ReplayTV activation hacks

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On 2004-10-11, Larry Moss <moss@airigami.com> wrote:
> Wow. I was about to ask almost the same question. I have a 4500 with a
> failed drive. So, I bought a larger drive, downloaded rtvpatch and the
> image file for the 4500.

ok, it turns out I misunderstood the original question and my problem is
not related. So I've changed the subject to separate it from the long
thread that the original poster intended.

> After a bit of messing around (the directions out there for doing this on a
> Mac are rather shabby), I got rtvpatch to run. It said everything was
> good. I plugged the new disk into the RTV. RTV booted without a problem.
> But now when I try to do anything, it complains that I need to activate it.
> If I go to the web site to activate it, I get an error that the machine is
> already activated (which it is). How can I get past this?

First, I want to thank everyone that responded. I had hoped to post a note
before I was bombarded with the (partial) answer when I realized what I
left out. I did need to force a net connect to finish the upgrade process.
Unfortunately, that's not as easy as it sounds since there's still a
problem with my machine that wasn't fixed with the new drive and clean OS.
This is a problem that existed before, but I hoped that starting over with
a blank disk would solve it. (There were other symptoms of a bad disk, so
the swap made sense.)

Here's the problem. I reboot (doesn't matter if it's a warm boot or if I
unplug it for a while). It comes up fine and does everythign it's supposed
to. I lose the network about 5 minutes after I reboot. If I force a
net connect immediately after rebooting, it connects to the network and
updates program guide information. Upon reboot, all other network
activities also work. DVArchive sees it as it should. A few minutes
later, all devices on the network continue to see each other except the
RTV. Nothing I do allows it to see the network again. The RTV still says
it has a network number from the DHCP server, so that's not it. I tried
configuring the network info statically as well, just in case.

Since it always works upon reboot for a few minutes without powering off
(and completely resetting hardware) I had assumed the problem was software
or a corrupt disk. But since I started with a completely clean disk and a
(presumably) clean OS image, that brings me back to hardware. I don't know
if the ethernet hardware is reaplaceable. I should have looked at it while
I had the box open.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

--
Larry Moss, http/www.airigami.com
PO Box 23523, Rochester, NY 14692, (585) 359-8695
Airigami: The art of folding air in specially prepared latex containers.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Greg wrote:

>>I gather that the uint's ID for registration/activation
>>purposes is stored on a chip, not on the Hard Drive,
>
>
> The serial number is on the chip, the software load on the drive gets selected
> by what RTV thinks that S/N's activation status is when you load it.
> They don't have a clue whether you are going to be lifetime or monthly when
> they made that machine.
> You can also upgrade a monthly to a lifetime without sending it in for a chip
> transplant. There may be something "flashed" into the chip on activation but
> whether that is on the chip or the drive is purely semantic. If you start with
> a factory reset it should do that again.
> I bet it is really just in the software load.

This is all theory, I've no way to check it out, but I suspect when you
buy one of the 'Modern' units where you have a choice of monthly or
lifetime they simply program your UNIT ID (actually this is all done
automatically) into their computer as "lifetime" and then every night
when your RTV calls in for it's daily update it gets a "Good to play"
flag from it's "home base" and works.

In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

> Here's the problem. I reboot (doesn't matter if it's a warm boot or if I
> unplug it for a while). It comes up fine and does everythign it's supposed
> to. I lose the network about 5 minutes after I reboot. If I force a
> net connect immediately after rebooting, it connects to the network and
> updates program guide information. Upon reboot, all other network
> activities also work. DVArchive sees it as it should. A few minutes
> later, all devices on the network continue to see each other except the
> RTV. Nothing I do allows it to see the network again. The RTV still says
> it has a network number from the DHCP server, so that's not it. I tried
> configuring the network info statically as well, just in case.
>
There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so. By doing this you
insure that when a Replay reboots all parts of it get the same ip
address. There is a possibility you have a flaky network chip, but try
this first. Also do not warm boot the machine after you make all these
changes. Unplug for 10 minutes. When the unit starts up, it may take
5-10 minutes to boot for the first time.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

>
> This is all theory, I've no way to check it out, but I suspect when you
> buy one of the 'Modern' units where you have a choice of monthly or
> lifetime they simply program your UNIT ID (actually this is all done
> automatically) into their computer as "lifetime" and then every night
> when your RTV calls in for it's daily update it gets a "Good to play"
> flag from it's "home base" and works.
>
> In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
> lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.

