do a reboot, then re-enable the 30 second skip. I have often wished to have a more automatic method of enabling this code. I went into hackman.itcl and edited/added these lines:

puts $chan [html_link "/password;" "August, 2004<br>"]
puts $chan [html_link "/sendkey/select/play/select/3/0/select;" "Dis/Enable 30 second skip"]

This is a kludge at best but it was a nice simple area to stick my one line of html. Also it only works about half the time. I'm guessing that the code gets sent to the Tivo too fast and a kepress gets missed. Clicking on the link 2-3 times works though. Any idea if there is a way to add pauses in the URL?

[PortlandPaw]

I don't know about pauses, but you could try looking at the sendkeypress code that I use to shut down TCS -- it's in hackman.itcl, as well. I don't have it in front of me, so I don't remember precisely...look for something like {SendKey "num9" SendKey "num9" SendKey "clear"}.

You might try experimenting with this control. If it works, let me know and I'll hard code it into a new section. Maybe some kind of "user definable" section.

Let me know how it works!

p.s. I've been thinking about doing something similar to enable backdoors and other features...maybe this is the spark I need to make that happen.

[Carlton Bale]

I think auto-enabling the 30-second skip would be an excellent addition! I believe you need to be watching a pre-recorded show to get the key sequence to work? I have a macro on my Pronto remote that works well to guarantee that a recorded show is being played when the 30-second skip is activated. There is the key press sequence (with explanations):

Live TV (known starting point)
Tivo button (menu)
Tivo button (now playing)
Down (to make sure an in-progress recording isn't selected)
Down (same as above for dual tuner directivo)
Play (plays show)
Select
Play
Select
3
0
Select (enable 30 second skip)
Tivo button (back to main menu)

Not sure if sendkey would require this same sequence. I do have to put some pauses in the macro because Tivo is a little slow switching screens.

Since I usually don't know that my tivo had rebooted, I always accidentally skip to the end of the show after a power outage (usually once a week here.) It would be great to automatically enable this feature on boot.

[SeanC]

Grrrrrrrrrr

Well on investigation I found that SendKey is the way to go but I've run into some consistency issues.

When using this line:

exec /var/hack/scripts/SendKey tivo tivo select select select play select 3 0 select livetv

It will start playing whatever is listed in the now playing list but it won't execute the S P S 30 S. If on the other hand I use :

exec /var/hack/scripts/SendKey select play select 3 0 select livetv

It works but you have to make sure that you are watching something. It even works while watching live tv as the final livetv stops the tivo from changing to channel 30. This is annoying however because I would like to have code that works no matter what state the Tivo is in.

I have also been trying to create one for backdoors and have run into a similar issue but worse in that I can't get the code to work at all.

This code:

exec /var/hack/scripts/SendKey tivo 4 select 3 left up left select 0 select down select right select thumbsup livetv

Stops at the first left. What happens is after the number 3 keypress the "cursor" (don't know what to call it) jumps over to highlight a program called 30-Minute Meals. The left command and all subsequent commands do not execute.

[SeanC]

Success!

I went back to the beginning and started over from scratch. I found an old thread at the other board where they had already conquered this problem. From there I got these scripts:

SendKey
--------------------------------------
#!/tvbin/tivosh

source $tcl_library/tv/log.tcl
source $tcl_library/tv/sendkey.tcl

foreach k $argv {
SendKey $k
}

--------------------------------------

SPS30S (my name)
--------------------------------------
#!/bin/bash

#SendKey select play select 3 0 select
SendKey tivo tivo
sleep 5
SendKey play
sleep 2
SendKey select play select 3 0 select livetv
--------------------------------------

backdoors
--------------------------------------
#!/bin/bash
#Enable Backdoors
SendKey tivo 4 select 3
sleep 2
SendKey left up left select 0 select down select right select thumbsup livetv

---------------------------------------


In my previous iteration the 30 sec and backdoor scripts I had them running under /tvbin/tivosh, the scripts at the other forum were executing in /bin/bash. I have no idea what difference that makes but it really helped.

One other thing I did, I put my scripts directory in the path to make it easier to execute SendKey. Also note that the pauses in backdoors and SPS30S are critical. In fact if you have a lot of programs in Now Playing you may need to make the pause bigger than 5.

