# Expanding 1TB XL to 3TB



## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

For those of you who are interested, a 1TB XL (748) can be expanded to 3TB. Ggieseke discovered that a Premiere XL can boot from a 3TB drive and that the important thing is that the image you need to work from is one of the later iterations of the OS. I have tried booting with older images but they bootloop. So if you have the original image backed up somewhere, you will need an update to it. Also you will need a copy of JMFS.

First copy the updated OS image to a 3TB drive. I used DvrBARS to do a modified backup and a quick restore. However, I believe using a variation of dd will work as well (ie using the copy selection in JMFS).

Once that is done, just use JMFS to expand and supersize the image. Here is a picture of my XL with a 3TB drive.










I have tried this with the 2TB XL4 (758) image but JMFS fails on expansion. So currently only a 1TB XL (748) can be expanded to the full 3TB drive. For those of you who are adventurous, after copying the 1TB image to the 3TB drive, you can 4k align it manually and then expand and supersize it.

Before someone asks, I don't think a Series 3 1TB HD can be expanded this way as JamieP pointed out in another thread, the kernel of Series 3 TiVo's does not appear to be compiled with large disk support. If someone wants to attempt this and report back on their findings then we would know for sure. Just make sure you use 11.0m when you do this.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

Hello jmbach. I am a newbie to TiVo hard drive upgrades. I have a 1TB TiVo (748000 with lifetime service) that I'd like to upgrade to 3 TB. However, I don't have a pristine copy of my hard drive image backed up. Is there somebody I can ask who'd be willing to give me that image? Any help with this would be very appreciated.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

You don't need a pristine copy, just a copy that is still 1TB in size. As long as the drive has the latest OS on it, you can copy the drive to a 3TB drive and expand and super-sized with JMFS. There are ways of taking an expanded image and forcing the TiVo to divorce it to get back to a native size image. The easiest takes a long time, the quickest is harder to do. You can always go over to the DvrBARS thread and ask for an image. If you do it that way, you will have to put the image on a 2TB drive or smaller and allow the TiVo to update the OS. Also make sure you do a c&de to marry the drive to the TiVo. You will also have to remember re-pair the CableCARDs to the unit. Using the image already on the unit will avoid having these issues.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

Okay. So I can take my half-full drive (which has the latest OS) with many recorded programs and just follow the instructions in the JMFS thread to bump up to 3TB, right?

Sorry if my questions seem very basic or repetitive. I did review the steps in the JMFS guide thread - and they seem straight forward and doable. Just not sure if this newly tested way to bump up to 3TB works the same way (I had been following this forum for several months and I know until recently the 748 could only take 2TB but not sure if the 3TB upgrade needs to be done slightly differently than a 2TB upgrade).

I really appreciate your valuable input and time, jmbach.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

It will follow the same procedure. The only difference is drive size. 

While you have the drive out, use DvrBARS to make a truncated backup of your drive in case of drive failure down the line. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## shamilian (Mar 27, 2003)

jmbach said:


> I have tried this with the 2TB XL4 (758) image but JMFS fails on expansion. So currently only a 1TB XL (748) can be expanded to the full 3TB drive.
> 
> For those of you who are adventurous, after copying the 1TB image to the 3TB drive, you can 4k align it manually and then expand and supersize it.


What are the steps involved to 4k align manually ?


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

You will need to create a modified APM on the drive you are copying to so that each partition starts on a 4k boundary. Then copy each partition over manually. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

jmbach said:


> You will need to create a modified APM on the drive you are copying to so that each partition starts on a 4k boundary. Then copy each partition over manually.
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


What is the advantage to 4K alignment for TiVo use ??, and for computer use ??


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

My understanding is that there is a theoretical slight increase speed mainly due decrease head seeks. More important for computer usage than probably for the TiVo. However, I can see the hard drive lasting longer. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

jmbach said:


> You will need to create a modified APM on the drive you are copying to so that each partition starts on a 4k boundary. Then copy each partition over manually.
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


So would that actually be overwriting each partition once the 4k aligned APM has defined the location of those partitions?

Sort of

dd if=/dev/sda1 of=/dev/sdb1

?

But don't TiVo partitions, and maybe APM partitions in general, have something in each partition that lists at least the start location of all the other partitions, which information would be inaccurate if a 4K alignment changed that by even a byte?


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

unitron said:


> But don't TiVo partitions, and maybe APM partitions in general, have something in each partition that lists at least the start location of all the other partitions, which information would be inaccurate if a 4K alignment changed that by even a byte?


Each partition has a field that lists the total number of entries in the APM, but other than that there are no references to the other partitions.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

jmbach said:


> It will follow the same procedure. The only difference is drive size.
> 
> While you have the drive out, use DvrBARS to make a truncated backup of your drive in case of drive failure down the line.


So I followed the instructions in the jmfs Live thread for the upgrade from 1TB to 3TB. Using a USB connection, the whole process took 13 hours exactly. Went through the copy, expand and supersize. All was reported to have worked by the guided script. But after I put it into my Tivo, it keeps bootlooping at the "Welcome! Starting up..." screen.

