[weaknees]

The good news is: the HD TiVo seems to be upgradeable. We have successfully backed up and restored the software, expanded it, and added second drives.

PLEASE NOTE: We haven’t yet filled up these drives with HD content. Once we’ve had a chance to try many other tests in these units (we’ve got a pretty big list) we’ll try this. So for now, we’re relying on what we see in System Information. Until we have successfully loaded the drive with content, take all this with a grain of salt.

Here are the details:

We used our standard backup string:

mfsbackup –f 9999 –1so /image.bak /dev/hdc

The resulting image is 1486 MB.

We restored to our 300 GB Maxtor QuickView drive as:

mfsrestore –xzpi /image.bak /dev/hdc

and in the TiVo we see 37 hours in HD and 248 in SD.

We have blessed drives in “noswap” and added them to the factory drive, and those drives are recognized by the system. Adding a 300 GB drive to the stock 250 GB drive creates 70 hours in HD and 470 hours in SD.

So far, we can’t get a dual 300 setup to work reliably, but we’re still working on it.

So in short, we can get mfsadd to work with one drive, and we have successfully added a second drive to a stock “A” drive with BlessTiVo, but we have not yet successfully used mfsadd (or the –x switch in mfsrestore) across two drives, with the first being >250GB.

The challenge here is to safely hold the second drive in the unit. Our TwinBreeze bracket won’t work in its current configuration and we have begun the process of engineering a new bracket for this unit. Quality components take some time to engineer, test, tool, and manufacture. The power supply in the HD box is 85W so we don’t see any reason to add the PowerTrip to this box at present.

More details as they come.

Michael

EDIT: 9/28/04

We have updated our D-I-Y upgrade site to support this model:

http://www.upgrade-instructions.com

We have a CD with large kernel support, and full instructions for using two large drives for this model.

 

[bkdtv]

weaknees,

How long would you guess it wll take you to engineer and mass produce a bracket for the HD Tivo? Are we talking weeks or months?

 

[dswallow]

Good luck Michael; I know I'm anxious to hear/see/buy the final results!

 

[turls]

Oh boy! I'm really surprised. I guess this is a reason to get a unit sooner rather than later. Not that I think DirecTV is quick enough on their feet to re-engineer hardware or software to prevent this any time soon, but it will probably be on their todo list.

Also, isn't the Maxtor drive much quieter than the stock WD drive?

 

[Darin]

WooHoo!

 

[MrBigglesworth]

Awesome news!

 

[Darin]

Originally posted by turls
Not that I think DirecTV is quick enough on their feet to re-engineer hardware or software to prevent this any time soon, but it will probably be on their todo list.

They've never done that in the past, have they?

 

[turls]

Originally posted by Darin
They've never done that in the past, have they?

No, but the design was done on the originals before they "took over" from Tivo. And of course, being an HD box, any hackability will be doubly discouraged by MPAA and other DirecTV "partners".

Not FUD at all. I'm being quite reasonable.

 

[Paperboy2003]

How soon is it typically before we get an idea on costs as well as time to get the add on done?

Doug

 

[Paperboy2003]

also, since doing this add on voids the warrantee, does weaknees (or anyone else) offer some kind of warrantee to protect those that work with them?

Doug

 

[Darin]

Originally posted by turls
Not FUD at all. I'm being quite reasonable.

I'm not suggesting you're being unreasonable, just making sure there's not precedent that I'm not aware of. The good news is, software-wise, weaknees was able to use their existing tools and command lines... they didn't have to hack to make it work. I would THINK that if DirecTV really wanted to prevent it (it's not like they don't know it's going on now), they could have easily thrown in a speed bump before they reached final design.

 

[Darin]

Originally posted by Paperboy2003
also, since doing this add on voids the warrantee, does weaknees (or anyone else) offer some kind of warrantee to protect those that work with them?

What incentive would there be for them to warranty your $1000 box, taking responsibility for your mod work, just for selling you a $20 part?

That's just the risk you take when doing this kind of stuff.

 

[bcc]

The maxtor 300gb is 5400rpm, right? Fast enough to keep up when the tivo is recording two HD shows and replaying a 3rd? How about noise/heat? Quieter than the built-in wd2500?

 

[ljg]

Michael:

What would be the maximum # of added drives weakness could do as a modification, of course assuming it goes well with one additional drive is there any way weakness could add additional drives outside of the Tivo box?

Lon

 

[litzdog911]

Originally posted by ljg
Michael:

What would be the maximum # of added drives weakness could do as a modification, of course assuming it goes well with one additional drive is there any way weakness could add additional drives outside of the Tivo box?

Lon

My understanding is that without MAJOR modifications Tivo only supports two IDE devices, that is, two hard drives.

Some have speculated that maybe external USB drives could be supported, but really bad things would happen if one of these drives got disconnected because of how Tivo's file system "marries" hard drives together.

 

[Graphics]

Nice going Michael..its upgradeable! its upgradeable! FANTASTIC!
Now another 250 gig is very affordable.

400gig x 2 is what I would most likely love to see.
Again Great News. Keep tinkering you guys...

 

[weaknees]

Originally posted by bkdtv
weaknees,

How long would you guess it wll take you to engineer and mass produce a bracket for the HD Tivo? Are we talking weeks or months?

We just don't know at this point. We intend to make something that builds on the quality of the TwinBreeze - not something quick and dirty that will result in increased vibration, noise, and heat. We recognize that these boxes are expensive and prized, and we don't intend to take any shortcuts in producing an add-on part for them. We certainly don't want to risk a $1000 machine by engineering a bracket just to get it fast to market.

More info when we have it - we're both professionally and personally eager as well.

Michael

 

[weaknees]

Originally posted by turls
Also, isn't the Maxtor drive much quieter than the stock WD drive?

This just hasn't been our priority so far - we haven't tested the two side by side in a quiet room.

Our experience at the 40 GB hard drive level shows that the Maxtor QuickViews are much quieter than the WDs, but at this size, we just don't yet know.

Michael

 

[weaknees]

Originally posted by Paperboy2003
How soon is it typically before we get an idea on costs as well as time to get the add on done?

Doug

It's just too early to know at this point. As soon as we're confident in our testing, we'll begin to get some options out there.

Michael

 

[tivoupgrade]

For those interested in upgrades for their HD TiVo units, we have a mailing list signup here.

We will be making infrequent announcements to the list when brackets, kits, and professional services become available. We have been working on a prototype bracket for the new HD units for awhile and should have something in low volumes in the coming weeks. We tend not to rush these things, and don't release products without the proper testing and documentation, but we'll make an announcement here when the time is right.

Thanks,
Lou