Can I copy a drive from one TiVo to another?

[swechsler]

I have a pair of Toshiba SDH-400 digital media servers (S2 compatible). One works fine, the other has a bad hard drive.

I don't care about the programming, but is it possible to use the drive in the good one to repair the other by copying onto a new disk?

[dwit]

Yes, the Tivo software image can be copied(backed up to pc) and restored to a new hard drive and placed back into the original unit or installed in an identical model Tivo.

Use the winmfs software and procedures found at mfslive.org.

I'm not sure about this, but once you install the hard drive into the identical Tivo, you may need to go into the Settings menu and select "Reset Tivo Settings" to pair the drive to the new unit, which basically puts it back into the just out of the box status.

[swechsler]

Can I copy an image from that same Toshiba to a Humax SRT-400? I read a message here from someone who did it from a different model Toshiba, and I know that the two are similar. But I tried it with MFSLive, and the Humax wouldn't boot; I'm wondering if there's something else I need to do...

[dwit]

I would guess that the Humax and Toshiba images are noncompatible as the Toshiba includes Tivo Basic and the Humax does not.

I think you may have read somewhere that Toshiba and Pioneer dvd recorder images may be compatible...and non dvd Humax and Tivo standalones images may be compatible.

Again, just a somewhat educated guess.