HDD replacement, quick yay or nay

[tallgntlmn]

First, I apologize if this should go in the Underground and not here.

I have been having dropouts, pixelization, freezing, etc lately. My HDD in my SD-DVR40 is about 2 months over 5 years old. It's probably time I replace the old bugger. I recently had to replace my laptop hard drive, it was nearly impossible to find a cheap PATA drive. I look on Newegg and the ATA drives are either smaller or more expensive than the SATA drives. I have decided that I do not want to upgrade before the TiVo based HD receiver is out. Yeah, I know some time late 09 or early 10.

Fact of the matter is, I have an 80gb SATA that has never been used. The plan was to use it for my PC but I never got around to it. It's a 7200 RPM Seagate if I'm not mistaken, could be a WD. The cost would be $20-ish for the adapter needed. I was thinking this one (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812156011) would work to allow the SATA drive to work. I've seen other posts but didn't get an idea that someone actually got it working. It would then cost me $20 for instantcake. The grand total would be around $40 or it could be less via ebay.

If the above scenario is a definite no go, what is the size limit on the PATA drives for a DirecTiVo? If the above scenario will work, a quick yes or no would be cool. Thanks guys.

[litzdog911]

I think you'll be frustrated trying to use a SATA drive with PATA adapter in your DirecTivo.

Your replacement Tivo drive must be at least the same capacity as the Tivo's original drive. It cannot be smaller.

[tallgntlmn]

I think you'll be frustrated trying to use a SATA drive with PATA adapter in your DirecTivo.

Your replacement Tivo drive must be at least the same capacity as the Tivo's original drive. It cannot be smaller.
Any reason for the frustration? Won't work, difficult to get working? PATA's are getting harder and harder to find at a decent price. Much less free. I may try it anyway, but I am curious about the frustration. After all, I have to buy instantcake anyway. I could always return the adapter if I can find it at Fry's.

The replacement, no matter if I use the one I have or a new one will be at least double in size. Can't find a 40gb anywhere so equal is not an option. The size question goes more to is there any OS limitation like you can't use more than 139gb with Windows prior to XPSP2. The largest PATA I see on Newegg is 320gb for $60. At the same price, there is a 500gb SATA.

[kschauwe]

Best Buy have WD 500GB PATA for $99.99. I just picked one up.

[BigBearf]

I have Seagate PATA drives ranging from 400GB to 750GB in about 12 of my HR10s and SD-DVRs. I paid no more than $109 for the 750GB PATA drive which is the largest PATA drive available. I got mine from outpost.com and frys.com in the past year.

Hope this helps.

BigBearf

[Dkerr24]

PATA drives hard to find? Check newegg.com. Plenty of them available... 500gb drives for less than $80 from several different manufacturers.

[tallgntlmn]

PATA drives hard to find? Check newegg.com. Plenty of them available... 500gb drives for less than $80 from several different manufacturers.Well, getting harder to find. I didn't see many at Fry's or Microcenter over the weekend. Now I see Newegg has the 500gb back in stock.

Side question...I will be out of town in January. If I replace this drive now, how can I set up season passes for shows that have none scheduled? There are a few shows that won't have guide data if I do the upgrade. I know I can remote schedule, but can I set up a season pass remotely? Can you duplicate a current drive to a new drive without losing SP data?

[stevel]

You cannot set a SP for a show not in the guide data. I am not sure if the remote scheduling allows SP creation. Yes, you can copy a drive and keep everything. If you wish, you can opt to not copy recordings but your SP data will remain intact.

[DataDoc]

Try creating a Title Wishlist and have it automatically record.