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Would this hard drive upgrade work?

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G

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Discussion Starter · #1 ·
I threw caution to the wind when I bought my Tivo Bolt VOX, and upgraded the hard drive to a 2.5 inch 3 TB Seagate. Low and behold a few weeks later my recordings are all garbled and streaming/downloading recordings doesn't work. I researched it and discovered the distinction between PMR and SMR drives, and that only certain PMR drives work. So now I need to find a PMR drive to upgrade to as I understand it. The problem is, it seems like everyone on here that's asked this has been referred to older threads discussing this issue, in which people recommend drives that are all discontinued now. The most recent thread, from last month, mentioned a Toshiba that has since been discontinued.

So what available hard drives would work?

All I can find is upgrading the 500GB Bolt to 1TB by buying the WD10JUCT drive that's still for sale and is the exact drive included with the 1TB Bolt.

As far as an upgrade to 2TB or 3TB, as of right now, are there any drives for sale (other than the $500 ones from Weaknees) that are PMR and would work with the TiVo Bolt Vox?

Thanks.
 
shwru980r

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#2 ·
Guphanti said:
I threw caution to the wind when I bought my Tivo Bolt VOX, and upgraded the hard drive to a 2.5 inch 3 TB Seagate. Low and behold a few weeks later my recordings are all garbled and streaming/downloading recordings doesn't work. I researched it and discovered the distinction between PMR and SMR drives, and that only certain PMR drives work. So now I need to find a PMR drive to upgrade to as I understand it. The problem is, it seems like everyone on here that's asked this has been referred to older threads discussing this issue, in which people recommend drives that are all discontinued now. The most recent thread, from last month, mentioned a Toshiba that has since been discontinued.

So what available hard drives would work?

All I can find is upgrading the 500GB Bolt to 1TB by buying the WD10JUCT drive that's still for sale and is the exact drive included with the 1TB Bolt.

As far as an upgrade to 2TB or 3TB, as of right now, are there any drives for sale (other than the $500 ones from Weaknees) that are PMR and would work with the TiVo Bolt Vox?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
I've been using this drive in a white bolt for 26 months.

Seagate 3TB Laptop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 2.5-Inch 15 mm Height Internal Hard Drive (ST3000LM016)

I've been using a 2TB WD20NPVX for my Bolt Vox for 9 months, which might be a better compromise.
 
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G

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Discussion Starter · #3 ·
shwru980r said:
I've been using this drive in a white bolt for 26 months.

Seagate 3TB Laptop HDD SATA 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 2.5-Inch 15 mm Height Internal Hard Drive (ST3000LM016)

I've been using a 2TB WD20NPVX for my Bolt Vox for 9 months, which might be a better compromise.
Click to expand...
The drive that was in there is a Seagate...it might even be that exact one. It turns out it's an SMR Drive and now it's cooked.

The WD20NPVX you mentioned is the one that's mentioned in other threads, but it's been discontinued for some time and is no longer available anywhere. So the question is-what drive, currently on the market, would work? The only solution I can find is to upgrade the stock 500GB Western Digital drive with the 1TB one from the same series-the same one that comes with the 1TB Bolt.
 
J

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#6 ·
I just got a 2TB from Weakness to replace my Bolts 3TB WD . It was $199 and they give a $50 credit if you return the original bad WD 3TB from the Bolt. The drive they sent me was a Seagate Skyhawk ST2000LV000. I checked the warranty on the drive from the Seagate web site and it showed a 3yr warranty.
 
G

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Discussion Starter · #7 ·
JSearfoss said:
I just got a 2TB from Weakness to replace my Bolts 3TB WD . It was $199 and they give a $50 credit if you return the original bad WD 3TB from the Bolt. The drive they sent me was a Seagate Skyhawk ST2000LV000. I checked the warranty on the drive from the Seagate web site and it showed a 3yr warranty.
Click to expand...
That one is also discontinued and not available :(
 
justen_m

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#10 ·
This was the recommended drive I bought August 1st and have been using since.
Toshiba MQ03ABB300 3.0TB 2.5-inch 15.0mm SATA... at MacSales.com
Item: 3.0TB Toshiba MQ03ABB300 2.5-inch 15.0mm SATA 6.0Gb/s (3.0Gb/s and 1.5Gb/s backwards compatible) 5400RPM Hard Drive with 16MB Cache. *Important Note - Apple Laptops and Most PC Laptops utilize 9.5mm HDD or slimmer!*; Toshiba 3 Year Limited Warranty. (TOSMQ03ABB300)
Click to expand...
Doesn't look like that is available anymore. Maybe this 2TB one would work? I have no experience with the new 2TB one. Toshiba MQ04ABD200 2.0TB MQ04AB Series 2.5" Laptop... at MacSales.com
 
justen_m

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#11 ·
Mikeguy said:
Don't the hard drive companies think that people want higher capacities?
Click to expand...
It's a size thing. With 2.5" drives <=9.5mm in height, required to fit in most laptops, 2TB seems to be the limit. If your device can accommodate 15mm (Bolts can, probably some slimline desktops too), you can get 3, 4, or 5TB 2.5" drives (more?).

