[themango]

I have two TiVo boxes -- one is an original Series II Tivo and the second is a Series II Humax TiVo.

Shortly after getting the Humax unit, I upgraded its HD and put the old hard drive away for a rainy day.

A few months ago, that rainy day came, and the older (original) Series II died. It was my secondary unit that I used to record educational programming for school (I'm a high school teacher). This TiVo also has a lifetime sub (so the second TiVo's sub was discounted), and well apparently several months of not calling in caused the discount on my second unit to be removed so it began billing at full price.

The symptoms...
Initially, when plugged in, the lights on the front would come on steadily, the fan would run, and the screen would read "Welcome Powering Up..." That's as far as it would go.

I then had the brilliant idea to throw the HD from the Humax box into the dead TiVo. Sadly, the result was the same.

So my questions:
1) should simply swapping hard drives have worked?
2) could the problem be more than a HD issue (or not a HD issue at all)?

I would really like to get this box back up and running, since it does have the lifetime sub...

Thanks for any help you may be able to offer!

 

[ThreeSoFar]

No, swapping the two would not work.

You need an image from someone of your dead one, and the right software to transfer that image to a new blank drive.

See the upgrade center.

 

[themango]

Is this pretty much the same procedure as performing an upgrade (just not on a super-huge drive)?

 

[ThreeSoFar]

Is this pretty much the same procedure as performing an upgrade (just not on a super-huge drive)?

Yes, except for the image. With an upgrade, you have your own original hard drive as a source for the new TiVo. Here your only copy of that drive (the drive itself) died.

Instant Cake is a $20 or so CD that will come with the right image for your system. Or you can ask and have someone that has an image of their own they can share with you.

 

[themango]

Thanks...looks like i'm in for some instant cake -- sounds easier than the hinsdale how-to anyways

 

[themango]

I can't believe how easy that was -- the dead tivo lives!

It literally took about 30 minutes from start to finish, and about 5 minutes to image the drive. WOW!

 

[megory]

Congratulations! How nice to read of such a rapid resolution!

How did you do it so fast?

Instant Cake is new lingo for me. I'd love to have such an immediate solution on-hand.

 

[themango]

Having a bit of an idea of what I was doing helped (the instructions that came with instantcake were good, but possibly a bit confusing for someone not too familiar with the insides of a computer).

But literally, it took about 10 minutes to open the TiVo and get the drive out, and another 10 minutes to get it hooked up and inside a spare computer according to the instructions (I'll admit, I got it wrong the first time). The atcual time to re-image the drive (only 80 gigs) was about 5 minutes.

I was able to put the new drive back in the TiVo, hook it it back up to the TV and see if it worked in about 5 minutes, and whaddya know...it worked.

Then it took another two hours to download updates and get it configured for my satellite setup .

Since I hadn't done an upgrade since the Humax box two or three years ago, I assumed it would be a similarly long process (I think it took about 3 hours, but that involved backing up the data on the TiVo first, which I didn't have to do here).

The only catch is that if I ever have a problem with the drive in the Humax box dying, I'll have to buy another version of instantcake as there is a different version (image) for each different varation of TiVo box (something new I learned last night)

As far as what instantcake does...it is software that you can buy (they'll send you a CD or you can do an instant download and burn it to CD). Essentially, you hook up just a CD drive and the hard drive that needs an image to the computer (in the proper configuration according to the instructions), press the power button, follow a few on screen instructions, and viola, in about 5 minutes (I assume longer for a larger drive) you have a working drive for a TiVo.

 

[ThreeSoFar]

Glad you've resolved the issue so quickly.

To do the same without Instant Cake is only a bit more complex in that you have to figure out the proper command and arguments. This site really makes that easy, though. The only other thing you need is an image.

That site (choose any of the "replace" or "add a drive" options) will allow you to make your own backup image of any TiVo not previously upgrade, and possibly even one previously upgraded (not sure on that part). If the backup created is good (you can confirm this by restoring it to any blank drive at least as big as the original hard drive and testing it in the TiVo), then this method can be completely free. There's a free download of a bootable CD with the proper tools to do the backup.

