[rac8006]

what does it take to replace the disk in a tivo? What if you don't have the insertable card?

 

[ForrestB]

what does it take to replace the disk in a tivo? What if you don't have the insertable card?

A Torx 10 and Torx 15 screwdriver and about 15 minutes.
Hinsdale Upgrade Instructions

If you need a new Tivo hard drive, you can either buy them preimaged from this site's sponsors (see ads at the top of the page) or buy a generic 3.5 inch IDE/PATA hard drive and use a PC with at least at least 2 free IDE ports and a CDROM burner and follow the Hinsdale instructions above.

DirecTV will happily send you a new card for $20 along with a 2 year commitment. http://www.directv.com/

 

[rac8006]

I was hoping that I could you the unit with its two HD tuners to record hd tv without having to pay for the service. I don't currently have cable so I don't want to have to pay for cable just to be able to pay about $5.00 to record ota TV. I guess the unit is of no value to me.

 

[robomeister]

What is the model number of the unit in question? Is it a DirectTV TiVo (DirecTiVo) or a Stand Alone (SA) TiVo? Series 1 or Series 2 or Series 3?

A little info can to a long way.

But if you are looking to record without a sub, you won't get much help on this forum.

 

[rac8006]

Its a HR10-250. So I guess my best bet is to discard this unit and build a linux system to do this.

Thanks for your input.

 

[Finnstang]

Its a HR10-250. So I guess my best bet is to discard this unit and build a linux system to do this.

Thanks for your input.

Feel free to send it to me.

 

[robomeister]

Just FYI, all DirecTV Tivos or DirecTiVos record the digital signal directly from the satellite to the hard disc. None of the DirecTiVos have tuners in them. So it is a none starter for what you want to do.

However, I would suggest selling the unit on ebay. The HR10-250 is a highly desirable unit. Many here would like to have it, actually. (See Finnstang above.)

Good luck.

 

[rac8006]

Just FYI, all DirecTV Tivos or DirecTiVos record the digital signal directly from the satellite to the hard disc. None of the DirecTiVos have tuners in them. So it is a none starter for what you want to do.

However, I would suggest selling the unit on ebay. The HR10-250 is a highly desirable unit. Many here would like to have it, actually. (See Finnstang above.)

Good luck.

When I look at this unit it has two cable connectors and one antenna connector that splits to what looks like two tuners. I know that this unit can record off ota signals. So I'm not sure what you mean by this unit does not have any tuners in it.

 

[BTUx9]

HR10-250 DO have a tuner in them (they're sort of a hybrid), but it only tunes ATSC digital HD broadcasts OTA (it can't handle SD NTSC broadcasts)

 

[robomeister]

Ah, good to know. So can you do what the OP asked, use the ATSC tuner on an unsubbed unit? I'm guessing the answer is still -- no.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm a SA TiVo guy, don't know a lot about the DirecTiVos.

robomeister

 

[classicsat]

You can use the HR10-250 unsubbed to buffer digital OTA TV, just not record it without an appropriate DirecTV subscription and satellite connection. If you want to record just OTA, get the TiVoHD.