[andrews777]

I read part of the first and last parts of the "Official Tivo HD" thread, skipping the middle because of too many "my package tracking says the box is ...." posts.

Does anyone know if Tivo has any information on the expected timeframe of things like external drive support or whole house media access beyond the "late 2007" for the first? Have they announced any other things, like when Tivo Desktop will allow videos to be streamed from computers?

It might be nice to have a new "Official Tivo HD" thread that kept information like this without all the "I am getting mine shipped soon" notices, since it has now been out for a while. It looks like a picked a decent time to shift to Tivo.

Now if they would just turn on Fios in my neighborhood.... (Should be in a few days since they are testing the connections now.)

Brad

 

[jfh3]

Does anyone know if Tivo has any information on the expected timeframe of things like external drive support or whole house media access beyond the "late 2007" for the first?

Of course Tivo has the information.

Have they announced any other things, like when Tivo Desktop will allow videos to be streamed from computers?

They haven't announced anything. The closest thing I've seen is the Best Buy brochure that says TTG/MRV is "coming Fall 2007" (don't have it in front of me, so don't know the exact text) and the information posted on tivolovers.

Update: The text on the BB folder is:
"Expandable Storage - Coming Late 2007"

 

[MirclMax]

I'd love to hear people's guesses on when external drive support will be activated .. Is the general thought by the end of the year? Is there a " .. it won't happen until after X" ??

If I knew it was going to be just a month or two .. I could probably hold back on the internal upgrade .. but it would be nice to know what other people are thinking along these lines..


-MirclMax

 

[bkdtv]

I'd love to hear people's guesses on when external drive support will be activated .. Is the general thought by the end of the year? Is there a " .. it won't happen until after X" ??

Tivo told reviewers that they expected to enable eSATA before the end of 2007.

In the interim, upgrading the internal hard drive is a fairly simple and straightforward if you have a Windows XP or Windows Vista PC, thanks to a simple new utility called WinMFS.

Instructions Summary

2. Remove the outer case and existing drive using a torx screwdriver in the T10 size. If you don't have one of appropriate length, you can purchase the Star Driver T10 Ampro (9014713) from Advance Auto Parts for about $4.
   
3. Download WinMFS here.
   
4. Shut down Windows and attach original TiVo drive. You can open your computer and attach it with a SATA cable, or attach it externally using a SATA->USB adapter like this.
   
5. Boot to Windows XP (SP2) or Vista, run WinMFS, and click 'Select Drive' to select the drive you attached.
   
6. In WinMFS, click the 'Backup' option. Save the file to your hard drive.
   
7. Shut down the computer and attach the new, larger drive. You can disconnect the original Tivo drive.
   
8. Turn your computer back on, run WinMFS, and click the 'Restore' option. Select the file you saved to your hard drive in step #5.
   
9. You're done. Install the new drive in the TivoHD.

Detailed Instructions

Note that won't backup your existing recordings. The "Backup" option in WinMFS just backs up the Tivo software and your configuration, not the recordings.

If you want to backup your recordings too,then you need to choose the MFSCopy option in WinMFS which requires that the original Tivo drive and new drive be connected at the same time -- in which case you may want 2x SATA -> USB adapters.

Be sure to purchase a hard drive with appropriate noise output and heat dissipation. Many retail drives will make your TivoHD sound like a jet engine. You can buy the same quiet Seagate DB35 drives used by Weaknees right here. For the TivoHD and Series3, you need the SCE version, available in 500Gb ($150) and 750Gb ($265) sizes.

If you want to buy a drive locally, ask in the forum for recommendations.

 

[MirclMax]

Well thanks for the repost of the instructions .. also for the "end of 2007" info. Still not sure if it is worth waiting or just doing an internal update.

I'm not bothered by the mechanics of it (I've done drive updates before) .. but I don't have a SATA interface (Yes, thanks for the link for the USB adapter) .. and I think the main thing holding me back is the warranty voiding issue. Hard to do on a box that is so new and not 100% yet.

Questions:
If you do the "Backup" option only, does that carry over CableCard settings?

In comparing the options of internal/external ... am I correct in guessing that the internal solution is likely to be quieter and more reliable? Reliability not based on workmanship of the drive, but its ability to interface with the TiVo .. read/write access .. less issues with cabling and so forth... yes?

-MirclMax

 

[richsadams]

Tivo told reviewers that they expected to enable eSATA before the end of 2007.

In the interim, upgrading the internal hard drive is a rarely simple and straightforward if you have a Windows XP or Windows Vista PC, thanks to a simple new utility called WinMFS.

I'll bet you meant to say "In the interim, upgrading the internal hard drive is a fairly (not rarely) simple and straightforward..." If so...agreed! :up:

 

[richsadams]

A slip of the tongue/post a while back indicated that TiVo has been beta testing MRV and eSATA on the "Original S3" for several months now, so I feel somewhat confident that those will come to pass in the "near future" followed by the TiVo HD...year end? Wagers anyone?

 

[bkdtv]

I'll bet you meant to say "In the interim, upgrading the internal hard drive is a fairly (not rarely) simple and straightforward..." If so...agreed! :up:

Thanks for catching that.

 

[oldnacl]

My personal experience with a Series 3 is that I'll go with an internal upgrade way before I'll bother adding an external SATA, even if it is supported by TiVo. Warranty be hanged (I'll wait for 90 days though...).

 

[richsadams]

My personal experience with a Series 3 is that I'll go with an internal upgrade way before I'll bother adding an external SATA, even if it is supported by TiVo. Warranty be hanged (I'll wait for 90 days though...).

Fair enough. We've been using an eSATA drive on our S3 for about five months now with no troubles, but some others are seeing enough issues that if I was to do it over again I'd pop a larger drive inside instead...just got caught up in the "Wow...really...I can do that? Cool!" factor.

 

[Globular]

It might be worth waiting to see if the next update for THDs is the 8.3 release that includes the eSATA support on the S3s.

I suspect it will be, hence the longer testing period Pony mentioned in another post.

-Matt

 

[richsadams]

It might be worth waiting to see if the next update for THDs is the 8.3 release that includes the eSATA support on the S3s.

I suspect it will be, hence the longer testing period Pony mentioned in another post.

-Matt

It will be interesting to see...but I doubt they'll upgrade to the same 8.3.1 that the S3's are currently running...if only to ensure that the back-door eSATA hack is not available. TiVo is keenly aware of the eSATA issues we're having now and I really doubt that they'd risk the THD's having yet another problem to deal with.

My money is on another "THD only" software release to address the SA cards. I don't know that the S3's and THD's will ever share the same firmware as the hardware isn't identical, but it's probably something that they could do if they wanted to. The last interview with TiVo's Jim Denney indicated that MRV, and TTG would be available on the S3's followed by the THD so it doesn't sound like things will be the same for both for a while at least.