Correct. BUT when the unit authorizes, encrypted changes are made to the
registry. This is why a cloned disk is "unactivated" until the first
connect. Thereafter, the unit is "checked", but nothing happens unless
the server knows it SHOULD be activated but isn't.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 09:58:41 -0400, Tony D <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:

>
>> Here's the problem. I reboot (doesn't matter if it's a warm boot or if I
>> unplug it for a while). It comes up fine and does everythign it's supposed
>> to. I lose the network about 5 minutes after I reboot. If I force a
>> net connect immediately after rebooting, it connects to the network and
>> updates program guide information. Upon reboot, all other network
>> activities also work. DVArchive sees it as it should. A few minutes
>> later, all devices on the network continue to see each other except the
>> RTV. Nothing I do allows it to see the network again. The RTV still says
>> it has a network number from the DHCP server, so that's not it. I tried
>> configuring the network info statically as well, just in case.
>>
>There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
>addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
>network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
>for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so.

Don't you mean DYNAMIC above? Using static is what casuse the problem
(the Replay still gets a dynamic address too).

I've been trying that for a week or so after finding a program that
allows that. It seems to significantly improved the stability of the
Replays.

> By doing this you
>insure that when a Replay reboots all parts of it get the same ip
>address. There is a possibility you have a flaky network chip, but try
>this first. Also do not warm boot the machine after you make all these
>changes. Unplug for 10 minutes. When the unit starts up, it may take
>5-10 minutes to boot for the first time.

--
74 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com

 

[Greg]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

>In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
>lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.

That is not really true. A lifetime machine gets a different software load. A
monthly has a poison pill in it that will kill the machine if you don't connect
and reset the activation timer every month. I have even had it trigger falsely
after a power failure. The machine becomes a vegetable.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Greg wrote:
>>In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
>>lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.
>
>
> That is not really true. A lifetime machine gets a different software load. A
> monthly has a poison pill in it that will kill the machine if you don't connect
> and reset the activation timer every month. I have even had it trigger falsely
> after a power failure. The machine becomes a vegetable.

Wrong, the software is identical in all respects.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 12:34:26 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:

>Greg wrote:
>>>In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
>>>lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.
>>
>>
>> That is not really true. A lifetime machine gets a different software load. A
>> monthly has a poison pill in it that will kill the machine if you don't connect
>> and reset the activation timer every month. I have even had it trigger falsely
>> after a power failure. The machine becomes a vegetable.
>
>Wrong, the software is identical in all respects.

The difference (for monthly & lifetime) would be a couple of bytes in
the on-board EEPROM. The arming and trigger controls for a logic bomb
(used for grace period and monthly activation).

--
74 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Mark Lloyd wrote:
> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 12:34:26 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Greg wrote:
>>
>>>>In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
>>>>lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.
>>>
>>>
>>>That is not really true. A lifetime machine gets a different software load. A
>>>monthly has a poison pill in it that will kill the machine if you don't connect
>>>and reset the activation timer every month. I have even had it trigger falsely
>>>after a power failure. The machine becomes a vegetable.
>>
>>Wrong, the software is identical in all respects.
>
>
> The difference (for monthly & lifetime) would be a couple of bytes in
> the on-board EEPROM. The arming and trigger controls for a logic bomb
> (used for grace period and monthly activation).
>
It is an encrypted registry change.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 16:22:42 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:

>Mark Lloyd wrote:
>> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 12:34:26 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Greg wrote:
>>>
>>>>>In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
>>>>>lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>That is not really true. A lifetime machine gets a different software load. A
>>>>monthly has a poison pill in it that will kill the machine if you don't connect
>>>>and reset the activation timer every month. I have even had it trigger falsely
>>>>after a power failure. The machine becomes a vegetable.
>>>
>>>Wrong, the software is identical in all respects.
>>
>>
>> The difference (for monthly & lifetime) would be a couple of bytes in
>> the on-board EEPROM. The arming and trigger controls for a logic bomb
>> (used for grace period and monthly activation).
>>
>It is an encrypted registry change.

and where is this data stored (HD or EEPROM)?

--
74 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

>>There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
>>addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
>>network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
>>for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so.
>
>
> Don't you mean DYNAMIC above? Using static is what casuse the problem
> (the Replay still gets a dynamic address too).
>

No. Using dynamic causes the problem when the different parts of the
replay ask for and each gets a different address.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 16:25:30 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:

>
>>>There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
>>>addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
>>>network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
>>>for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so.
>>
>>
>> Don't you mean DYNAMIC above? Using static is what casuse the problem
>> (the Replay still gets a dynamic address too).
>>
>
>No. Using dynamic causes the problem when the different parts of the
>replay ask for and each gets a different address.

OK. I first found the problems with dynamic when it would break port
forwarding (for IVS) 2-3 times a week by getting a different IP
(unlike the computers in the network). Static works better, but still
has problems because it will request a dynamic IP anyway.

