540040 GSOD endless loop, how to replace drive?

[ATOH]

I realize I am a noob here, but I have read through many pages of the forum and just can't seem to find the answer I'm looking for. Not sure of which direction I can go to solve this.

I have a Series 2 540040 which is now doing the GSOD endless loop. I would assume this means the drive is bad. I don't care about recordings on the drive or anything like that.

Is there somewhere I can download the software that needs to be on the new drive? I'm confused by all of the threads I have read concerning this because it seems many times that the people asking the question are upgrading drives or adding drives, not replacing a bad drive.

Maybe I'm just blind, or an ID10T :) but I don't mean to be. I would appreciate any suggestions.

I realize that I can buy replacement prepped drives from Weaknees and others, but this isn't the direction I want to go. I want to use this as a learning experience and I probably won't actually use the DVR in day to day use because I have DirecTV service. I want to learn more about Tivos besides installing them and integrating them into control systems, which is what I do for a living. This device was traded in to us because of the GSOD (and she wanted a DVD burner model). I do have some Linux experience although it has been years since I've played around with anything other than live CDs to troubleshoot or recover things on PCs.

[dwit]

1. Search these forums for the "Kickstart" procedures to see if Tivo can self repair. If this doesn't work, the drive may be bad or have bad sectors and/or the image may have become corrupted.

2. Go to mfslive.org for procedures to copy(back up) the "Tivo os" image to a pc, and/or copying(cloning) the entire Tivo drive to another drive. Run the drive manufacturer's diagnostic to check for drive errors if attemting to restore image to original or used drive. There are two methods here: A windows method(easy) or a linux cd method. If that doesn't work the image/drive may be corrupted.

3. Purchase the Instant Cake image($20) for your specific model of Tivo from dvrupgrade.com. Follow their easy, detailed instructions to reimage the original(if operable) drive, or a new drive(PATA) which can be as large as desired.

[ATOH]

Thanks for the prompt reply.

I tried the "Kickstart" procedures but could not even get the lights to come on for some reason.

So, since the drive starts to boot and I get the whole powering up and just a few more moments screens I should still be able to copy the image of the original drive and swap it to another? I guess I thought I needed to just create a new drive.

I have seen the procedures for the image copying. So I should just treat this as an upgrade and should be able to copy the image from the old drive to a new one?

[dwit]

Always keep a copy of the truncated image back up(no shows) on the pc.

And...it is not a given that you will be able to successfully able to copy the image in these circumstances. You may yet need to find an intact image or purchase instant cake.

If the drive is indeed bad, you will have to find an image. You can get the "powering up" screen with a bad drive. I think that part is the Tivo Bios. It's when it goes to the "almost there" that the drive is starting to kick in.

[scandia101]

Check out the Upgrade forum. That's where all of the HDD replacement information can be found.