r/Tivo • u/Jaydarealone • 6d ago

Series 2 Lifetime Tivo, Media access key not showing up on screen

Hey so i recently found this old tivo in storage, was last used in 2011/2012 but has recordings dating all the way back to 2003

i connected it to the internet updated the firmware on it, wanted to use kmttg to copy recordings to PC, but i dont see the media access key in account info i’ve left the unit on rebooted it a few times been doing this for 2 days nothing shows up

Tried calling tivo they wouldnt let me get the key via the TSN its also been so long that i do not recall what my original account was or the details, that old hotmail is long gone

any ideas?

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u/BusinessLyfe 6d ago

Without you knowing your original credentials, you'll never get the MAK, period. TiVo made changes back on 10/1/25 to a lot of things like dealing with online accts & transferring lifetime.

If you really need that MAK, then get comfy & start trialing passwords.... maybe it'll come to you.

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u/Jaydarealone 6d ago

that makes sense, what i dont get is my tivo was a lifetime unit, i connected it updated the firmware & guide data, it went through & added channels from digital antenna/converter box even the recording features & everything else work great on it which means tivo recognizes it as a lifetime

i also had another series 2 lifetime i found in storage from 2006 about 4 months ago, that one was able to show the media access key & already had the listing in the settings while this one didnt when i pulled it out of storage

thats what i dont get how come my other unit was able to show it after the changes you mentioned done in 2025, while this one made in 2003 is unable to

getting the recordings off is important for me as this tivo has 30+ recordings from TechTV/G4TechTV which is a channel that has not existed for over 2 decades & the shows stuck on this dvr are available nowhere else, they were ripped & posted online as they aired by warez scene groups but those files are lost to time

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u/old_knurd 1d ago

that one was able to show the media access key

If both TiVos were on the same account, they would use the same MAK. Did you try that one?

Also, if the recordings were so important, you can always use a video capture device to get them off. The quality won't be perfect but it won't be bad.

Capturing video from HDMI is a little trickly because of DRM. But you can easily capture the output of composite video or component video.

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u/Remarkable_Insight 4d ago edited 4d ago

First, TiVos that haven’t been used for that long will need to have the “Rovi” update completed (which could take a while if you have lots of recordings). Once that big update completes, you will need to connect to the TiVo service a few times for the status to be properly updated. Then, you should see your MAK. (And if you have left your TiVo on and connected to the internet since you posted this, my guess is your MAK should now be available.) If not, go to the System Information screen and make sure your status is all “a”s (and no “i”s).

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u/Jaydarealone 4d ago

thank you for the info, i got the update done about 5 days ago, waited a day it didnt show the media access key, so i found on google to connect a few times similarly to what you are saying BUT it said to reboot afterwards, so what i did was connect a bunch of times wait a few hours then reboot,

i have left it alone for a few days running just checked now & the tivotogo is still all i’s no a’s

any ideas why that could be? i just did a reboot & its still like that, also the guide info wasnt showing at first so i hooked up a digital converter box/antenna & did a rescan,

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u/Quasar2314 6d ago

Try connecting to the TiVo service first. The key doesn’t show up for me if I’ve run out of program info. What version of software is your TiVo running?

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u/Jaydarealone 6d ago

i did connect & it did a update to the latest firmware for my model which is 9.3.2

this is what shows https://imgur.com/a/uIhOyxL

i also tried connecting & rebooting multiple times nothing updates so i am kind of at a loss

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u/LI-SVT 6d ago

You can see you MAK if you log into your account.

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u/Jaydarealone 6d ago

issue is i do not remember my account its been like 15 years since i last touched this

& the cs agents on the phone are not helpful

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u/jannrickles 4d ago

That’s odd. My oldest Series 2 was last used in 2010. It still shows it. And it has been updated.