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TiVoToGo DRM cracked

pvrwire.com — Megazone over at TiVo Lovers is reporting that someone's cracked the DRM on TiVoToGo, letting you export recorded programs from a TiVo for viewing on any device.

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  • ashwin100, on 10/12/2007, -9/+9community.livejournal.com/tivolovers/384800.html
    • VipeNess, on 10/12/2007, -13/+4finally, playback when im going to the bathroom, with pause and fast fast forwarding motions so i never miss anything on tv again, while doing the #2; wait let me streaming this to my phone so i can show my friends i know how to watch rv on my phone.

      you know, i dont know about you, but as this next gen is coming up quick, they are surely doing what they can to keep us in the house, then get us outside. pretty sad.
    • oxyrubber, on 10/12/2007, -11/+1w00t!
    • ClassicJBC, on 10/12/2007, -1/+6It still takes an eternity to transfer files at the highest quality setting. I really love TiVo in general, but the fees, outdated MPEG2 codec, and slow transfers are really killing it for me. As soon as my term is up next year, I'm going straight for a MythTV box.
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thanks for posting the link to the original post.
    • sophiaperennis, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Kill the DRM Johnny! 1 DRM killed, 891 more DRMs to go.
    • skor, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1@ClassicJBC,
      Are you using wireless or USB 1.1 drivers? My hard wired DTivo with USB 2.0 drivers is pretty fast, even at Highest Quality.
  • danakin, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Wonder how long it will be before the MPAA or some other BS group sends them a cease and desist...
    • foobar5892, on 10/12/2007, -1/+5...which they will completely disregard at first, release the information to the masses and then surrender.
    • Denver80203, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1About the same speed that Tivo will deploy a fix
  • futurekill, on 10/12/2007, -1/+7Finally an easy way to decode on the Mac...
  • therippa, on 10/12/2007, -0/+20This pretty much sums it up perfectly:

    "There is more motivation because TiVo has failed to support any platform other than Windows, leaving Linux/UNIX and MacOS users out in the cold since TTG was released. The lack of an official solution is always going to increase motivation for users to find their own answers."
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Exactly - nature, and hackers, abhor a vacuum. Without an official solution people will strive to fill the gap. Even with an official solution there will always be some who want to free things up just to do it, but if there is a way to make it work there is less motivation to work on it. The lack of any viable solution provides a lot of motivation.
  • weprin, on 10/12/2007, -3/+11Haven't we already had this for a long time w/ Direct Show Dump?

    Maybe I am thinking of the wrong thing...
    • dree, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4Yeah,

      You still need your Tivo's MAK (Media Access Key, listed in the System Information screen) with DirectShowDump (been out for more than a year) or TivoDecode (what this article's about.) You can get .mpgs out of your .tivo files from OSX or Linux now but it's not "cracked" to me.
    • stevo111111, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Will the resulting files of Directshow Dump Utility allow a person to burn the file to a DVD such that the DVD will play on most DVD players? I'm not really sure how mpg codes work wrt DVD players.
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0DirectShow Dump, and similar applications, exploit a hole in Windows DirectShow. Basically they play the video and grab the MPEG frames post-decryption. So it only works on Windows, and you need the TiVo Desktop decryption DLL.

      This is basically an open implementation of the decryption code. This code runs on Windows, Linux, UNIX, MaxOS - it should run pretty much anywhere you can compile C code. Sure, you still need the MAK, but that's something every user already has for their TiVo. In the past TiVoToGo was only available to users with Windows - this opens it up to any OS.

      stevo111111 - Once you've extracted the MPEG-2 from the .tivo file you can do anything you want with it. Burning to DVD, to make a valid DVD Video disk, requires transcoding the MPEG-2 to correct the resolution and bitrates, but that's not hard.
    • stevo111111, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1by megazone: "Basically they play the video and grab the MPEG frames post-decryption. So it only works on Windows, and you need the TiVo Desktop decryption DLL."

      So this is something that is done in real time as the video is being played? In other words I'd have to watch the video play (or come back later when it's finished playing) to convert to MPEG format, then I'd be able to burn it to DVD?

      I ask because I currently use a DVD burner to copy shows so others can watch it on their DVD player. It's basically the TiVo feature used to "send" a show to a VCR - where the VCR records an analog signal real time - but I use a DVD burner instead of a VCR. The quality is good enough for what I'm doing, but it's a pain to have to re-watch a show though, and I'd much rather be able to convert a file and burn it to DVD.

      Thanks, megazone. I appreciate the response.
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0stevo111111 - This new code, TiVo Decode, decodes the file directly. Shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes.

      The DirectShow Dump system uses a loophole in Windows DirectShow. It does a playback, but faster than realtime. It takes longer than TiVo Decode, but is is a few times faster than real time.
    • stevo111111, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Again, thanks megazone. I really appreciate it.
  • vexter, on 10/12/2007, -3/+13Tivo has resorted to contracts to make sure customers don't jump off board. Their equipment gets slower with almost every software update. And they force advertising on you by placing it right on the MAIN MENU. You cant escape. Now they are placing commercials on the end of your recordings. What are you paying monthly fees for?
    • zakharm, on 10/12/2007, -2/+9latest update brought the speed back to my tivo, but you wouldn't know that cause you don't own one.
  • Boulevard, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Yet another reason DRM will never work...

