DirecTV HD DVR HR10-250 Upgrade Thread

[pbolya]

Weaknees or 9th tee,
Do you see any problem with adding an extra 250GB now and replacing the upgraded 250 x 2 to a 400 x 2 or even a 500 x 2 later vs waiting and upgrading from 250 directly to 500 x 2 when available ?

Thanks,
Peter

[leftcoastdave]

Originally posted by pbolya
I wonder how soon the Weakness bracket will be available. 30 hours is hardly enough to record all the shows of interest to me.

We all are wondering. Michael, do you have an updated status on your bracket availability?

Thanks,

Dave

[dropper]

Having used the 9th Tee bracket for a couple of weeks now, I can highly recommend it. The production bracket is a bit different than the one shown in the pictures. It is hollowed out on the bottom, allowing for air flow across the bottom of the drive.

It's not perfect, but I think they have already addressed some of the issues. It didn't take long to install and was very sturdy.

Keith

[pbolya]

Originally posted by leftcoastdave
We all are wondering. Michael, do you have an updated status on your bracket availability?

Thanks,

Dave

leftcoastdave,
It was HDLouco who said that. He was quoting me and the end quote tag got deleted so it is hard to figgure out where my quote ended. By the way I have it on order too but since I got the 9th tee bracket I can wait a couple of weeks.

[pbolya]

Originally posted by dropper
Having used the 9th Tee bracket for a couple of weeks now, I can highly recommend it. The production bracket is a bit different than the one shown in the pictures. It is hollowed out on the bottom, allowing for air flow across the bottom of the drive.

It's not perfect, but I think they have already addressed some of the issues. It didn't take long to install and was very sturdy.

Keith

dropper,
Not mine. Mine is exactly as pictured and I was hoping the cable is specially made for the TiVo but it is the same long cables I already have. I heared that all of these are changed for the new shipments but I guess I just bought it too quickly.

My series 1 Sony SAT-T60 runs at 62C (has a 120GB and a 160GB WD 7200 RPM drive) and my HR10-250 runs at 54C without any upgrade. I can't wait for the weaKnees bracket to see if the temperature will stay at 54C. I know that without the additional fan it will go to 62C too (there is not enough ventilation on the shelves). By the way if I turn the SAT-T60 off (standby) for several hours it cools all the way down to 54C.

[tarman]

I have two 200GB drives and am getting my HDTivo soon.

Will I have a problem if I pull the 250GB from the HD box, back it up, and lock it away for safe keeping...

... then restore to one of the 200GB drives, bless the second, and put them in the HDTiVo box as a 400GB pair?

If this will work, what mfsrestore parameters should I use?

Thanks for any help,

Tom

[jerrymc]

Originally posted by tarman
I have two 200GB drives and am getting my HDTivo soon.

Will I have a problem if I pull the 250GB from the HD box, back it up, and lock it away for safe keeping...

... then restore to one of the 200GB drives, bless the second, and put them in the HDTiVo box as a 400GB pair?

If this will work, what mfsrestore parameters should I use?

Thanks for any help,

Tom

Tom,

Sorry to say, that won't work. The primary drive must be at least as big as the original drive. You may want to exchange one of those 200GB drives for a 250GB.

Regards,
Jerry

[tarman]

Originally posted by jerrymc
Tom,

Sorry to say, that won't work. The primary drive must be at least as big as the original drive. You may want to exchange one of those 200GB drives for a 250GB.

Regards,
Jerry

Thanks Jerry,

I hoped it would.

Since mfsbackup puts the info on a small ( < 1GB ) FAT partition, I hoped that it could expand it back out to whatever size drive you had [obviously not keeping all/any program data that would be too large to fit].

Oh, well, looking for sales on 250GB drives!

Tom

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by tarman
Thanks Jerry,

I hoped it would.

Since mfsbackup puts the info on a small ( < 1GB ) FAT partition, I hoped that it could expand it back out to whatever size drive you had [obviously not keeping all/any program data that would be too large to fit].

