[Patrick Linley]

So... I'm setting up my ***3rd*** 3TB Bolt+ (2 warranty replacements) after about 18 months of being on Tivo's Services... the service, interface and features are GREAT, but this crappy hardware is quite ridiculous if you ask me, and losing all my programs, etc. is getting SUPER old... I even heeded warnings about these units getting too hot and being sensitive to surges, so I have had it sitting on a superflow cooling pad and connected to a nice UPS since it was new... none of which obviously helped! I'm pretty tech savvy and have kmttg and PyTivo on my PC and have played around with it... but am not that familiar with the Tivo itself... It's easy enough to download and convert recorded programs when you are only doing a few at a time, but IMO too slow and clunky to use as a true 'backup'. I have never looked into connecting an eSATA drive to the expansion port on the back, but believe I am correct in understanding that it's just for expanding the capabilities of your storage space... with 3TB, I don't really need additional space, but wondering if I can somehow use an external drive as a MIRROR of the internal. I feel pretty certain that if it wouldn't void my warranty, I could take the drive out of the bad unit and connect it to a Linux machine to recover the data, but it's not worth taking a chance of it costing me the $449.00 deposit if they figure out it has been tampered with.
Any suggestions with this new box as to how to keep a good backup of shows and settings without a lot of hassle?

 

[kpeters59]

KMTTG will back up and restore your OnePasses, Channels and Thumbs. Makes it pretty easy to be back up and running.

I have plenty of storage, so I offload shows I don't want to lose. But, sourcing replacement files isn't that hard, either...

-KP

 

[ThAbtO]

All transfers from/to Tivo are only one a time. KMTTG can do large batches.

The ESata port is only used for space expansion with approved drives only, or prepped somehow that works.

 

[tommage1]

Any suggestions with this new box as to how to keep a good backup of shows and settings without a lot of hassle?

You cannot keep a backup drive for a Bolt. However you can use another TIVO as a backup. A Premiere is a cheap solution. You can transfer whatever shows you want to backup to the Premiere. The Premiere of course would be on TE3. If your Bolt is on TE4 you can transfer to the Premiere but cannot transfer back. If your Bolt is on TE3 you can transfer back and forth with no issues. Of course everything will be by hand, you have to setup the transfers yourself one at a time (you can queue them up but have to setup each one at a time). When not using the Premiere you can power it down. I'd go the cheapest if only using for backup purposes, you would want a lifetime unit, no monthly fees, should be able to get the 2 tuner model for $150 or so, maybe a bit cheaper if patient. Easy to upgrade drive also if you want, 3-4TB drive for Premiere probably 30-70 if you shop around. KMTTG and Pytivo good but using another Tivo better, no errors during transfers, all info is maintained, don't have to have different settings for MPEG2 and MPEG4/H.264 (compressed).

Or if you don't want to use backups consider using a good quality 3.5" drive in an external enclosure for the Bolt. Bolt failures are usually the drive, especially with the larger capacity drives.

TE4 Bolt upgrade with external drive

 

[Patrick Linley]

That is good, thorough information... Thank you!

I think I want to look at having BOTH a Premiere AND a good external drive...
First question is regarding TE3/4... the replacement I got updated without giving me an apparent choice - it is showing Platform: Series 6 and S/W version: 21.9.7v3-USC-11-849 --- so what is that? I am assuming it is the latest... if so, can I roll back to TE3, or should there soon be an option to transfer between TE3 and later versions?

Regarding the external eSATA...
1. If I connect a blank drive... would I just have to make a choice in settings to save all recordings to that drive rather than the internal?
2. If I connect a known good drive that contains a duplicate/recovery image (done with ddrescue, etc.) as an external drive, will I be able to access the shows which were recorded on that drive from the old unit, or will the box not recognize anything on that drive since it is a 'fully bootable' version from a different box? If the answer is that it will not be able to access those shows... is there ANY way to extract the recordings database (and perhaps other info such as Season Passes, Thumbs, Channel Lists, etc.) to make it readable on the external connected to the replacement box or on/in the Premiere?

Thanks again!

 

[ThAbtO]

Version 21.x is TE4 AKA hydra. Some functions were removed/changed than in v20.x or TE3. Tivo to Tivo transfers happens only through online.tivo.com. pc to Tivo disabled. Reverting to TE3 is possible at loss of shows.

Any external drive has to have proprietary format to be recognized and it would be shared storage. This means shows are stored partially on internal and external at the same time. This also adds points for failure in which shows are lost when failure happens.

 

[tommage1]

Regarding the external eSATA...

