DirecTV HD DVR HR10-250 Upgrade Thread

[flapbreaker]

I am having a problem getting the 250gb drive formated in fat32. Of course the dos fdisk doesn't go that big and windows xp won't format a drive that large in anything but NTSF. It's a western digital drive and the software it comes with seems to be junk. If anyone has ideas I would appreciate it.

[oosik77]

You don't need to format the drive.

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by oosik77
You don't need to format the drive.

I thought that if I was using it temporarily to backup the original drive and then put it in the tivo to test the backup that it needed to be fat32 first.

[bsnelson]

Originally posted by flapbreaker
I thought that if I was using it temporarily to backup the original drive and then put it in the tivo to test the backup that it needed to be fat32 first. No, if you're just testing a backup, you're going to do one of two things: (1) Do a backup directly from the old drive to the new or (2) Backup to a third drive, then restore from that drive to the new drive. Neither requires that the drive you're going to put into the TiVo to be fat32.

Brad

[weaknees]

Glad to hear that you got a partition on the big drive.

It gets to 80 MB out of 1486 and then fails? What exact commands are you using?

Michael

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by weaknees
Glad to hear that you got a partition on the big drive.

It gets to 80 MB out of 1486 and then fails? What exact commands are you using?

Michael


mount /dev/hda3 /mnt (I use the 3 because it's the 3rd partition)

although it says "success" it also says:

mount: you must specifiy the filesystem type

Then I use

mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/tivo.bak /dev/hdb

(the tivo drive is primary slave)

[weaknees]

And when it fails, do you see a partial image stored on the /mnt directory?

[flapbreaker]

The problem might be with selecting the correct partition. when I ctr page up to the partition check area it lists hda1, hda2 , (hda5,hda6). I am not real sure why there is no hda3 since I have this drive split in 3 partitions I assumed my last partition (the 2 gig one) would be hda3 so I guess I could try the other two 5,6 but I don't know why they are there.

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by weaknees
And when it fails, do you see a partial image stored on the /mnt directory?

well there is nothing on the partition if that is what you mean.

[weaknees]

Maybe put some files on there in DOS or Windows, then mount each partition and check for the files - that should help you figure out which one to send the TiVo backup to.

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by weaknees
Maybe put some files on there in DOS or Windows, then mount each partition and check for the files - that should help you figure out which one to send the TiVo backup to.

I just tried mounting hda5 and hda6 when I use the mount command on them I don't get any confirmation that anything happend and when I try to backup to them it just stays on scanning source disk forever. however if I use hda3 (which isn't listed) I a confirmation of the mount with the message of needing to specify file type (don't knowhow) and then backup it at least starts but then fails.

if I put files on it and then mount it how do I check for files? Do you type dir?

[weaknees]

Just "cd" to each mount point like:

cd /mnt

then type:

ls

[flapbreaker]

Also I am not sure why after mounting I get a success confirmation and then the message

mount:you must specify the filesystem type
/#


I am using mount /dev/hda3 /mnt

[weaknees]

You can try:

mount -t vfat /dev/hda3 /mnt

and see if that helps.

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by weaknees
You can try:

mount -t vfat /dev/hda3 /mnt

and see if that helps.


I get this error when using this

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda3, or too many mounted file systems.

I rebooted before using it so I know I don't have too many mounted file systems.

[pmaddock]

Originally posted by flapbreaker
I get this error when using this

mount: wrong fs type, bad option, bad superblock on /dev/hda3, or too many mounted file systems.

I rebooted before using it so I know I don't have too many mounted file systems.

Flapbreaker,
You may have already realized this but I think the core of your problem is that you're trying to use your future B drive to hold the compressed backup. This is a little out of the ordinary which puts you in untested waters.

I think you might want to get a FAT 32 drive (doesn't have to be large by any means) and then start from the beginning using the sequence in the prior posts.

Good luck.

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by pmaddock
Flapbreaker,
You may have already realized this but I think the core of your problem is that you're trying to use your future B drive to hold the compressed backup. This is a little out of the ordinary which puts you in untested waters.

I think you might want to get a FAT 32 drive (doesn't have to be large by any means) and then start from the beginning using the sequence in the prior posts.

Good luck.

I originally started trying that but bailed. What I did now is just created a 2 gig fat32 partition on my primary pc hd to back up to. I didn't think it would be this hard.

[flapbreaker]

Well I was able to verify that hda6 is indeed the partition that I should be using however when I run the backup it just stays on the "scanning source drive" part and never proceeds. here is the command I am using (hdtivo drive is on the primary slave setting).

mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/tivo.bak /dev/hdb

[Gotchaa]

Originally posted by weaknees
I don't think any 300 GB drives are 7200 RPM at this point - is that what you added?

Michael

Nope I added two 251MB Maxtors w/ 8MB cache running at 7200RPM, was loud as hell, now I have to put my ear to it to hear it..

[richierich]

I just had PTVUpgrade add a 300 gig HD to my HD Tivo as I'm PC illiterate and I just love having 70 hours of HD recording capacity and 470 of SD which I want use because I have an SD Tivo with 2 120 gig HDs for that purpose. Finally got the OTA tuners to work correctly with about 86% signal strength. I love being able to record Jay Leno in HD or Bikini Destinations in HD. Interesting enough I recorded Bikini Destinations twice and got the same result, no audio on the last half of the recording. I guess that it must be a bad transmission.

[k2ue]

Originally posted by richierich
I love being able to record Jay Leno in HD or Bikini Destinations in HD. Interesting enough I recorded Bikini Destinations twice and got the same result, no audio on the last half of the recording. I guess that it must be a bad transmission.

Yeah, the dialog is really important to the appreciation of Bikini Destinations. . .:D

[mikemav]

Originally posted by richierich
Interesting enough I recorded Bikini Destinations twice and got the same result, no audio on the last half of the recording. I guess that it must be a bad transmission.

See this (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171751) thread about this known problem.

[weaknees]

Originally posted by flapbreaker
Well I was able to verify that hda6 is indeed the partition that I should be using however when I run the backup it just stays on the "scanning source drive" part and never proceeds. here is the command I am using (hdtivo drive is on the primary slave setting).

mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/tivo.bak /dev/hdb

That's the same error you were getting in the beginning, right? Have you tried just copying another file from the CD over to hda6 in Linux just to see if the drive can even accept a file in Linux?

Do an "ls" in your root directory, then do:

cp [file from ls] /mnt/test

and see what comes.

Michael

[pmaddock]

Originally posted by richierich
I just had PTVUpgrade add a 300 gig HD to my HD Tivo as I'm PC illiterate and I just love having 70 hours of HD recording capacity and 470 of SD which I want use because I have an SD Tivo with 2 120 gig HDs for that purpose. Finally got the OTA tuners to work correctly with about 86% signal strength. I love being able to record Jay Leno in HD or Bikini Destinations in HD. Interesting enough I recorded Bikini Destinations twice and got the same result, no audio on the last half of the recording. I guess that it must be a bad transmission.

The audio problem on HDNet is a known issue - see the posts at
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=171751&perpage=20&pagenumber=15

[CoreyMD]

Ok, I've started looking for a 250GB HDD for the upgrade, but I'm still not sure what the basic criteria are for chosing an HDD for the HR10-250. I have read recommendations for specific drive models in this thread, but I haven't seen those exact models for sale anywhere. I have been able to find both Maxtor and WD models that support ATA-100, 133, and 150 bus speeds that are 7200 RPM. Should I just go for ATA-150 -- is it compatible with the HR10-250's architecture?

Edit:

Important criteria?
* 7200rpm
* 8MB cache
* ATA-??? speed
* noise reduction

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by CoreyMD
Ok, I've started looking for a 250GB HDD for the upgrade, but I'm still not sure what the basic criteria are for chosing an HDD for the HR10-250. I have read recommendations for specific drive models in this thread, but I haven't seen those exact models for sale anywhere. I have been able to find both Maxtor and WD models that support ATA-100, 133, and 150 bus speeds that are 7200 RPM. Should I just go for ATA-150 -- is it compatible with the HR10-250's architecture?

Edit:

Important criteria?
* 7200rpm
* 8MB cache
* ATA-??? speed
* noise reduction

The only thing that is important is that it is a quality drive from a reputable manufacturer. And added bonus is getting it from a reputable source - mishandling and poor shipping/packing are the greatest contributor to failed drives.

Doesn't matter if its 5400rpm or 7200rpm, and it doesn't matter if its a 2MB or 8MB cache. It will be ATA/133 or 150, I guess; doesn't matter...

[k2ue]

Originally posted by CoreyMD
Ok, I've started looking for a 250GB HDD for the upgrade, but I'm still not sure what the basic criteria are for chosing an HDD for the HR10-250. I have read recommendations for specific drive models in this thread, but I haven't seen those exact models for sale anywhere. I have been able to find both Maxtor and WD models that support ATA-100, 133, and 150 bus speeds that are 7200 RPM. Should I just go for ATA-150 -- is it compatible with the HR10-250's architecture?

Edit:

Important criteria?
* 7200rpm
* 8MB cache
* ATA-??? speed
* noise reduction

I used the WD2500PB "Quiet Drive" (from newegg.com), with Acoustic Management turned ON using the utility "atacc". This drive is the 8MB cache version of the factory drive (which is 2MB cache). Very happy -- can't hear the drives at all with the cover off (while waiting for my 9th-Tee bracket, due today).

Also, I used the highly flexible Weaknees IDE cable -- note that this has Cable Select connectors, BUT the Master will be on the MIDDLE (normally Slave) connector, so you MUST over-ride Cable Select by hard-jumpering the original drive as Master-with-Slave-present, and the new drive as Slave. I'm also going to add a 7-second drive power delay device to the Master (both 9th-Tee and Weaknees have them, as well as the drive power splitter cable) to ease the starting load on the Power Supply (although actual starting is very infrequent for a TiVo on a UPS, so this is not a big deal).

There seems to be no temperature increase after the upgrade, and it runs 6 degrees cooler with the cover on that it ran before upgrade with the cover off -- very happy with the upgrade overall.

[dstroot]

I think ATA 150 is only for serial ATA and THAT definitely won't work in the HD Tivo - just "regular" ATA 100 or 133.

[CoreyMD]

Originally posted by dstroot
I think ATA 150 is only for serial ATA and THAT definitely won't work in the HD Tivo - just "regular" ATA 100 or 133.

I'm glad I asked. The ATA/150 drive I was looking at is serial ATA. Thanks!

Tivoupgrade, I just ordred the bracket from 9th Tee, but none of the other components. I figure I've got an extra IDE cable (or two), power y-splitter, and the proper tool to open the cover. There's nothing particularly unique about 9th Tee's version of these items is there?

k2ue - thanks for the jumpering advice, btw.

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by CoreyMD
I'm glad I asked. The ATA/150 drive I was looking at is serial ATA. Thanks!

Tivoupgrade, I just ordred the bracket from 9th Tee, but none of the other components. I figure I've got an extra IDE cable (or two), power y-splitter, and the proper tool to open the cover. There's nothing particularly unique about 9th Tee's version of these items is there?

k2ue - thanks for the jumpering advice, btw.

the one thing you need to ensure is that the IDE cable you are going to use will work on the systemboard of the TiVo; many IDE cables have one of the pins blocked and it can't be plugged into the system board unless you use a 'hot needle' to melt a small hole in the connector; its not that difficult to do, but if you don't want to deal with it, that is what the cable we, and 9thTee use will work for....

[pbolya]

Originally posted by CoreyMD
I'm glad I asked. The ATA/150 drive I was looking at is serial ATA. Thanks!

Most serial ATA drives I looked at has both SATA and IDE connectors (on different end of the hard drive) so it will work for the TiVo too. Look at the specs carefully and you may find that you will be able to use that SATA drive.

Regards,
Peter

[ChromeAce]

OK I got PTVUpgrade's 300GB b-drive add-on kit in the mail yesterday and I couldn't be happier. I now have 70 hours of HD recording capability.

There were installation issues, but nothing too serious.

1. I ended up with 3 unused screws and a tiny washer instead of the 2 the instructions mentioned.

2. It took me 30 minutes to figure out the the screw for the post near the original hard drive gets inserted from OUTSIDE the TiVo underneath. The instructions just said to screw it in from underneath and I didn't realize the hole went thru the case so I couldn't imagine how I could fasten it that way with no room under the motherboard to get a screwdriver in there.

3. The screws come with washers on them already so it wasn't obvious that I had to add additional washers to the other posts to prevent the screws from going through the square holes.

