Verizon FiOS TV Receiver Hack
Written by Brandon Hann
So contrary to the actual “first bog” entry that I decided to leave on this site as some sort of memento, this is actually my first blog. Why did I decide to write about this? It was something I was thinking about over the weekend since I just moved to a new location and now have Verizon FiOS internet and tv service.
Anyway, I was looking at my new tv receiver which is the Motorola QIP2500. I thought when I ordered the service, I would be getting a dvr box in my room, but this apparently was not the case. Somewhere in the past, I thought I remembered reading an article about someone who was able to hack a standard receiver and make it a full dvr, but I could be mistaken. Well, I shined a light down into the heat vents on the box and saw a 40-pin IDE connector on the board inside! I thought how great would this be that all I have to do is plug in a hard drive and away I’ll go.
The folks over at Verizon thought they were pretty smart locking down the casing with reverse torx screws. I happened to have a set of sockets for this because I needed to take a part some Nintendo products in the past! Here’s the tool you need and here’s the link for where to get your hands on one.
This is the socket needed.
After removing the screws, I opened the casing and verified that this 40-pin connector was really there. I got so excited, I ran and grabbed the first hard drive I could find. It was an old 40gb drive sitting in dust. I plugged it in and turned the system on. The screen flickered and there were flashing numbers on the front panel. This was not a good sign as I thought I had just fried my new receiver. I realized I may have plugged the IDE cable in wrong, so I reversed the plug and this time, the unit came on, but it would not go into tv mode and the menu couldn’t be pulled up.
It was at this point that my stupid self discovered that the drive was not powered by anything!! It is at this point, that I am stuck. I was afraid to somehow put some external power on the unit for fear that I might really brick my box. I scrapped the project that I had such high hopes for. I’m asking someone out there to locate or invent a way to use the IDE connector on the logic board. You may be ready to comment and say I should just buy the dvr service from Verizon, but I say to you, why pay for it if it can be had for free?
UPDATE: Jan 18, 2010 — Over a year later, this is still my most visited page and I just now returned to it to discover that this whole time I had the word ‘receiver’ spelled wrong! All is fixed now.
Anyway, so I never did find a way to make a custom DVR box out of my old regular receiver. I ended up conceding to Verizon and adding the DVR service to my account. Shortly after, I came up on a free Xbox 360 and was upset that I could now just use that as a Media Center extender from my my desktop pc and still get the same DVR service for free. The advantage here is that I can also use a remote to control the recordings right from the Xbox.
All in all, there may never be a way to hack the Verizon boxes, but thanks to everyone who tried to help with this issue.
Posted on November 26th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Wing
Apr 3rd, 2009
So can you tell me did you get the DVR hack for the Verizon topbox? Please let me know, I want to do it too.
Brandon
Apr 3rd, 2009
As far as I’ve seen, there is still no way to perform this hack! I tried and tried, but there’s no way to power the drive. I finally gave up and just had Verizon send me a DVR box.
And with my luck, as soon as I get it, someone will create a way to hack them!!
Opticaldreams
Apr 17th, 2009
Found a nice little fix. Cut off an extra molex connector from your computer’s power supply unit and hook up a 12v power supply into the red and black wires. Done and done. Working great too! Screw Verizon
SunlessInSeattle
Apr 29th, 2009
That’s all? Drop an IDE in and add a 12v power supply? Seems way too easy, but please post details. How large a drive can you use?
I like FiOS TV, except for the absurdly small HD storage.
Brandon
Apr 29th, 2009
I haven’t tried any of this yet because I ended up just getting a dvr from Verizon. However, I thought that just having a dvr would allow me to watch recorded shows througout the house, but apparently you still need the dvr network service. I tell you–they get you everywhere with all these charges. Anyway, I think I’ll try this, but my only concern is voiding the lease terms.
sEkTORnj
Apr 30th, 2009
I built a BeyondTV system on my existing home network with a $4.99 STB. I have 400gb of DVR storage, PLUS can stream any audio/video from server/NAS to any tv in the house. I too tried opening up the QIP and gave up- but I STILL refuse to pay Verizon another dime for their crappy DVR. Cheaper to build your own- and you can stream to anything!
pob1035
May 20th, 2009
sEkTORnj , can you email me instructions ? I have the DVR and yes its way too small and the cost is high, would love to not have to have Verizons DVR
Lovebug
Jun 4th, 2009
Let’s say there is no hack for adding a HD to the standard HD box. We know the movie is recorded can the Hard Drive be accessed through the USB port and the recorded file be extracted and converted to iso, avi…etc..
FlipFlop425
Jun 10th, 2009
sEkTORnj please email me the instructions too. Thanks
richnerd
Jul 8th, 2009
Bump-
sEkTORnj please email me the instructions too. Please keep us updated with any new findings.
Thx
matt
Jul 30th, 2009
is there a way to back up the files on the fios box to a computer?
Jenn
Aug 26th, 2009
Can someone email me the instructions? Thx
Reality
Sep 8th, 2009
LAME!
it’s not a hack when you just pick a port and plug something into tit. adding power to your drive will only power your drive as it’s plugged directly into it. you need a schematic and that is sometimes available at the USPTO. good luck you have just stepped into a larger world.
hdkade
Nov 7th, 2009
Can someone please email sEkTORnj’s instructions to me too? Thanks
Annonymous
Nov 25th, 2009
For those of you looking for SEKTORnj’s instructions, visit the link below. This is the system he is using, and while it’s not something I’d use, it is rather simple to setup. Personally I’d rather use Linux as a server, and use a free software to accomplish the same thing in a more friendly environment.
http://www.snapstream.com/products/beyondtv/howitworks.asp
user
Dec 14th, 2009
To make a real go of it which may not even work….
You need an image of the drive that comes with the proper dvr service. At the least you need to know what filesystem it uses and how it is partitioned. The drive in the real dvr is probably ext2.
Then you need to add the header for the sata connector on the motherboard and also plug into the power supply board for the 2 ground and 2 power wires. Hence the usefulness of ordering the dvr service for one month so you can see exactly how verizon has it hooked up.
But even if you do this, the firmware probably comes from the factory toggled “dvr_function=0″ and you have no ability to change that to “dvr_function=1″. You can’t modify the firmware, only Motorola can.
IMHO its easy and cheap enough to try this out just for kicks even though it probably won’t work, but almost certainly someone needs to hack the firmware 1st before anything could happen.
WayToGo
Jan 6th, 2010
I would not mess around with these Verizon Boxes. Motorola have implemented many security features, one that can detect probing and hacking in the circuits. A security chip that will permanently “lockup” your box. Snap your in the trap and caught with your pants down.
ledfrog
Mar 10th, 2010
I was also looking into this, but I've had no luck. I think the problem originates in the fact that all STBs are connected directly to Verizon by way of the router/modem. I know they have a way of controlling "authorized" devices because when you log into your Verizon account, you can see every STB that's on your network and be able to retrive information from it. If it's a DVR, you can control all your recordings from there as well.
We may be out of luck on this one!