Roamio--Replace failing drive
So many threads are so old I'm not sure what is current.
I have a 12 year old Roamio. Hard drive seems to be failing. I've had tivos for over 20 years, I know the signs.
Unit has a 3T drive. Installed shortly after I purchased my tivo. I replaced the factory drive and let tivo download and install the software. I allowed my unit to upgrade to TE4.
I want to keep my recordings.
Looks like I need to be careful as to what drive. I think I can find a 4T efrx Is that the way to go or will a WD purple do the trick? Is one better then the others. Any chance a WD purple will be SMR?
4T is the biggest drive that will let me easily do what I want.
MFS The right program. Any special options?
Thanks.
I have a 12 year old Roamio. Hard drive seems to be failing. I've had tivos for over 20 years, I know the signs.
Unit has a 3T drive. Installed shortly after I purchased my tivo. I replaced the factory drive and let tivo download and install the software. I allowed my unit to upgrade to TE4.
I want to keep my recordings.
Looks like I need to be careful as to what drive. I think I can find a 4T efrx Is that the way to go or will a WD purple do the trick? Is one better then the others. Any chance a WD purple will be SMR?
4T is the biggest drive that will let me easily do what I want.
MFS The right program. Any special options?
Thanks.
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
I doubt your Roamio is 12 yrs old, mine is from 2013-2014.
You can replace with drives up to 8 TB (or more.) When you replace the drive directly (just swapping drives), Only Roamio, can format itself, but just up to 3TB (or less, about 282 hrs). After that, hook to a Windows compatible PC and run MFSR.
If you want to save recordings to the new drive,use MFSTools 3.3, but that is limited to 4TB, and you should be able to expand with the same.
You can replace with drives up to 8 TB (or more.) When you replace the drive directly (just swapping drives), Only Roamio, can format itself, but just up to 3TB (or less, about 282 hrs). After that, hook to a Windows compatible PC and run MFSR.
If you want to save recordings to the new drive,use MFSTools 3.3, but that is limited to 4TB, and you should be able to expand with the same.
Should I hunt for a wd efrx or grab a purple?
My bad with the age I thought I was setting it up before 2008 superbowl. It was before 2012 superbowl and it was a premier. I wound up selling my Premier and Tivo HD and buying a Roamio in 20q3.
My bad with the age I thought I was setting it up before 2008 superbowl. It was before 2012 superbowl and it was a premier. I wound up selling my Premier and Tivo HD and buying a Roamio in 20q3.
Yes. Find CMR and avoid SMR.Should I hunt for a wd efrx or grab a purple?
You said you want to keep your recordings, so only two options (As long as the drive is still working):
1. Start copying all of them off the current box to another TiVo, or to a computer with something like pyTivo, then you can move them back onto the box when it has a new drive.
or
2. Clone the existing drive to a new drive and save them that way.
The "clone" can be done with either ddrescue or MFS. Of course, if your current drive already has errors, you may have problems trying to save the recordings.
1. Start copying all of them off the current box to another TiVo, or to a computer with something like pyTivo, then you can move them back onto the box when it has a new drive.
or
2. Clone the existing drive to a new drive and save them that way.
The "clone" can be done with either ddrescue or MFS. Of course, if your current drive already has errors, you may have problems trying to save the recordings.
I thought my WD 8TB Red drive was failing so I tried other hard drives including a 8TB purple drive as well as the original 500GB drive that came with the Roamio back in 2015. I have just replaced the Roamio SATA power cable thinking that it may be that causing my Tivo Roamio to stay on the Welcome Starting Up screen. It just started about a month or two ago where the WD Red 8TB drive that I had installed in there (with a lot of recordings) for about a year (or possibly less) just stopped working. I can't figure out what else to try. The Tivo refuses to format any drive using the internal Roamio firmware any longer. I even purchased a new external power supply for the Roamio thinking the old one got zapped or something. I am hearing the hard drive heads moving when I power up on every one of the hard drives I installed.
Is there a way to format the drive using Windows 10 or booting from a Linux DVD and format the drive for Tivo and then use an ISO for a recent Tivo image (which I received on this Tivo forum) to get a hard drive to work and get past the Welcome Starting Up screen? I would appreciate any help anyone can provide.
