Control TiVo box over telnet

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1

Hi

Iv just upgraded to Virgin and was given a TiVo box which can be controlled using various commands - once a telnet session has been established.

To find the ip of your Tivo box i tend to use a network scanner on my phone whilst connected to the same network, but im sure the ip is listed in settings of the box some where. You need to telnet to the box on using port 31339

Once connected you can send various commands to the box to do pretty much anything, although you need to enter the commands quickly for them to work as the box constantly send a “status” command out to the screen which interrupts the command i was trying to send as it wasnt designed to receive telnet requests.

I found the following telnet commands over at http://www.tivocommunity.com/community/index.php?threads/tivo-ui-control-via-telnet-no-hacking-required.392385/:

IRCODE
List of commands:

UP
DOWN
LEFT
RIGHT
SELECT
TIVO
LIVETV
THUMBSUP
THUMBSDOWN
CHANNELUP
CHANNELDOWN
RECORD
DISPLAY
DIRECTV
NUM0
NUM1
NUM2
NUM3
NUM4
NUM5
NUM6
NUM7
NUM8
NUM9
ENTER
CLEAR
PLAY
PAUSE
SLOW
FORWARD
REVERSE
STANDBY
NOWSHOWING
REPLAY
ADVANCE
DELIMITER
GUIDE

You can also use SETCH 144 to turn to a channel instantly.

After some research i was able to send a command without logging into my telnet session on the command line and being interrupted by constant status updates:

echo SETCH 144| telnet 192.168.0.10 31339
echo IRCODE STANDBY | telnet 192.168.0.10 31339

Which then allowed me to add a command line switch to Home Assistant:

switch virgin_on:
platform: command_line
switches:
youview_on:
command_on: ‘echo IRCODE STANDBY | telnet 192.168.0.10 31339’
command_off: ‘echo IRCODE STANDBY | telnet 192.168.0.10 31339’
friendly_name: Virgin On

Which then allowed me to use Alexa to control the TV using emulated Hue.

“Alexa, turn virgin on”
“Alexa, turn itv on”

The channel is then changed instantly, before Alexa has even had a chance to say “Ok”!

6 Likes
2

I’m giving you an upvote based on this alone.

12 Likes
3

hahaha

But this is cool @Rich_Paul, I sort of want to get a tivo but I don’t really want to buy normal cable… decisions.

4

I wonder if this could be folded into the remote component… The structure and procedures look similar.

5

Use an old Android phone!

I was doing it before tivo, and still need to use it to control my amp via ir…

Iv written that up as well :slight_smile:

Remote control any Infrared device using ha and alexa

6

It’s actually really usable @stunts1337

7

Harmony hub works fine for me, for now. The only gripe I have is there is a long delay in between commands. Like if I wanted to enter 745 it would take like at least 30 seconds between sending each number to the device.

8

That is not fine mate - not in the slightest!!

I had an 8 second delay when i was using a python script to call the http request, but found that a curl command made it happen in about a second.

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9

Hello mate

I was wondering how do you connect your Tivo Box to the internet is it via ethernet cable? and what app do you use to check its ip address?

I am new to setting it up so trying to follow your guide to get it up and running.

Thanks.

10

You should be able to find the ip of connected devices in your router dashboard. A quick google search shows fing network tools app for android can also give you the info you need.

And of course if you can wire your tivo thru ethernet it would be better than wifi.

11

how did you connect your virgin tivo box to wifi? I do not have that option surprisingly :neutral_face:

12

Oh sorry, I don’t actually have one myself. I just assumed it had the option.

13

What box do you have mate? It’s gotta have Internet access, surely?

14

I use ethernet and my virgin man set it all up, I think my box does have WiFi but ethernet is obviously preferred.

If it doesn’t have Internet access, check my other project out

15

I have a tivo box platform: 8620, hardware version: 9.1 software version: 20.5.7.RC24-VMC-2-C00.

In the settings it says "connect to the virgin media service now” and gives me some ip addresses under “cable modem connection details” and “ethernet connection details” I havent connected it via ethernet yet.

Do I have to connect it via ethernet ? Also how did you set up/established the telnet session?

16

Yes plug the ethernet in.

Download a network scanner on your phone and connect to your network. Scan the network to see what the ip is.

To telnet, simply replace the ip with yours in the command switch example I have used above

17

Perfect! will try it when I get home. Thanks.

18

Cool man let me kno how you get on!

19

Got it working?

20

No mate!

I connected my tivo box (cisco ct8620) via ethernet but it doesnt connect to the Internet surprisingly. I rebooted it and even rebooted my router but to no joy :frowning: