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Want to use Micron 5210 SSD in Bolt Plus

Discussion in 'TiVo Upgrade Center' started by dmw426, Jan 3, 2021.

  1. Jan 3, 2021 #1 of 7
    dmw426

    dmw426 New Member

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    Jan 3, 2021

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    I've read the treads related to installing SSD in Bolt and this seems to be a drive that will work.
    Does anyone have any experience, good or bad with this or similar drives?
    It's an Enterprise 3.8TB SATA SSD.
     
  2. Jan 4, 2021 #2 of 7
    dmw426

    dmw426 New Member

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    Jan 3, 2021
    Here what I've discovered so far;
    The Bolt + will not get past the Starting UP screen with an SSD. I tried two Crucial SSDs, one the 3.8 and the other a 2TB.
    However, the Bolt will start and load with a 6TB Seagate hard drive. Also with a 2 TB Seagate hard drive.

    Wondering what it is about the SSD that is causing the failure.
     
  3. Jan 4, 2021 #3 of 7
    jmbach

    jmbach der Neuerer

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    That is a great question we are trying to figure out. The behavior you describe is usually found on Bolts on TE4 interface but not TE3. Which interface are you on?

    I do not know if it is also seen on Roamios on TE4.

    Sent from my SM-G988U using Tapatalk
     
  4. Jan 4, 2021 #4 of 7
    dmw426

    dmw426 New Member

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    Jan 3, 2021
    I downgraded the BOLT PLUS to TE 3 using the 3.5in hard drive that I got to work with TE4.
    I then tried the Sandisk SSD and it formatted and the Tivo booted.
    I then tried the Crucial 3.8TB SSD and it also formatted and booted the Tivo. I have it running now.
    I went to the app menu to see if I could do the upgrade to TE4 and it apparently will not load.

    This is an interesting situation. Tivo has apparently done something with the TE4 interface that doesn't like newer drive technology.

    It would not even load with a 2TB WD Blue 2.5in hard drive. It's one of the thinner drive. The 3TB WD Blue drive that failed is a thicker drive.
     
  5. Jan 5, 2021 #5 of 7
    multiple

    multiple Member

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    I have a thread that lists out several of the drives that don't work under TE4 and a few that do.
    List of drives that don't boot under TE4 21.x on Bolt

    No SSD has been found to work under TE4, at least on Bolts and Edges. The Micron 52xx series works under TE3. I have several 7.68TB Micron drives and an 8TB Samsung drive I was planning to use, but I've just used them for other purposes now. These drives can be found for well under a $1 per GB. I picked up the 7.68TB for under $600 on occasions at Rakuten when they had 20% off coupons. Too bad they ended their sales business. Walmart is selling them for $555 - 5% cash back card + tax.

    In my next experiment I plan to use the 7.68TB drive with an eSATA + USB power to SATA + power as an external drive. It looks like I will need to pair the internal drive and external drive to do this, but if TiVo does not check the external drive type it could be an easy way to add a lot more storage in a compact form which does not requires an external power supply. I can effectively have 5TB internal and 7.68TB or 8TB external. It is tiny enough to slip under the Bolt bend or have it hidden behind the Tivo. If it works, I will investigate if I can move the "external" drive inside the Bolt or Edge.
     
    Last edited: Jan 12, 2021
  6. Jan 5, 2021 #6 of 7
    dmw426

    dmw426 New Member

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    Jan 3, 2021
    Thanks for the information.
    I found one of the 5TB drives mentioned in the linked thread that should work with BOLT and TE4. I also found a 2TB FireCuda that apparently works. Also the same brand SSD that is supposedly interchangeable. Have those on the way to try as well.
    This is quite frustrating. It seems that Tivo engineers have purposely crippled the box relative to new technology drives. That makes no sense.

    We've been using Tivo since the first box was available. My wife loves it as an interface. That's the only thing that motivates me to keep trying to extend the life of the boxes.
    That's also why I'd prefer to find a way to use TE4 which we've been using on both Tivo bolts we have along with the mini.

    I have the Bolt + running on an SSD in TE3, but not sure she'll accept that interface.
     
  7. Feb 5, 2021 #7 of 7
    multiple

    multiple Member

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    Aug 26, 2007
    I just receive my USB+eSATA to SATA+power cable. I plugged in the drive to see what happened. My TE4 Bolt detected the drive and asked if I wanted to format it. I said yes, but it then said it was not a supported drive as expected. The Bolt continued to Boot without getting stuck at the startup screen.

    This make me feel hopeful TE4 will work with an external SSD and using TiVO tools on this site to pair the drives together. It might be a little while before I get to test this out. I need to get my PC working again and time to make it happen.

    If it works, I think it will be possible to fit the SSD drive inside the Bolt. I'll just need to see if I can find an inverted eSATA port that would face inwards or cut little notches in the back of the case to feed the cables from the outside into the case.
     
    Last edited: Feb 5, 2021

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