Upgrade issue

[mumpower]

Hi, I am trying to replace a TiVo 540xx 40 hour unit with a new Seagate 300 GB unit. When I attempt to do the MFS Backup using ptvlba48-4.04, I get this message:

/mnt/dos/tivo.bak: Read-only file system

I have the devices set as:

hda: windows master
hdb: new hard drive
hdc: cd-rom
hdd: TiVo master

I have input these commands:

mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos
mfsbackup -f9999 -6so /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdd

I have never had this happen before. What am I doing wrong?

[funtoupgrade]

hda needs to have an FAT32 partition as the first partition on your Windows drive which it apparently does not.

[mumpower]

Is there anything I can do here or can I not do a back-up?

[Dkerr24]

You can't back it up without a FAT32 partition. You could always keep the old 40gb drive as your 'backup'.

[mumpower]

Okay, that's a great idea.

Second issue I've never experienced before (series 1s were so much easier to upgrade, I swear): I did the DD copy and all of the files transferred over and work well. I didn't get any error results, so I thought everything was perfect. When I check in my system information, though, the TiVo still shows a 40 hour maximum. The drive showed correctly in linux (300.1 GB) and didn't need gunlock, but it's not reporting correctly now. How do I fix this?

[mumpower]

Any help on this? Upon reflection, if I am doing an exact duplicate of what was on the prior hard drive, it makes sense to see the 40 hour read-out. How do I make sure the TiVo realizes there is a much larger hard drive there and displays as such?

[MungoJerrie]

In your example with your new tivo drive at /dev/hdb

mfsadd -x /dev/hdb

or substitute whatever device you have the new tivo drive connected to...

[mumpower]

I'm not adding a hard drive. I'm replacing one. So, the mfsadd isn't used. Instead, it's:

dd if=/dev/hdd of=/dev/hdb bs=1024k

The instruction executed fine and the files have been copied over to the new, larger drive. The problem is that the system still shows as 40 hours. This makes sense in that it's a direct copy of the old drive. What I am trying to find out is how to make the system recognize the new space.

[HomeUser]

You made a binary copy of the drive with dd now you need to run the mfsadd program to add the extra partitions for the larger drive.

I suggest you start over and create a larger swap partition of at least 150 using MFSTools piped backup | restore

NOTE: creating a swap larger then -s 127 requires a fix using tpip.

[mumpower]

Okay, in that case, I owe Mungo Jerrie an apology. Your answer was above my head.

Now then, I need to pause for a moment and take inventory. You are saying to use tpip. I just looked at Hinsdale's How-To guide. This command isn't even listed there. What does it do and what is the syntax needed? Are you saying I need to format the hard drive and start from scratch? Is it too late to use the mfsadd -x /dev/hdb command on the new drive? What are the advantages and disadvantages at this point?

I would like to get to the point where the conversations on the upgrade page are not over my head, but I'm clearly not close to being there yet.

[HomeUser]

You could use mfsadd and expand the new drive I suggest that you try it now then test the drive in the TiVo to get the feel for what is going on.

The swap partition copied from the original hard drive is too small for the 300G of storage. The TiVo will probably work fine until something causes the TiVo to re-index it's database. When TiVo does the reindexing because there is not enough scratch area (swap partition) to index all the extra data you will get the feared Green Screen of Death. From the trial and error of many users of this forum a rough rule for swap size is use 1/2 of the drive(s) size in Gigabytes example a 160G HD the swap should be at least -s 80 (80M) your drive is 300G so use a value of -s 150 or larger.

I suggest you start over from the original drive using the "piped" mfsbackup | mfsrestore and increase the size of the swap partition using mfsrestore's -s option.

There is a known problem with mfsrestore creating swap partitions larger then 127. mfsrestore creates the partition on the hard drive and the partition is marked as swap however it is not properly formatted this is where the tpip program is needed to fix the partition. Google or do a search of this forum for tpip.

Formatting of the drive for the TiVo is not required Mfsrestore takes care of that.


A good guide to use is Interactive TiVo Upgrade Instructions (http://tivo.upgrade-instructions.com/index.php) from WeaKnees one of this forums sponsors. The instructions use 127 for the swap partition which may be ok, however I would hate to loose 300+ hrs of TiVo recordings because of an software update or power failure and you may want to allow for adding a second drive later.

[mumpower]

Clarifying: would just using the mfsadd solve the problem of green screen you are describing?

I ask because your solution of using mfsbackup won't work for me unless I'm missing something since I don't have the fat 32 partition at the front of my windows drive.

Let's assume I could, though. Where would I implement the command you mention? I realize that for people who have been long time readers of this board, it's second nature. For those of you who haven't, though, catching up is problematic. You say:

"I suggest you start over from the original drive using the "piped" mfsbackup | mfsrestore and increase the size of the swap partition using mfsrestore's -s option."