4. The IDE cable is unnecessarily long. A custom one would be nice. Ditto for the Y power cable.

5. The instructions should warn you to be careful not to scratch your TiVo while working with the plate. It has sharp edges.

These are MINOR gripes. I am still very pleased with the ease of the upgrade and the thought that went into the bracket design.

I would like to add hard drive fans to the tops of the hard drives but don't know if that would be too much for the power supply or if they would fit.

Ideally, I'd like to see an external case for all TiVo hard drives. It would hold 2 drives, use its own power supply and fan, and an IDE cable would run from the inside of the TiVo to it. Would eliminate heat and power supply issues and allow you to more easily move the drives to a different TiVo (SA only to watch the shows) or to a PC for modification, removing the need to ever open up your TiVo again.

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by weaknees
That's the same error you were getting in the beginning, right? Have you tried just copying another file from the CD over to hda6 in Linux just to see if the drive can even accept a file in Linux?

Do an "ls" in your root directory, then do:

cp [file from ls] /mnt/test

and see what comes.

Michael

Yes that is the same problem I had in the beginning. I will try your suggestion when I get home tonight. I have to mount the drive first and then type the above commands in right?

[weaknees]

Right.

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by weaknees
That's the same error you were getting in the beginning, right? Have you tried just copying another file from the CD over to hda6 in Linux just to see if the drive can even accept a file in Linux?

Do an "ls" in your root directory, then do:

cp [file from ls] /mnt/test

and see what comes.

Michael

Well I did it and it looks like the file was copied to that partition but when I run the backup command it just stays on the scanning source drive. Please wait.

Is there anything I should look for in the initial system information readout when first running the lba48 bootdisk that might help find out why?

Also how long should I let it sit in the scanning recource drive status before determining that it's just not going to advance?

[weaknees]

It should move certainly within five minutes.

We haven't done any of this booted off a CD, but several others have reported it working (we have a Linux boot drives, and we store the images right on them, so no need for FAT partitions).

I'm not sure that I have any other ideas. All I can think for you to watch for in the boot sequence is the kernel version (2.4.18 or newer) and the size of the TiVo drive.

Michael

[flapbreaker]

I went into my MB bios and looked at some settings for the HD's. The only thing that stands out is the source drive (original tivo of course) has LBA/Large mode disabled as well as Block mode and 32Bit Data transfer mode is off. SHouldn't I enable these?

[weaknees]

Well, you can try that, but in general, BIOS settings like those affect Windows but not Linux. We generally recommend setting the BIOS to ignore those drives entirely, if possible, and to just boot from the CD.

Michael

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by weaknees
It should move certainly within five minutes.

We haven't done any of this booted off a CD, but several others have reported it working (we have a Linux boot drives, and we store the images right on them, so no need for FAT partitions).

I'm not sure that I have any other ideas. All I can think for you to watch for in the boot sequence is the kernel version (2.4.18 or newer) and the size of the TiVo drive.

Michael

I can't find where it shows the kernal version. I downloaded the ptvupgrade cd iso for lba48 with mfstools 2.0 that is referrenced on this thread so I assumed everything was up to date. Is there another boot cd I could download?

[flapbreaker]

Ok i am on the right track now. I put the two drives on seperate ide buses and now I completed the backup in about 5 minutes (after endless hours of tinkering). The only problem now is when I restore it I get a restore error at 98% saying premature end of backup data

Do I do another backup or try a different syntax on the restore. Here is what I am using
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/tivo.bak /dev/hdd

[aaronwt]

Are two, 300GB drives, an option in the HD-TiVo? Or does the A drive have to be a 250GB or lower?

[weaknees]

Originally posted by flapbreaker
Ok i am on the right track now. I put the two drives on seperate ide buses and now I completed the backup in about 5 minutes (after endless hours of tinkering). The only problem now is when I restore it I get a restore error at 98% saying premature end of backup data

Do I do another backup or try a different syntax on the restore. Here is what I am using
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/tivo.bak /dev/hdd

Looks basically right - maybe try another backup and see if that restores properly.

Michael

[weaknees]

Originally posted by aaronwt
Are two, 300GB drives, an option in the HD-TiVo? Or does the A drive have to be a 250GB or lower?

Definitely an option - we have this working in our office, but we haven't begun selling kits in this configuration. It takes a fair amount of manual work to get there. Still testing to be assured of complete stability.

Michael

[richierich]

The audio drop was definitely a problem with HDNET's transmission because I recorded it again and I lost the audio in the exact same point into the recording, so I'm glad that it isn't the HD Tivo box. Thanks for the info about the known problem with HDNET's broadcast. I wonder if HDNET is aware of their audio problems? Mark Cuban occasionally visits here and at AVS forum.

[flapbreaker]

Well I finally made a successful backup and restore. My problem all along seemed to be having both drives on one ide channel. Once I seperated them the backup worked like it's supposed to however the first backup would not restore properly so I did it again and that worked so I would definately recommend testing your backup even if it was 100% successful. Also put the drives on seperate ide channels because there seems to be some issue there, I even tried it on another computer on the same channel and it would work either. Thanks to those that helped me. Now I just need a bracket before I install the blessed drive.

[flapbreaker]

One more question about the backup file. In linux it was shown as being 1489MB (or roughly that number) but when I boot up windows to burn the file to cd it is reported as being 186MB. Does this sound right? I used -6so as the compression. Anyway I know the bacup works but was surprised at the file size being so small.

[weaknees]

That's about the right size - we've seen them a bit under 200MB with -1 compression.

Michael

[dr_mal]

Originally posted by richierich
The audio drop was definitely a problem with HDNET's transmission because I recorded it again and I lost the audio in the exact same point into the recording, so I'm glad that it isn't the HD Tivo box. Thanks for the info about the known problem with HDNET's broadcast. I wonder if HDNET is aware of their audio problems? Mark Cuban occasionally visits here and at AVS forum.
Someboday sent Mark an e-mail and his reply was posted over at Avs. He's aware of the problem; HDNet, D*, and TiVo are aware of the problem and (presumably) working on a solution.

[CoreyMD]

Just want to post a success note here since I didn't run across any upgrade problems to ask about... Much thanks to everyone who has been posting in this thread!

I just backed up my original HR10-250 HDD to CD-ROM, tested it, and blessed the new 250GB drive. Now I'm waiting for the bracket before I officially marry the two in the unit. Should be here Thursday.

At first I thought making a backup was overkill and would be a big hassle, but it does add peace of mind. The entire backup, CD burn, restore and test took, maybe, 30 minutes. The longest part of the whole thing was using Partition Magic to convert an existing 40GB NTFS partition on my PC over to FAT32 for the backup (that was the best option I could think of). And the hardest part was re-jumpering my PC drive for each step of the upgrade -- my FAT32 is primary slave for XP, but had to be primary master for the upgrade.

I just wish I had been part of this community from the beginning of TiVo (yeah, I went with UTV). I'm sure it was lots of fun following the progress of the first upgrade and the development of the toolset - which is amazing stuff for the public domain BTW.

[LarryInAz]

CompUSA has a great price [IMHO] on a 250gb drive - $129, no rebates, no muss no fuss.
Only catch is the online store is out of stock so you'll have to find a store that has inventory.

:cool:

[aaronwt]

Originally posted by LarryInAz
CompUSA has a great price [IMHO] on a 250gb drive - $129, no rebates, no muss no fuss.
Only catch is the online store is out of stock so you'll have to find a store that has inventory.

:cool:

What brand??
I see it's a Maxtor. At that price, If I can get 2, i can just replace the original drive and keep it as a backup to be installed if it needs a warranty repair.

[aaronwt]

I just picked up two of them. Thanks, LarryInAz, for the heads up! Now I can remove the WD drive and keep it in case there is a warranty repair. I'll just send the two drives to Weaknees and for $90 they will configure both drives for me. So my total price including the bracket will be less than if I purchased a preconfigured 300GB "B" drive.

[HDLouco]

Originally posted by aaronwt
What brand??
I see it's a Maxtor. At that price, If I can get 2, i can just replace the original drive and keep it as a backup to be installed if it needs a warranty repair.

FRY's has the Maxtor 250-GB drive on sale this weekend for $129.99, no rebates, also! I think the sale price started on Friday and is good until Tuesday, June 1, 2004.

[HDLouco]

Originally posted by aaronwt
I just picked up two of them. Thanks, LarryInAz, for the heads up! Now I can remove the WD drive and keep it in case there is a warranty repair. I'll just send the two drives to Weaknees and for $90 they will configure both drives for me. So my total price including the bracket will be less than if I purchased a preconfigured 300GB "B" drive.

I wasn't aware that Weakness offers that type of service! You mean to say that for $90 they will configure 2 drives, one to be the back up of the original and the other to be an extra drive to increase recording time? Sounds like a good deal to me! Where do I sign up? Thanks!

[HDLouco]

Originally posted by weaknees
Info about various CDs is here:
http://www.courtesan.com/tivo/bigdisk.html
We don't use them since we hve PCs with Linux on the hard drives, so we can't vouch for them. But others seem to use these with success.

Michael

Thanks for the info, Michael. Can you tell me what version of Linux I should purchase to install in my hard drive? And, please, forgive me for being a pest with all these questions.

[aaronwt]

Originally posted by HDLouco
I wasn't aware that Weakness offers that type of service! You mean to say that for $90 they will configure 2 drives, one to be the back up of the original and the other to be an extra drive to increase recording time? Sounds like a good deal to me! Where do I sign up? Thanks!

Here is the link

Miscellaneous Services from WeaKnees.com (http://www.weaknees.com/misc.php)

I would be using the original drive as a backup. They would configure the two drives I send them to work in the HD-TiVo.

[weaknees]

Originally posted by HDLouco
Thanks for the info, Michael. Can you tell me what version of Linux I should purchase to install in my hard drive? And, please, forgive me for being a pest with all these questions.

You really don't install Linux on your hard drive, per se. You put an image appropriate for your TiVo on your hard drive. So you should be using the image from your exisiting TiVo on your hard drive.

Michael

[pbolya]

Originally posted by HDLouco
FRY's has the Maxtor 250-GB drive on sale this weekend for $129.99, no rebates, also! I think the sale price started on Friday and is good until Tuesday, June 1, 2004. HDLouco,
Fry's is telling me that the sale ended yesterday and it costs $200 (or $190 I can't remember) now. You can still go online and by it for $159.99 as outpost is run by a seperate company they do not always have the same specials.

[Cheezmo]

Just be patient, They've had 250Gb drives on sale almost every weekend for several months now. Sometimes with rebates sometimes not, ranging from $109 -> $149.

[seanmcgpa]

It's been a few months since Hitachi's 400GB Deskstar 7K400 was announced. Their website says they are shipping in small quantities .... but to whom? The usual places have no mention of it (Pricewatch, etc.) Are these drives available for purchase anywhere?

Price or no, I need to upgrade my HDTivo, and would love to just throw in two 400GB drives at once.

[weaknees]

We certainly haven't seen them. Just be sure to have backups. Hitachis are pretty notorious about causing problems in TiVos.

Michael

[seanmcgpa]

Originally posted by weaknees
We certainly haven't seen them. Just be sure to have backups. Hitachis are pretty notorious about causing problems in TiVos.

Michael

YIKES! Well that settles that... how about Maxtor 300GB drives? How's the reliability with them?

I know this question\ has come up before... but has anyone succesfully upgraded to two 300GB drives? The new TV season is 3 months away so no rush... just curious.

[pbolya]

Originally posted by weaknees
We certainly haven't seen them. Just be sure to have backups. Hitachis are pretty notorious about causing problems in TiVos.

Michael Didn't Hitachi say that they built the 400GB ATA/SATA hard drive with PVR's in mind ? There release certainly resembles the HR10-250's release so far. Will Robert be the first to ship the Hitachi drive ? :rolleyes:

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by seanmcgpa
It's been a few months since Hitachi's 400GB Deskstar 7K400 was announced. Their website says they are shipping in small quantities .... but to whom? The usual places have no mention of it (Pricewatch, etc.) Are these drives available for purchase anywhere?

Price or no, I need to upgrade my HDTivo, and would love to just throw in two 400GB drives at once.

Yeah, certain Dell desktops are shipping with them... They cost about $400...

[weaknees]

Originally posted by seanmcgpa
YIKES! Well that settles that... how about Maxtor 300GB drives? How's the reliability with them?