[Fozzie]

Doesn't need to be a pre-recorded programme to work. Mine is simply "livetv select play select 3 0 select tivo"

Complete script is:

#!/tvbin/tivosh
source $tcl_library/tv/sendkey.tcl
set verboseSendKeyG 0
after [expr 95 * 1000]
set seq [ list livetv select play select 3 0 select tivo]
foreach key $seq {
SendKey $key
}

This script has been floating around for a while now

[PortlandPaw]

fozzie, iguru42 and Carlton Bale (!), you've inspired me! I'm going to start working on a new hackman segment next week. Without getting too carried away, what do you think the most popular scripts would be?
1. 30-second skip
2. Back door
3. ?
4. ?

[SeanC]

LOL

awesome

I LOL because I was looking at the list myself to see what other scripts I would be interested in and came up with....... none.... Well none that I'm really interested in, there was only one other that was vaguely interesting, enabling sort on the Now Playing list on SA3.0.

[Fofer]

How about "Sort" in Now Playing (Slow, Zero, Record, ThumbsUp)?

[Carlton Bale]

Yes, I agree with the list.

1. 30 Second Skip
2. Sort in the now playing list (3.0 Directivos)
3. Backdoor enable

For the Sorting the now playing list, I prefer to sort by alphabetically by name, so the entire key sequence would be:

Live TV (known starting point)
Tivo (menu)
Tivo (now playing)
Slow
Zero
Record
ThumbsUp (enables sorting)
3 (causes list to be sorted alphabetically)
LiveTv (end)

The three options for sort are 1 (normal), 2 (by expiration date), and 3 (alphabetically). All could be options, but I think the third is by far the most useful.

PortlandPaw, thanks for all of your efforts!

[Fofer]

I have recently installed a new version of YAC Caller ID for Series 2 machines (with a newly engineered OSD system, thanks to Xybyre.) It works great.

Quick question about the the YACID button in HackMan, though. I am able to use it to STOP but not to START.

I am starting it manually now by going into Terminal and changing to the /var/hack/bin directory, and then using this command:

./yac -t 10 &

(The -t 10 part just tells it to leave the display up for 10 seconds.)

If on the other hand I try to start it by just using:
./var/hack/bin/yac &
It says "osd: command not found"

I have to switch to the directory first and then execute the command.
This is probably why I can't get HackMan to start it up either. Any tips?

[PortlandPaw]

Try editing the hackman.cfg file so that the line that reads
set 3 "exec $yacpathname &" reflects your new setup (I think it needs the -t):
set 3 "exec $yacpathname -t 10 &"
Please let me know if this works.

[Fofer]

Originally posted by PortlandPaw
Try editing the hackman.cfg file so that the line that reads
set 3 "exec $yacpathname &" reflects your new setup (I think it needs the -t):
set 3 "exec $yacpathname -t 10 &"
Please let me know if this works.

It does not; that was the first thing I tried when troubleshooting. With or without the -t variable set, I can only start YAC reliably by first switching to the /var/hack/bin directory and then executing it.
I think that's the only way it can use the osd library that it depends on.

In other words, even if I manually type in Terminal:
./var/hack/bin/yac -t 10 &
...it doesn't work, and I get the error "osd: command not found"
If I can't launch it manually that way, then HackMan wouldn't be able do it either, right?

I have to switch to the directory first. Can HackMan handle that command? When I launch it that way, it works great.

(Hopefully this makes sense, as hacking TiVo is my first real exposure to *nix commands.)

[PortlandPaw]

OK, try this:

set 3 {exec /bin/bash -c "cd /var/hack/bin"
exec $yacpathname -t 10 &}

[Fofer]

Originally posted by PortlandPaw
OK, try this:

set 3 {exec /bin/bash -c "cd /var/hack/bin"
exec $yacpathname -t 10 &}

Okay, after stopping the YAC process with HackMan, I pasted the above in place of:
set 3 "exec $yacpathname &"

...saved it, and did a Quick Reload of TiVoWebPlus. I then tried starting YAC with HackMan but it didn't appear to do anything. I then tried to start it manually in Terminal, and got this error:

"error while loading shared libraries: cannot open shared object file: cannot load shared object file: No such file or directory"

(That's the first I'd seen of that error.)

