AltEPG

Can't recall where I saw mention of such an effort (perhaps the UK Forum on TCF), but the thought was "if going to the trouble to set up an alternative EPG, then maybe it's worth exploring getting the Oz TiVo HD working as well."

If so, drop me a line. I can probably help with some aspects.

Hi,

I've asked questions along similar line before but haven't had a response.

Just been looking on fleabay and found an Aussie one for about £235 plus shipping. So long as shipping wasn't too stupid I'd be willing to take a punt on that. Especially as their mains voltages are the same so I'd only have to change the cord. When I looked at this a year or two ago it seemed that their equivalent of Freeview was very close to ours so at best the tuners might work. At worst it could be possible to solder in UK compatible ones as the Aussie tuners probably come from a manufacturer that supply into the UK market. In effect do a reverse Oztivo.

I've also been reading up on how hackable the Series 3 is at the DB deal forums. The starting point seems to be socketing a particular chip so that a suitably hacked version can be fitted. Again something I'd be willing to try. After that details seem to be a little sparse as one application of that route is probably service theft. However as the barstewards are not willing to sell me the service and I'll (hopefully) be getting my guide data from a non-Tivo source I see no problem.

R.

I've commented somewhere on this before, not sure where or which thread now - it's been asked a couple of times.

I can't speak authoritatively for anybody else, but I think the main task in hand is to get something running in order to support the existing UK S1 user base.

Once that's up and running, I dare say people will turn their attention to getting other types of box running on the service. IANAL, but I wouldn't personally like to be actively promoting or selling modified boxes, however, not with VM likely to take an interest. Supporting the existing boxes, I can quite see VM and TiVo ignoring .. Appearing to offer a competing service, though, might irritate them. I think we do need to tread carefully in that respect. That's nothing to stop any individual hacking up a second hand foreign box for themselves, though, to see what works. (I've got an American S1 box that's been in a cupboard for six years that I'm hoping to have a play with at some point, for instance.)

Another issue is that the (seven year old) code I've seen appears to only differentiate between Series 1 and Series 2 TiVos. I don't know if the current one that others are dealing with supports later models.

Hi,

I know this question will crop up frequently, so here's what I know so far, (info courtesy of OZtivo)

The current alternative EPG backend systems in operation only support Series 1 and 2 models.
Tivo implemented new security measures in the Series 3 and later models so the Guide Slices are digitally signed and to my knowledge no private keys are known.
Hacks to the ROM are the only way to bypass the embedded system security at the moment and even after then, I believe the slice data format may differ to that of the older models and would probably require additional support deployed to the backend system.

Understood about the OzTivo EPG only supporting Series 1 & 2 units. And the main goal here is just to provide continued service for S1 users after the shudown.

I also came across an old post from TCM2007 regarding the DVB-T in the UK being MPEG4 (if that's correct), versus MPEG2 in Australia, so that could be tricky

For reference, the Guide Data and Program Channel Slices are blowfish encrypted, though not signed, I believe. The blowfish keys to decrypt those will reside in MFS in /State/Keyring on a subbed box. Shouldn't be too difficult to turn off the decryption stage though, to allow a TiVo HD to consume un-encrypted slices (and I believe that the changes to slices formats are extensions, such that a newer model can consume older slices--though on this point, it's been years since folks have custom rolled slices in the US).

puffdaddy wrote:I also came across an old post from TCM2007 regarding the DVB-T in the UK being MPEG4 (if that's correct), versus MPEG2 in Australia, so that could be tricky.

No. "Freeview", in the UK, is DVB-T, transporting MPEG2. "Freeview HD", is using DVB-T2, transporting MPEG4-AVC (H264) (which profile, off the top of my head, I have no idea).