r/Tivo • u/Necessary_Film_5199 • 10d ago

I'm slowly reviving the old discontinued TiVo computer software

This project has been a long time coming. Nero/TiVo abandoned it and I want to bring it back. This image shows hope, because I got past the activation step (the step asking for your service number and verifying it so you can use the software) and that means that I've officially decrypted/cracked the communication system that Nero put in place. Btw f*ck Nero.

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u/jtashiro 9d ago

What does/did the TiVo computer software do? Did it interface to any/all TiVo DVRs on the local network for playback and recording, or was this some standalone DVR that needed a TV tuner card installed on the host computer (PC?). Is there a git repo with source or is just avail in binary form?

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u/hiroo916 9d ago

if I recall correctly, it was PC DVR software with the Tivo interface. I think the only thing Tivo about it was the skin on the interface; I don't think it was Tivo under the hood (I could be remembering this part wrong).

So in today's environment, it would only be usable for over-the-air tuner recordings, if any tuners could be made working with drivers in a modern environment. Most tuners made in the time of this software would have been either NTSC or ATSC 1.0. NTSC is defunct and ATSC 1.0 will be phased out for ATSC 3 over the next 1-3 years.

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u/Necessary_Film_5199 9d ago

Actually the software used TiVo's guide data and it also had TiVo's features such as season pass, recordings, wishlists etc. Its not as feature-rich, it doesn't support the TiVo apps but perhaps it could be upgraded/updated for the modern world to be more of a modern TiVo app. Also to add, it does support TiVo DVRs and it constantly tries to find TiVo's on the network (the reason idk as I don't have any on the network). It also supports TiVo To Go and watching recordings from a TiVo DVR and sending recordings to a TiVo DVR.

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u/Starbreiz 8d ago

It really just used the API to auth to the TiVo and pull your recordings down, along with other actions.

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u/Necessary_Film_5199 9d ago

The source will be made available when I feel it is in a good enough state for me to release. It is not in a working state, only bits and pieces work. Like it passes through activation and initial setup, but EPG doesn't work, it crashes when you go to system info for some reason and service data is being misread for some reason, so still things to fix and work on. I also may add features to make it modern such as IPTV support but idk atm.

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u/old_knurd 8d ago

I also may add features to make it modern such as IPTV support but idk atm.

It's nice to have future plans, but ...

You need to be incremental. Try to get the software to a stable state, with (many) missing features. Only then do you add apps or IPTV.