Is it dead?

Joe01880 said:

Does this mean my DVR Expander is dead? Or is it the internal HDD, or both?
Thanks in advance..

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I believe eSATA is not considered to be a particularly robust connection method, so before you do anything else, try a different eSATA cable. And make sure the connectors are well seated, etc.

Ok, guess i should have done a Google search to begin with. Doing a "Fail 7" search here (Preimere Forum) didnt bring me anything is why i made the OP.
The Google search brought up a result at TiVo which pretty much answers my own question and can be found here for anyone else that stumbles along in the community doing a Fail 7 search.
Tomorrow when/IF the Kickstart 54 completes i will disconnect the My DVR Expander and see if my Preimere feels like working and proceed from there. I am a little disapointed the Expander didnt have a longer run.

L David Matheny said:

I believe eSATA is not considered to be a particularly robust connection method, so before you do anything else, try a different eSATA cable. And make sure the connectors are well seated, etc.

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I gave that a try before running the KS54. A few weeks ago my TP was freezing up. A few reboots later it was fine. Yesterday after 2 reboots it was fine. Today after nine reboots it was still useless. It was freezing after RW, FF, or other actions or just because it wanted to. Hitting the TiVo button would bring up a partial screen, functional for the most part yet still frozen. I'll retry things one last time before throwing in the towel.
I was a first adopter with this Expander having preordered it. I'm not a programer type of Joe so the create your own HDD thing for the Tivo is a little intimidating, I'll just pick one up already to go someplace. The new CC ruling should make it a little easier on the wallet hopefully.

I removed the "My DVR Expander" from my Premiere and now it seems to be running fine. After 1500 minutes the KS54 still had not finnished. I figure my expander was 27 months old and very much out of warranty. It still seems like it should have lasted longer. As some have posted having the expander in the mix is adding more moving parts to break so I will not be buying another external expander but instead be picking up a 2TB internal HDD and swapping out the original and putting it away for a rainy day. Although I'm not confortable with attempting to format a bare HDD drive with a TiVo image I have no problems doing a swap.
I may resurect one of my old computers and get HDD and try to teach myself how to format but thats yet another project for another day.

Joe01880 said:

Although I'm not confortable with attempting to format a bare HDD drive with a TiVo image I have no problems doing a swap.
I may resurect one of my old computers and get HDD and try to teach myself how to format but thats yet another project for another day.

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Honestly the hardest part is actually removing and installing a HDD in the imaging process. Once you have the TiVo drive and the new drive hooked up to a PC it is really just a matter of following the prompts on a boot disc. You know your comfort level better than I do, but it really is just as simple as the following:

1. Remove old TiVo drive.
2. Hook up old TiVo drive and new drive to a computer. (this can be done via internal SATA, USB, or a combination of both) (I had to do SATA on one and USB on the other).
3) Turn on the computer and boot to a CD.
4) Follow the step by step prompts
5) Let your computer run for 6-12 hours depending on transfer speeds and drive sizes.
6) Install new HDD in the TiVo.

Everyone has their own favorite method, but I used this one with no issues: http://www.rosswalker.co.uk/tivo_upgrade/

Not trying to push you in to doing something you aren't comfortable with, but it sounds like you already know how to do the hardest part.