    "Hey RIAA and MPAA- reality called, it left a message for you to change your business model before Britney runs out of cash."
    • freff, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Your right. This was only a matter of time, and that's pretty much the way all these drm based platforms will remain.
  • haggie, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Tivo is crippleware because a.) the company doesn't have the cash to defend itself against the legal threats of the MPAA, and networks b.) the management doesn't have the balls to stand up for itself even if they had the bankroll c.) Tivo cares more about what content owners and advertisers want than what their customers want.

    If Tivo management had a brain and a pair between them, they would have been at the center of the fight against crap like the broadcast flag instead of passively going along with whatever moronic anti-technology restrictions the "no such thing as fair use" crowd think they can get away with.

    Jack Valenti and the major television network heads would all love to see Tivo go out of business and Tivo is working as hard as they can to make that wish come true...
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3That worked well for ReplayTV - fighting all the content providers that is. They only went bankrupted what, twice? And then D&M Holdings bought them and shut them down - no more RTV. The service will stay on as long as it makes money, that's about it.

      The ideal of a company playing White Knight and 'standing up' to the established industry is romantic, but unrealistic. Unless you have a billionaire willing to back you, it is foolhardy at best and just plain stupid at worst. If the entertainment industry decides to turn on you, they can suck you dry just in legal fees. TiVo's fight with Echostar already hurts them, unless they do prevail in the end which will make it worthwhile.

      TiVo has challenged a number of issues in the industry, and they've fought for things like CableCARD access and against allowing cable MSOs to get extensions and waivers. They fought for TTG in the first place, when the NFL and MPAA tried to get the FCC to block it before it even shipped. TiVo did object to the Broadcast Flag.

      Only someone uninformed would say that TiVo has always just gone along with that the industry wants.
  • runningaround, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6Tivo to Go is DRM free already! It converts to drm free mpeg4 or H.264 with a $25 upgrade.

    http://www.tivo.com/4.9.4.1-2.asp

    I've had it for 3 months...works great and automatically.

    • yikiad, on 10/12/2007, -2/+6works great for windows, but what about linux/mac os. I am not a stereotypical fanboy, but I do believe we should get the same service everyone else gets. And after the latest announcement with TiVo Desktop Plus for windows only, I am seriously considering just getting a Cable Co. DVR box.
    • jbert, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5@yikiad
      Cable Company box huh? I give you three months and you will begging for your TiVo back.

      Night | Day
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2The key here is that this new code runs on any platform - not just Windows. And it doesn't require TiVo Desktop at all. Also, the TiVo Desktop Plus will only remove DRM when transcoding to other formats, like MPEG-4, and it forces down-rezzing. You can't just free the raw MPEG-2 which is what you want if you want to create a DVD.

      It has been possible to free the raw MPEG-2 using tools like DirectShow Dump, but only on Windows.
  • limeaid, on 10/12/2007, -3/+6The top comments were right - Directshow has been stripping this for a long time - turns .tivo to .mpg
    also been using the Vedora program to turn movie files into tivo files - that's if you want to transfer stuff to your tivo

    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2But DirectShow Dump only works on Windows and relies on the TiVo Desktop decryption DLL.
  • hppyfngy, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Big Whoop. You've been able to essentially do this for ages, and guess what, the resulting file doesn't look that good.

    Now if you were talking about the HD-Tivo, that would be different...
  • prelude619, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1hopefully something gives for Directivo!


    ~mario
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Since DirecTV refuses to enable any of the networking features, you'll need to hack your DirecTiVo to get them. The good news is that there are also video extraction hacks for them while you're at it.
  • Metlprocker, on 10/12/2007, -2/+3I've been doing this with Directshow Dump Utility for a little while now

    http://prish.com/etivo/tbr.htm
    • djliquidice, on 10/12/2007, -2/+2me too!!
      LOL goes to show, people are quick to jump the gun for "cool stories" to get on teh ultra kewel front p@g3 w/out doing their homework. haha

      burried as ghey.
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You missed that this is OS independent. DirectShow Dump simply exploits a hole in Windows DirectShow to grab the MPEG frames during playback. It only works on Windows and it only works with TiVo Desktop installed. This code works on UNIX, Linux, MacOS, etc, and doesn't require any TiVo software be installed.

      That is a big difference.
  • Gunnyman, on 10/12/2007, -3/+1As an owner of a hacked Dtivo with encryption turned off I say meh. This is hardly newsworthy.
  • akhepcat, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is really good news for linux and mac users. You've got to click through a few layers to get to the real meat of the story.
  • gmerin, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Tivo2Go & DirectShow Dump stopped working for me as soon as they upgraded my OS to v8.1, but Tivodecode works fine, and fast.
  • lamestory, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Cutting through all the BS blog spam:

    http://tivodecode.sourceforge.net/

  • Namco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Long live TyTool & tserver. Encryption free transfers FTW!!!
  • mscbuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I have a friend that will be very happy. The only reason he had a windows machine set up was to decode TiVo stream. Now he will not have to
  • krux, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1that's kind of old news.. you've been able to strip the drm off it for a couple years now.
    • megazone, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Really, on Linux, UNIX, and MacOS? No Windows? How?
  • mydave, on 07/31/2008, -0/+0easy way to decode Mac.
    http://www.sooslic.com
    http://blog.ashtech.info/2007/10/16/
  •  

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