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Swap Disk Drives in HDVR2 - If You Do This?

1531 Views 10 Replies 4 Participants Last post by  CoolHandLuke, 
C
Hi,

I have a Hughes HDVR2 and it's time to retire it because of the tuner #2 pixelating problem, and some color issues, but it is working fine with #1 tuner.

This unit was expanded/hacked from the standard 40gb hard drive to dual 120gb drives, and runs Tivo software 6.4a, back in 2003.

I bought a 2nd unit off Ebay several years ago just for this swap.

From reading the forums this what I think should be done below, and correct me if I'm wrong.

1) Clone the current drives using DD to backup drives & test

2) Zipper the current drives

3) Run 51killer.tcl on current drives

4) Transfer current drives to 2nd HDVR2

5) Transfer access card to 2nd HDVR2

6) Reboot

If there are any problems with this plan, then please tell me.


Thanks,

Cool Hand
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unitron
CoolHandLuke said:
Hi,

I have a Hughes HDVR2 and it's time to retire it because of the tuner #2 pixelating problem, and some color issues, but it is working fine with #1 tuner.

This unit was expanded/hacked from the standard 40gb hard drive to dual 120gb drives, and runs Tivo software 6.4a, back in 2003.

I bought a 2nd unit off Ebay several years ago just for this swap.

From reading the forums this what I think should be done below, and correct me if I'm wrong.

1) Clone the current drives using DD to backup drives & test

2) Zipper the current drives

3) Run 51killer.tcl on current drives

4) Transfer current drives to 2nd HDVR2

5) Transfer access card to 2nd HDVR2

6) Reboot

If there are any problems with this plan, then please tell me.

Thanks,

Cool Hand
Click to expand...
Haven't I read somewhere that the second tuner problem is really a power supply problem, specifically a 2000uF 16V capacitor in need of replacement?

Have you tried swapping in the other unit's power supply to the problem unit?

Have you educated yourself on how to spot capacitor disease?
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J
AS I understand it your access card is tied to the serial number on your box. You will at least need to have it transferred or get a new card.
Will DTV let you hook up a "new" HDVR2
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stevel
As the HDVR2 is a "non-RID" box, DirecTV won't let you activate it unless it had previously been on your account.
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C
Unitron - I will research the second tuner problem being a power supply problem, and the 2000uF 16V capacitor in need of replacement. This would be a easy change, and yes I have checked capacitors before, -- Thanks!

Johnd01 - I hope the serial and access card can be transferred. but I'm not positive if DTV will let you hook a new HDVR2, or what their policy is, -- Thanks!

Stevel - Well the replacement Ebay HDVR2 wasn't ever on my account, so I guess all I can use it for is parts? If so, then I will take Unitron's advise and swap out the power supply to fix the 2nd tuner problem. I'm a PC tech so that won't be hard, -- Thanks!
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unitron
CoolHandLuke said:
Unitron - I will research the second tuner problem being a power supply problem, and the 2000uF 16V capacitor in need of replacement. This would be a easy change, and yes I have checked capacitors before, -- Thanks!

Johnd01 - I hope the serial and access card can be transferred. but I'm not positive if DTV will let you hook a new HDVR2, or what their policy is, -- Thanks!

Stevel - Well the replacement Ebay HDVR2 wasn't ever on my account, so I guess all I can use it for is parts? If so, then I will take Unitron's advise and swap out the power supply to fix the 2nd tuner problem. I'm a PC tech so that won't be hard, -- Thanks!
Click to expand...
My suggestion was to swap power supplies to see if that solves the problem.

If it does, you know the original power supply was to blame.

If it doesn't, then maybe the new power supply is also going bad, or maybe the problem isn't either power supply.

I supply testing suggestions, not guarantees.:)
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C
Unitron - I didn't take it as a guarantee, seeing how I'm a PC tech and this unit has been running everyday for almost 9 years. The main thing for me is to save my recordings, so I may just Zipper the drives and network it, to pull those recordings to a PC, and retire the HDVR2. I was hoping that I could transfer everything to the 2nd unit because it was only used for a year or two, -- Thanks!
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stevel
The recordings are encrypted - you won't be able to pull them unless you can remove the encryption, and that's a rather painstaking process.
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C
Steve - I thought there were utilities to convert the .tivo format files to MPEG.
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stevel
Only if they're unencrypted. You can disable encryption for future recordings, but any recordings you already have will need to be decrypted before you can extract them. There is a way to do this on Series 2 boxes, but it is convoluted. The details are in another forum - deal database dot com.

By the way, there are no ".tivo" files. You're thinking of the TiVoToGo feature of TiVo standalone boxes. The recordings are stored in the MFS database. They can be extracted, but if encrypted, you can't play them.
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C
Steve - Well that's the answers I have been seeking out, and I'm sure the recordings are encrypted because I never turned it off.

So my current recordings would have to be unencrypted using a convoluted method from deal database dot com forum, and will check out that method.

Seems like my options are:

1) Keep my current HDVR2 running with spare parts

2) Try to unencrypted using the deal database dot com procedure, and store recordings to PC hard drives

3) Output recordings to PC Tuner Input Card/New DVR, or use the save to VCR option on Tivo

Glad you explained the .tivo extension, and it was from reading about TiVoToGo.


Thanks!
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