Note: I was thinking of just replacing the Roamio but I don't want to pay another lifetime service fee (currently $550.00). I was also thinking of about purchasing a formatted hard with the current Tivo image drive from Weaknees but that's pretty expensive when I should do it myself. I tried to run the MFSR.exe (as an administrator) which I have done in the past using the instructions on this forum but it doesn't appear to work any longer with the latest Windows 10 version (20H2 per WinVer command).
Thank you.
Is there a way to format the drive using Windows 10 or booting from a Linux DVD and format the drive for Tivo and then use an ISO for a recent Tivo image (which I received on this Tivo forum) to get a hard drive to work and get past the Welcome Starting Up screen? I would appreciate any help anyone can provide.
Note: I was thinking of just replacing the Roamio but I don't want to pay another lifetime service fee (currently $550.00). I was also thinking of about purchasing a formatted hard with the current Tivo image drive from Weaknees but that's pretty expensive when I should do it myself. I tried to run the MFSR.exe (as an administrator) which I have done in the past using the instructions on this forum but it doesn't appear to work any longer with the latest Windows 10 version (20H2 per WinVer command).
Thank you.
If you got an image, it isn't for the Roamio, because its not on the hard drive.
Current drives will not work in Tivo unless they are CMR.
The power brick needs to be at least 3 amps to work. The old OEM 2amp jut barely supply enough, and aged, even less.
If nothing else works, its perhaps toast.
Current drives will not work in Tivo unless they are CMR.
The power brick needs to be at least 3 amps to work. The old OEM 2amp jut barely supply enough, and aged, even less.
If nothing else works, its perhaps toast.
Thank you for replying. The new power supply that I bought from Amazon is 5amps. That should be sufficient. Maybe the image that was sent to me is for a premier and not a roamio. Not sure.
How do I know if the drive is CMR?
WD82PURZ Purple 8TB CMR 3.5inch USA
WD80EFAX Red 8TB CMR 3.5inch USA
Might be toast. Worst comes to worst, I will remove the motherboard and check if any of the solder joints appear to be loose (or worse).
How do I know if the drive is CMR?
WD82PURZ Purple 8TB CMR 3.5inch USA
WD80EFAX Red 8TB CMR 3.5inch USA
Might be toast. Worst comes to worst, I will remove the motherboard and check if any of the solder joints appear to be loose (or worse).
What is the filename?the image that was sent to me
TCD746320-20.7.4.RC42-500GB.zip
That's a Premiere image, which you asked for in the thread titled "Help! Need an image for TCD746500 (TiVo Premiere)".TCD746320-20.7.4.RC42-500GB.zip
If MFS Reformatter won't run at all it's usually caused by a specific line of SD card reader. Try disabling the reader in Device Manager or BIOS.I tried to run the MFSR.exe (as an administrator) which I have done in the past using the instructions on this forum but it doesn't appear to work any longer with the latest Windows 10 version (20H2 per WinVer command).
Just to confirm, What is the model of your Tivo? See the back label, starts with TCD.TCD746320-20.7.4.RC42-500GB.zip
I don't have an SD card reader.That's a Premiere image, which you asked for in the thread titled "Help! Need an image for TCD746500 (TiVo Premiere)".
If MFS Reformatter won't run at all it's usually caused by a specific line of SD card reader. Try disabling the reader in Device Manager or BIOS.
MFS Reformatter used to work in an earlier version of Windows 10 but it stopped working. I do have it set for Compatibility as Windows 7 and running as administrator.
I might try to boot in SAFE MODE to see if something is preventing it from running.
I have a feeling it's toast since there is no HD activity light on the front of the Roamio. I have not yet checked the soldering joints on the bottom of the motherboard but I have a feeling it won't be that easy of a fix. Could be the flash chip on the TiVo motherboard is no longer working.
Are there any diagnostics for a Tivo to check what may be wrong with it?
Are there any diagnostics for a Tivo to check what may be wrong with it?
1 - 16 of 16 Posts
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