TiVo Hacks

Chapter 2. Adding More Hours

Hacks #20-28

Adding hours to the TiVo is no doubt one of the oldest and most obvious of all the TiVo hacks. The first TiVo to be released, the Philips HDR110 (renamed HDR112), could store a mere 14 hours of recordings at basic quality. The first technophiles to crack open their $1,000 boxes noticed right off that their units contained not only space for a second hard drive, but also a power connector and dangling ribbon connector to boot.

That was 1998. And, no, nothing much has changed since then.

No guide to adding hours would be complete without mentioning Bill “Hinsdale” Regnery, compiler and maintainer of the consummate online resource for TiVo upgraders. You can find the most up-to-date version at http://www.newreleasesvideo.com/hinsdale-how-to.

If this chapter seems at all daunting to you, or if you’d simply prefer someone else to take care of some or all of the nitty-gritty details for you, there are a few companies that will do just that. Ask around on http://www.tivocommunity.com for recommendations, or search Google for "tivo upgrade“. Just be sure you pick a reputable firm; this is your beloved TiVo you’re fiddling with, after all.

Tip

This chapter was written mostly by the folks at WeaKnees (http://www.weaknees.com), sellers of upgrade kits and pre-upgraded TiVo units.

Basic Assumptions

Although all TiVo upgrades rely on the same tools, there is by no means one universal set of upgrade instructions. Instead, there are many variables that ...