I know this question\ has come up before... but has anyone succesfully upgraded to two 300GB drives? The new TV season is 3 months away so no rush... just curious.

The 300 GB drives (at least some) are Maxtor QuickViews, therefore specifically targeted for PVRs. We've been using those since January in our Pioneers (and the non-QVs before that - louder, without question) and they've been great. We've only used one per Pioneer.

We do have dual 300 GB drives working in HD TiVos. We haven't yet started selling kits of these, but we will be doing our "Early Adopter" kits soon.

Michael

[HDLouco]

Originally posted by weaknees
You really don't install Linux on your hard drive, per se. You put an image appropriate for your TiVo on your hard drive. So you should be using the image from your exisiting TiVo on your hard drive.

Michael

I know that, Michael. In a previous post, you indicated that you and other members of this forum are running Linux in your PC to be able to run the utilities required to prepare hard drives for the Tivo. So, I was asking what version of Linux I should buy to be able to run the same utilities on my own PC. I have several hard drives and would like to install Linux in one of them and to learn how to use it. Thanks again for your kind help.

[weaknees]

It all depends on what you need. If you are working with these HD boxes, 2.4.20 or newer is fine.

Michael

[dr_mal]

Originally posted by HDLouco
So, I was asking what version of Linux I should buy
Why buy Linux? Lots of good free distros out there. I use Gentoo (http://www.gentoo.org) (haven't done any TiVo upgrading since I installed it, but I see no reason it wouldn't work)

And unless you're doing TiVo upgrades professionally (ie more than a couple times), why not just boot Linux off one of the boot CDs that are freely available and specifically designed for upgrading TiVos?

[tivoupgrade]

I'm a big fan of Mandrake linux.

But we use our own boot CD's (the same ones available for download on our site) for preparation of all our kits and services.

[HDLouco]

Thanks, you guys, for all the help and suggestions! One of you even emailed me with his suggestion, and I really appreciate it. I downloaded the ISO file from the web site and burned it, as is, to a CD. However, the PC doesn't boot with that CD, and I was wondering whether the ISO file is in compressed form and must be decompressed before it can be used. It is either that or my CD burner didn't copy it correctly. Again, thanks for all the help.

[tivoupgrade]

Best to check out this link (or do a google search on burning ISO's)...

... crawl before you walk!

http://www.linuxgazette.com/issue68/tag/11.html

Lou

[weaknees]

You can't just drag the contents of the ISO image to your CD. You need to use your CD burning software to tell it to burn the ISO image - it should recognize the difference.

Michael

[HDLouco]

Originally posted by weaknees
You can't just drag the contents of the ISO image to your CD. You need to use your CD burning software to tell it to burn the ISO image - it should recognize the difference.

Michael

And that worked very well. Thanks!

[HDLouco]

Originally posted by weaknees
You can't just drag the contents of the ISO image to your CD. You need to use your CD burning software to tell it to burn the ISO image - it should recognize the difference.

Michael

And that worked very well. Thanks!

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by JohnTivo
Yeah, certain Dell desktops are shipping with them... They cost about $400...

CDW.com is now selling the sata version of the drive. Apparently it is the only version available at this time. Hitachi will be releasing the PATA version in the coming months.

I personally will be waiting to upgrade my HR10 until it is available...

[Nomarian]

Here is a site selling the PATA or IDE version of the 400GB Hitachi drive.

Sorry about that. I did not know that we are not allowed to post links to other sites. I have seen links for downloads and stuff and just thought that I post the link for informational purposes.

If you want to know where the drive is located, it is for sale at ComputerHQ.com. I don't work for them, I just saw it for sale there. The ebags link was for my wife. This was definitely a mistake. :)

[weaknees]

Mistake or abuse?

[dr_mal]

I'm willing to give him(her) the benefit of the doubt and say mistake.

But just for anyone reading -- that link above to ebags.com actually sells handbags, not hard drives.

[JohnTivo]

All I found was the SATA version...

[dr_mal]

Originally posted by Nomarian
Here is a site selling the PATA or IDE version of the 400GB Hitachi drive.

Sorry about that. I did not know that we are not allowed to post links to other sites. I have seen links for downloads and stuff and just thought that I post the link for informational purposes.

If you want to know where the drive is located, it is for sale at ComputerHQ.com. I don't work for them, I just saw it for sale there. The ebags link was for my wife. This was definitely a mistake. :)
Oh, links for informational purposes are fine. As long as you're not hawking your own site -- that's what sponsorships are sold here for :)

The fact that the link want to a site selling handbags -- that was what we were wondering about. Glad to hear it was just an honest mistake :up:

[jjmpeters]

Should I be at all concerned that the image I downloaded from a link in this thread, that has a file name of ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso, shows the following text when it boots?:

PTVUpgrader LBA48 Utility Disk Version 1.0 - Series 1 Units Only


I don't want to risk my $900 investment.....

[flapbreaker]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
Should I be at all concerned that the image I downloaded from a link in this thread, that has a file name of ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso, shows the following text when it boots?:

PTVUpgrader LBA48 Utility Disk Version 1.0 - Series 1 Units Only


I don't want to risk my $900 investment.....

That's the same one I used.

[Richard Chalk]

OK, Guys, I could use a little help here....
I have made a backup of the original 250 G drive, and I have a second WD 250 that I want to add to the machine. I have looked through the instructions, but don't see any reference to "BlessTivo", and whether this step alone will allow the drive to be added.
Do I need to run BlessTivo, or MFSAdd, or both? Can someone talk me through this a little, perhaps with the proper command line syntax?
I did do a successful single-drive upgrade to a Hughes 35-hour box, so I get the general idea, but the specifics of adding a second to the HD box escape me.
Thanks for any help you can offer...
Richard

[weaknees]

You need to boot in a version of Linux that will see all 250 GB (or close to it) of the drive. Then, with the BlessTiVo application available, simply type:

BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

Capitalization is critical. The /hdc would be for a drive as secondary master - change that as necessary to conform to the location of the add-on drive.

Don't Bless the boot drive.

Michael

[dropper]

You know, I did everything here, including trying to run both drives of a backup on the same IDE chain (ran much better after separating them), Blessed my new WD2500JB, set the jumpers to slave and master and powered it up, to "Powering up...", forever.

The drives just wouldn't spin up. My heart sank. I went back, disconnected the new drive, moved the jumper back to CS and it booted (wouldn't boot with Master W/Slave without the second drive).

Going back, I put them both on CS and had them on the correct spots and it started fine. Going back to try again, placing them as Master and Slave, I got nada.

Some nice oragami later and I have both up and running with CS and CS selected.

This is with parts from 9th Tee, which otherwise seemed fine, if not a bit long for the cables (I know it's being remedied).

On the WD drives I had the Master set as:
: : [:] : : [o o o o]

On the Slave:
: : : [:] : [o o o o]

Any ideas?

Keith

[weaknees]

What results were you getting from BlessTiVo and from mfsbackup?

Michael

[duffin]

Now that I've been using the HR10-250 for a month or so, I want to evaluate whetehr I need the extra space via an upgrade.

I tried the backdoor code to see where I stand on recorded space: Pick Programs to Record and press ZERO-THUMBSUP.

This code doesn't seem to work on the HR10-250. Any one else have luck? Something else I should try?

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
Should I be at all concerned that the image I downloaded from a link in this thread, that has a file name of ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso, shows the following text when it boots?:

PTVUpgrader LBA48 Utility Disk Version 1.0 - Series 1 Units Only


I don't want to risk my $900 investment.....


Actually, it should say,

PTVupgrade LBA48 Utility Disk Version 1.0...

In any case, we'll have that changed for the next release of the software to be more specific. At the time we released the CD, the only use of the tools was for Series1 units using our copykern scripts and the Todd Miller LBA48 kernels for Series1 units -- we didn't want folks to accidentally use the CD for Blessing large drives for Series2 units or doing restores on large drives for Series2 units.

You can definitely use this CD for Series2 units such as the Pioneer DVD burners and the Hughes HR10-250 - more information on the use of the CD is provided here:

http://www.ptvupgrade.com/support/bigdisk/index.html

By opening and attempting to upgrade your system, you will be putting your $900 'investment' at risk (compared to not doing it at all), but you need not worry about the risks from a software perspective, the tools work just fine.

Thanks,
Lou

[scottym]

Hi,

I'm waiting for delivery of my HD tivo from American Satellite. I'm #98 on their waiting list. I already have my upgrade bracket from PTV.

1. Should I upgrade the cooling before adding a second 250 GB drive?

2. Does anyone know if there is a warranty seal on the new HD's?

Thanks,
Scott

btw-saw 250 GB Maxtor 7500 at Compusa for $129.

[weaknees]

Originally posted by scottym
Hi,

I'm waiting for delivery of my HD tivo from American Satellite. I'm #98 on their waiting list. I already have my upgrade bracket from PTV.

1. Should I upgrade the cooling before adding a second 250 GB drive?

2. Does anyone know if there is a warranty seal on the new HD's?

Thanks,
Scott

btw-saw 250 GB Maxtor 7500 at Compusa for $129.

There is no warranty seal that we've seen on any HD box so far.

We STRONGLY recommend added cooling in these boxes. They run hot as-is due to the stock 7200 RPM drive, and they weren't designed for a second drive at all. We don't know of any way to add cooling to these units until our bracket is available, but if you do, great. In the meantime, you might want to run with the lid off. Just watch your temps closely. We've heard reports of temps in the 60C range on these boxes.

Michael

[scottym]

I'll keep an eye open for your bracket/fan. Meanwhile, I'm running two HDVR2 units with twin 120 GB drives and no cooling modification. Is a mod recommended for the HDVR2?

Scott

[weaknees]

Originally posted by scottym
I'll keep an eye open for your bracket/fan. Meanwhile, I'm running two HDVR2 units with twin 120 GB drives and no cooling modification. Is a mod recommended for the HDVR2?

Scott

We highly recommend our TwinBreeze Complete for that:

http://www.weaknees.com/twinbreeze.php

Michael

[btwyx]

Originally posted by weaknees
We highly recommend our TwinBreeze Is there any news about the arrival of the TwinBreeze for the HR10?

I have your 300GB kit sitting around waiting for the bracket. Its especially confusing when your twin breeze ad pops up on the HD TiVo forum.

[dropper]

Originally posted by weaknees
What results were you getting from BlessTiVo and from mfsbackup?

Michael

I had no problem with either the BlessTiVo nor the mfsbackup. The backup appeared to be the correct size and proceded smoothly (made 2 for safety).

The only problems I was having were related to jumpering and the cable. I did not try a different cable, since I did get it to work using the CS positions. Unit reported 63/425 hours of recording time available.

Keith

[weaknees]

Originally posted by btwyx
Is there any news about the arrival of the TwinBreeze for the HR10?

I have your 300GB kit sitting around waiting for the bracket. Its especially confusing when your twin breeze ad pops up on the HD TiVo forum.

Well, we've started taking pre-orders (http://www.weaknees.com/twinbreeze_hd.php) for the bracket because we're fairly certain we'll see our air shipment sometime in early July - possibly even a bit sooner. We're not promising a date, but anyone who has bought our "early adopter" upgrade kit is definitely getting one in the first shipment.

Michael

[weaknees]

Originally posted by dropper
I had no problem with either the BlessTiVo nor the mfsbackup. The backup appeared to be the correct size and proceded smoothly (made 2 for safety).

The only problems I was having were related to jumpering and the cable. I did not try a different cable, since I did get it to work using the CS positions. Unit reported 63/425 hours of recording time available.

Keith

If they're both WD drives, then those jumper settings for Master and Slave look right.

Any reason not to just leave them on CS?

Michael

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by scottym
Hi,

I'm waiting for delivery of my HD tivo from American Satellite. I'm #98 on their waiting list. I already have my upgrade bracket from PTV.

1. Should I upgrade the cooling before adding a second 250 GB drive?

2. Does anyone know if there is a warranty seal on the new HD's?

Thanks,
Scott

btw-saw 250 GB Maxtor 7500 at Compusa for $129.

No warranty seal on these units, but by opening the unit you really should accept accountability if something goes wrong in the future; its part of the risk of upgrading.

I wouldn't alter the cooling inside the unit - let the fan in the back do its job of exhausting the warm air, and drawing the cooler air from beneath.

We've only seen a 2-4 degree (celsius) rise in temp when adding additional drives (both quickview and non-quickview) and although the power supply continues to end up being the hottest component in the unit, the reported temperature is still well within the 'normal' range as long as your unit is kept in a well-ventilated spot (that should be a priority whether or not you are going to upgrade your unit).

