1. Obtain a DirecTV DVR , preferably one thats no longer in service.

2. Crack that sucker open, you'll need some torx drivers, and some patience, I've managed to get into these without tools at least for getting the cover off that is. I have been able to pry them apart with just sheer force, and of course having leverage. I recommend doing this on a soft surface, such as a rug or couch, or something to absorb the blowback so to speak hitting your elbows on something is not a pleasant experience.

The process is pretty much the same for all units, and please note the project itself is only for the DVR units, I do not know if this applies to the other units, such as the D10, H10,H20,h24, etc. You know you have a DVR based model if its got "HR" in the name . This could potentially apply to the genie server 2 as well, ( i believe that model # is HS-17 but don't take my word for it haha)

3. Once you're in, power it back up again, just to verify functionality as a sanity check. If it still boots you're good to go, just let it finish the boot process and once you see a 775, or 771 or similar error message, power 'er down and lets get digging.

3a. Dont discard the unit , you'll need it if you want to run a custom OS on it.

3b. The metal catches in the plastic cover may fall depending on age of the unit , and other vairables, dont worry about them, they're to keep folks like us out of them. Little do they know, if someone wants inside it, someone will find a way in.

4. Use your torx or phillips bits depending on the model to unscrew the hard drive caddy and remove the hard drive.

BEFORE REMOVING THE HARD DRIVE FROM THE DVR, TAKE A PICTURE OF HOW IT FITS WITHIN THE UNIT FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES SO YOU CAN "PROPERLY" RE ASSEMBLE THE UNIT. DON'T BE LIKE ME AND FAIL TO DO SUCH A THING AND HAVE THE DRIVE JUST FLOATING AROUND IN THE DVR, COMPLETELY UNSECURED.

You see those nice big heat sinks? keep them, they'll be great for any other projects you may have, such as aiding a passively cooled AV Receiver in cooling. Or you can take them off for now, so you can clone the drive if you're simply wanting to plop an SSD into there or backup your drive. You'll of course need something like a HDD docking station with at least two bays.

5. Once done with the above, you can take this over to your linux box or windows box and run a program called disk digger, or use some opther forensics software if you want if you want to modify the original drive. If you find .tar.gz files those are firmware likely, and if using disk digger it'll show the size as zero and ask you what you want to recover.
I have not been able to successfully figure out what size it is.

6. with all the basics out of the way, feel free to have fun, and report back any particularly useful information. IM here for support if you need it, i even have a disocrd server setup, in case this project sparks interest.  I do plead of you to report back any info you may find interesting with these systems.



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1. The instructions are roughly the same for the dish ViP systems...

2. Remove the cover by unscrewing the black screws on the back of the box

3. Open it up, and marvel at how much dust  there may or not be, and those big SOC's (usually Broadcomm 7430's or STI Chips)

4. Remove the hard drive and fan assembly.

- IMPORTANT! WEAR BASIC WORK GLOVES FOR THIS STEP, THERE ARE SHARP EDGES THAT CAN CAUSE 'MYSTERY CUTS' TO YOUR HANDS, FINGERS, AND KNUCKLES.
 - USE COMMON SENSE, DE ENERGIZE (UNPLUG) THE APPLIANCE AND ENSURE YOU ARE ELECTROSTACIALLY GROUNDED ( if you really want to be picky , i personally didnt ESD ground myself when opening these up, and they still work) 


5. There are a total of four screws holding this brakcet that hangs the HDD and fan in both units. No need to worry about which way it goes in, its pretty self explanatory.

You have two on the back, and two on the front behind the faceplate.

You will need to remove the faceplate to gain access to the other screws.

6. Gently remove the faceplate by pushing the plastic clips or legs from inside the machine out, or put it on its side, and gently pry with #1 flat head or pry tool at the plastic clips therye pretty obvious as they are black on silver , but here is a picture or two to help . https://imgur.com/a/1phIgln - has all the images

7. BEWARE LOCKING POWER AND SATA CONNECTORS PRESS METAL CLIP TO DISCONNECT, DONT BE A DUMMY!

8. Dont worry about that warranty void sticker, if it falls off, it falls off. Gently lift the Bracket assembly out of the dvr, undo the four screws holding in the HDD, and gently take it out. Dont drop it, as you likely Already know that Hard drives DO NOT like being dropped. Id reccomend doing this in a powered off state, doing this process in a powered on state, well lets just say you might be lucky if you still have your vision or a house. Simply put, dont do this with the thing plugged into the wall, we don't need any sparky sparky. Sparky Sparky + Sensitive electronics does not equal a fun time.

9. The rest is pretty straight forward, post your findings in the chatroom or discord server (TBA)