--
74 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com

 

[Greg]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

>Wrong, the software is identical in all respects.

How can that possibly be true? Lifetime machines do not time out if they don't
connect regularly or if the clock gets corrupted.

Are you saying there is nothing but a flag bit that branches around the
activation timer on a lifetime?
Hello hackers! There is only one BOC you need to no-op?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On 12 Oct 2004 17:20:08 GMT, gfretwell@aol.com (Greg) wrote:

>>Wrong, the software is identical in all respects.
>
>How can that possibly be true? Lifetime machines do not time out if they don't
>connect regularly or if the clock gets corrupted.
>
>Are you saying there is nothing but a flag bit that branches around the
>activation timer on a lifetime?
>Hello hackers! There is only one BOC you need to no-op?

I don't have access to the source code, but from what I do see, there
could be 2 bytes in the EEPROM (on the Replay board) that act like
this:

byte 0: activation type:

00 = not activated. Unit won't do anything but connect
to the service to find out if it's activated

01 = grace period in effect. The difference between 1
and 2 is the information in the SETUP menu and
the nags given telling you to activate.

02 = limited-time (monthly) activation

03 = permanent (lifetime) activation

byte 1: activation days counter:

This is decremented every day unless already 0.
If byte 0 is 1 or 2, a logic bomb is armed and
decrementing this to 0 will cause the unit to be
deactivated (set byte 0 to 0).

Of course, there are other ways to do it.

--
74 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Mark Lloyd wrote:

> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 16:25:30 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>>>>There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
>>>>addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
>>>>network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
>>>>for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so.
>>>
>>>
>>>Don't you mean DYNAMIC above? Using static is what casuse the problem
>>>(the Replay still gets a dynamic address too).
>>>
>>
>>No. Using dynamic causes the problem when the different parts of the
>>replay ask for and each gets a different address.
>
>
> OK. I first found the problems with dynamic when it would break port
> forwarding (for IVS) 2-3 times a week by getting a different IP
> (unlike the computers in the network). Static works better, but still
> has problems because it will request a dynamic IP anyway.
>
Mark, as I stated you must ALSO set the DHCP server to use a reserved IP
address for the replay. This address must be the same as the static one
set up in the Replay. This way when the Replay HW requests an address
from the DHCP server on bootup it gives it the same address as the
static software setting in the Replay. Net result: all parts of the
Replay have the same address and no problemo.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Mark Lloyd wrote:

> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 16:22:42 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>
>>Mark Lloyd wrote:
>>
>>>On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 12:34:26 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>>Greg wrote:
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>>>In short... Nothing on the RTV itsel is different between monthly and
>>>>>>lifetime...it's all on Digital Networks end.
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>That is not really true. A lifetime machine gets a different software load. A
>>>>>monthly has a poison pill in it that will kill the machine if you don't connect
>>>>>and reset the activation timer every month. I have even had it trigger falsely
>>>>>after a power failure. The machine becomes a vegetable.
>>>>
>>>>Wrong, the software is identical in all respects.
>>>
>>>
>>>The difference (for monthly & lifetime) would be a couple of bytes in
>>>the on-board EEPROM. The arming and trigger controls for a logic bomb
>>>(used for grace period and monthly activation).
>>>
>>
>>It is an encrypted registry change.
>
>
> and where is this data stored (HD or EEPROM)?
>
Hard disk

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 17:36:34 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:

>Mark Lloyd wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 16:25:30 -0400, Tony D <Tony_D@nospam.com> wrote:
>>
>>
>>>>>There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
>>>>>addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
>>>>>network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
>>>>>for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>Don't you mean DYNAMIC above? Using static is what casuse the problem
>>>>(the Replay still gets a dynamic address too).
>>>>
>>>
>>>No. Using dynamic causes the problem when the different parts of the
>>>replay ask for and each gets a different address.
>>
>>
>> OK. I first found the problems with dynamic when it would break port
>> forwarding (for IVS) 2-3 times a week by getting a different IP
>> (unlike the computers in the network). Static works better, but still
>> has problems because it will request a dynamic IP anyway.
>>
>Mark, as I stated you must ALSO set the DHCP server to use a reserved IP
>address for the replay. This address must be the same as the static one
>set up in the Replay.

That's ALMOST what I'm doing now. If you do that, there's no need to
set a static IP on the Replay. Dynamic works fine (and is easier,
since you just set that IP in 1 place), since the DHCP server is
always assigning the same IP to that MAC address. If there was any
other MAC address involved, it would show ip in this DHCP server's
log. I've been doing this for over a week now.

> This way when the Replay HW requests an address
>from the DHCP server on bootup it gives it the same address as the
>static software setting in the Replay. Net result: all parts of the
>Replay have the same address and no problemo.