[LarryInAz]

Originally posted by weaknees
Well, we've started taking pre-orders (http://www.weaknees.com/twinbreeze_hd.php) for the bracket because we're fairly certain we'll see our air shipment sometime in early July - possibly even a bit sooner. We're not promising a date, but anyone who has bought our "early adopter" upgrade kit is definitely getting one in the first shipment.


Michael,
Is the cutoff on pre-orders 350? Can you let me know what number I am in the pre-order line? :D Sorry, couldn't help myself...

[weaknees]

Not sure what you mean - where did you get 350?

We haven't yet sent an email out to the people on the list - but you can certainly pre-order one!

Michael

[dropper]

Originally posted by weaknees
If they're both WD drives, then those jumper settings for Master and Slave look right.

Any reason not to just leave them on CS?

Michael
More of just the challenge of why it didn't work right.

Thanks,

Keith

[weaknees]

Well understood - we also hate when technology doesn't perform as it should. Something (potentially important) seems to be missing.

Michael

[pbolya]

Originally posted by weaknees
Not sure what you mean - where did you get 350?

We haven't yet sent an email out to the people on the list - but you can certainly pre-order one!

Michael Michael,
he was refering to the pre orders for the HR10-250 from VE. I think after the ordeal with VE he get's suspicious any times he hears the word pre-order.

I just pre ordered your bracket myself too. I already have one from 9th tee but my friend needs an upgrade too. This way I test both brackets and keep the best one. I like the idea of the second fan and the vented short cables. My HR10-250 runs at 54C and thats without any upgrades.

Regards,
Peter

[weaknees]

Got it. We'll try not to disappoint on the pre-order. We can't really guarantee the date although we're pretty comfortable with "early July" and we'll cut it off as far as air-shipments if the number is beyond what we can handle.

Michael

[LarryInAz]

Originally posted by pbolya
Michael,
he was refering to the pre orders for the HR10-250 from VE. I think after the ordeal with VE he get's suspicious any times he hears the word pre-order...


Exactly and questions were asked with tongue firmly planted in cheek. ;)

I was fortunate to be #134 in VE's pre-order and got one of the first units off the assembly line. Now I'm anxious to be one of the first to upgrade the HD recording space.

I figure by adding another 250gb drive this will keep me happy for the next couple of years and by then Terrabyte drives will be the norm.
Hmmm, I wonder how many hours of HD programs I can record on 2 Terrabyte drives. :D

[btwyx]

Originally posted by weaknees
Well, we've started taking pre-orders (http://www.weaknees.com/twinbreeze_hd.php) for the bracket because we're fairly certain we'll see our air shipment sometime in early July - possibly even a bit sooner. Sooner would be really good, we have a 3 week vacation starting 1st july. It'd be really handy to have the upgrade working while we're away.

[weaknees]

We'll keep our fingers crossed, but early July is really what's realistic.

If you'll be away, maybe you can find a creative way to use the new drive by leaving the lid off? Obviously, just be very, very careful.

Michael

[btwyx]

Originally posted by weaknees
If you'll be away, maybe you can find a creative way to use the new drive by leaving the lid off? Obviously, just be very, very careful. I don't want to be creative and then leave it to cook on its own.

[weaknees]

Better safe than sorry does make sense . . .

Michael

[pbolya]

Originally posted by duffin
Now that I've been using the HR10-250 for a month or so, I want to evaluate whetehr I need the extra space via an upgrade.

I tried the backdoor code to see where I stand on recorded space: Pick Programs to Record and press ZERO-THUMBSUP.

This code doesn't seem to work on the HR10-250. Any one else have luck? Something else I should try? Duffin,
I always wanted to know when my recordings are gonna start deleting (as they finaly did 2 month ago even though I have a 242h). So my face lit up when I heard that there may be a code for at least my series 1/2. But neither the Sony SAT-T60 (series 1) or the DVR40 (series 2) did anything when I went to the Pick Programs to Record sub menu and pressed zero and than thumbsup. Am I missing something ? Is there a way to see how much space left on the hard drive (I do not use surgestions) ?

Thanks,
Peter

[pbolya]

Originally posted by pbolya
Duffin,
I always wanted to know when my recordings are gonna start deleting (as they finaly did 2 month ago even though I have a 242h). So my face lit up when I heard that there may be a code for at least my series 1/2. But neither the Sony SAT-T60 (series 1) or the DVR40 (series 2) did anything when I went to the Pick Programs to Record sub menu and pressed zero and than thumbsup. Am I missing something ? Is there a way to see how much space left on the hard drive (I do not use surgestions) ?

Thanks,
Peter OK. I found it. This will only work with standalone TiVo's with 4.0 software that has been hacked in a coputer to turn backdoor codes on. Dam it. Besides my HD TiVo a series 1 tivo and the series 2 tivo I also have a series 2 standalone Sony TiVo (I am not a collector it just happened this way).

Duffin,
can you point me in the right direction where I can find out how I can turn on the backdoors for my 4.0. I have a dual 120GB in them and not afread to take it out and mess with it as long as I have a good instructions. I do not have bash or any other hack installed I just did a capacity upgrade.

Thanks in advance,
Peter

[tarman]

Originally posted by weaknees
Got it. We'll try not to disappoint on the pre-order. We can't really guarantee the date although we're pretty comfortable with "early July" and we'll cut it off as far as air-shipments if the number is beyond what we can handle.

Michael

So Michael,

Does this mean: If your site lets me pre-order, I will get one from the "early july" batch.

[weaknees]

Yes. If the number gets to the point where we're uncomfortable and think we can't fill all of these with the air shipments, and we can't increase the quantity of the air shipments, we'll end the pre-order. For now, though, you're in.

Michael

[jjmpeters]

Anyone added a 300GB drive as their second drive? Any problems getting the full capacity out of it?

UPS failed to deliver my HR10-250 from CC today saying it required a signature. I'm having it delivered tomorrow at work. FINALLY!!!

[weaknees]

Many have added 300 GB drives, as have we. Works fine. We sell kits that way, and haven't heard a peep of problems.

Michael

[Cheezmo]

The only problem I'm having is filling it up, since I got it just as the TV season ended ;)

There just aren't enough good movies on DirecTV's HD channels.

[weaknees]

Originally posted by Cheezmo
The only problem I'm having is filling it up, since I got it just as the TV season ended ;)

There just aren't enough good movies on DirecTV's HD channels.

Agreed. Can't wait until September.

[scottym]

Hi,

I'm interested in adding a second hardrive to the HD HR10-250 and installing bash access through the USB port. I'm assuming that mfsbackup and mfsrestore can be used to backup my Otivo drive. Since I can't afford to replace the Otivo with another 250 GB drive my plan is to create the backup and save it on my fat32 disk (and on CD/DVD/ROM) so I can restore and expand my Otivo drive while adding a second 250 GB. Would it be best to create this backup using mfsbackup or dd?

I'r also like to install the hacks to get a bash prompt through a Linsksys 200M USB-Ethernet adapter. I've run this procedure using sleeper's iso to run the monte scripts to install the hacks. Worked gread on my HDVR2. My understanding is the HD Tivo will run the same software and hardware so I'm assunming monte will work for the HD Dtivo as well.


Any suggestions will be welcome.

Thanks,
Scott

[jjmpeters]

Got my HDTiVo yesterday. Tried to do a backup using the instructions posted here, but it wouldn't finish after 30 minutes at which point I stopped it. It said something like please wait a moment while scanning drives, then nothing after that. I tried it on two different PC's. Had my 11GB FAT32 drive as hda and my TiVo 250GB drive as hdb. Linux saw the both the drives fine.

I saw someone here said it took 2 hours to backup, but I believe it was Michael who said it should only take 5 minutes. I was really concerned that I messed up something, but the drive booted fine when placed back into the TiVo. I'll try again once I get my new 300GB "B" drive on Friday.

I've upgraded 3 SA TiVo's and 3 DirecTiVo's, so I feel confident that I followed the directions correctly. The only thing I didn't try was placing the 250GB on the second IDE channel, but I thought that was only a problem when restoring from one drive directly to another.

Thanks for any help.

[LarryInAz]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
Got my HDTiVo yesterday. Tried to do a backup using the instructions posted here, but it wouldn't finish after 30 minutes at which point I stopped it...

Boy you have more guts than I - you've only had the unit for 24 hours and already you've cracked the case. I've upgraded about a dozen standalone and D* flavored TiVo's myself but I always run it hard at least 30 days for burn in, software upgrades and just peace of mind.

Sorry I don't have an answer to your quesiton but I'm sure Weaknees or TiVoUpgrade will chime in soon. :rolleyes:

[pbolya]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
Tried to do a backup using the instructions posted here, but it wouldn't finish after 30 minutes at which point I stopped it. Had my 11GB FAT32 drive as hda and my TiVo 250GB drive as hdb. Linux saw the both the drives fine.

Thanks for any help. Lot of people reported problems when both the backup and the TiVo drive where on the same cahannel. Try to connect one to the primary master or slave and the other to the secondary master or slave.

[dropper]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
Got my HDTiVo yesterday. Tried to do a backup using the instructions posted here, but it wouldn't finish after 30 minutes at which point I stopped it. It said something like please wait a moment while scanning drives, then nothing after that. I tried it on two different PC's. Had my 11GB FAT32 drive as hda and my TiVo 250GB drive as hdb. Linux saw the both the drives fine.

Had the same problem, so did another here, where I got the same solution as listed above. You need to have the drives on seperate chains. Don't know why. It should only take a few minutes.

Keith

[jjmpeters]

Switching the drives so they weren't on the same channel did the trick. Backup completed in about 5 minutes. Restored the image to the new 300GB drive and placed it in the TiVo and everything worked fine. Removed the 300GB, blessed it, and installed it along with the original drive so I now have 70 hours of HD space. I left the drives as cable select. Weakness , why do you recommend master and slave?


Thanks for your help! Now I just have to fill it up with content

[dropper]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
I left the drives as cable select. Weakness , why do you recommend master and slave?
So you can put the cable going to the master first, then the slave. If you do CS, you have to have the master on the end (instead of the middle). I couldn't get it to work this way, but I may have had a cable issue.

Keith

[jjmpeters]

Originally posted by dropper
So you can put the cable going to the master first, then the slave. If you do CS, you have to have the master on the end (instead of the middle). I couldn't get it to work this way, but I may have had a cable issue.

Keith

It worked for me with CS. Even setting the drives master and slave, I was always told that the master should be on the terminating end of the cable. Maybe that's BS, but that's the way I've always done it.

[k2ue]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
It worked for me with CS. Even setting the drives master and slave, I was always told that the master should be on the terminating end of the cable. Maybe that's BS, but that's the way I've always done it.

I have worked on SCSI and ATA driver ICs -- the master being on the end for ATA drives is only an issue if: a) the slave is absent; and b) the cable is long (>18 inches).

[Paul_D]

Originally posted by dropper
Had the same problem, so did another here, where I got the same solution as listed above. You need to have the drives on seperate chains. Don't know why. It should only take a few minutes.


For those of us who did wait it out (11 hours for my HDTiVo virgin backup) .. are our backups still good, or are they corrupted?

[pbolya]

Originally posted by Paul_D
For those of us who did wait it out (11 hours for my HDTiVo virgin backup) .. are our backups still good, or are they corrupted? Didn't you test the backup before you married the drives ?

[Paul_D]

Originally posted by pbolya
Didn't you test the backup before you married the drives ?

There was no drive marrying involved. I just wanted a backup of the 250G drive since I've had bad experiences with WD drives before. At some point I will upgrade the unit, but given how little OTA HD content is receivable (reliably) around here, I'm in no rush.

[pbolya]

Originally posted by Paul_D
There was no drive marrying involved. I just wanted a backup of the 250G drive since I've had bad experiences with WD drives before. At some point I will upgrade the unit, but given how little OTA HD content is receivable (reliably) around here, I'm in no rush. Got it. That is too bad. I leave in the Sacramento, CA area and I can get NBC, ABC, CBS and WB in the mid 90's. PBS and UPN (still broadcasting with reduced power) in the mid 80's. They also fixed all of the schedule mishaps so life is good. The only problem remain is CBS likes to move it's prime time schedule back 1 hour (start at 7pm) so they can air the news at 10 before all other networks. In order to do that they need to tape the east feed, delay it for 2 hours and cut to the tape from the live feed at 7pm and cut back to live feed at 11pm. They can not do that yet with HD content (maybe they ordered there HD TiVo from Robert). This means that they broadcast an SD version of the prime time schedule between 7pm and 8pm (taped from the east feed) and than cut back to live HD feed at 8pm (no HD recording capability no 10pm news). What they do not realize is that they screw up the TiVo as TiVo will record the 7pm SD show instead of the 8pm HD shows.

