Hard Drive Upgrade II - The Sequel

[staffie2001uk]

Hi Everyone,

I have a two drive TiVo, in which I replaced the 15 Gb B: drive with a 120 Gb (Maxtor I think). Followed the relevant guide and everything went well.

Now, several years later, I would like to replace the 30 Gb A: drive with something bigger. Say a 250 Gb. Go mode 0 etc.

LBAKernel I'm happy with and the mode 0 stuff seems ok.
However, there seems some issue over "partition pairs" that I just don't understand. My simplistic (mostly windows) brain assumes that I should be able to copy the current A: drive to the new A: drive and have a lot more space. Reading the forum suggests that this isn't the case.

I would like to keep my programs, wishlists, sp's etc.

If my desires are possible, would anyone be good enough to point me to the instructions.

Thanks,

Col.

[TCM2007]

Hmmm. I think your plan of action goes something like this:

1) pull tha A drive and do the LBA kernel upgrade
2) pull the B drive and do a dd copy to the new drive
c) run the command to expand the B drive to its full capacity

Someone who does it more often than me will be along to confirm shortly i'm sure.

[Pete77]

Hmmm. I think your plan of action goes something like this:

1) pull tha A drive and do the LBA kernel upgrade
2) pull the B drive and do a dd copy to the new drive
c) run the command to expand the B drive to its full capacity

Someone who does it more often than me will be along to confirm shortly i'm sure.

On the other hand as a 400Gb Samsung HD LD drive is only £60 delivered from www.komplett.co.uk and is hugely quieter than an ageing chatter gun Maxtor (surely soon about to die) and has a 3 year warranty you might be better off to save a basic image of your current A drive system files and then create a new single large hard drive using the methods outlined at www.steveconrad.co.uk/tivo/upgrade3.html

[TCM2007]

On the other hand as a 400Gb Samsung HD LD drive is only £60 delivered from www.komplett.co.uk and is hugely quieter than an ageing chatter gun Maxtor (surely soon about to die) and has a 3 year warranty you might be better off to save a basic image of your current A drive system files and then create a new single large hard drive using the methods outlined at www.steveconrad.co.uk/tivo/upgrade3.html

OP: "I would like to keep my programs, wishlists, sp's etc. "

[staffie2001uk]

That is indeed the problem, that I would like to keep the programs.

the catch 22 being, if I had time to watch everything, then it wouldn't get full and I wouldn't want a bigger A: drive.

The issue, as much as I understand it, is that having already done one drive expanding upgrade, I can't do a second due to a lack of "partition pairs".

This is what I am hoping someone can prove me wrong about.

Cheers,

Col.

p.s. I know Maxtors get a slating here for noise and reliability, but mine has been fine on both counts.

[Pete77]

OP: "I would like to keep my programs, wishlists, sp's etc. "

Yes but many in this situation finally end up concluding that the benefits of hanging on to their recordings are outweighed by starting with a new hard drive and an entirely clean system.

[chrisd]

But is that what the OP asked?
No it isn't. He specifically asked for help on keeping his programs and season passes.

[Pete77]

But is that what the OP asked?
No it isn't. He specifically asked for help on keeping his programs and season passes.

Well he seems to have had all options given to him with pros and cons so surely a maximum choice situation.

When somebody wants to go from a 2 drive to 2 drive setup blindlemon is usually amongst the first to point out the difficulties.

Keeping a very old drive and then adding a new one is a bit like putting a brand new tyre on the same axle as a very worn tyre not far from the legal limit. That is not a very good idea.

[chrisd]

I'm sure the OP is well aware already that he is able to replace his drive for a new one (if you read his post he has even done it before), so he's already decided which way he wants to go on this issue, and it involves keeping his existing settings, so if you have anything useful to let him know on that side of things then go ahead and help.

[blindlemon]

If you just replaced the 15gb drive with a 120gb and nothing else then you should have 3 partition pairs in total (1 on the A drive and 2 on the B). You can confirm this by running mfsinfo against the existing drive pair.

Therefore, it should be possible to copy the whole lot to a new single drive and then expand the 3rd partition pair using the MFSLive CD (www.mfslive.org)'s -f option.

I completely agree with Pete that if you can use this opportunity to ditch your ageing A drive you certainly should. A single drive setup is much better than a twin setup, even if both drives are brand new - with an old drive in the mix you're just asking for trouble IMHO.

[TCM2007]

If you just replaced the 15gb drive with a 120gb and nothing else then you should have 3 partition pairs in total (1 on the A drive and 2 on the B). You can confirm this by running mfsinfo against the existing drive pair.

Therefore, it should be possible to copy the whole lot to a new single drive and then expand the 3rd partition pair using the MFSLive CD (www.mfslive.org)'s -f option.


Is that a "new" option; don't recall seeing that one. But haven't done a HD upgrade for a while as my Maxtors and Deathstars are so reliable. Did have to bin a Samsung last week though. ;)

[blindlemon]

Yes, the -f option was introduced by the author of the MFSLive CD.

It lets you expand the 3rd partition pair to fill the rest of the drive. There's still a limit of 3 partition pairs per drive but it can be useful in circumstances like this.

[blindlemon]

Did have to bin a Samsung last week though. ;)Nobody said they're infallible. But if it was less than 3 years old you could have got a free replacement from www.rexo.co.uk ;)

[staffie2001uk]

Thank you Blindlemon, and everyone else. Pete's advice is good, but I have confidence in my current B: drive. So, I shall try just upgrading the original A: drive.

