Dead DirecTiVo SD-DVR40

[nix7]

I originally posted this in the 'DirecTV Receiver with TiVo' forum, but it was suggested that I post this here instead.

My Hughes SD-DVR40 finally gave up. It gave me some signs a couple weeks back that indicated it may have a pending hard drive failure (random reboots) but I wasn't quick enough and... (excuses no one wants to hear). Now all I get is the initial powering up screen, which I believe points to a bad hard drive.?

My question is this; I have a replacement 250gb hard drive and want to install it into the unit. I'm confused with all the options and opinions I've read about in researching this issue about what the best course of action is. Should I try to (see if my drive will spin up on my computer and) use the MFSLive software, or will it even be able to pull the old info off of the hard drive? If I try MFSLive and that doesn't work, have I rendered my new hard drive unusable for the other products?

Should I use a different product like InstantCake? Do I need PTVNet, TiVoWebPlus, Zipper, etc.? I know somehere I think I remember reading something about a 137gb limit with MFSLive? Is there some free software like MFSLive that I can use in an InstantCake way? Is there a way to turn off the software auto downloads? If I simply unplug the phone cord, is there a way I can keep the 'you have not made a successful daily cal in xx days' message from appearing every day?

Web accessibility (controlling of TiVo) would be nice, but I don't want to have to buy a lot of additional hardware to get there, I just want my TiVo back and while I'm at it, I figure I'll increase the capacity like I always wanted to do.

Although I'm a newly registered user, I've been lurking here from time to time for the past few years. Your comments are usually informative.

Thanks in advance for any and all help! All comments appreciated!

[rbtravis]

Link to reply in other forum:
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=6032905#post6032905
:)

[classicsat]

You need Instantcake if you don't have access to an image.
PTVnet copies and existing drive or restores and image and enables networking. Zipper adds enhancements to the PTV disc.

TWP is a management web server on the TiVo, which gets installed with the Zipper. You will need to purchase an network adapter and possibly other things to connect the DVR to your network to use TWP and other network enhancements.

You can get the backup/copy/restore software for free. You will have to pay to legitimately get an image with Instantcake, or "beg" for an image. The free software assumes you have a good drive or image.

[nix7]

So it sounds like InstantCake and possibly PTVNet and/or Zipper for further enhancements is the way to go. Any advantage to using one software combo over another? (PTVNet vs. Zipper?)

BTW... how/where/to whom would I "beg" for an image? :)

Thanks again for all of the information and advice!

[classicsat]

Zipper is an enhancement script you apply to a PTVNet image, which creates its own boot CD image (or at least that was the case when I made a Sapper disk, Sapper being the same as Zipper for Standalones; what I have)

There is an image begging script here someplace. If you choose Instantcake, you don't need to beg for an image.