Max DVR Expander Size?

[jsrober]

Hi,

I currently have a 10 year old Series 1 box. I just ordered a Premiere.

I'd like to add an external hard drive. I have a spare 1.5TB eSATA drive. Can I use it with the TiVo or do I have to buy their drive?

Assuming Premiere can be upgraded by swapping out the internal drive, is there a reason to do that versus using an external disk?

When I attach an external disk will TiVo use both the internal and external disks?

John

[mattack]

There's no reason to think it will be any different from the existing Tivos..

you have to use theirs..

of course Tivos will use the internal & external drives.

upgrading internal is arguably better since you won't run into one of the two drives hosing or worse being intermittent, and losing all of the programs you recorded since attaching the drives.

[Bsteenson]

With the current TiVo HD models you have four choices:

1) Buy an approved eSATA expander to use with the existing internal drive. Currently Western Digital My DVR expander is the only one that works without hacking the box. Available up to 1TB model. This is the only option that doesn't void warranty.

2) Hack the box to be able to use almost any brand eSATA expander along with the existing internal drive.

3) Hack the box to install a larger internal drive to replace the original.

4) Hack the box to install a larger internal drive AND an eSATA expander (either TiVo approved or not).

There has been some talk on this forum that the partition architecture of the Premiere is different than the TiVo HD and Series 3. It is likely that a way will be found to upgrade the Premiere as easily as the previous high-def boxes, but until folks get their hands on the new models it isn't guaranteed.

In the current boxes, there is a limit of about 1TB each that you can expand either an internal or external drive. A larger drive works, it just doesn't make the full capacity of the drive available. Unknown if that will remain true with the Premiere.

[TexasGrillChef]

1.5tb Drives don't currently work on the EXISTING S3/HD/HDXL units. Even if you do one of the "HACK" methods.

That is because the LARGEST partition that the TiVo S3/HD/HDXL can see is only 1TB. As far as I know no one has been able to get the TiVo to recognize more than one partition on a eSATA drive that was plugged in.

TGC

[jsrober]

2) Hack the box to be able to use almost any brand eSATA expander along with the existing internal drive.


Thanks for your reply. Where do I learn about this option? I know the information doesn't apply to the Premiere, but it's been 8 years since I hacked by S1 so I suspect a lot has changed. I want to get up-to-speed so I'll be ready once people figure out how to hack the Premiere.

Thanks!
John