# How do you format a new drive so its a Tivo drive?



## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

I recently bought a new WD hard drive to replace a failed on in my series 4. I plugged it into my external hard drive case and started up dvrbars as admin. Started the restore process (I have the image) but when I select the target drive it doesn't see my external hard drive - just the local SSD drive. Is there something I need to do to the new drive? I already bought one drive and and initialized it as a windows drive at which point I could restore to it but the Tivo wouldn't recognize it. So I'm wondering if there's something you need to do to a new drive to make it a Tivo drive.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Delete the format and partitions that Windows made. Then, restore from DVRBars.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> Delete the format and partitions that Windows made. Then, restore from DVRBars.


Yeah I tried that. The MBR is stuck on windows. I've tried erasing it but nothing seemed to work so I figured I'd buy another drive and start from scratch. What is the process then for making a virgin drive a Tivo drive? There must be something you have to do before you start a restore.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Try the manufacturer's write/read test that writes zeros or ones.

There has to be NO partitions on the drive. The images has their own.

Basically totally erase the drive.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> Try the manufacturer's write/read test that writes zeros or ones.
> 
> There has to be NO partitions on the drive. The images has their own.
> 
> Basically totally erase the drive.


I assume the new drive I just bought is completely blank. Has anyone actually ever restored an image? How does dvrbars see a drive that has had nothing done to it? It has no MBR and no partitions so windows can't see it/ How does dvrbars see it?


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

Eric Downey said:


> Yeah I tried that. The MBR is stuck on windows. I've tried erasing it but nothing seemed to work so I figured I'd buy another drive and start from scratch. What is the process then for making a virgin drive a Tivo drive? There must be something you have to do before you start a restore.


Do a DiskPart "Clean" on that drive and _all_ will be gone from it.

-KP


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Eric Downey said:


> I assume the new drive I just bought is completely blank. Has anyone actually ever restored an image? How does dvrbars see a drive that has had nothing done to it? It has no MBR and no partitions so windows can't see it/ How does dvrbars see it?


First of all, Tivo drives are not compatible with Windows and vice versa. Tivo uses a modified type of Apple partitions.

If you were to put a Tivo drive into a PC running windows and it detects the drive as new, it would attempt to format it, requesting permission to format, and erasing everything on that drive.

Yes, I have done Tivo drives connected to Windows, and put images on it. I do not let Windows Disk Manager do anything with the drive.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> First of all, Tivo drives are not compatible with Windows and vice versa. Tivo uses a modified type of Apple partitions.
> 
> If you were to put a Tivo drive into a PC running windows and it detects the drive as new, it would attempt to format it, requesting permission to format, and erasing everything on that drive.
> 
> Yes, I have done Tivo drives connected to Windows, and put images on it. I do not let Windows Disk Manager do anything with the drive.


Ah, ok, so the million dollar question: I have a new drive I bought that I have done nothing to. What do you have to do to the drive to make it visible to a windows computer so dvrbars can restore to it?


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

Eric Downey said:


> Ah, ok, so the million dollar question: I have a new drive I bought that I have done nothing to. What do you have to do to the drive to make it visible to a windows computer so dvrbars can restore to it?


If it's unformatted, just connect the drive to your Windows computer and run DvrBARS.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ggieseke said:


> If it's unformatted, just connect the drive to your Windows computer and run DvrBARS.


I did that bu DvrBars doesn't recognize it as a drive that can be restored to. I bought a WD3200AVVS which is what I pulled out of my Tivo.


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

Eric Downey said:


> I did that bu DvrBars doesn't recognize it as a drive that can be restored to. I bought a WD3200AVVS which is what I pulled out of my Tivo.


Don't run Disk Management or any other drive tools. Just wipe the drive with the Write Zeros test in WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostics and try again.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Eric Downey said:


> I did that bu DvrBars doesn't recognize it as a drive that can be restored to. I bought a WD3200AVVS which is what I pulled out of my Tivo.


Are you running under as a Windows Administrator user ?


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ggieseke said:


> Don't run Disk Management or any other drive tools. Just wipe the drive with the Write Zeros test in WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostics and try again.





