How to use Telnet

From TivoZA

Telnet is used to provide a terminal emulation window to your TiVo. Telnet allows for command line access to your TiVo and enables you to execute commands, change settings, create and modify files as well as many other useful things.

Both the TivoZA & OzTiVo image already have telnet installed, if you are not using either of those you can see the Steve Jenkins - TiVo Network Hack How-To Guide (http://tivo.stevejenkins.com/network_cd.html) for details on how to install telnet.

In order to connect to your TiVo via telnet you need a telnet client that you can run from your PC. The standard windows telnet client is unable to connect to the TiVo and windows HyperTerminal may also give problems. The recommended telnet client is PuTTY, this is available from the Downloads section of this site.

When running PuTTY (or alternate telnet client) make sure that the Protocol is set to 'Telnet' and the Port is set to '23'. You will need to enter your TiVo's IP address as the Host Name.

Using telnet on the TiVo:

Since the TiVo is based on a Linux distribution, you can make use of the standard Linux commands when using telnet. A basic list of commands can be found here (http://linux.about.com/od/linux101/a/desktop11b.htm), some of the more advanced commands can be found here (http://www.hostpc.com/techblog/?page_id=79). Not all Linux commands are available but a vast majority are.

Things to note when using the PuTTY telnet client:

• First thing that need to be done is correct the enter key command that is sent through. This is done by un-ticking the "Return key sends Telnet New Line instead of ^M" settings in the "Connection -> Telnet" menu which is available off the category tree, you can access the category tree when you start PuTTY or from the "Change Settings" menu when using an active connection. To check that the correct command is getting sent, when pressing enter at the bash prompt only one prompt ([TiVo [p0] ~]#) should be returned, not two. Its best to make this setting along with specifying your TiVo's IP and save this as a session, that way the settings will always be correct when connecting. (Although it is best to run PuTTY with the above setting, this can sometimes cause a problem with the editor joe. If you do have problems, you can temporarily undo the "Return key sends Telnet New Line instead of ^M" settings via the "Change Settings" menu of your active session).
• To copy text, drag your mouse over the text you wish to copy
• To paste text, right click with the mouse and the text will be pasted