Oh, well, looking for sales on 250GB drives!

Tom

Why not just backup your system, put the backup away for safe-keeping, and then bless one of those 200GB drives and add it to your unit?

[tarman]

Originally posted by tivoupgrade
Why not just backup your system, put the backup away for safe-keeping, and then bless one of those 200GB drives and add it to your unit?

My main thought was, "What do I do if I need to send it in for repair?"

With your approach, I would need to reload the 250GB with the backup (after removing the 2nd drive and bracket) and restore it to original condition before shipping.

Problem is, I would lose all of my recordings.

My way, I remove both drives still on the bracket, re-install the original drive, and ship for repair, keeping my recordings intact to reinstall upon return.

[I guess if I could insure a "receive before return" type swap, I could save the data off of the replacement drive, load it with my original backup, and install and send it back with the broken unit. Then put my two drives into the replacement unit.]

[weaknees]

Originally posted by leftcoastdave
[b] We all are wondering. Michael, do you have an updated status on your bracket availability?

We are expecting first off-tool parts early next week, and assuming all goes well, we hope to be shipping brackets early to mid-July.

Weaknees or 9th tee, Do you see any problem with adding an extra 250GB now and replacing the upgraded 250 x 2 to a 400 x 2 or even a 500 x 2 later vs waiting and upgrading from 250 directly to 500 x 2 when available ?

I don't see a difference from a software perspective, although you might have issues--given the current limitations of mfstool--with copying your programming from dual-250s to dual-400s; we have not yet tried that.

[dswallow]

Originally posted by tarman
My main thought was, "What do I do if I need to send it in for repair?"

With your approach, I would need to reload the 250GB with the backup (after removing the 2nd drive and bracket) and restore it to original condition before shipping.

Problem is, I would lose all of my recordings.

My way, I remove both drives still on the bracket, re-install the original drive, and ship for repair, keeping my recordings intact to reinstall upon return.

[I guess if I could insure a "receive before return" type swap, I could save the data off of the replacement drive, load it with my original backup, and install and send it back with the broken unit. Then put my two drives into the replacement unit.]

I don't know if anyone has ever received their repaired unit back; it's almost always just going to get swapped out with a different unit, not repaired.

And when that happens, your recordings will not be playable on the replacement DVR since the encryption hardware key is different on every unit. The most you'll have saved are your season pass, wishlist, and thumbs up/down data, plus whatever remains of the 28-day rule list, and your general configuration. All the recordings will be listed; none will be playable. You'll just have to delete them all.

[tivoupgrade]

Originally posted by tarman
My main thought was, "What do I do if I need to send it in for repair?"

With your approach, I would need to reload the 250GB with the backup (after removing the 2nd drive and bracket) and restore it to original condition before shipping.

Problem is, I would lose all of my recordings.

My way, I remove both drives still on the bracket, re-install the original drive, and ship for repair, keeping my recordings intact to reinstall upon return.

[I guess if I could insure a "receive before return" type swap, I could save the data off of the replacement drive, load it with my original backup, and install and send it back with the broken unit. Then put my two drives into the replacement unit.]

Ok, well, that it an expensive way to insure yourself for the case of the unit breaking in a very rare way. In most cases, failed units turn out to be bad hard drives, so clearly you'd be able to take care of that type of 'repair' yourself, as long as you have a good backup. However, if the unit were to truly fail in a way that was other than the hard drive, you could just remove your add-on drive and send the unit back for repair. They are just going to replace it with a refurbished (or new) unit anyway.

[pbolya]

Originally posted by weaknees
I don't see a difference from a software perspective, although you might have issues--given the current limitations of mfstool--with copying your programming from dual-250s to dual-400s; we have not yet tried that.

