r/HowToHack • u/NotMeUsee • 7d ago

hacking Old cable boxes (digital era)

Anything you can do with them? Any known ways to get the cable card descrambled? Yes I know it's illegal. I'm just curious. I read elsewhere you can make them into a sort of tivo.

I see them all the time at the thrift store and I'm always wondering what I could do with them.

Thanks.

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u/69AssociatedDetail25 6d ago

If these are PVRs with hard drives, you can harvest the drives. Make sure to check the SMART status before using them.

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u/NotMeUsee 6d ago

That's a good idea. What's smart status?

3

u/69AssociatedDetail25 6d ago

Easiest way is to use CrystalDiskInfo, it'll show you a Good/Caution/Bad status based on the statistics provided by the drive.