I hope you will have good OTA reception by September (august for NBC) when it will be really needed.

I will upgrade my unit the week before the Olympics start. Hopefully I will get Weaknees bracket by than and maybe found a good special on a 300GB or even the 400GB disks. If not I still have a 250GB and the 9th Tee bracket ready to go.

[HDLouco]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by pbolya
[B]Got it. That is too bad. I leave in the Sacramento, CA area and I can get NBC, ABC, CBS and WB in the mid 90's. PBS and UPN (still broadcasting with reduced power) in the mid 80's.

I live in Walnut Creek and have no problems with the PBS KVIE reception. However, I no longer receive channel 21 which is the UPN affiliate in Sacramento. I wonder how soon the Weakness bracket will be available. 30 hours is hardly enough to record all the shows of interest to me.

[pbolya]

Weaknees or 9th tee,
Do you see any problem with adding an extra 250GB now and replacing the upgraded 250 x 2 to a 400 x 2 or even a 500 x 2 later vs waiting and upgrading from 250 directly to 500 x 2 when available ?

Thanks,
Peter

[leftcoastdave]

Originally posted by pbolya
I wonder how soon the Weakness bracket will be available. 30 hours is hardly enough to record all the shows of interest to me.


We all are wondering. Michael, do you have an updated status on your bracket availability?

Thanks,

Dave

[dropper]

Having used the 9th Tee bracket for a couple of weeks now, I can highly recommend it. The production bracket is a bit different than the one shown in the pictures. It is hollowed out on the bottom, allowing for air flow across the bottom of the drive.

It's not perfect, but I think they have already addressed some of the issues. It didn't take long to install and was very sturdy.

Keith

[pbolya]

Originally posted by leftcoastdave
We all are wondering. Michael, do you have an updated status on your bracket availability?

Thanks,

Dave leftcoastdave,
It was HDLouco who said that. He was quoting me and the end quote tag got deleted so it is hard to figgure out where my quote ended. By the way I have it on order too but since I got the 9th tee bracket I can wait a couple of weeks.

[pbolya]

Originally posted by dropper
Having used the 9th Tee bracket for a couple of weeks now, I can highly recommend it. The production bracket is a bit different than the one shown in the pictures. It is hollowed out on the bottom, allowing for air flow across the bottom of the drive.

It's not perfect, but I think they have already addressed some of the issues. It didn't take long to install and was very sturdy.

Keith dropper,
Not mine. Mine is exactly as pictured and I was hoping the cable is specially made for the TiVo but it is the same long cables I already have. I heared that all of these are changed for the new shipments but I guess I just bought it too quickly.

My series 1 Sony SAT-T60 runs at 62C (has a 120GB and a 160GB WD 7200 RPM drive) and my HR10-250 runs at 54C without any upgrade. I can't wait for the weaKnees bracket to see if the temperature will stay at 54C. I know that without the additional fan it will go to 62C too (there is not enough ventilation on the shelves). By the way if I turn the SAT-T60 off (standby) for several hours it cools all the way down to 54C.

[tarman]

I have two 200GB drives and am getting my HDTivo soon.

Will I have a problem if I pull the 250GB from the HD box, back it up, and lock it away for safe keeping...

... then restore to one of the 200GB drives, bless the second, and put them in the HDTiVo box as a 400GB pair?

If this will work, what mfsrestore parameters should I use?

Thanks for any help,

Tom

[jerrymc]

Originally posted by tarman
I have two 200GB drives and am getting my HDTivo soon.

Will I have a problem if I pull the 250GB from the HD box, back it up, and lock it away for safe keeping...

... then restore to one of the 200GB drives, bless the second, and put them in the HDTiVo box as a 400GB pair?

If this will work, what mfsrestore parameters should I use?

Thanks for any help,

Tom

Tom,

Sorry to say, that won't work. The primary drive must be at least as big as the original drive. You may want to exchange one of those 200GB drives for a 250GB.

Regards,
Jerry

[tarman]

Originally posted by jerrymc
Tom,

Sorry to say, that won't work. The primary drive must be at least as big as the original drive. You may want to exchange one of those 200GB drives for a 250GB.

Regards,
Jerry


Thanks Jerry,

I hoped it would.

Since mfsbackup puts the info on a small ( < 1GB ) FAT partition, I hoped that it could expand it back out to whatever size drive you had [obviously not keeping all/any program data that would be too large to fit].

Oh, well, looking for sales on 250GB drives!

Tom

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by tarman
Thanks Jerry,

I hoped it would.

Since mfsbackup puts the info on a small ( < 1GB ) FAT partition, I hoped that it could expand it back out to whatever size drive you had [obviously not keeping all/any program data that would be too large to fit].

Oh, well, looking for sales on 250GB drives!

Tom

Why not just backup your system, put the backup away for safe-keeping, and then bless one of those 200GB drives and add it to your unit?

[tarman]

Originally posted by tivoupgrade
Why not just backup your system, put the backup away for safe-keeping, and then bless one of those 200GB drives and add it to your unit?

My main thought was, "What do I do if I need to send it in for repair?"

With your approach, I would need to reload the 250GB with the backup (after removing the 2nd drive and bracket) and restore it to original condition before shipping.

Problem is, I would lose all of my recordings.

My way, I remove both drives still on the bracket, re-install the original drive, and ship for repair, keeping my recordings intact to reinstall upon return.

[I guess if I could insure a "receive before return" type swap, I could save the data off of the replacement drive, load it with my original backup, and install and send it back with the broken unit. Then put my two drives into the replacement unit.]

[weaknees]

Originally posted by leftcoastdave
[B] We all are wondering. Michael, do you have an updated status on your bracket availability?
We are expecting first off-tool parts early next week, and assuming all goes well, we hope to be shipping brackets early to mid-July.

Weaknees or 9th tee, Do you see any problem with adding an extra 250GB now and replacing the upgraded 250 x 2 to a 400 x 2 or even a 500 x 2 later vs waiting and upgrading from 250 directly to 500 x 2 when available ?
I don't see a difference from a software perspective, although you might have issues--given the current limitations of mfstool--with copying your programming from dual-250s to dual-400s; we have not yet tried that.

[dswallow]

Originally posted by tarman
My main thought was, "What do I do if I need to send it in for repair?"

With your approach, I would need to reload the 250GB with the backup (after removing the 2nd drive and bracket) and restore it to original condition before shipping.

Problem is, I would lose all of my recordings.

My way, I remove both drives still on the bracket, re-install the original drive, and ship for repair, keeping my recordings intact to reinstall upon return.

[I guess if I could insure a "receive before return" type swap, I could save the data off of the replacement drive, load it with my original backup, and install and send it back with the broken unit. Then put my two drives into the replacement unit.]
I don't know if anyone has ever received their repaired unit back; it's almost always just going to get swapped out with a different unit, not repaired.

And when that happens, your recordings will not be playable on the replacement DVR since the encryption hardware key is different on every unit. The most you'll have saved are your season pass, wishlist, and thumbs up/down data, plus whatever remains of the 28-day rule list, and your general configuration. All the recordings will be listed; none will be playable. You'll just have to delete them all.

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by tarman
My main thought was, "What do I do if I need to send it in for repair?"

With your approach, I would need to reload the 250GB with the backup (after removing the 2nd drive and bracket) and restore it to original condition before shipping.

Problem is, I would lose all of my recordings.

My way, I remove both drives still on the bracket, re-install the original drive, and ship for repair, keeping my recordings intact to reinstall upon return.

[I guess if I could insure a "receive before return" type swap, I could save the data off of the replacement drive, load it with my original backup, and install and send it back with the broken unit. Then put my two drives into the replacement unit.]

Ok, well, that it an expensive way to insure yourself for the case of the unit breaking in a very rare way. In most cases, failed units turn out to be bad hard drives, so clearly you'd be able to take care of that type of 'repair' yourself, as long as you have a good backup. However, if the unit were to truly fail in a way that was other than the hard drive, you could just remove your add-on drive and send the unit back for repair. They are just going to replace it with a refurbished (or new) unit anyway.

[pbolya]

Originally posted by weaknees
I don't see a difference from a software perspective, although you might have issues--given the current limitations of mfstool--with copying your programming from dual-250s to dual-400s; we have not yet tried that. Can I just restore the original single 250 backup onto a new 400GB and than bless the other 400GB and replace the two 250GB with the 2 400GB ? Would that give me 800GB (~100h) ? How did you get the dual 300GB working ? Did you do any testing on upgrading any configuration that is already upgraded ?

Thanks,
Peter

[seanmcgpa]

Are 400GB drives even available yet?

[dswallow]

Originally posted by seanmcgpa
Are 400GB drives even available yet?

No stock, but you can order one...
http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productid=1996827
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=450646&store=pcmall

[jjmpeters]

Originally posted by dswallow
No stock, but you can order one...
http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productid=1996827
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=450646&store=pcmall


At quite a price premium too. These are SATA drives, so don't you need an adapter to make them IDE?

[weaknees]

In most cases, failed units turn out to be bad hard drives, so clearly you'd be able to take care of that type of 'repair' yourself, as long as you have a good backup.
I would respectfully offer a different opinion when in comes to the HR10-250. While we have had people contact us with drive failures, the more common issues have been DVI/HDMI issues, heat issues, SAT issues and picture issues (the picture issues have generally not been drive-related).

This is certainly gospel when it comes to every other TiVo out there...but when an HR10-250 has problems, the likely source of problems is larger than just the drive.

Michael

[aaronwt]

Originally posted by dswallow
No stock, but you can order one...
http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productid=1996827
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/detail.asp?dpno=450646&store=pcmall

WOW! That's $300 more than the 250GB drives I just bought to upgrade one of my HD-TiVos. I just need to wait for another sale to get 2 more for my second HD-TiVo.

[mercurial]

Originally posted by weaknees
I would respectfully offer a different opinion when in comes to the HR10-250. While we have had people contact us with drive failures, the more common issues have been DVI/HDMI issues, heat issues, SAT issues and picture issues (the picture issues have generally not been drive-related).


Well, I had one that got a drive problem then just got a replacement that had a HDMI problem right out of the box. Waiting for the second replacement. Follow the thread here. (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&postid=2044167#post2044167)

The interesting thing is they don't seem to be able to consistently diagnose the drive issue over the phone despite the fact that I told them that was most certainly what it was (had to send out a tech) and then when I called back with the HDMI issue (the tech didn't even know what an HDMI port was) after researching it she said she was surprised I said it was a commonly known issue since they had no record of it and "thanks for bringing it to our attention..."

Sheesh... Well, if this one is stable for 2-3 months then maybe I'll be comfortable upgrading. I was hoping to have one stable for a few months and then upgrade before the new fall season started...

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
At quite a price premium too. These are SATA drives, so don't you need an adapter to make them IDE?

Here is the only place selling the ATA-100 version: CDW.com (http://www.cdw.com/shop/products/default.aspx?EDC=653943)

No one has these in stock for immediate delivery. Each drive is basically a special order...

[gr8reb8]

I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes. :cool:

From this page (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/support/bigdisk/index.html)
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/downloads/ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso)
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd. (When prompted, press enter until you get to the Linux prompt.)
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd. (When prompted, press enter until you get to the Linux prompt.)
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd. (When prompted, press enter until you get to the Linux prompt.)

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

Now, enjoying my 63HD hours!

[mikemav]

I am sorry if this had been asked millions of times before, but I am having a brain fart and can't remember. If I add a second drive in the future, is there a way to easily keep my existing recordings? Does marrying a second drive overwrite the existing programs? Thanks

[weaknees]

No--adding a second drive does not affect your settings or recordings. They all remain.

[aaronwt]

Hmm. I might try this. It seems simple enough. I'm going to be reconfiguring one of my PCs so I'll have my harddrives removed. This will be the perfect time to try it. Now If I can just find old win98 installation CD.
Does it have to be win98? Can it be winXP as long as it is FAT32? Or does Windows even need to be on the drive? Can it just be a hardrive that is formatted with FAT32?

Originally posted by gr8reb8
I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes. :cool:

From this page (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/support/bigdisk/index.html)
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/downloads/ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso)
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

Now, enjoying my 63HD hours!

