[nt40lanman]

I'M BACK!! I scored a deal on a used Roamio Plus and 2 minis with lifetime. I have read a tutorial and upgrading the drive seems straightforward, especially for a computer repair tech like me. Just plop it in and the tivo will handle the rest. But I still have questions.

How does that work? Is the system on a built in SSD?

The WD Red drives seem to be popular here but the Purple seems more appropriate to me with lower power consumption and a purpose of a surveillance DVR. Can I get any more info on this?

I currently have a Tivo HD with a 1TB drive with lots of stuff on it. I'd like to transfer all of that. I think the Tivo site used to have some transfer ability but not sure how my ancient (but still great) HD works into that. Last time, I just copied from one to the other through the Tivo menu, one at a time. Any info on that would be appreciated as well.

I intend to use MOCA. Do I need to install some kind of filter on my cable line to avoid making my entire neighborhood a MOCA network?

 

[Scott9mm]

You will need a MOCA bridge to interface your MOCA net with your ISP net. Get a second bridge for your HD TiVo. You can copy/move unprotected shows to the new Plus. You can't move protected shows but you can stream them from the HD to your new Plus (which presumably is connected to a TV). For the Roamio Plus, there is a boot system (of sorts) on the motherboard that can load the TiVo application and update it from the internet. If you stick a blank Hard Drive in the Plus it will set itself up automatically, up to 3GB. If the drive is bigger than 3GB you can (after setup) hook it to a PC and expand to the TiVo capacity using software on this site. The main limitation is that protected programs must be played (or streamed) from the box they were recorded on. You want a MOCA point of entry (POE) filter to keep your MOCA net private. These are very inexpensive. If you have a tuning adapter, some recommend another POE filter at the TA.

 

[nt40lanman]

Thanks for the info Scott. I believe the Roamio Plus has a Moca bridge in it and I have network at my Tivo location. Failing that, my cable modem will do Moca Bridge as well. I could Moca the new one and network the old one. Can I get a Moca filter off Amazon?

That's interesting about the boot system onboard. I was thinking about a 4gb drive, so it's a drag it won't do more than 3. I'll look into the software.

Any opinions on hard drives, red vs purple, etc?

 

[ThAbtO]

I currently have a Tivo HD with a 1TB drive with lots of stuff on it. I'd like to transfer all of that. I think the Tivo site used to have some transfer ability but not sure how my ancient (but still great) HD works into that. Last time, I just copied from one to the other through the Tivo menu, one at a time. Any info on that would be appreciated as well.

The old Series 3 is no longer supported by Tivo, so using online.tivo.com will not work. You would need to use programs like KMTTG, PyTivo to transfer shows. If your Roamio is running Hydra/ v21+, it would not be able to transfer from it, nor from a computer.

 

[ThAbtO]

You can't move protected shows but you can stream them from the HD to your new Plus (which presumably is connected to a TV)

The old Series 3/HD does not have streaming capabilities.

 

[nt40lanman]

The old Series 3/HD does not have streaming capabilities.

Not streaming but if you have 2 tivos, you can browse one from the other and download recorded shows

 

[ThAbtO]

Not streaming but if you have 2 tivos, you can browse one from the other and download recorded shows

As noted, if the Roamio is running Hydra/TE4/V21+ and not TE3/v20+ software, you cannot do transfer from the S3 or from online.tivo.com.

 

[Scott9mm]

I stand corrected. KMTTG sees my Series 3 HD just fine so I assumed you could stream from it lto another TiVo like I do from a Premiere. My bad. I guess any protected programs can only be played directly on the Series 3 HD,

The Plus does have built-in MOCA. If your modem includes a MOCA bridge you're in business. Disregard comment about getting a MOCA bridge to stream from the Series 3 HD. MOCA POE filters are available and cheap on Bay and Amazon.

Back in the day, I thought KMTTG was complicated and hard to use. Maybe so but not so now. I use KMTTG all the time to automatically download and transcode non-protected programs that I store on and play from a Synology NAS. I can't say enough good things about KMTTG. My ffmpeg settings produce OK (good but not great) images about 1/10 the size of the original high def files.

