Replace Harddrive in 5400 series 2 unit

[jellis8939]

OK, stupid question. Can I just take the Harddrive out of another S2 tivo unit and plug it into my s2 unit that has a lifetime? I don't want to have to buy more stuff to get this thing working. Or can I take the Harddrive out of my Mom's DirectTv Tivo and plug it in.. Actually I just tried that and it didn't work. So how do I get the DirectTv HardDrive to work with my S2 lifetime since they are the same make and model harddrive? PS, My old Harddrive is apparently dead.

[classicsat]

You need the software for your model unit on the drive.. Only if the TiVo you got the drive from was the same model would it work, Otherwise you need an image or InstantCake to put on that drive.

[jellis8939]

Will instantcake work on any harddrive?? Like the one from the directv tivo??

[classicsat]

Yes it will, provided the drive is the same size or larger as the image, down to the sectors.