Transfering Lifetime Subscription To New Hard Drive

[sharpey182]

Hi All,

I have recently purchased a Tivo with a lifetime subscription. It has the standard 40gig hard drive inside. I have seen on the net that you can larger hard drives with a MODE 0 that improves picture quality for LCD TV's. I was wondering if anyone could tell me how I would transfer my subscription from my 40g drive to my new drive?

Can i have 2 drives at the sametime?

Thanks for your time

Rob

[iankb]

The subscription isn't held on the hard drive. It is attached to the serial number which is held in firmware on your motherboard.

[Richard Loxley]

The subcription info is on a chip in the Tivo, so if you put in a new configured drive, your lifetime subscription will be preserved.

When you put the new drive in, the subscription status won't immediately show your lifetime sub, but as soon as you do your first daily call, it will update to show it.

You can have 2 drives, but only if they have been set-up together. You can't buy a pre-configured drive and add it with your existing drive.

You can do a DIY upgrade and keep your existing drive, but I wouldn't bother, it's only 40GB which is nothing compared with the size of drives today, and it will be old, so has a high risk of failure, which would trash the recordings on both disks when it went.

[sharpey182]

Thanks for the help,

What size would you recommend and which one would you recommend. I have a 42" TV so would like the picture to be sharp. I dont want anything super massive like an 800gig lol.

[Richard Loxley]

Depends on how much you want to record!

For that size TV I would definitely go for the mode 0 mod.

I have a 320GB drive which gives 110 hours at best quality. The mode 0 mod reduced that to 73 hours, but the VBR settings I used for mode 0 means the recordings take up less space, and will probably still give me around 110 hours.

I reckon that's enough for me as I would never be able to catch up watching any more hours! If you've got kids and want to record swarthes of children's TV, or if you're into archiving, then you may well want more space.

If you're getting a pre-configured mode 0 drive ask if VBR is turned on.

[sharpey182]

Thanks richard,

where did you get yours from, did it come with MODE 0.

Yours sounds like the best option, how much did it cost?

Could i instal it myself. Is just a case of take the case of unplug old drive and plug new one in?

[Automan]

I think any of these can provide a ready to slot in drive with Mode 0 mod.

http://www.tivoheaven.co.uk/

http://www.tivoland.com/ Edit no mention of Mode 0 as an option :(

http://www.tivocentral.co.uk/ Edit #2

Only question you need to answer is if your box has 2.5.5 or 2.5.5a software loaded.

You can check that from the system information screen.

Automan.

[mikerr]

Another one provides mode0 for no extra charge... (look left) ;):D

[sharpey182]

nice one guys, really appreciate your help.

[johala_reewi]

Or you can have the fun of tinkering with Tivo yourself. If you are handy with a screwdriver and enjoy taking the lids off of boxes and fiddling, it is fairly easy to upgrade a UK tivo. There are a number of guides dotted around the forum and Tivo owners' websites.

Steve Conrad has a series of 'how to' guides which I have used successfully:
http://www.steveconrad.co.uk/tivo/index.html

For mode 0, there is the mode 0 tutorial:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=286938

You can have two drives at the same time but, you would be better off with one large drive instead of two smaller drives. Lower power requirements from Tivo power suppy, less noise, and you don't get hit by the Seagate firmware bug (if using Seagate drives).

[David Cameron]

Another recommendation for Steve Conrad's guides.

With drives as cheap as chips these days. then so long as you have a PC available, then why not have a go? I chose to try the DIY route with the mindset that if I struggled to complete it, then I could always install the drive in my PC for extra media storage and buy a pre-configured one for TiVo....extra storage is always welcome (especially if you archive from TiVo).

In the end, Steve's guide was spot on and I had no difficulty upgrading....I even kept my existing recordings.

[Pete77]

http://www.tivocentral.co.uk/ Edit #
I didn't know that mikerr had a website too now. I feel much more comfortable about recommending that than suggesting people enter the phrase Tivo Central at a certain well known auction website. Even though that isn't posting an actual link to a specific Ebay auction, which is of course banned by the forum management.

It seems like a case of "and then there were three" so far as professional pre-prepared upgrade drives are concerned, assuming that is that we discount Kesh/Pacelink as no longer being serious players in the Tivo upgrading marketplace.