5. What other cool hacking can I do with TiVo?

5.1 Getting a BASH prompt on your TiVo

If you use Dylan's bootdisk or a Linux system compiled with the TiVo partition support you can mount the partition containing your current kernel on your TiVo A drive and edit the /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit file to get a bash prompt on the DSS serial port.

1. Connect your TiVo A drive to your PC. Either boot Dylan's boot disk or your modified Linux kernel that supports TiVo's special partitions. If using Dylan's bootdisk remember that you can't connect a drive to the Primary Master port, it will not work.
2. You need to modify your /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit file. Your TiVo has two different kernels stored on it, it also has two different Root partitions that are used depending on which of the two kernels is booted. So you have two partitions that contain an rc.sysinit file on them. You can either edit both (what I recommend) as noted below or do them one at a time. You can also examine the 2nd byte on the first sector of the TiVo A drive. If the value is a 3 then your /etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit file is on partition 4, if it is a 6 the file is on partition 7.
3. Do the following "mount /dev/hdX4 /mnt" (without the quotes) if you want to edit the file on partition 4. Make sure the X is the letter for the port the TiVo A drive is connected on your motherboard. Substitute the 4 with a 7 if you want to edit the file stored on partition 7.
4. Type "joe /mnt/etc/rc.d/rc.sysinit" (without the quotes).
5. Go to the bottom of the file and add the following on a line all by itself.
6. "/bin/bash </dev/ttyS3 >& /dev/ttyS3 &" (without the quotes)
7. Type "umount /mnt" (without the quotes)\
8. Repeat steps 3-7 if you want to edit the other partition too, otherwise continue on.
9. Connect you DSS port on the back of the TiVo to your PC's serial port. Your TiVo should have came with a connector that plugs into the DSS Serial port on the back of the TiVo and has a 9 pin D-Type connector on the other end. You will need to put a "null modem" adaptor on the 9pin and also a gender changer to be able to use it with your PC. You can buy these at most computer stores, or Radio Shack.
10. Run your favorite terminal program on Linux or Windows. Minicom works great and is with most Linux distributions, Hyperterminal with Windows works fine also.
11. Connect the serial cable between the TiVo and the PC uses the above mentioned cables and adaptors.
12. Set your terminal program to 9600, N81 with no flow control (hardware or software). Also make sure the COM port your using in the terminal program matches the COM port the PC is plugged into.
13. Turn on your TiVo. After the "please wait a few more seconds message" on your TiVo you should get a shell prompt on your terminal program.
14. If you do not then check your COM port settings and cables. If you only edited one rc.sysinit script you may have gotten the wrong one.
15. If it works you can now explore your TiVo while its running and do all kinds of dangerous things!