Then I went back to the ReadMe, saw the reminder to make sure LD_LIBRARY_PATH contains /var/hack/lib:
export LD_LIBRARY_PATH=/var/hack/lib

Even though I invoked this command when I first installed, I invoked it again. And now I'm able to start YAC manually via the Terminal again. But still not with HackMan.

[PortlandPaw]

This is puzzling...I think the /var/hack/lib stuff was an issue separate from hackman.

But I had a thought...I didn't really recreate how you started from the bash prompt. Try this:

set 3 {exec /bin/bash -c "cd /var/hack/bin"
exec yac -t 10 &}

I hope that does the trick!

[Fofer]

Originally posted by PortlandPaw

set 3 {exec /bin/bash -c "cd /var/hack/bin"
exec yac -t 10 &}

I hope that does the trick!

Copy-and-pasted that in exactly and now HackMan gives this error when I try to start YAC:

couldn't execute "yac": no such file or directory

[PortlandPaw]

Here's an experimental version that adds a few back door functions to hackman. Even though there are readme files included in the zip, they haven't been updated yet. Here's the Readers' Digest version:

1. A "Commands Page" button has been added. There's a new graphic for the button.
2. The page has five back door features that should be self-explanatory.
3. There are flags in the hackman.cfg file (which has to be copied to the /modules directory, along with hackman.itcl) which provide the option to run four of the scripts on boot (enable 30-second skip, etc.), assuming that TivoWeb is being loaded on boot. As was found in Fozzie's script, there's a two minute (or more) delay after booting before things start to happen. Be patient, as some of the screens have as much as a 12 second delay to allow the TiVo to keep up with the script. However you are starting TivoWeb, you should make it the last in your startup sequence.

So I need your help to make this as universal as possible. I noted that the keys to enable backdoors that iguru42 listed did not correspond to the keys that work on my Phillips HDR-112 Series 1 TiVo running version 3.0-01-1-000 software.

So please check these on your machines and report back what modifications you have to make to get them running on your box. Don't forget to specify model and software. I don't want a whole lot of "it doesn't work on my TiVo!" complaints.

One word of caution: The last two items open up what may the Pandora's Box of the Node Navigator. So I suggest you check out the keypresses you need to do these things, and then check them against the commands listed in hackman.itcl.

I appreciate everyone's help in adding to hackman's functionality.

[PortlandPaw]

Originally posted by Fofer
If on the other hand I try to start it by just using:
./var/hack/bin/yac &
It says "osd: command not found"

Where are the osd files? I would check to see that the path to the osd's is included in your boot path statement (rc.sysinit). You'll have to reboot after adding the path, if that's the case.

[SeanC]

Hmmmm weird that they would be different. I have a Philips HDR310 on 3.0. I thought the codes went by Tivo software version in which case we have the same.

YAY! I downloaded first!

:P

[PortlandPaw]

I hope you're not the one who downloaded my first effort a couple of hours ago! That one didn't work...this one (uploaded about 15 minutes ago) does...I hope!

Let me know what you think.

[SeanC]

I got the one from 15 minutes ago.

I quickly looked inside hackmanager but I don't have time to try to adjust it now. I'll give that a shot Wed, though I suspect you'll have the kinks ironed out before then.

I did not test doubling the overshoot value as I have no interest and I wasn't sure if redoing it would revert to original settings.

Backdoors is not working. Here is my Backdoor script that I have:

SendKey tivo 4 select 3
sleep 3
SendKey left up left select 0 select down select right select thumbsup livetv

I have 100% success with this the sleep 3 is key before that first left command.

Sorting and 30 second skip work perfectly.

[SeanC]

Oh yeah and I noticed you were enabling 30 second skip from Now Playing. I had it in live tv with:

SendKey livetv
sleep 1
SendKey clear select play select 3 0 select livetv clear

It works faster and that last livetv stops the cable box from changing channel.

[PortlandPaw]

All five functions work perfectly on my box, so I'll wait until you've had some time to experiment. I, too, thought the software version was consistent, but maybe there are other factors at work.

In Backdoors, I'm using the tcl command "after" followed by the number of milliseconds, as I saw the problem you referred to. I don't understand why the sendkey patterns are so different.

Despite the claims in the TiVo hacking literature, overshoot will reset upon reboot, which is why I included it. Advance Wishlists will retain its value, but it's such a valuable feature, I thought I'd make it easy for people to activate it.

