Can I just swap drives from a Hughes HDVR2 to a Directv R10?

[fmadden]

Can I just swap drives from a Hughes HDVR2 to a Directv R10?

My HDVR2 is suffering the S-Video problem that most seem to get over time. Just removing the S-Vid cable fixed it for a while (a year or so). Then a new power supply fixed it for a while (possibly a completely separate issue). But it is back again and if I switch the Sat settings to just 1 Sat, the problem goes away. So definitely a motherboard problem with the S-Vid and Tuner 2 some how interfering with each other. (No clue why.)

Anyways, my friend has a Directv R10 unit he doesn't need. Can I just throw my HDVR2 hard drives into it? Or does it take a specific OS install to make it work? (I'm broke and out of work... so I'm looking for a cheap fix, and still be able to have my upgraded drives and 2 Sat inputs).

TIA

[litzdog911]

No, the Tivo images are not compatible.

If your friend's R10 was properly deactivated from their account, you can activate it on yours and retire your HDVR2.

[fmadden]

Cool, thanks for the info. I couldn't track that down any where.

Since I posted that question, I had another weird problem, clicking sounds from a recording on a channel that had and was still coming in fine. So I decided to run SpinRite on my drives again. (It's running right now with no problems so far.)

Anyways, I noticed that the S-Video and the digital sound (SPIF?) connector, which I use, are both part of the same "unit" both encased in a little metal box.

So assuming the drives check out fine, and I'm sure they will, I'm going to try it without the digital sound and see if that also causes the same problems as the S-Video does. Hopefully I can just remove that connection and fix my problem because it will be another 2 weeks before I can pick up my friend's R10 unit.

I'll post the outcome.

BTW, any issues with upgrading drives on the R10?

These DVRs just don't take into account NASCAR fans. Recording all 3 of the top series with an extra 3 hours in case of rain delays easily adds up to 20+ hours each weekend. Which is why I've held off on getting an HD unit (that, and being broke). 20+ hours of HD eats up a lot of space. I love DirecTV, but last I checked, you couldn't upgrade their units without spending big bucks, and Dish wasn't much cheaper. Which is why I am trying to keep my baby alive. :)

[fmadden]

Drives checked out fine.

I went ballistic :) and actually removed the S-Video connector from the unit, leaving the optical S/PDIF(digital, as I called it before) input intact. LOL I also noticed that there is a metal shield between the 2 Sat inputs, so I covered a bunch of tin foil with electrical tape and put that between the Sat 2 connector and the S-Vid. No luck.

Even tried removing the S/PDIF connection and turning Dolby off in the settings. No luck there either.

Well, at least I'll be getting a "new" unit soon. I guess the only thing I can complain about is the the new power supply (the 2nd one) I bought last month for it. Other than that, it is pretty old.

[stevel]

You can upgrade the drive on an R10 same as other DTiVos. What is hard to do is install "hacks" since a PROM mod is needed.

[John T Smith]

>BTW, any issues with upgrading drives on the R10?

I have an R10 in our bedroom, replaced a Samsung that died

This was a new unit I'd had in reserve for several years, and I used http://mfslive.org/winmfs/ to clone the 80Gig drive to a 320Gig drive... Winmfs expanded the image from 80 to 320 as part of the process