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by aaronwt
Hmm. I might try this. It seems simple enough. I'm going to be reconfiguring one of my PCs so I'll have my harddrives removed. This will be the perfect time to try it. Now If I can just find old win98 installation CD.
Does it have to be win98? Can it be winXP as long as it is FAT32? Or does Windows even need to be on the drive? Can it just be a hardrive that is formatted with FAT32?

No need to have windows on the drive at all... the Boot CD just needs to be able to mount the hard drive where the backup file is going to be stored. A FAT32 drive is needed, or knowledge of the Linux file-system and an appropriate linux partition. For most people, a FAT32 hard drive is easier.

Also note, DO NOT boot into Windows XP or 2000 w/ a tivo hard disk connected to your system.

[LarryInAz]

Originally posted by dswallow
I don't know if anyone has ever received their repaired unit back; it's almost always just going to get swapped out with a different unit, not repaired.

And when that happens, your recordings will not be playable on the replacement DVR since the encryption hardware key is different on every unit. The most you'll have saved are your season pass, wishlist, and thumbs up/down data, plus whatever remains of the 28-day rule list, and your general configuration. All the recordings will be listed; none will be playable. You'll just have to delete them all.

Doug - just wanting to clarify what you're saying about the potential loss of programs. Just suppose D* sent me a replacement unit under my $7.99 service agreement. If I swap hard drives the programs that are stored on the original drive would not be watchable?

An inquiring mind...

[dswallow]

Originally posted by LarryInAz
Doug - just wanting to clarify what you're saying about the potential loss of programs. Just suppose D* sent me a replacement unit under my $7.99 service agreement. If I swap hard drives the programs that are stored on the original drive would not be watchable?

An inquiring mind...
Programs on a hard drive from one unit will be unwatchable if the hard drive is moved to a different unit.

[aaronwt]

Using this method, can the second drive, using bless TiVo, be added anytime or do both drives need to be installed at the same time?

Originally posted by gr8reb8
I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes. :cool:

From this page (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/support/bigdisk/index.html)
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/downloads/ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso)
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

Now, enjoying my 63HD hours!

[gr8reb8]

Originally posted by aaronwt
Using this method, can the second drive, using bless TiVo, be added anytime or do both drives need to be installed at the same time?


I believe that you can add the second drive anytime. In my case, I added it before ever powering on the Tivo.

[LarryInAz]

Originally posted by gr8reb8
I believe that you can add the second drive anytime. In my case, I added it before ever powering on the Tivo.

You are a brave soul ;)

[aaronwt]

When I back up my HDTiVo drives, how much space will that take? I have about 20 hours of HD on one, how much space will the backup take and how much spcae will the backup take if I delete all the recordings?

THANKS

[gr8reb8]

Originally posted by aaronwt
When I back up my HDTiVo drives, how much space will that take? I have about 20 hours of HD on one, how much space will the backup take and how much spcae will the backup take if I delete all the recordings?

THANKS

My guess would be 2/3 of 250Gb. About 160Gb-170Gb. I do not think it will be reduced by deleting. I seem to remember seeing messages earlier in this thread that discussed the command to use to only back up the operating system.

[Fletch]

Originally posted by gr8reb8
I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes. :cool:
[...]

If you plan to just put the original on a shelf, is there a reason to bother making a backup to a file? Couldn't you just put both drives in the machine and do something like this:

mfsbackup -f 9999 -o - /dev/hdc | mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi - /dev/hda

This eliminates the need to have a FAT32 drive lying around.

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by aaronwt
When I back up my HDTiVo drives, how much space will that take? I have about 20 hours of HD on one, how much space will the backup take and how much spcae will the backup take if I delete all the recordings?

THANKS

If you delete the recordings, the backup can be very small. I forget which compression setting I used, but my backup came out to be about 140 megs.

Also, there is a command in the mfsbackup that allows you to backup just the necessary info and skip the recordings. So you really don't need to delete them at all...

[seanmcgpa]

I'm having the hardest time getting the cover back on properly... any tips?

[k2ue]

Originally posted by seanmcgpa
I'm having the hardest time getting the cover back on properly... any tips?

You want to drop the cover straight down while it is about 1/2 inch to the rear of its final position, then push it forward until it contacts the back of the front panel. Take a look at the inside of the cover and notice what tabs and projections will mate with structures on the chassis.

[marcello696]

Ok please excuse my ignorance but I just want to add a 2nd 300GB hard drive to my HDTivo. WHat is the easiest way to do this.

[btwyx]

Originally posted by marcello696
Ok please excuse my ignorance but I just want to add a 2nd 300GB hard drive to my HDTivo. WHat is the easiest way to do this. Buy an upgrade from Weaknees or the other guys. (I've only done the Weaknees one.)

[marcello696]

Ok so I buy the bracket kit but when I get the 2nd HD what tools do I need to have it properly formatted to install it. I know this is an easy answer but I've been reading this thread and some of the lingo has me slightly confused.

[btwyx]

Originally posted by marcello696
Ok so I buy the bracket kit but when I get the 2nd HD what tools do I need to have it properly formatted to install it. I know this is an easy answer but I've been reading this thread and some of the lingo has me slightly confused. If you buy the complete kit, including the drive, from one of the upgraders, you don't need to do anything. Its just a question of plugging everything together.

You did ask what the easiest way to do it was, that's it.

[marcello696]

lol that is true :)

Let me change that by saying I want to purchase my own drive. So I guess just need the bracket and then whatever software to format the drive so I can install it.

[HDLouco]

Originally posted by marcello696
Ok so I buy the bracket kit but when I get the 2nd HD what tools do I need to have it properly formatted to install it. I know this is an easy answer but I've been reading this thread and some of the lingo has me slightly confused.

Read Post 652 a couple of pages back! And let me know how it works. I also have problems with Linux syntax, but Post 652 gives me the courage to try it one day. Godd luck to you!

[HDLouco]

Actually, that post 652 was on the previous page 33. Sorry!

[marcello696]

SO for a secondary drive this is all I need to do then correct:

Boot up ptv's lb48cd

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

[gr8reb8]

Yes. The only devices you would need on your IDE cables when doing this would be the cdrom on primary slave(hdb) and the new empty drive on secondary master.
When installing this new drive in the HDTiVo, I would also move the jumper on the existing drive (the one already in the HD TiVo) to "primary w/slave present".

[marcello696]

thanks this will be an easy install then.

[buckeye1010]

Originally posted by btwyx
If you buy the complete kit, including the drive, from one of the upgraders, you don't need to do anything. Its just a question of plugging everything together.

You did ask what the easiest way to do it was, that's it.

Btwyx is absolutely correct. Get a Weaknees kit - it's the easiest way to go. If you want the cheapest way to go, then read some of the previous posts.

[dropper]

Originally posted by seanmcgpa
I'm having the hardest time getting the cover back on properly... any tips?

If you installed the 9th Tee bracket, the cover might be catching on the left side (facing the front of the unit). If this is the case, you just need to work around it a bit and it should then slide together.

Keith

[tomr]

Well, I finally upgraded my HDTivo. I added a 250 gig WD. Fry's has them for $160.00 plus a $30.00 rebate. I bought mine from CC about a week ago. for $200 + $50.00 rebate. I went back to CC today and they price matched Frys so I actually got it for $100 after rebate.

I got the bracket from 9th Tee. Anyway, I followed the instructions here and I am pretty much a linux idiot but finally got yhe backup to work when a lightbulb went off and i remembered you have to mount the fat32 drive first! DUH!

After that I backed up, did a restore put the new drive into the TIVO to see if the restore worked, it did. Took it back out and blessed it Now I have a lean mean 63 hour HD recording machine! Just having a valid backup makes me feel better.

Runs at 41C soevery thing looks good now! Thanks for the tips!

[aaronwt]

How long is this partition check supposed to take? I just booted up with this iso image. I have a 250GB drive partitioned to 80GB FAT32 on the primary master and the CD rom on the primary slave.
I don't haVE THE HD-TiVo drive connected to the secondary master yet.
It booted from the CD but it has showed

Partition check:
hda: hd1 < hda5 >

for the last 5 minutes.
Is this normal?



Originally posted by gr8reb8
I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes. :cool:

From this page (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/support/bigdisk/index.html)
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD (http://www.ptvupgrade.com/downloads/ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso)
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

Now, enjoying my 63HD hours!

[aaronwt]

I finally got it to boot correctly but when I try to mount the drive using the commands listed above it says :


dev/hda1: Success
Mount: you must specify the filesystem type

Then when I try to backup it says backup failed.

So what am I doing wrong??

[gr8reb8]

If you have multiple partitions on the drive connected to primary master, you will most likely have to specify which partition.

mkdir /mnt/dos (Press enter after this command)

mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos (The 1 after hda is referring to partition 1 on this drive. So if partition 1 on this 250Gb drive is NTFS and you created the 80Gb partition as partition 2, the command would be mount /dev/hda2 /mnt/dos)


And I repeat, when I did this, I HAD to use the mkdir command listed above prior to the mount command before this would work.

[aaronwt]

Originally posted by gr8reb8
If you have multiple partitions on the drive connected to primary master, you will most likely have to specify which partition.

mkdir /mnt/dos (Press enter after this command)

mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos (The 1 after hda is referring to partition 1 on this drive. So if partition 1 on this 250Gb drive is NTFS and you created the 80Gb partition as partition 2, the command would be mount /dev/hda2 /mnt/dos)


And I repeat, when I did this, I HAD to use the mkdir command listed above prior to the mount command before this would work.


Yes I did this. I also had only one partition on the drive. It's a 250GB drive and I made one 80GB FAT32 partition at the beginning of the drive.
After I typed those commands is when the screen showed

dev/hda1: Success
Mount: you must specify the filesystem type

I made the partition a logical partition. Does it need to be a primary partitiion?

[gr8reb8]

It might be simpler to make it a primary partition. The other option is to search through the threads and look for possible command line options. Good grief, Linux sure has a few..... I have seen some messages mention VFat as an option. I like to keep things simple. Primary partition.

[aaronwt]

I will try it again tonight. Thanks

[gsmith66]

1) Buy HR10-250 from Circuit City website during a lucky window
2) Order up two 300G drives from Weaknees
3) Open boxes
4) Crack the case on the HR10-250, don't even bother plugging it in first.
5) Remove original drive, put in a safe place in case you blow everything up and have to send unit back because it was "DOA"
6) Make poor mans brackets for drives, I stacked them on on top of each other with as much space as I could between the drives and still be able to place the cover on. Runs cool.
7) Plug in and boot it up
8) Sit back and be amazed with HDTV, 77 Hours of HD or 550+ of SD.
9) Thank you Weaknees

[Rew452]

I am getting my HR 10-250 tomorrow!!!! and need to know if it is better backup drive before activating or after? Or does it matter; when that is?

I plan on adding a 200gb Maxtor but not until it has time to burn-in and get checked out.

Any good advice on this?

Rew

[pbolya]

Originally posted by Rew452
I am getting my HR 10-250 tomorrow!!!! and need to know if it is better backup drive before activating or after? Or does it matter; when that is?

I plan on adding a 200gb Maxtor but not until it has time to burn-in and get checked out.

Any good advice on this?

Rew If you activate it and update your settings maybe even add some season passes (they are still playing reruns for most of the shows) then these will be backed up too and you don't have to set it up from scratch if you need to restore. Also you only have to take it apart once when you are ready to do the upgrade. If it fails within the first month or so you would return it anyway for a replacement so the backup wouldn't do you any good anyway. If it fails after the upgrade than at least you have all your settings already on the backup so you do not have to go through the initial setup again.

[aaronwt]

This is annoying now. I'm having the exact same problems where it says

dev/hda1: Success
Mount: you must specify the filesystem type

I made the 80GB partition the primary but the results are the same.

[aaronwt]

I guess I'll have to go back to my original plan and send the both drives to Weaknees. The only thing is I'll have to wait for the bracket since when they do both drives, they have to be insatlled together. I was hoping I would be able to copy my drive and install the new hard drive now. And when the bracket came, i would install the second drive.
Any one have some ideas on how to solve my problem?

[pbolya]

Originally posted by aaronwt
I guess I'll have to go back to my original plan and send the both drives to Weaknees. The only thing is I'll have to wait for the bracket since when they do both drives, they have to be insatlled together. I was hoping I would be able to copy my drive and install the new hard drive now. And when the bracket came, i would install the second drive.
Any one have some ideas on how to solve my problem? aaronwt,
flapbreaker had the same problem in post 513. Maybe he can help you.

[aaronwt]

I wish I saw that post earlier. thanks anyway.
I already put the WD drive back in the HD-TiVo. Maybe I'll try again next month.

[Runch Machine]

I upgraded my HD-Tivo successfully. I used the CD downloaded from PTV. I followed the Hinsdale instructions as, I have before when upgrading SD DirecTivos and then used BlessTiVo after testing the backup to bless the second drive.

I bought two Maxtor 250 gig HDs at Best Buy, on sale for $160 each. I backup the original Western Digital drive and then restored onto one of the Maxtors. Then I installed the Maxtor and tested it for a few minutes. Then I used BlessTiVo to set up the second drive. I installed them into the HD-Tivo and it shows 63 hours of HD storage. I did this on Sunday. Wednesday my mounting kit came from 9thTee. I installed it according to their directions and the Tivo is closed up and running normally. Temperature after 3 hours is at 43 degrees, which is the same temp I got before adding the second drive. That is a pleasant surprice. The Tivo sits on the self under my Sony KDF70XBR950 so it has plenty of air circulation. It was interesting to me that while the Tivo was running with the top off, while I was waiting for the kit from 9th Tee, that the temp ran around 48 degrees.

The only issue I ran into was the drive IDE cable. First I plugged the blue plug into the slave drive, the center plug into the mother board and the end plug into the original drive. The Tivo would not boot up. It stayed at the first powering up screen. This happened even though I had the drives properly jumpered as master and slave. When I plugged the blue plug into the mother board and the other plugs into the disk drives, the Tivo came up normally. I was able to fold the drive cable so that it takes up very little room. I used the drive cable the came with one of the Maxtor drives.

I liked the kit from 9th tee. It was easy to install and there is no additional noise from the HD-Tivo. The Maxtor drives have FDB motors. I did remove the plastic part that holds the two coax cables together that go into the digital over the air tuners. It didn't seem to serve any purpose and it was somewhat in the way of the new bracket.

[weaknees]

Originally posted by Runch Machine
The only issue I ran into was the drive IDE cable. First I plugged the blue plug into the slave drive, the center plug into the mother board and the end plug into the original drive. The Tivo would not boot up. It stayed at the first powering up screen. This happened even though I had the drives properly jumpered as master and slave. When I plugged the blue plug into the mother board and the other plugs into the disk drives, the Tivo came up normally. I was able to fold the drive cable so that it takes up very little room. I used the drive cable the came with one of the Maxtor drives.

Right - you can use the cables a few different ways, but not with the motherboard in the middle of the cable. The expected way is to do blue to motherboard, gray to slave, and black to master. You can do a few different combinations beyond that, but only with the drives jumpered as master and slave - the way I just mentioned is the only way that will work with cable select.

Michael

[robroy90]

Just wanted to remind everyone most of the "Good Deals" you are getting on drives from local retailers generally only have a one year warranty.

Unless the "deal" is just incredible, and I feel like rolling the dice with the rebates, I just get my drives from a place like newegg.com - most of their drives are OEM and have a 3 year warranty, well worth the extra $10-15 in my book.

Hope that helps. I am waiting to see if my HDMI is going to die on mine before upgrading.

Rob

[stuartcs]

Thanks for all of the useful information.

I learned the "read the entire thread first" lesson the hard way and it's worth reiterating what was the point for me.

I have a Compaq Deskpro P3-866 that I have used to upgrade and hack my SD-DTiVo. Throughout that process I had both drives (FAT32 and TIVO) connected to the primary controller cable. I modified the MFSTools and other commands appropriately and everything worked.

When it came to backing up and upgrading my HD10-250. I tried the same approach (both drives on the primary IDE controller). Although the PC BIOS reported the WD 250 Gb drive size as 137 Gb, the MFSTools boot CD reported the correct size. But I too got stuck at the "scanning drive" point and after about 6 hours of trial and failure, including an unsuccessful new drive controller install, I nearly gave up. Then I went back to this thread and found the posts about having the drives on separate IDE controllers. Lesson learned.

Thanks again.

[aaronwt]

I wish mine would have turned out OK!.
Does it matter if I use a VIA chipset or INTEL?
It would see my drives and everything, but it kept saying something about the filesystem. I might have to put together a system, just so I can do this.
Again, does it matter about being a VIA or INTEL chipsset.

[pbolya]

Originally posted by robroy90
Just wanted to remind everyone most of the "Good Deals" you are getting on drives from local retailers generally only have a one year warranty.

Unless the "deal" is just incredible, and I feel like rolling the dice with the rebates, I just get my drives from a place like newegg.com - most of their drives are OEM and have a 3 year warranty, well worth the extra $10-15 in my book.

Hope that helps. I am waiting to see if my HDMI is going to die on mine before upgrading.

Rob robroy90,
I am not a cheep person. If I would I would not have a 42" Sony Plasma with 7.1 surround and HDTiVo. But if I have to choose between buying the same reputable drive for $129 with 1 year warranty and $195 with 3 years warranty I'll take the 1 year in a heartbeat. I have bought over 1TB worth of hard disks over the last 2 years (7 WD's and 1 Maxtor) all with 1 year warranty and had no problem with any of them. But even in the very unlikely event that something goes wrong after the first year you already saved $71 ! chances are that a year or two from now that is all it will take to buy a brand new one! So I do not consider it a risk at all. In fact I saved over $500 on the 8 drives. That alone would buy me 4 x 250MB = 1TB today! You have to look for good prices. That is your number 1 warranty. You may get a 3 year warranty with newegg.com but with the incredible deals and the falling prices the money saved on deals will warrant your drive forever.

And by the way you are most likely to experience problems in the first couple of month after you installed the drive. It is much less likely to have a problem on the 2nd and 3rd years.

[aaronwt]

I currently have over 5TB of storage in use in my PCs, all Maxtor. And another terabyte of Maxtor waiting to be put in my HD-TiVos. I've only had one problem with one Maxtor drive(replaced under the 1 year warr)out of over 40 i've used these last 6 years.

[robroy90]

Pbolya,

I didn't mean to imply anyone (yourself included) was "cheap".

What I was trying to point out, and stand behind, is often times the price difference you referenced between a retail (1 year warranty, typically) and OEM (3 year warranty, typically) is generally FAR LESS than $70 or so.

In fact:

WD 250GB Hard Drive @ compusa.com with 1 year warranty: $199 (http://www.compusa.com/products/product_info.asp?product_code=302473&pfp=BROWSE)

WD 250GB Hard Drive @ newegg.com with 3 year warranty: $174.00 (http://www.newegg.com/app/ViewProductDesc.asp?description=22-144-309&depa=1)

In this particular case, the newegg drive is cheaper, with free shipping and no sales tax. Even if one was to find a really good retail deal with a rebate you will wait weeks for, my point is that even at a $25-30 premium for the OEM drive, I would still pay it to get the 3 year warranty.

I have already been burned by the 1 year warranty, and was faced with spending the savings I thought I had retained all over again.

It's a sad state of affairs that the drive manufacturers play this game, but I have learned how to play it effectively now.

Good luck to you, I hope you fair better than I did. I was merely trying to point out my experiences and save others from the hassles I experienced.

Rob

[Richard Chalk]

Today CompUSA has store-branded Maxtor 250 G for $129, no rebates, just an in-store discount.

You have to watch for the deals!!!

[Rew452]

Thanks!
I took advantage of it.

Rew

[aaronwt]

Hopefully they'll have some left tomorrow evening. I need to get one more so i will have four of them.

[RC3105]

there's a thread on the "other forum" about problems using maxtor drives in tivos

in a nutshell - maxtor will void your warrenty if you use 'em in a pvr

$129 is an expensive paperweight...

[litzdog911]

Originally posted by RC3105
there's a thread on the "other forum" about problems using maxtor drives in tivos

in a nutshell - maxtor will void your warrenty if you use 'em in a pvr

$129 is an expensive paperweight...

Maxtor honored the warranty on a 120GB drive that I had used the first time I upgraded by Sony SAT-T60. It failed the PowerMax diagnostics and they replaced it within 3 days, all via their Web site.

[LarryInAz]

Originally posted by RC3105
there's a thread on the "other forum" about problems using maxtor drives in tivos

in a nutshell - maxtor will void your warrenty if you use 'em in a pvr

$129 is an expensive paperweight...

A link to this thread would be appreciated...

[mercurial]

Originally posted by RC3105
there's a thread on the "other forum" about problems using maxtor drives in tivos

in a nutshell - maxtor will void your warrenty if you use 'em in a pvr

$129 is an expensive paperweight...

That seems to be a slippery slope for them from a consumer confidence and trust perspective. And what constitutes a PVR? Is it just special purpose boxes (TiVos, Replays, etc.) or does an HTPC with a video capture card count? How about a "normal" PC that has video capture capabilities that are used occasionally to archive a DVD of a show and/or is used for editing home movies?

[aaronwt]

How would they know you used it in a PVR? Is that listed in the warranty?

[pbolya]

Originally posted by robroy90
I didn't mean to imply anyone (yourself included) was "cheap".

I know you did not. I was just saying that to make a point.

What I was trying to point out, and stand behind, is often times the price difference you referenced between a retail (1 year warranty, typically) and OEM (3 year warranty, typically) is generally FAR LESS than $70 or so.
If you wake up one day and you just have to have a disk in the next couple of hours you might not find a deal that fast. But when I needed a disk I always found one $70 cheaper within 2 to 3 weeks and I only look at 2 stores: Fry's and Comp USA. That is well worth the wait. If I look at the last 2 month there where hardly any days when there wasn't at least a $159 deal on a 250GB but most of the time the $129 was also available. I usually buy disks in bulk at Christmas where the deals are just in sane. And even though I can not wait for that long to upgrade my HDTivo I already have a Maxtor ready for $129. I am hoping I can get a couple of 300GB for $200 a piece or a 400GB for $300 by September when I am forced to upgrade.

I know I am a gambler but with these insane deals becoming so standard it seems that the gamble is to buy the extended warranty these days. Again I am up over $500 in 2 years and I can replace the same total GB once and I will still break even. This way I virtually have life time warranty which is better than 3 years in my book. Not to mention that I can use the money in the meantime.

This is what I always did. I usually by Sony product 80% of the time and never bought an extended warranty in my life. Since I have not paid a penny on out of warranty repairs the last 10 years the savings probably totaled at least $2000 probably even more (I am a gadget freak and I just have to have everything). Now I can be confident that even if the sky is falling and most of my stuff goes south I still break even.

Let's be clear I am not telling anybody to not to by insurance especially on high cost equipments but this strategy is working for me and I could buy much more stuff because of it. What I am saying though is that with disk drives the exact same drive can be bought for much less money with very little or no risk at all. I am not the only one either aaronwt says he bought 6TB of disk space in the last couple of years and I am willing to bet that he bought most of them on special deals with savings similar than mine.

[RC3105]

Originally posted by LarryInAz
A link to this thread would be appreciated...

sorry, the management here has decided the other forum is evil or something. they even go so far as to censor links in pm's

a google search for "database, deal, tivo" should turn it up ;)

someone had a horrible experience with maxtor & was kind enough to post a warning - maxtor seems to have decided they can't afford to honor consumer warranties when drives are used in "extreme" conditions like servers or pvr's. the poor guy had to deal with the legal dept for simple rma

[aaronwt]

That person eventually got both his drives replaced by Maxtor. Bottom line, don't tell them you used it in a TiVo. They will honor the warranty without any problems. I still haven't seen these problems with the Maxtors. I'm using over 2 dozen Maxtor drives currently. They are all fine. I have 4 ready to go into my two HDTiVos. I just picked up the 4th one from Compusa last night for $130.

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by aaronwt
That person eventually got both his drives replaced by Maxtor. Bottom line, don't tell them you used it in a TiVo.

Exactly! It shouldn't matter where the drives are being used... What if you built a computer as a DVR? Are they going to tell you the warranty does not apply then?

[tivoupgrade]

Why not just consider using a different brand of hard drive until Maxtor gets their problems sorted out?

I would not be so eager to give them our business/money if we had to lie, or misrepresent the truth, to get warranty support.

[jayerndl]

It's odd that Maxtor would claim that a DVR environment is too demanding for their drives. Both of my SD Directivos came with Maxtor drives. Unless their written warranty specifically states thet DVR use is not covered, I doubt they can really enforce this. I do agree with tivoupgrade that people should vote with their wallet and buy another brand if Maxtor actually starts doing this as a standard practice.