I'll play around some more with your 30-sec code -- I wish I could remember why I did it that way. I know I had a reason. EDIT -- it came back to me when I tried it again -- it didn't work! There's something different between our machines. The key sequence works from the remote but not from code.

I have a brother-in-law who lives in Franklin...do you know Glenn Ross or his son Christopher?

[SeanC]

I have backdoors and 30 second skip working here is my code:

1 {set seq "livetv tivo 4 select 3"
hacksendkey $seq
after 5000
set seq "left up left select 0 select down select right select thumbsup livetv clear"
hacksendkey $seq
}
2 {set seq "livetv clear"
hacksendkey $seq
after 500
set seq "select play select 3 0 select livetv clear"
hacksendkey $seq
}

[SeanC]

Originally posted by PortlandPaw
I have a brother-in-law who lives in Franklin...do you know Glenn Ross or his son Christopher?

Oh wow, that is weird, but nope. I actually just moved to Franklin this is my first year as resident and property owner. I grew up in Millis (2 towns over), I went to college at USM in Portland. Then before I bought my condo I kicked around Mass; Millis, Foxboro, East Bridgewater, Hyde Park, and finally Franklin. Moving sucks and I really hated doing it every year, hence the impetus to buy a place of my own.

Random question: What is the opposite of chmod 755? I accidently made all the files in my /var/hack directory executable.

[PortlandPaw]

Well, I got 30-second going with this:
2 {set seq "livetv clear select play select 3 0 select livetv clear"
sendkeydelayed $seq
}

proc sendkeydelayed {seq} {
foreach key $seq {
after 250
SendKey $key
}
}

But I can't get your key sequence for Backdoors to work at all -- when I walk through it from the remote, it's not even close! After I do the "livetv tivo 4 select 3" the cursor is on the "A" -- moving it to the left takes it back to "All Programs." Even if I got that space in correctly, when I hit "3" I'm taken to the program list (something called 3 Strikes -- makes me wonder what would happen if nothing started w/"3"), so I've got to move left before I can punch in the "0." From there it's OK.

Does this mean that we have to ask each user to determine their personal key sequence?

We're in the process of moving for the last time. It sucks, but at least I can set up the house the way I want it with a heavy investment in coax and RG6 cable.

[SeanC]

Originally posted by PortlandPaw
But I can't get your key sequence for Backdoors to work at all -- when I walk through it from the remote, it's not even close! After I do the "livetv tivo 4 select 3" the cursor is on the "A" -- moving it to the left takes it back to "All Programs." Even if I got that space in correctly, when I hit "3" I'm taken to the program list (something called 3 Strikes -- makes me wonder what would happen if nothing started w/"3"), so I've got to move left before I can punch in the "0." From there it's OK.

Does this mean that we have to ask each user to determine their personal key sequence?

We're in the process of moving for the last time. It sucks, but at least I can set up the house the way I want it with a heavy investment in coax and RG6 cable.

I KNOW WHY!

The solution to this puzzle is when you mention "the cursor is on the "A"". In my list of programs I have a show called 30-something something, so the cursor gets pulled over there and I have to bring it back with left. Obviously this is a concern for consistancy. Depending on whether or not there is a show with the digit 3 at the begining of your list this will affect how the code get entered.


[Edit]

hmmmm ok I just finished reading your entire post and now I'm puzzled. We both have shows that start with a 3, but in your case after you hit 3 you are on the A, but I'm on my 30- show.

Let me ask you this, do you have more than one show that starts 3? That would explain the cursor not jumping over. If this guess is right it means there has to be specific code for people who have no or multiple shows that start with the digit 3, and people who only have one show that starts with 3.

In fact now I'm sure my case proves the point. If you only have one show in the program list that starts with a 3 you will have to use my code. Grrrr this sucks because that could change at anytime for anybody.

[PortlandPaw]

I, too, have shows starting with "3." That's the confusing part ... on my machine, it doesn't get pulled to the right until I hit the space. If I understand you correctly, yours gets pulled over when you hit the "3."

I think I got it -- my show beginning with three is literally "3" followed by the space. So mine jumps after yours does.

This is going to take some work -- the program list will change and the script will break.

p.s. We must go to the same barber, too.