Set the Replay to dynamic, less maintenance to worry about. The DHCP
server has been set to give a certain IP. It won't have any other.

--
74 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

Mark Lloyd wrote:

> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 09:58:41 -0400, Tony D <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:

>>
>>There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
>>addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
>>network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
>>for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so.
>
>
> Don't you mean DYNAMIC above? Using static is what casuse the problem
> (the Replay still gets a dynamic address too).


No, Dynamic means that every time the Replay is re-booted it can grab a
different IP address... so today it's x.y.z.100, tomorrow it's x.y.z.102

Static or Fixed (Depending on your router) means that the MAC address
assoicated with your Replay is set by you to a specific address,,,, In
my case it's x.y.z.100 (Where x, y and z are the normal addresses of all
my networked hardware 192.168.0 in my case, 192.158.1 in my daughter's)

That's in the router settings.


Now... in the REPLAY's set up, yes you use dynamic addressing so it
grabs it's IP address from the router

Or you can set to fixed (giving the same address) it does not matter
which way you do it.

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 22:12:03 GMT, John in Detroit
<Blanked@sbcglobal.net> wrote:

>Mark Lloyd wrote:
>
>> On Tue, 12 Oct 2004 09:58:41 -0400, Tony D <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:
>
>>>
>>>There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
>>>addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
>>>network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
>>>for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so.
>>
>>
>> Don't you mean DYNAMIC above? Using static is what casuse the problem
>> (the Replay still gets a dynamic address too).
>
>
>No, Dynamic means that every time the Replay is re-booted it can grab a
>different IP address... so today it's x.y.z.100, tomorrow it's x.y.z.102
>
>Static or Fixed (Depending on your router) means that the MAC address
>assoicated with your Replay is set by you to a specific address,,,,

There seems to be some confusion here. I was talking about setting the
REPLAY to "dynamic IP". It's the DHCP server that needs to provide a
certain IP (static IP).

> In
>my case it's x.y.z.100 (Where x, y and z are the normal addresses of all
>my networked hardware 192.168.0 in my case, 192.158.1 in my daughter's)
>

It that a typo? The local addresses should all start with 192.168. The
next number can be different in different networks (usually
router-dependant).

>That's in the router settings.
>
>
>Now... in the REPLAY's set up, yes you use dynamic addressing so it
>grabs it's IP address from the router
>
>Or you can set to fixed (giving the same address) it does not matter
>which way you do it.

Yes, either will work. It's somewhat easier to use "dynamic". Not for
the equipment itself, but for the user. There's less to remember and
change when changing network setup. The same reason dynamic
addressing is easier with computers.

--
74 days until the winter solstice celebration

Mark Lloyd
http/notstupid.laughingsquid.com

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.video.ptv.replaytv (More info?)

On 2004-10-12, Tony D <nospam@nospam.com> wrote:

> There is a well known bug that allows the hw and sw to have different IP
> addresses. Replays should be configured with static ip addressses on a
> network that has a DHCP server. The server should be set for reserved ip
> for the Replay and the lease time set to a week or so. By doing this you
> insure that when a Replay reboots all parts of it get the same ip
> address. There is a possibility you have a flaky network chip, but try
> this first. Also do not warm boot the machine after you make all these
> changes. Unplug for 10 minutes. When the unit starts up, it may take
> 5-10 minutes to boot for the first time.

I used the Replay on this network for quite a while before this problem
cropped up. If my current problem is related to the bug you're talking
about, I wonder why I never ran into it before.

1. So, here's what I've done after reading the whole thread:

2. Set the router (netgear wgr614) to reserve the IP address for MAC address
of the RTV.

3. Set the RTV to dynamic addressing (the way it was).

4. Unplugged RTV for a while.

5. Rebooted. RTV got the IP it was supposed to.

As before, it worked for about 10 minutes. Then it disappears from the
network. So, I went back and did the whole thing again, but changed (3) to
the same static IP that the router is set to give it. Same thing happens.
It starts up fine. 10 minutes later, it fails.

The only thing I didn't do is change the lease time. It doesn't appear
that the router will let me do that. I'm not sure what the length of the
lease is, but that seems awfully short.

I suppose another thing to try is to turn off DHCP on the router completely
just to see what would happen. I can't keep it that way, but it might be
worth the experiment. the problem is, I've got a 1 year old in the house
and finding time that I can do anything is impossible. I get to try one
experiment a day, it seems.

thanks again for the help.

--
Larry Moss, http/www.airigami.com
PO Box 23523, Rochester, NY 14692, (585) 359-8695
Airigami: The art of folding air in specially prepared latex containers.