I use WD red (not red pro) drives in my TiVos, NAS units, and surveillance NVRs without problems. I bought several "reconditioned" WD red drives for good prices on eBay without problems.

If you restart the Roamio Plus (best ever TiVo IMO) with a 3TB or larger hard drive it will come up as 3TB capacity. If the HD is bigger than 3TB you can use these instructions to "expand" the drive so you can use the full capacity.

 

[nt40lanman]

Step one is done. Based on KMTTGs estimate of disk usage in my HD, I decided a 2TB should be just fine. I picked up a purple and put it in and booted it up. It said P"lease Wait" for a while, then came up to the setup. I'll try setup tomorrow.

How does setup go when you have to call Comcast to pair the cablecard to your Tivo over the phone with them?

I may not have the upgraded OS Hydra, or whatever it is. Do I have a choice in upgrading and if so, should I?

 

[ThAbtO]

You have to do Guided Setup with no choice, and if you are on v20, you will not be forced to upgrade to v21/Hydra.

You can select to do the cable card later or call the cable card line.

Comcast

• CableCARD Activation Line:1-877-405-2298

 

[nt40lanman]

Thanks for the info. I paired up Cablecards a long time ago.

Is there any reason to not upgrade to V21?

I have a Moca filter coming from Amazon. My Roamio can create a Moca network or my router can. I'll probably have the router do it. If I connect my Roamio and minis to Moca, will they be able to see my HD on ethernet? Or would my minis on MOCA communicate with my Roamio if it was on WiFi?

 

[ThAbtO]

You may run into more issues with v21 than v20. Not alot of difference except for VOX and a few things. There would be no more PC-to-Tivo transfers with v21, and must use online.tivo.com to transfer from Series 4 and above.

Wifi does not have the bandwidth needed for the Mini, but you can connect by ethernet or MoCa (can handle a mix.)

Series 3 will not be able to connect to a Mini, but Roamio can be an intermediary. (Transfer to Roamio, stream to Mini.)

 

[nt40lanman]

I think I'll connect the HD and Roamio with an ethernet switch and pull recordings over one by one, the way I did last time going from my S3 to my HD. I wish I could transfer my thumbs up/down history that helps guide the suggested recordings.

 

[kpeters59]

KMTTG will backup / restore your Thumbs, OnePasses and Channels.

-KP

 

[nt40lanman]

Fantastic!! Thanks. I have the new Roamio set up without the cable card for the time being. I found "System Info" and I have OS V. 20.7.4b. I have a friend with Hydra so I'll go look at his and see if I like it. What are the differences I'm looking for?

I'm able to find my HD and browse the shows on it but everything has an X next to it. I thought I'd be able to transfer direct like I did back in the day. Is KMTTG my only option?

Seeing as the Roamio will install it's own system to a new drive, is there any value in keeping the drive I took out other than having a spare?

 

[JoeKustra]

Fantastic!! Thanks. I have the new Roamio set up without the cable card for the time being. I found "System Info" and I have OS V. 20.7.4b. I have a friend with Hydra so I'll go look at his and see if I like it. What are the differences I'm looking for?
I'm able to find my HD and browse the shows on it but everything has an X next to it. I thought I'd be able to transfer direct like I did back in the day. Is KMTTG my only option?
Seeing as the Roamio will install it's own system to a new drive, is there any value in keeping the drive I took out other than having a spare?

Keep the old drive in case you need to return the unit for repair. It will be obvious (except for live TV or watching a recording) the differences between TE3 and TE4. Also see: TE3 vs TE4 - why do you like/dislike one vs the other?

 

[ThAbtO]

has an X next to it.

Copy-protected.

 

[nt40lanman]

Copy-protected.

Every single video? There must be another reason.

 

[ThAbtO]

It depends on where they were recorded from. Some CableCo protects everything.

 

[nt40lanman]

I'm pretty sure there are at least a few that got transferred from my S3. Could it be that I don't have a cable card in yet? Will KMTTG take them off and put them on the new one?