HDVR2 stuck on "Almost there. Just a few moments more."

[mtnagel]

My daughter said she was having problems with here HDVR2. I don't recall what was wrong, but I pulled out the unit and figured I'd restart it by unplugging it and plugging it back in. So I did that last night and it still was stuck at the "Almost there" screen. Any ideas what's wrong?

[Dkerr24]

Bad hard drive would be the most likely problem.

[mtnagel]

Bad hard drive would be the most likely problem.I've never cracked one open before. How hard would it be to replace and restore it to factory condition? I have a spare 40 gig drive (don't know how big the drive in it is - it's the 35 hour one I think).

[Stanley Rohner]

Go to the upgrade forum and find out.

[mtnagel]

Go to the upgrade forum and find out.There's a first time for everything, huh? :) Never been there before. It looks like I found out how to do it, but what size drive will I need? What's the minimum size that will work? Does 5400 or 7200 rpm matter? I thought I read 5400 was better due to noise and heat. She doesn't need a ton of space, so if I could do this with a drive I have, that would be awesome.

[thepackfan]

Any drive will work if you use the lba48 disc any size also. Ive got a 250gb 7200 in one of my hdvr2's works great.

[wscannell]

The only problem with a 40GB drive is there is a 40GB drive in the unit. If the replacement drive has just 1 fewer sectors, you will not be able to load the drive. Go with a larger drive and get some more space. 160Gb drives can be found easily for under $50.

Since the unit will not boot, the best bet would be to get Instantcake from ptvupgrade.com. It is about $20. Be sure to get the correct version for your TiVo.

[Doomster]

Since the unit will not boot, the best bet would be to get Instantcake from ptvupgrade.com. It is about $20. Be sure to get the correct version for your TiVo.

Just an addendum....if you do use InstantCake, you HAVE to get a HD bigger than 40GB. InstantCake cannot format a HD that's 40GB in size or smaller.

[mtnagel]

Thanks. I really didn't want to spend any money if possible. The instantcake sounds cool, but the weaknees upgrade info really didn't seem that difficult (and it's free - I think). Is this something where I could try the weaknees upgrade and then if that doesn't work or I'm having trouble, couldn't I then just do the instantcake upgrade?

[wscannell]

The first thing to do would be to take the drive out and run the manufacturer diagnostics on the drive. You should run them from a standalone bootable disc, not something that runs under windows. This will give you an idea whether the hard drive is failing.

You can try using the Weaknees intstructions, it certainly will not hurt anything. If there are a lot of errors on the drive, then the procedure may not work.

The other thing you could try is duplicating the disk with dd_rescue. This may get past any errors. The resultant copy may or may not work in the TiVo.

If all the above fails due to errors, then Instantcake is a good next step.

[mtnagel]

The first thing to do would be to take the drive out and run the manufacturer diagnostics on the drive. You should run them from a standalone bootable disc, not something that runs under windows. This will give you an idea whether the hard drive is failing.

You can try using the Weaknees intstructions, it certainly will not hurt anything. If there are a lot of errors on the drive, then the procedure may not work.

The other thing you could try is duplicating the disk with dd_rescue. This may get past any errors. The resultant copy may or may not work in the TiVo.

If all the above fails due to errors, then Instantcake is a good next step.Cool. Thanks :up:

[mtnagel]

So for the Weaknees upgrade, you have to have your existing tivo drive? Well, the tivo drive is dead, so that isn't possible. Is the instantcake option my only option now? Can I do it without the existing tivo drive?

[Doomster]

So for the Weaknees upgrade, you have to have your existing tivo drive? Well, the tivo drive is dead, so that isn't possible. Is the instantcake option my only option now? Can I do it without the existing tivo drive?
I don't know if InstantCake is your only option. But if you want to use InstantCake, you don't need an existing Tivo drive. You do need a HD bigger than 40GB and a PC with a CD-Rom. You put the InstantCake CD into the CD-ROM, then configure the CD-Rom to be a primary slave and the HD you want to format to secondary master. This requires changing some jumpers and swapping IDE cables. Then you boot from the InstantCake CD and go from there.

Doomster

[mtnagel]

I don't know if InstantCake is your only option. But if you want to use InstantCake, you don't need an existing Tivo drive. You do need a HD bigger than 40GB and a PC with a CD-Rom. You put the InstantCake CD into the CD-ROM, then configure the CD-Rom to be a primary slave and the HD you want to format to secondary master. This requires changing some jumpers and swapping IDE cables. Then you boot from the InstantCake CD and go from there.

DoomsterBut I wanted to try to do it for free. I have a 40 gig drive to try (which I couldn't use with Instantcake), so if I could use that, that would be the best/cheapest.

[puffdaddy]

But I wanted to try to do it for free. I have a 40 gig drive to try (which I couldn't use with Instantcake), so if I could use that, that would be the best/cheapest. Instantcake is the only legitimate way to get an image. If you're looking for other ways. You can try the underground section or google.

[XaQuetioner]

I have a Hughes HDVR2 DIRECTV TiVo DVR Satellite Receiver. It started to pause on live tv and recorded programs. I went into the trouble shooting screen and went to the clear the hard drive mode and followed the instructions. The screen apear stating that it would take an hour to clear the Hd and the readlight began to flash. A week later it is still flashing, the it would take an hour to clear the Hd screen is still on the TV. Is there any way to get out of this program.