Series 2 DT - help adding 2nd drive

[davejmathis]

I just got my weaknees upgrade bracket today and want to install the 300gb seagate drive i have as a 2nd drive in my Series 2 DT (649080). I did not get the drive with the kit, and after looking online the instructions for my model are not on weaknees site and the information I've found in the forums is only bits and pieces. Maybe I just haven't tried hard enough to connect the dots from the forums but its just easier to post a question.

What I know:

1) I need to install the drives on my PC, on separate IDE channels, and boot from the MFStools CD I create from the downloaded iso.

What I need to know:

1) I am familiar with basic Linux commands, but would someone please explain what "mfsadd -x /dev/hdc /dev/hdb" does? I got this from Hinsdale's how to site.

2) Do I really need to go through the backup/restore process or can I just go right to the drive setup?

3) Do I need to add extra parameters to setup the 300gb drive properly, or does the series 2 DT unit already support drives of that size?

4) Do I need to increase the swap size? How?

Any info you guys have would be great! Thanks!

[puffdaddy]

please explain what "mfsadd -x /dev/hdc /dev/hdb" does? I got this from Hinsdale's how to site."mfsadd -x" will expand the recording space of the system by adding MFS partition paris on both /dev/hdc and /dev/hdb drives (should there be free disk space AND free partitions on each drive).
2) Do I really need to go through the backup/restore process or can I just go right to the drive setup?Making a backup of your old drive is advisable to have a working, single drive image that you can restore from. With a dual-drive setup, a failure in either drive will wreck the whole system, at that point you can either restore from your backup image, beg for one, or pay for one.
3) Do I need to add extra parameters to setup the 300gb drive properly, or does the series 2 DT unit already support drives of that size?If you're adding the 300 GB drive fresh, then yes, you'll be creating an MFS partition larger than 274GB, so you'll need to use the -r 4 option of MFSadd (or face a non-booting TiVo).
4) Do I need to increase the swap size? How?Yes or no depending upon your point of view and your ability. See Jamie's post on the two schools of thought (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3825639&&#post3825639). Read up.

[supasta]

Also, Hinsdale is an excellent resource, however it is geting to the point that it is quite outdated.

To simplify things, I think that its best that you take a look at the Weaknees Interactive Guide. It includes step-by-step instructions, the .iso file for the boot CD, and just makes the whole thing a lot easier.

www.upgrade-instructions.com

Also, I would take a look at some of the posts in this forum on the different schools of thought about dual-drive setups. This should also shed some light on your questions about backing up your drive image.

[classicsat]

All that said, you really should think twice about adding a 300 GB drive to and 80 GB drive. Just replace instead.

Adding drives to a Series 2 TiVo has certain risks of system failure, and those risks are not worth it with one of the drives being that small, as there is little benefit for the risk involved.