[Guy Kuo]

If you use the mfsCopy function in winMFS to copy the old drive to a new, larger drive, your recorded programs will be preserved. At the end of the mfsCopy operation, you'll be asked if you want to expand the new drive to use its larger capacity. It's all done quite easily if one uses Spike's winMFS.

I'd get a drive which is already factory set for quiet head seeks or one which supports user setting of acoustic management. That means be careful about Seagates since you don't get to set acoustic managment on their drives. If you want a Seagate, get one which is already factory set for quiet operation.

I personally used a Western Digital 750 gb which came out of their MyBook enclosure.

 

[Guy Kuo]

Inside a closed cabinet it won't be as much an issue, but the clickety-click noise of head seeks can be really annoying if a drive doesn't have acoustic managment turned on. Many drives now have the ability to turn on "acoustic management" which changes the head seeks to be much quieter (at a small performance loss which isn't a problem for the TiVo). On a drive like the 750 GB Western Digital it is the difference between hearing the head seeks from across the room vs not being to hear them with your head right above the TiVo.

There are utilities available to set acoustic management to 128 (quietest). However, due to patent problems, Seagate doesn't have that option available to the end user. So, if you want a Seagate you should get one which they have set up at the factory for quiet rather than highest performance. With a Hitachi or Western Digital drive you can set acoustic management levels.

 

[Guy Kuo]

It is done via software with the drive connected directly to your PC's SATA. Won't work via a USB to SATA adapter.

http://www.mfslive.org/softwareguidep6.htm#aam

are the instructions if you do it using the mfslive linux boot CD.

If you are using a Western Digital change the command to leave out the "-K 1"
(obviously change sda to whatever your drive shows up as on your PC)

hdparm -M 128 /dev/sda