Next question; I have looked at the mslive pages but the instructions/configurator assume that you are copying to new drive(s). As I want to copy (and expand) the A: drive, can I do this without copying the B: drive. I reckon that a piped copy with the B: drive as both source and target is likely to disappear in a recursive black hole.

Thanks again for the help so far.

Col.

[PhilG]

Don't forget having two drives doubles the chance of a drive failure and, unlike a pc, a 2-drive Tivo will not work with one drive missing

Also, two drives will increase the heat in the case adding to the chances of drive failure

[Pete77]

Don't forget having two drives doubles the chance of a drive failure and, unlike a pc, a 2-drive Tivo will not work with one drive missing

Also, two drives will increase the heat in the case adding to the chances of drive failure

By continuing to use the 2 or more year old Maxtor you are virtually guaranteeing that in the next 18 months you will experience a hard drive failure that will wipe out all your programs, SPs and thumbs. Its a bit like putting a new tyre on the same axle on a car that has a practically worn out one too.

The recent Google survey showed that in the first 2 years rates of hard drive failure are very low but after that they start to climb very rapidly.

So the main thing is that you will probably have to repeat the whole upgrade process in another year's time when your Maxtor fails at a moment that is not at all convenient to you.

[TCM2007]

Nobody said they're infallible. But if it was less than 3 years old you could have got a free replacement from www.rexo.co.uk ;)

3 years and six months.

[blindlemon]

Aww :(

Still, 42 months in a TiVo is pretty good going... :up:

[blindlemon]

I have confidence in my current B: drive. So, I shall try just upgrading the original A: drive..On your head be it. My strong recommendation would be to replace both drives, now, while you have the machine in pieces, with a single new drive. If you want more than 250gb capacity, get a Samsung HD400LD as Pete suggested. They are excellent drives and very good value too.

As I want to copy (and expand) the A: drive, can I do this without copying the B: drive. Yes, do a dd copy of the A drive to the new drive then boot from the LBA48 CD (http://www.tivoheaven.com/download/ptv-mfstools2-large-disk.iso) and, with both drives in the PC

mfsadd -r4 -x /dev/hdX /dev/hdY

where hdX is your new A drive and hdY is your old B drive.

If this fails to expand then you will need to delete and manually re-create the partition map on the A drive using pdisk so that the full size of the drive is reflected before re-running mfsadd. Note that this method may also leave you with a swap that's too small for your new drive capacity, possibly leading to an endless loop when your old B drive eventually fails and your TiVO goes into the GSOD.

Personally, I'd do a piped backup-> restore from your two old drives to a single new drive using the MFSLive CD and the -f option, increasing the swap at the same time, but you obviously prefer doing things the hard way... :p:D

In either case, after doing the upgrade you will need to reboot from the LBA48 CD and run copykern to install an LBA48-aware kernel.

[staffie2001uk]

OK, OK, I am beaten into submission ;)

I shall spend the extra and get a Samsung 400 GB and go to a single drive config.

Thank you all again for your advice, and passion, although I shall hold you all responsibe if the new drive fails ;)

Cheers,

Col.

[staffie2001uk]

Personally, I'd do a piped backup-> restore from your two old drives to a single new drive using the MFSLive CD and the -f option, increasing the swap at the same time, but you obviously prefer doing things the hard way... :p:D


Sorry to be back so soon, but trying the MFSLive command generator, it says that 30/120 to single 400 is not yet supported. I am puzzled!

Cheers,

Col.

[Cainam]

The -f option is only available on the new beta version of MFSLive CD, I believe.

Not sure how you get hold of it, you may need to contact the maker of MFSLive and ask nicely :)

[blindlemon]

I never use the command generator. Just issue the commands as if for normal mfstools but replace the -x with -f - eg.

mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hdX /dev/hdY | mfsrestore -s 400 -r4 -fzpi - /dev/hdZ

where hdX and hdY are your old drives and hdZ is the new one.

You will then need to reboot from the LBA48 CD and run copykern against hdZ choosing kernel option 1 to copy the LBA48 kernel (mfslive correctly initialises the swap).

BTW, you have checked that you only have 3 partition pairs in total haven't you?

[Pete77]

I never use the command generator. Just issue the commands as if for normal mfstools but replace the -x with -f - eg.

mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hdX /dev/hdY | mfsrestore -s 400 -r4 -fzpi - /dev/hdZ

where hdX and hdY are your old drives and hdZ is the new one.

Yes but I thought the version of the software on the www.mfslive.org site doesn't actually support the -f switch yet?

I thought you had to email Spike specially and ask how to become a Beta tester with his site to get the version of the software with the -f switch? Also what problems are there with the Beta version that means Spike is never confident enough to make it the current release to the world at large?

[blindlemon]

Yes but I thought the version of the software on the www.mfslive.org site doesn't actually support the -f switch yet?How does my post contradict that? :confused: I never said the -f option was available in a supported version.

Y Also what problems are there with the Beta versionI guess you'd have to ask Spike that :p - I haven't seen any :up:

[Pete77]

How does my post contradict that? :confused:

In your Post 23 of this thread re not bothering with the configurator you didn't say that you also couldn't use the regular software on the www.mfslive.org website. Or have I missed something obvious ;) :p ?

[blindlemon]

"Didn't say couldn't" <> "did say could" :p

I just didn't say, but you have inferred that I did :)

Let's not allow this thread to degenerate please.... ;)

[Pete77]

I was just concerned for Staffie and him possibly spending ages trying to get the regular mfslive download to do something it isn't able to. :eek: