HD replace on my Roamio Pro without loosing Cable Card pairing

3982 Views 24 Replies 11 Participants Last post by susandennis, Jul 29, 2020

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · Nov 16, 2019

I have a Roamio Pro running TE3, a little over 5 years old. I bought it from TiVo with factory 3TB green drive, which has always been enough storage space for me. I was thinking about replacing the drive soon with another 3TB, and holding on to the original as a backup. I will probably get the recommended WD Red. I've read different opinions whether I will loose my cable card pairing. I really don't want to loose the pairing. I don't care about loosing my recorded shows and such, just not the pairing.
Can I just pop it in, or do I need to use MFS Tools 3.2?

1 - 20 of 25 Posts

JoeKustra

· #2 · Nov 16, 2019

You can just pop it in. You will lose cable card pairing.

If you still receive all the channels you watch, you can wait for a snowy day to re-pair the card. If you have premium channels then you need pairing to get them back. I waited a year before pairing after changing my hard drive.

Is there a reason you are doing all this work?

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #3 · Nov 16, 2019

JoeKustra said:
You can just pop it in. You will lose cable card pairing.

If you still receive all the channels you watch, you can wait for a snowy day to re-pair the card. If you have premium channels then you need pairing to get them back. I waited a year before pairing after changing my hard drive.

Is there a reason you are doing all this work?

Just to keep my Roamio Pro going strong, I guess maintenance. I replaced the fan, run a UPS, and keep it cool and clean inside.
Maybe I should wait on the HD until I really need it. Pairing it was not fun with calling Comcast.

kpeters59

· #4 · Nov 16, 2019

Make a Backup of your OnePasses, Thumbs and Channels with KMTTG.

Then, it's easy to get back up and running, especially if you don't care about your shows.

Re-pairing your CableCard isn't that big of a deal...

-KP

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #5 · Nov 16, 2019

kpeters59 said:
Make a Backup of your OnePasses, Thumbs and Channels with KMTTG.

Then, it's easy to get back up and running, especially if you don't care about your shows.

Re-pairing your CableCard isn't that big of a deal...

-KP

I do use KMTTG, but have only used it to permanently delete my deleted shows. I'll check it out for backup

I'm glad re-pairing is better now. I still have to call my cable provider, right?

DougJohnson

· #6 · Nov 16, 2019

Finalrinse said:
Just to keep my Roamio Pro going strong, I guess maintenance. I replaced the fan, run a UPS, and keep it cool and clean inside.
Maybe I should wait on the HD until I really need it. Pairing it was not fun with calling Comcast.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Today's hard drives claim MTBF times of a million hours or so. About 125 years. I'm not sure I believe that, but the hard drive in my TiVo has been spinning for over 7 years and the ones in my NAS for over 5 years. -- Doug

Reactions: 2

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #7 · Nov 16, 2019

DougJohnson said:
If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Today's hard drives claim MTBF times of a million hours or so. About 125 years. I'm not sure I believe that, but the hard drive in my TiVo has been spinning for over 7 years and the ones in my NAS for over 5 years. -- Doug

I agree, that's what I'll do

ThAbtO

· #8 · Nov 16, 2019

Comcast

CableCARD Activation Line:1-877-405-2298
Support Site
Self-Install Guide

tarheelblue32

· #9 · Nov 17, 2019

Finalrinse said:
Pairing it was not fun with calling Comcast.

I'm not on Comcast, but I've heard that Comcast has an automated CableCARD pairing website that works pretty well, so you usually don't have to call them to pair a card.

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #10 · Nov 17, 2019

tarheelblue32 said:
I'm not on Comcast, but I've heard that Comcast has an automated CableCARD pairing website that works pretty well, so you usually don't have to call them to pair a card.

Interesting, I'll have to search for that

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #11 · Nov 17, 2019

ThAbtO said:
Comcast

CableCARD Activation Line:1-877-405-2298

Support Site

Self-Install Guide

Thanks

Wigohwt

· #12 · Nov 19, 2019

Finalrinse said:
Thanks

Note, sometimes the online site doesn't work for re-pairing.

Why not just buy a WD Red 4TB and use MFS Tools to copy and expand in one step. No losses of any kind. Then delete what recordings you don't want either manually or with kmttg.

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #13 · Nov 19, 2019

Wigohwt said:
Note, sometimes the online site doesn't work for re-pairing.

Why not just buy a WD Red 4TB and use MFS Tools to copy and expand in one step. No losses of any kind. Then delete what recordings you don't want either manually or with kmttg.

Does this include pairing?

Wigohwt

· #14 · Nov 19, 2019

Finalrinse said:
Does this include pairing?

Yes, everything. Pairing, recordings, thumbs, one-passes, selected channels, TDL, everything...

Wigohwt

· #15 · Nov 19, 2019

As per MFS Tools thread for Roamio:

Identify your sdX and sdY
lsblk -o name,size,vendor

Make copy up to 4TB (includes expand)
Where sdX is the source (old) drive and sdY is the target (new) drive.
mfscopy -a /dev/sdX /dev/sdY

Your TiVo system information should show a recording capacity over 600 HD hours.

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #16 · Nov 19, 2019

Wigohwt said:
Yes, everything. Pairing, recordings, thumbs, one-passes, selected channels, TDL, everything...

Thanks!

Finalrinse

Discussion Starter · #17 · Nov 19, 2019

Wigohwt said:
As per MFS Tools thread for Roamio:

Identify your sdX and sdY
lsblk -o name,size,vendor

Make copy up to 4TB (includes expand)
Where sdX is the source (old) drive and sdY is the target (new) drive.
mfscopy -a /dev/sdX /dev/sdY

Your TiVo system information should show a recording capacity over 600 HD hours.

Thanks!

snerd

· #18 · Nov 20, 2019

If you really want to go wild, check out DIY 10TB Roamio
12TB and 14TB may also be possible.

Wigohwt

· #19 · Nov 20, 2019

snerd said:
If you really want to go wild, check out DIY 10TB Roamio
12TB and 14TB may also be possible.

The OP stated they believed the 3TB was enough, so that's why I suggested the more practical to buy and upgrade 4TB. Of course, this doesn't stop them from going up to 10TB in the future.

I always wondered if one could bless an 8TB, use mfsr, get the Roamio working, clone to a 14TB, and use MFS Tools to expand 3 times. Do you know if this has been done and it works? Just curious. I don't see myself actually doing this.

snerd

· #20 · Nov 20, 2019

Wigohwt said:
I always wondered if one could bless an 8TB, use mfsr, get the Roamio working, clone to a 14TB, and use MFS Tools to expand 3 times. Do you know if this has been done and it works? Just curious. I don't see myself actually doing this.

I'm not completely up to speed on the subtleties of going beyond 10TB. I believe there are some extra hoops beyond just using MFS Tools. Something about manual manipulation of the APM, but I haven't seen a full description of what that involves.

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