Just FYI the external I was talking about is not an expansion (2nd drive) and does not use Esata. It is a replacement for the internal drive, there will be only one drive, and Sata to Sata, no Esata involved, does not use the Esata port on the Bolt or the enclosure. Check the link for pictures of what I did if interested. The point of doing it is being able to use a 3.5" drive instead of a 2.5, way more reliable, cheaper, larger capacities etc etc.

 

[Patrick Linley]

Yes sir, I have looked at those... seems like a great idea to go with the Sata to Sata External.
So, if I have a .img of a Hydra drive, what is the most cost efficient solution for a box that it will work on? Another Bolt, I assume?
If I do get another bolt to temporarily use for the Hydra 'backup' I have in order to download the info with kmttg, is there an easy way to then load a 20.x image on it and keep it from automatically updating to 21.x?
Thanks

 

[ThAbtO]

Bolts (and Roamio) does not contain the software on the drive, so there are no images available. Its contained on the MB and just plopping a blank (up to 3TB) into the Bolt will self-prep it to become operational.

keep it from automatically updating to 21.x?

It would not auto-update. You would get a confirmation before it will, and that is if you pressed the VOX button.

 

[Patrick Linley]

So, if the OS is on-board and not on the hard drive, why would the 4 flashing lights of death which apparently indicate a bad hard drive keep it from booting at all? No output of display whatsoever.

 

[tommage1]

So, if the OS is on-board and not on the hard drive, why would the 4 flashing lights of death which apparently indicate a bad hard drive keep it from booting at all? No output of display whatsoever.

When you first plug it in you should get some sort of output to screen, maybe just for a VERY short time. Then it tries to boot the actual HD, could then go blank and get the flashing lights. If you get NOTHING (not even a flash on your screen) when you first plug it in I'd guess possible power supply (enough to light lights but not boot the drive) or even bad HDMI output port?

 

[Patrick Linley]

Tivo support sent an extra power supply along with the replacement Bolt+ and I tried it, so the power supply isn't the issue... they told me to connect the bad box to the network along with the new one and they may be able to transfer the recordings, but I don't see how that's possible if I can't even ping the box when the 4 lights are flashing....? Just haven't had an extra 2 hours to call them and deal with their level 1 incompetence. Maybe I will give that a try tomorrow though.

 

[tommage1]

may be able to transfer the recordings,

One way to possibly do it would be to CLONE the bad drive to another drive of equal or larger size. Clone not copy. It may work depending on how bad the current drive is. Since you are sending the unit with the bad drive back does not matter if it does not work (as long as you don't break anything while taking apart the unit and put the bad drive back in before sending back). Try the cloned drive in the unit, see if you can rescue anything, if not just put the original back in and send it back. Again you could use a 3.5" drive (not sure how many people have spare 2.5 3TB+ drives sitting around) to make the clone, would just have to connect it direct to the Sata port on the MB and find a way to power it, suppose you could try the power off the Bolt connection, if it does not work nothing lost since your are sending back. Or try an external power supply direct to the 3.5, from an enclosure or an adapter than can connect direct to the Sata power input on the drive.

Hmm, could probably use power connection from a desktop computer to power the 3.5 since it will be temporary.

 

[Patrick Linley]

Current Situation: Bolt+ #3..... DEAD.... after less than 2 weeks. Amazing... on the phone with Tivo... I don't want another Bolt - EVER!
I am negotiating with them on a 2TB Edge... it's only been out 1 year, but the reviews seem good, and surely they have made some improvements (well, hopefully).
What I am concerned about is the remote... I have been using a Slide Pro in IR mode with these Bolts because it is a 'learning' remote and was the only Tivo remote that I could use to learn the power and volume commands for my older Bose Lifestyle system.... the slide pro specs say that it isn't compatible with the Edge. Is it NOT AT ALL compatible, or will it work in IR, or can I make it learn the commands for the Edge?

 

[kpeters59]

No Vudu app, which was and is still advertised. No Dolby Vision (which is advertised) on Sony TVs (LLDV DV Profile 5), the post just below yours about TTG, plus just read this whole thread through.

Maybe you won't ever use those broken or missing features, so then you'll be problem free, idk.

If you don't use any of those features, you might have a good experience.

From here:

EDGE - Issues we're tracking

-KP

 

[Patrick Linley]

Ok, so I put a 3TB 3.5" WD Red on my Bolt+ with it's own power supply and long SATA cable... everything is setup and working with Defaults... just need to txfr SPs and Channel list to the new drive... I have a kmttg 2.4 backup from the old drive... I pull data from the Tivo, can load my SPs, but when I click copy and select my Bolt, it does nothing... am I missing something easy?

 

[Patrick Linley]

Duh.. I had to select them all in the table... when I tried copying channel list, at least kmttg TOLD me that I had nothing selected... copying SPs *DOESN'T* let you know that apparently.