 

[tivoupgrade]

Having a bit of an idea of what I was doing helped (the instructions that came with instantcake were good, but possibly a bit confusing for someone not too familiar with the insides of a computer).

Glad you were successful with the product. Just to clarify things a bit, we've never positioned the product to be foolproof or designed for just anyone. In fact, on the product page, we do say this specifically (among other things):


How technical is the process? If you can connect a disk drive to your PC as a secondary IDE master, and can configure your PC to boot from CD-ROM on the primary slave, then you can do it yourself, and save money and time!

The point is that the product (which is now about years old) was designed for those who were a bit more technical than the types who were willing to pay the premium for a fully-prepared kit (ie - a store bought cake) and wanted to save some time and effort from having to do all the work (ie -baking a cake from scratch).

Hence the "InstantCake" reference which is similar to what you can buy in the supermarket; add an egg and some oil and throw it in the oven...

Cheers

 

[supasta]

(which is now about years old)

How old? You omitted... (and sparked my interest)

I had been a skeptic of IC from the start. I did my first few upgrades using the WeaKnees site going from source drive to upgrade drive. However, I was recently faced with a S1 Phillips 112 that had been previously upgraded with a dual-drive setup and one drive had crashed. So, I broke down and picked up a copy of IC from the site. Burning the .iso took longer than imaging the drive. I am now a frequent suggester of IC here and to friends. It is a great resource, great product.

 

[berfy]

Having a bit of an idea of what I was doing helped (the instructions that came with instantcake were good, but possibly a bit confusing for someone not too familiar with the insides of a computer).

But literally, it took about 10 minutes to open the TiVo and get the drive out, and another 10 minutes to get it hooked up and inside a spare computer according to the instructions (I'll admit, I got it wrong the first time). The atcual time to re-image the drive (only 80 gigs) was about 5 minutes.

I was able to put the new drive back in the TiVo, hook it it back up to the TV and see if it worked in about 5 minutes, and whaddya know...it worked.

Then it took another two hours to download updates and get it configured for my satellite setup .

Since I hadn't done an upgrade since the Humax box two or three years ago, I assumed it would be a similarly long process (I think it took about 3 hours, but that involved backing up the data on the TiVo first, which I didn't have to do here).

The only catch is that if I ever have a problem with the drive in the Humax box dying, I'll have to buy another version of instantcake as there is a different version (image) for each different varation of TiVo box (something new I learned last night)

As far as what instantcake does...it is software that you can buy (they'll send you a CD or you can do an instant download and burn it to CD). Essentially, you hook up just a CD drive and the hard drive that needs an image to the computer (in the proper configuration according to the instructions), press the power button, follow a few on screen instructions, and viola, in about 5 minutes (I assume longer for a larger drive) you have a working drive for a TiVo.

What if you don't have a spare computer?

I have a working Desktop PC as well as a Notebook, both in use at the moment. Can I do this on one of these? If so, what do I do with the hard drive already installed on these machines while I'm imaging the Tivo Drive? I'm a little confused. Enlighten me please.

Thanks.

 

[ThreeSoFar]

What if you don't have a spare computer?

I have a working Desktop PC as well as a Notebook, both in use at the moment. Can I do this on one of these? If so, what do I do with the hard drive already installed on these machines while I'm imaging the Tivo Drive? I'm a little confused. Enlighten me please.

Thanks.

You can. The desktop will be easier, as it already has IDE ports.

Safest is to just unplug the HD in there during the upgrade. But if you want to write your backup to it, you can. IT just adds master/slave issues and the potential of wiping your desktop's HD if you screw something up (source and destination comes to mind).

 

[tivoupgrade]

How old? You omitted... (and sparked my interest)

I had been a skeptic of IC from the start. I did my first few upgrades using the WeaKnees site going from source drive to upgrade drive. However, I was recently faced with a S1 Phillips 112 that had been previously upgraded with a dual-drive setup and one drive had crashed. So, I broke down and picked up a copy of IC from the site. Burning the .iso took longer than imaging the drive. I am now a frequent suggester of IC here and to friends. It is a great resource, great product.

Sorry... FOUR!

The recommendations are definitely appreciated.
Thanks again!

Lou