Audiophil's DSS Intro The Start The DSS or Digital Satellite System is the most popular home satellite television system in use today. The DSS system consists of the program provider(DirecTV), three geostationary satellites, and the home users satellite receiving equipment. The home user's IRD or satellite receiver already receives all 200 channels from DirecTV. The device which allows you to only watch what channels you have paid for on that satellite receiver is the DSS access card. Hacking the DSS access card, or access card slot on the IRD, allows one unlimited viewing of the DSS signal. I should also state that NO HACK IS FOREVER. When DirecTV(DTV) finds out what your doing to get free programming they make sure they turn it off. Hacking the DSS The DSS system currently has two types of hacks. The first hack involves the changing of the code contained on the original DSS access card, which comes with every new system. This approach will either give you all channels turned on for free(3M), or all subscribtion channels turned on for free with pay-per-view(PPV) access limited to 25 events before the access card must be reprogrammed(Activation). There are two sub categories for the access card hack: the commercial hack, and the freeware hack. The Commercial Hack The commercial access card hack is one in which you send your DSS access card off to a dealer for re-programming. This method is the most secure, as DirecTV(DTV) has to buy a card like yours from the dealer and attack the hack that way. It can be a pain though waiting with no TV while your card is in the shop or in the mail. The better method is the freeware hack. The FreeWare Hack The freeware hack is the best hack at present. Freeware is software you can download from the internet and put on to your DSS access card to receive all programming for free. The only two drawbacks are: 1)you must have a card programmer/reader for your computer, and 2)the software is easily obtained by DTV and can be shut down quicker. Freeware is an excellent learning tool though. With the freeware out there now, you can learn the DirecTV data stream, and how you can write to the access card yourself, thus creating your own programs which will last VERY LONG. Just do NOT give the software out over the Internet. DirecTV really likes to download code and turn it off, so be carefull! The Emulator The emulator is just that a piece of software that "acts" just like the DirecTV access card. Very hard to shut off but not impossible. The hacker PGM started the emulation software scene up and now there are others writing but still most people respect PGM as the father of emulation. Since the emulator requires considerable more skill to set up than loading a card with code it is the least popular hack, but it is the most secure. The Conclusion In conclusion, the DSS hacking world is very broad. It can be intimidating at first. I urge you to check out my links page and see what all there is out there for hacking. Just READ READ READ all you can. That is the best advice for learning anything new. Back to Main Page.