I've seen 8TB 2.5" internal drives, but they are SSDs, and cost almost as much as economy cars. An 8TB 3.5" HDD internal drive, OTOH, is like $150, e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-Internal-Hard-Drive/dp/B07H289S7C/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

[rant on]The decision to use a 2.5" drive instead of 3.5" on the Bolts was as stupid as the curved case.[/rant off]
 
M

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#12 ·
justen_m said:
It's a size thing. With 2.5" drives <=9.5mm in height, required to fit in most laptops, 2TB seems to be the limit. If your device can accommodate 15mm (Bolts can, probably some slimline desktops too), you can get 3, 4, or 5TB 2.5" drives (more?).

I've seen 8TB 2.5" internal drives, but they are SSDs, and cost almost as much as economy cars. An 8TB 3.5" HDD internal drive, OTOH, is like $150, e.g. https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-Internal-Hard-Drive/dp/B07H289S7C/ref=dp_ob_title_ce

[rant on]The decision to use a 2.5" drive instead of 3.5" on the Bolts was as stupid as the curved case.[/rant off]
Click to expand...
But the 2.5" 3TB drives that already exist seem to have been EOL'ed, with no replacements in sight. :(
 
T

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#13 ·
Guphanti said:
I threw caution to the wind when I bought my Tivo Bolt VOX, and upgraded the hard drive to a 2.5 inch 3 TB Seagate. Low and behold a few weeks later my recordings are all garbled and streaming/downloading recordings doesn't work. I researched it and discovered the distinction between PMR and SMR drives, and that only certain PMR drives work. So now I need to find a PMR drive to upgrade to as I understand it. The problem is, it seems like everyone on here that's asked this has been referred to older threads discussing this issue, in which people recommend drives that are all discontinued now. The most recent thread, from last month, mentioned a Toshiba that has since been discontinued.

So what available hard drives would work?

All I can find is upgrading the 500GB Bolt to 1TB by buying the WD10JUCT drive that's still for sale and is the exact drive included with the 1TB Bolt.

As far as an upgrade to 2TB or 3TB, as of right now, are there any drives for sale (other than the $500 ones from Weaknees) that are PMR and would work with the TiVo Bolt Vox?

Thanks.
Click to expand...
Very hard to find a for sure PMR 2.5" drive. I'd go with a 3.5 in an external enclosure hooked up directly to the Sata port on the motherboard. And use the power in the external enclosure. You still need to find a 3.5 PMR drive, if you stick with NAS or Video or Enterprise models should be ok. Most current model archive and desktop are SMR, even 3.5s. If you want to stick with a 2.5" drive see if you can find a WD Black 1TB. Don't think they manufacture them anymore but might be able to find a new one around somewhere. The Black was WDs best 2.5 drive, had a 5 year warranty. 1TB 2.5 was as big as it got with the Black.
 
justen_m

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#14 ·
Mikeguy said:
But the 2.5" 3TB drives that already exist seem to have been EOL'ed, with no replacements in sight. :(
Click to expand...
I know, that's a bummer. I went with 3TB drives in my Bolt and Roamio Plus (both TE3) because of the simple plug-n-play. It was so simple compared to upgrading the drives in my S2DT and TiVoHD, which required hooking 'em up to a PC, etc, etc. With gigabit networking, transferring to my server, playing back via pyTivo or Plex, is viable too. [rant on]Much prefer the former, hence still on TE3.[/rant off]
 
M

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#15 ·
justen_m said:
I know, that's a bummer. I went with 3TB drives in my Bolt and Roamio Plus (both TE3) because of the simple plug-n-play. It was so simple compared to upgrading the drives in my S2DT and TiVoHD, which required hooking 'em up to a PC, etc, etc. With gigabit networking, transferring to my server, playing back via pyTivo or Plex, is viable too. [rant on]Much prefer the former, hence still on TE3.[/rant off]
Click to expand...
I'm very happy that, after hemming and hawing for years about updating the storage capacity of my Roamio and Bolt boxes (500GB each), I finally put a new 3TB drive in the Bolt box in the Spring--the drive no longer easily being found.
 
shwru980r

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#17 ·
Guphanti said:
The drive that was in there is a Seagate...it might even be that exact one. It turns out it's an SMR Drive and now it's cooked.

The WD20NPVX you mentioned is the one that's mentioned in other threads, but it's been discontinued for some time and is no longer available anywhere. So the question is-what drive, currently on the market, would work? The only solution I can find is to upgrade the stock 500GB Western Digital drive with the 1TB one from the same series-the same one that comes with the 1TB Bolt.
Click to expand...
I bought both of my drives used and both were discontinued models. The 3TB drive was from amazon and the 2TB drive was from ebay. If you bought your seagate 3TB a few weeks ago, I don't think it was the one I was using, unless it was a used drive.
 
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