Can I just restore the original single 250 backup onto a new 400GB and than bless the other 400GB and replace the two 250GB with the 2 400GB ? Would that give me 800GB (~100h) ? How did you get the dual 300GB working ? Did you do any testing on upgrading any configuration that is already upgraded ?

Thanks,
Peter

[seanmcgpa]

Are 400GB drives even available yet?

[dswallow]

Originally posted by seanmcgpa
Are 400GB drives even available yet?

No stock, but you can order one...
http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productid=1996827
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/de...6&store=pcmall

[jjmpeters]

Originally posted by dswallow
No stock, but you can order one...
http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productid=1996827
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/de...6&store=pcmall

At quite a price premium too. These are SATA drives, so don't you need an adapter to make them IDE?

[weaknees]

In most cases, failed units turn out to be bad hard drives, so clearly you'd be able to take care of that type of 'repair' yourself, as long as you have a good backup.

I would respectfully offer a different opinion when in comes to the HR10-250. While we have had people contact us with drive failures, the more common issues have been DVI/HDMI issues, heat issues, SAT issues and picture issues (the picture issues have generally not been drive-related).

This is certainly gospel when it comes to every other TiVo out there...but when an HR10-250 has problems, the likely source of problems is larger than just the drive.

Michael

[aaronwt]

Originally posted by dswallow
No stock, but you can order one...
http://www.techdepot.com/product.asp?productid=1996827
http://www.pcmall.com/pcmall/shop/de...6&store=pcmall

WOW! That's $300 more than the 250GB drives I just bought to upgrade one of my HD-TiVos. I just need to wait for another sale to get 2 more for my second HD-TiVo.

[mercurial]

Originally posted by weaknees
I would respectfully offer a different opinion when in comes to the HR10-250. While we have had people contact us with drive failures, the more common issues have been DVI/HDMI issues, heat issues, SAT issues and picture issues (the picture issues have generally not been drive-related).

Well, I had one that got a drive problem then just got a replacement that had a HDMI problem right out of the box. Waiting for the second replacement. Follow the thread here.

The interesting thing is they don't seem to be able to consistently diagnose the drive issue over the phone despite the fact that I told them that was most certainly what it was (had to send out a tech) and then when I called back with the HDMI issue (the tech didn't even know what an HDMI port was) after researching it she said she was surprised I said it was a commonly known issue since they had no record of it and "thanks for bringing it to our attention..."

Sheesh... Well, if this one is stable for 2-3 months then maybe I'll be comfortable upgrading. I was hoping to have one stable for a few months and then upgrade before the new fall season started...

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by jjmpeters
At quite a price premium too. These are SATA drives, so don't you need an adapter to make them IDE?

Here is the only place selling the ATA-100 version: CDW.com

No one has these in stock for immediate delivery. Each drive is basically a special order...

[gr8reb8]

I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes.

From this page
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd. (When prompted, press enter until you get to the Linux prompt.)
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd. (When prompted, press enter until you get to the Linux prompt.)
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd. (When prompted, press enter until you get to the Linux prompt.)

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

Now, enjoying my 63HD hours!

[mikemav]

I am sorry if this had been asked millions of times before, but I am having a brain fart and can't remember. If I add a second drive in the future, is there a way to easily keep my existing recordings? Does marrying a second drive overwrite the existing programs? Thanks

[weaknees]

No--adding a second drive does not affect your settings or recordings. They all remain.

[aaronwt]

Hmm. I might try this. It seems simple enough. I'm going to be reconfiguring one of my PCs so I'll have my harddrives removed. This will be the perfect time to try it. Now If I can just find old win98 installation CD.
Does it have to be win98? Can it be winXP as long as it is FAT32? Or does Windows even need to be on the drive? Can it just be a hardrive that is formatted with FAT32?

Originally posted by gr8reb8
I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes.

From this page
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

Now, enjoying my 63HD hours!