ThAbtO said:


> Are you running under as a Windows Administrator user ?


ok, Well good news bad news situation: The reason why DvrBars couldn't see my extrernal drive was because it wasn't connected  As soon as I connected it to my laptop DvrBars recogonized it and saw it as a formatted Tivo drive. That's great. I went ahead and started the restore running DvrBars as admin and it got about 1/2 way through when I got a write error which I attribute to my virus protection software. So I turned that off and did the Data Lifeguard wipe writing 0's to the entire drive. Then I started up DvrBars as admin and commenced with the restore. This time though it did not see the drive as being a Tivo formatted drive. It's now listed as an Unknown formatted drive. After the restore completed I put it back into my Tivo, hooked it all up, plugged it in and just got the Welcome screen, blank screen, Welcome screen....again and again and again. In another thread where I was stuck at this point it was suggested it was because the Tivo didn't recognize the drive as a Tivo formatted drive. So how do you make a drive a Tivo formatted drive after you've wiped it?


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

What model drive? Most all drives will not work in a Tivo as it consumes too much power from the mini power supply. 
Recommended is WD Red, not any 7200+RPM. Though Purple is also ok.

The Welcome reboot, or freeze is an indication that it cannot read the drive.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> What model drive? Most all drives will not work in a Tivo as it consumes too much power from the mini power supply.
> Recommended is WD Red, not any 7200+RPM. Though Purple is also ok.
> 
> The Welcome reboot, or freeze is an indication that it cannot read the drive.


I was able to get an identical drive. It's a WD3200AVVS. I'm thinking it can't read the drive because it's not formatted as a Tivo drive


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

The image has its own format.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> The image has its own format.


So you're saying it won't register as a Tivo drive when DvrBars sees it?


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Its not the drive, rather the image on the drive.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> Its not the drive, rather the image on the drive.


Ah, ok I just thought it was odd that DvrBars said it was formatted as a Tivo drive the first time it saw it until I zeroed it out and then it said it was an unknown format. Which is what made me think that's why the Tivo wouldn't recognize the drive


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

The drive needs to be pristine, so I don't think the drive is viable enough for Tivo. other words, a drive may work in a PC but may not work in a Tivo.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> The drive needs to be pristine, so I don't think the drive is viable enough for Tivo. other words, a drive may work in a PC but may not work in a Tivo.


gggrrrr....ok...I thought buying an identical drive would be sufficient since that's what it had in it before it went belly up. What drives do most of you run for a series 4?


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

See past posts.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> See past posts.


Ah, ok the Western Digital Red line of drives....geeez those are expensive. Well compared to the WD3200AVVS that only ran me $13 they are. I still don't get how replacing with an identical drive won't work, though.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Eric Downey said:


> DvrBars as admin and it got about 1/2 way through when I got a write error


This.

Why would you go with a small drive such as the 320GB which holds less than 75 HD hrs that a 500GB holds, when you can get a larger one, such as 3TB which can hold about 450. or up to 8Tb for about 800 hrs.


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## Eric Downey (Mar 27, 2020)

ThAbtO said:


> This.
> 
> Why would you go with a small drive such as the 320GB which holds less than 75 HD hrs that a 500GB holds, when you can get a larger one, such as 3TB which can hold about 450. or up to 8Tb for about 800 hrs.


So you're saying because DvrBars can't write to the drive I have to use a more expensive drive? I don't actually record a whole lot...a couple of shows a week and I don't store it for long because if I won't watch it in a week I never will. Really I just like the the Tivo UI. I've had a comcast dvr and that was pitiful. Sent it back and bought a used Tivo on eBay. So what's a decent WD Red drive for less than $100 that will work?


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Eric Downey said:


> WD Red drive for less than $100 that will work?


At most, for that cost, 3TB, WD30EFRX. Smallest available, 1TB WD10EFRX, about $70.

The drive you have would work, but there was at least 1 fault with it that prevented it from working.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Eric Downey said:


> That's great. I went ahead and started the restore running DvrBars as admin and it got about 1/2 way through when I got a write error which I attribute to my virus protection software. So I turned that off and did the Data Lifeguard wipe writing 0's to the entire drive. Then I started up DvrBars as admin and commenced with the restore. This time though it did not see the drive as being a Tivo formatted drive. It's now listed as an Unknown formatted drive. After the restore completed I put it back into my Tivo, hooked it all up, plugged it in and just got the Welcome screen, blank screen, Welcome screen....again and again and again. In another thread where I was stuck at this point it was suggested it was because the Tivo didn't recognize the drive as a Tivo formatted drive. So how do you make a drive a Tivo formatted drive after you've wiped it?


The image restore with DvrBARS is what makes it a TiVo formatted drive as you are placing the correct OS on the drive along with the right disk format.

So the second restore completed successfully?
If you connect this drive back to your computer, does DvrBARS recognize it as a TiVo drive?
Have you run the WD diagnostic tool on this new drive (Data Lifeguard Diagnostics - Extended Test)?
You are using the correct image for your model TiVo?
Scott


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