And before I started the whole process I had checked...my OS was most recent one - it was newer than the one jmbach has in the pic above...mine was 20.3.8.something. So I thought it would work. But sadly all my effort seems to have ended in a failure. I do still have my original drive that I can put back in (did make a truncated backup - thanks for the tip jmbach) but will wait in case any of the TiVo upgrade gurus have any advice/suggestions. The only thing is my knowledge of technical TiVo hard drive partition stuff is almost zero - but I am comfortable in doing things in Linux if need be (i.e. am comfy in Unix shell scripting).

Thanks for any help/suggestions, if you guys have any.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

Hmm...never mind. On a hunch after my last comment, I wondered if the CableCard got unseated and so I decided to push in the CableCard tightly and lo and behold - it WORKED!!!  But only partially 

My TiVo with the 3TB upgrade is reporting 350 HD hours...so little over double...but not the 479 HD hours I expected to see. Any ideas what went wrong?

In any event, my sincere thanks to jmbach, Greg (ggieseke) and other upgrade gurus who have selflessly contributed their time and knowledge on this forum.

I am unable to post the image here because my post count is less than 5.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

Apologies for this dummy post - please ignore this post...trying to get the post count to go over 5.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

Please see attached settings screen after my upgrade ->








Not sure why it didn't fully use the 3TB. Everything went according to plan during the expand and supersize steps. No errors were reported.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

Thinking back I do recall that after the expanded step, I was told by the guided script that my hard drive was now expanded to 2.1 TB. I wonder if I used out-of-date JMFS tools that are stickied in the jmfs Live thread that perhaps doesn't support 3TB drives. Maybe jmbach and ggieseke used newer version of the tool that does support full 3 TB (??)...not sure.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

I think we need to take this project over to email and then come back and post our results here after we figured out the issue. BTW all I used was the latest release of JMFS posted in the first post. 

Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

jmbach said:


> I think we need to take this project over to email and then come back and post our results here after we figured out the issue. BTW all I used was the latest release of JMFS posted in the first post.


Thanks to Jim's immense help tonight, I was able to bring my Premier XL up to full 479 HD hours with the 3TB upgrade!!


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

For what ever reason, Cybernut's original expansion did not use all the sectors available. So we reset his image by modifying the partition map to indicate the original expansion partition was gone and let the TiVo divorce the partition. Once that was done, used JMFS to expand and supersize. This time it used all the space available and we finally got the expected result.

Not sure why JMFS did not do it correctly the first time. Perhaps because the copy and expansion occurred in one session versus doing the copy and expansion in separate sessions. 

FWIW, this was the process I used when I made the 3TB image:
a) copied my 1TB image to the 3TB drive
b) shut down the computer with JMFS and removed the drive
c) boot the 1TB image on the 3TB drive in my TiVo and once I made sure the image was fully operational, via the menu options, restarted the TiVo and pulled the power upon restart
d) restarted JMFS and did the expansion and supersize. 
e) placed the drive back in the TiVo and booted up.

Perhaps that is the reason Cybernut's initial attempt did not work but the second attempt did. We won't know for sure until additional souls try the procedure and report back on their results.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

One interesting thing...nothing to do with the actual upgrade itself but that my iOS (iPad) TiVo app still is displaying the used/available capacity from my earlier attempt (350 HD hours). Even after I reset the app and wiped all preset settings and re-entered my MAK to login afresh, that part of TiVo ecosystem never really refreshed. And therefore I believe my app will hit the disk full (100%) mark much earlier than it really is.

I believe I had seen something similar already reported in another upgrade related thread here. I know the app's not part of the upgrade itself but just wanted to make a note of it for future users going through the same upgrade.

And I agree with jmbach's comment above. My discrepancy can perhaps be because I worked on the drive (copy through supersize) all in one shot. I did not put the drive into TiVo and powered it up after the copy stage and then pulled it back out of TiVo to do the expand and supersize. Who knows...we'll only find out with more souls experimenting.

I can't thank jmbach enough for his help but also some other upgrade gurus as well whose efforts laid the foundation for my upgrade.


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## Cybernut (Oct 1, 2013)

The iOS TiVo app issue I mentioned immediately above was likely some kind of a bug. It is now displaying the correct percentage of space left after I updated to the latest version of TiVo app.


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## [NG]Owner (Dec 19, 2006)

Sorry for bumping a pretty old thread, but this is the closest thread I could find to what I want to do.

I have a friend of mine who bought into Tivo based on my recommendation. He picked up a couple of Premiers. One of the hard drives just failed this week. I want to get it back up and running for him with a larger drive.

The model number of the dead Premier is TCD746320. I have a 3TB WD30EZRX drive here right now. It's running through its extended test, and I'll be modifying the WDIDLE tomorrow morning.

My question is: Is there a 746xxx image someone can supply me such that I can use JMFS and DVRBars to get him the full 3TB of space on his TCD 746320 Premiere? I'm hoping to bring the HD to his house with the ready to rock image already in place on the HD. Is that a feasible goal? And any pointers to making it happen would be much appreciated.

Thanks in advance. PM Inbox cleared!

[NG]Owner


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Look at the 4TB DIY thread. The new procedure is pretty much the same just with a 3TB drive. Go to the DvrBARS thread and pitch for an image there. The image you get will need to be updated to at least version 20.3.8 for the TiVo to recognize a 3TB drive or larger.


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