[JohnTivo]

Originally posted by aaronwt
Hmm. I might try this. It seems simple enough. I'm going to be reconfiguring one of my PCs so I'll have my harddrives removed. This will be the perfect time to try it. Now If I can just find old win98 installation CD.
Does it have to be win98? Can it be winXP as long as it is FAT32? Or does Windows even need to be on the drive? Can it just be a hardrive that is formatted with FAT32?

No need to have windows on the drive at all... the Boot CD just needs to be able to mount the hard drive where the backup file is going to be stored. A FAT32 drive is needed, or knowledge of the Linux file-system and an appropriate linux partition. For most people, a FAT32 hard drive is easier.

Also note, DO NOT boot into Windows XP or 2000 w/ a tivo hard disk connected to your system.

[LarryInAz]

Originally posted by dswallow
I don't know if anyone has ever received their repaired unit back; it's almost always just going to get swapped out with a different unit, not repaired.

And when that happens, your recordings will not be playable on the replacement DVR since the encryption hardware key is different on every unit. The most you'll have saved are your season pass, wishlist, and thumbs up/down data, plus whatever remains of the 28-day rule list, and your general configuration. All the recordings will be listed; none will be playable. You'll just have to delete them all.

Doug - just wanting to clarify what you're saying about the potential loss of programs. Just suppose D* sent me a replacement unit under my $7.99 service agreement. If I swap hard drives the programs that are stored on the original drive would not be watchable?

An inquiring mind...

[dswallow]

Originally posted by LarryInAz
Doug - just wanting to clarify what you're saying about the potential loss of programs. Just suppose D* sent me a replacement unit under my $7.99 service agreement. If I swap hard drives the programs that are stored on the original drive would not be watchable?

An inquiring mind...

Programs on a hard drive from one unit will be unwatchable if the hard drive is moved to a different unit.

[aaronwt]

Using this method, can the second drive, using bless TiVo, be added anytime or do both drives need to be installed at the same time?

Originally posted by gr8reb8
I received my brand new HR10-250 yesterday. This is what I did to upgrade to two new 250Gb drives. The original 250Gb will be set on a shelf as a "virgin" backup drive. Overkill? Yes.

From this page
Download this and burn as ISO to a CD
Follow hardware guide to remove original drive from Tivo

1. Install original hdtivo drive in secondary master (hdc). FAT32 win98 Hd is primary master, cdrom is primary slave.

2. Configure BIOS to boot to CD. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (hdtivo drive))

3. Mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

4. Backup using this command (should take 5-20 minutes)
mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

5. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

6. Remove original hdtivo drive from pc.

7. Install brand new 250Gb drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

8. Boot up ptv's lb48 cd
If you know your FAT32 drive, your cable and your PC support DMA, turn it on with
hdparm -d1 /dev/hda (this turns it on for your FAT32 disk connected to primary master)
hdparm -d1 /dev/hdc (this turns it on for the drive connected to secondary master (new 250Gb drive))

9. mount drive using following commands
mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

10. Restore to new drive using following commands (should take 5-15 minutes)
mfsrestore -s 127 -zpi /mnt/dos/hd_tivo.bak /dev/hdc

11. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

12. Remove the newly created hdtivo primary drive. Move jumper to "primary master w/slave present"

13. Install brand new 250Gb (or larger) drive in secondary master (hdc). Leave jumper on "cable-select"

14. Boot up ptv's lb48cd

15. Prepare the drive to be used as secondary in the HDTivo using the following command (this should take less than 10 seconds)
BlessTiVo /dev/hdc

16. Type reboot and when machine has rebooted and stopped at the first prompt on CD, turn off pc.

17. Remove the newly created hdtivo secondary drive. Move jumper to "slave".

Follow hardware guide to install the two new drives in Tivo.

Now, enjoying my 63HD hours!

[gr8reb8]

Originally posted by aaronwt
Using this method, can the second drive, using bless TiVo, be added anytime or do both drives need to be installed at the same time?

I believe that you can add the second drive anytime. In my case, I added it before ever powering on the Tivo.