Sony SAT-T60 - current software not coming down anymore

[aciurczak]

Hi -

I've had two Sony SAT-T60 (Series 1 Directivo's) running for years. They have both been upgraded, and in fact have had their hard drives replaced once or twice each. I use the MFSTools 2.0 disk to do this. Years ago, I backed up the software when it was at version 2.5.2. Whenever I re-imaged a disk, on the first or second call, it would pull down whatever the latest software version is, and install it automatically after a reboot. Right now my other identical tivo is at 3.5b (included that latest DST patch).

The hard drive died on one of them, so I reimaged a brand new 120 GB drive (god they have gotten cheap), and succesfully installed 2.5.2. But, it has now been calling in for several days, and it simply won't update the software. The daily calls take 3 minutes, it downloads the other info, but not the software. I'm worried that the system isn't set up to update something as old as 2.5.2 anymore. Specifically, I'm wondering if DirecTV and/or Tivo only push software updates over the satellite now, and version 2.5.2 doesn't have the capability of receiving it over the satellite. From what I remember from years back, one version was given that capability, but I have no idea when/if the changeover was made.

So - any suggestions on what I can do at this point? Is buying something like InstantCake the only way? Is the software download now on some random schedule that may take awhile before it comes down? Thanks for any help one can provide...

[captain_video]

I think you may need at least OS version 3.1 on your DTivo in order to upgrade to 3.5b. Since you already have one SAT-T60 upgraded to 3.5b, why not make a backup image of that DTivo and restore it to your other SAT-T60? You'll have to perform a clear & delete everything but it will get both of them up to date. You'll lose whatever season passes, settings, and recordings are on the DTivo but at least it will be at 3.5b. I'd watch all the videos before performing the update so you don't lose anything unless there's nothing on the drive you can't live without.

[aciurczak]

That's an option, but the 3.5b directivo already has multiple drives in it. Can you extract an image from a set that has already been married together?

[captain_video]

I believe so. As long as the drive or drives you are restoring the image to is the same capacity or larger than the original pair then you should be OK. The image taken from a pair of drives will be seen as if it came from a single large drive.