Are you saying to take this command:

mfsrestore -s 127 -bzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdb

And alter it to something like:

mfsrestore -s 150 -bzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdb (for 300GB)
mfsrestore -s 160 -bzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdb (for 320GB)
mfsrestore -s 200 -bzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdb (for 400GB)
mfsrestore -s 250 -bzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdb (for 500GB)
mfsrestore -s 375 -bzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdb (for 750GB)

Do I have the command line and the general parameters correct?

Now then, let's say I want to start from scratch. Is there a command in the iso that re-formats the hard drive? And let's say I have an unformatted hard drive lying around (which I do). How would I guarantee the fat32 partition at the start?

We've recently ditched old TiVos and are upgrading three in coming days. So, I want to learn the process and get it streamlined.

Thanks for your help so far and thanks in advance to anyone who offers further thoughts and suggestions.

[HomeUser]

Clarifying: would just using the mfsadd solve the problem of green screen you are describing? No, mfsadd just adds a couple of extra partitions for storage of videos does nothing for the swap partition.

Is there a command in the iso that re-formats the hard drive?There is no need mfsrestore overwrites the destination drive with the data from the the input destroying any previous data that may of been on the hard drive. the mfsrestore only needs to be run once.
mfsrestore -s 375 -bzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdb (for 750GB)

Do I have the command line and the general parameters correct?Your command is getting the input from tivo.bak a file that you do not have. There are other input options that receive the data directly from the output of mfsbackup this is the "pipped" backup | restore. The pipped backup | restore command line would look like mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hda | mfsrestore -s 150 -xzpi - /dev/hdc when drives are connected original TiVo drive /dev/hda (primary master) and the new 300G destination drive is /dev/hdc (secondary master). The options for mfstools are explained in this thread New MFS Tools features, and a question (http://archive2.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=2651877&&#post2651877)

note: that I used the 'x' (expand) option in mfsrestore there is no need to run mfsadd after.

[HomeUser]

If you really want to make the backup file you can create a FAT32 partition on the new 300G drive from windows boot Linux make your backup to that drive. Then from Windows copy the .bak file to your NTFS partition for archival. When you do the mfsrestore to the new drive the FAT partition will be destroyed.

WARNING: Do not boot Windows with the original TiVo drive installed or the new drive after it is ready for the TiVo.

[mumpower]

Okay, thanks for the clarification. Studying these posts as well as examining the tpip thread yesterday, I got the upgrade figured out and completed. Thanks to you and Mungo Jerrie for your assistance, guidance and tutelage.

[mumpower]

Follow-up question: if I wanted to now add a 300 or 400 GB hard drive to this TiVo, would I need to do anything other than execute this command:

mfsadd -r 4 -x /dev/hdX /dev/hdZ

How does the GSOD issue factor in with the second drive of a twin drive TiVo?

[mumpower]

Anyone?

And while I'm at it, are there any command line differences in upgrading a dual tuner?

[HomeUser]

Follow-up question: if I wanted to now add a 300 or 400 GB hard drive to this TiVo, would I need to do anything other than execute this command:

mfsadd -r 4 -x /dev/hdX /dev/hdZ Yes mfsadd -r 4 -x /dev/hdX /dev/hdZ will create the partitions on the 'B' drive (hdZ).

How does the GSOD issue factor in with the second drive of a twin drive TiVo? No problem if you allowed for the addition of the second drive when you made the swap partition. How big did you make it?

JFWIW The correct swap size is really unknown. The 1M for each 2G rule is just an interpolation form the different default swap sizes TiVo used on the 40, 80, 120 Gig TiVos and some trial and error. The there is still no proof that you need more then the 127M swap a lot of upgraders are using 300 and 400G drives with the 127M default value. I figure it is better to be safe a couple of hundred meg results in only minutes of recording time and it is difficult to increase it later.

are there any command line differences in upgrading a dual tuner? None that I know of.

[mumpower]

Yes mfsadd -r 4 -x /dev/hdX /dev/hdZ will create the partitions on the 'B' drive (hdZ).

No problem if you allowed for the addition of the second drive when you made the swap partition. How big did you make it?


I used 200 for a 400GB drive. If I put in another 400 GB drive, is it covered or should I have sized for future expansion? What I am asking is whether the command line of 200 covers one drive only or both drives?



I figure it is better to be safe a couple of hundred meg results in only minutes of recording time and it is difficult to increase it later.


I completely agree with you.

[HomeUser]

Probably should of allowed for the expansion. Hopefully someone with dual 4 or 500's will post on there swap size experiences.