Jay

[jerrymc]

Rather than clutter this thread with discussion of the Maxtor warranty, you guys should really search the other forum for the thread in question and read it. All the points you're making have already been thoroughly dissected there. Bottom line was the guy who posted got a CSR moron who thought he knew it all and it soon became a personal p*ssing match.

It's an aberration, guys. Don't sweat it.

-Jerry

[pbolya]

I do not think you can find a single manufacture who does not have a story like that. In my view this has blown out of proportion. CSR's are CSR's. Just look at D*. How many threads tell horror stories about dealing with D* CSR's. This is a problem with the industry not with Maxtor. Maxtor and WD are the most reputable HD manufacturars. I would like to see Maxtor not honoring my warranty for any reason! The best way to deal with CSR's like that is hang up and dial again. 99% of the time you get a different CSR who is willing to work with you or has better knowledge (or worth whichever you looking for) about there properer procedures. Most importantly never get into a pissing contest with a CSR! You can only lose (even if you win he/she will take years of your life). I use to buy WD's but that is only because they got the best price when I was looking. I bought a Maxtor 250 for $129 a month ago because at that time they where the ones with the better deal and I do not lose any sleep over it.

[such]

Well, I'm a Tivo rookie, just got my Hd-Tivo last week. Have my Weaknees bracket on order & I'm shopping for a drive. Folks here have discussed 250Gb, 300Gb & 400Gb ATA and SATA drives. My question is this:

What's the minimum spec on a HD for the HD-Tivo, will a 5400rpm work, do you need to buy a quickview version, will an ATA133 be OK?

Also, where can I find BlessTivo?

Sorry if all these have been answered somewhere else.

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by such
Well, I'm a Tivo rookie, just got my Hd-Tivo last week. Have my Weaknees bracket on order & I'm shopping for a drive. Folks here have discussed 250Gb, 300Gb & 400Gb ATA and SATA drives. My question is this:

What's the minimum spec on a HD for the HD-Tivo, will a 5400rpm work, do you need to buy a quickview version, will an ATA133 be OK?

Also, where can I find BlessTivo?

Sorry if all these have been answered somewhere else.

You can use any ATA133 drive; Maxtor is the popular choice right now. Western Digital will work fine, too. It doesn't matter whether its a 5400 RPM, or a 7200 RPM drive; it doesn't matter whether its a QuickView drive or not. Plenty of religious discussions on what is superior about one or the other, but the reality is that it truly doesn't matter, and individual opinions and experiences are no more than that.

As for BlessTiVo, you can use our LBA48 CD which you can download from our site for free.

Lou

[weaknees]

I would caution that the above statement is, again, an opinion, just as the poster dismisses all other discussions as opinions. TiVo's opinion is that PVR-specific drives do matter.

By the way SATA drives don't work - they must be old-fashioned ATA.

Michael

[such]

That helps, thanks.

I have 1Tb of Maxtor drives in my server/HiPix raid array & have been happy with them. Surprised 5400rpm drives will work, but will use them for cost reasons unless I find a similarly price 7200rpm.

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by weaknees
I would caution that the above statement is, again, an opinion, just as the poster dismisses all other discussions as opinions. TiVo's opinion is that PVR-specific drives do matter.

By the way SATA drives don't work - they must be old-fashioned ATA.

Michael

I'll ignore that flame, as well as the sweeping generalization that just followed it.

Those who know PTVupgrade's history will also know that it is a well-founded opinion that is backed up by four years of good practices.

[dswallow]

Originally posted by tivoupgrade
I'll ignore that flame, as well as the sweeping generalization that just followed it.

Those who know PTVupgrade's history will also know that it is a well-founded opinion that is backed up by four years of good practices.
It's not impossible to consider that as the software exists right now a 5400RPM drive is quite sufficient, as in practice people are using them and they work.

But perhaps with some functionality TiVo has implemented but DirecTV has not approved or contracted for release (HMO, for instance), more capable drives are required to maintain a necessary margin of error.

Who knows. It's conjecture. All we really know is that 5400RPM drives work right now just fine.

[DCIFRTHS]

Originally posted by dswallow
It's not impossible to consider that as the software exists right now a 5400RPM drive is quite sufficient, as in practice people are using them and they work.

But perhaps with some functionality TiVo has implemented but DirecTV has not approved or contracted for release (HMO, for instance), more capable drives are required to maintain a necessary margin of error.

Who knows. It's conjecture. All we really know is that 5400RPM drives work right now just fine.

What do the DirecTiVo's ship with? 5400 or 7200 RPM drives?

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by DCIFRTHS
What do the DirecTiVo's ship with? 5400 or 7200 RPM drives?

Both. Series1 DirecTiVo units came with 5400 RPM drives, as do most Series2 DirecTiVo units. The HR10-250 comes with a 7200RPM drive.

[dwynne]

Originally posted by weaknees
Well, we've started taking pre-orders (http://www.weaknees.com/twinbreeze_hd.php) for the bracket because we're fairly certain we'll see our air shipment sometime in early July - possibly even a bit sooner. We're not promising a date, but anyone who has bought our "early adopter" upgrade kit is definitely getting one in the first shipment.

Michael

Any news on when these will start shipping?

Dennis

[weaknees]

We're fairly sure that we'll have them in late next week at this point. We increased our initial order so that we will have enough to cover all current orders, plus our projected orders until more arrive by sea, so if you order now, you should have no problem getting one from next week's shipment.

Michael

[dwynne]

I am already in the queue :)

I am planning on taking out the OEM drive and saving it. I have found a deal on 1 replacement drive and I am watching for a deal on a 2nd. So if I had the bracket in my hand right now I would not use it (yet) - but you never know when the next deal will fall into your lap.

Thanks,
Dennis

[Mark Lopez]

Sorry if I missed it somewhere in this thread, but does anyone know for sure if you can use the same backup in a different unit (doing a clear and delete like previous models)?

[weaknees]

Originally posted by Mark Lopez
Sorry if I missed it somewhere in this thread, but does anyone know for sure if you can use the same backup in a different unit (doing a clear and delete like previous models)?

Yes, you definitely can.

Michael

[slocko]

any idea of when the upgrade bracket will ship????? anxiously waiting.

[weaknees]

Originally posted by slocko
any idea of when the upgrade bracket will ship????? anxiously waiting.

Hopefully the bracket will be here and shipping late next week.

Michael

[aaronwt]

Any word on images with logos? If I get my blank drives configured at Weaknees, I would like to make sure that I get the logos like both my HD-TiVos have.

[weaknees]

That's actually a very good question since we've been working on that a bit. I think we've got an idea as to what's going on with the logos, and that is that a Clear and Delete Everything may remove them.

Has anyone out there gotten logos AFTER a Clear and Delete Everything?

Michael

[Gomer Pyle]

Originally posted by weaknees
I think we've got an idea as to what's going on with the logos, and that is that a Clear and Delete Everything may remove them.

Has anyone out there gotten logos AFTER a Clear and Delete Everything?

Michael

I assume the "Contact" question I sent you via your website earlier this morning puts me in the "we've" group? I did send you the link to the post that states a C&D will delete logos, and they won't come back until a software upgrade comes through. Since the HD units don't have an upgrade available, they won't get logos back until one comes out. That does NOT explain why Virgin units don't have logo's though...

Here is the essence of my note to Weaknees:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=184047

[weaknees]

Caught in the spam filter - sorry. But that's basically our conclusion also - any time an image gets a C&D, the logos are gone, whether it goes to the same machine or a different one.

And, yes, our drives are set at C&D before shipping.

Michael

[dwynne]

If I take out my HDTivo OEM drive and replace it with 2 new drives (on my Twin Breeze bracket) and do the normal backup/restore/marry procedures then I should still have logos - right?

Thanks!
Dennis

[weaknees]

Right - if you go from your own drives to the new drive.

[tomr]

Originally posted by weaknees
I would caution that the above statement is, again, an opinion, just as the poster dismisses all other discussions as opinions. TiVo's opinion is that PVR-specific drives do matter.

By the way SATA drives don't work - they must be old-fashioned ATA.

Michael

I find this statement VERY misleading since the HR10-250 comes with a non-specific HD such as the WesternDigital 2meg Cache version, or did those $1300 HR10-250's you were selling come with PVR specific HD's?

[weaknees]

Those HDs were definitely WD's line of drives for PVRs. They have a "55" in the part number. The full number is WD2500LB-55EDA0. You won't find "55" drives available for retail sale, and if you talk to a WD sales rep (who came to our office for this specific issue) they will tell you that these drives were specifically made for PVRs because they have different characteristics.

Michael

[gr8reb8]

Originally posted by weaknees
Those HDs were definitely WD's line of drives for PVRs. They have a "55" in the part number. The full number is WD2500LB-55EDA0. You won't find "55" drives available for retail sale, and if you talk to a WD sales rep (who came to our office for this specific issue) they will tell you that these drives were specifically made for PVRs because they have different characteristics.

Michael

Did you ask what specific characteristics are different?
Is it like Migraine Excedrin. What is the difference between the standard "extra strength Excedrin" and "Migraine Excedrin"?
The instructions are different, the UPC is different, the price is different, the packaging is different, but, the stuff is exactly the same. :rolleyes:

[weaknees]

Yes, we did. Same features that Maxtor adds to the QuickView drives, and that WD added to the Performer line, when they called them that. Three key differences: quieter, cooler, different error recovery.

Michael

[aaronwt]

But the regular drives will still work fine instead won't they? I've already bought my 4 drives(Maxtor 250GB 7200rpm), I just need to purchase your drive service and send them to you(2 at a time) so you can prepare them for the HD-TiVo. Then once the bracket gets shipped I'll be ready ton do the install.

[weaknees]

They should probably work generally without problems - albeit at higher temperatures. The fan on the bracket should mitigate that a bit.

Our view is just that with a unit that costs $1k (and is basically irreplaceable at the moment) why take chances.

Michael

[Mark Lopez]

This is the same thing that I wanted to do (original drive tucked away). Thanks for posting the specific instuctions. It worked perfectly. Backup of the virgin drive took about 5 minutes and restore took about 10. The whole thing from popping the case to powering up with the new drive took about 30 minutes. :)


Originally posted by gr8reb8
I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes.

From this page
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

[tomr]

Originally posted by weaknees
Yes, we did. Same features that Maxtor adds to the QuickView drives, and that WD added to the Performer line, when they called them that. Three key differences: quieter, cooler, different error recovery.

Michael

The "Performer Line" came out in '99 so I imagine any technology developed back then is incorporated in ALL their drives now or has been replaced with newer technology.

[tomr]

Originally posted by weaknees
They should probably work generally without problems - albeit at higher temperatures. The fan on the bracket should mitigate that a bit.

Our view is just that with a unit that costs $1k (and is basically irreplaceable at the moment) why take chances.

Michael

Added an WD2500JBRTL temp didn't change one degree. Still runs at 44C. No additional cooling. $159.00 @ CC in-store price plus $40 rebate.

[weaknees]

Originally posted by tomr
The "Performer Line" came out in '99 so I imagine any technology developed back then is incorporated in ALL their drives now or has been replaced with newer technology.

The point is that the Performer/55/QuickView lines aren't superior to desktop IDE drives in every way - but that they are specifically tailored to the PVR environment.

In a desktop environment, you need every single bit on the drive to be perfect. If one is bad, you need the drive to wait and retry, otherwise your Excel spreadsheet is toast. But on a PVR drive, do you care about one bit? Not if it's in the audio track of The Screensavers - you won't even notice. What you want is for the drive to move past it and NOT try to re-read it until it gets it right - otherwise you get stutters.

Next, you'd want a large cache on a desktop drive, but a cache is basically useless when you are pumping video through the drive right?

Nobody wants all of these "features" in one drive - you want the ones you need where you need them.

So WD likely (hopefully) hasn't put these features in all of their drives.

Michael

[Runch Machine]

I upgraded my HD-Tivo by using BlessTiVo and adding a 250 gig Maxtor Drive. I backup the HD-Tivo prior to activating it. I now have the matching Western Digital drive and I would like to install that as the B drive instead of the Maxtor. Can I just remove the Maxtor, Bless the WD and install it? If not, what should I do to accomplish this? I'd prefer not to go back to the backup.

[weaknees]

No - you need to do a full restore.

Restore the A drive with the "-zi" switch only, then bless the new B drive and add it.

Or you can DD the Maxtor to the WD if the WD is at least as large.

Michael