# Series 2 drive upgrade



## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

As advised, I am starting a thread for my attempt to upgrade my S2. Although TCF search brought up some threads on this issue, the last post was from 2010, so hopefully this newer thread will help anyone who comes along after me seeking the same, but more current info. Any help would be very much appreciated.
I have to say I am completely in the dark about most of the terminology I am reading as I wade thru the threads. I am a completer novice on a task such as this, but am willing to try because of the obvious excellent guidance provided by the fine members of this community - thanks! I had considered buying a plugnplay drive from DVR_Dude (on EBay), but would like to preserve my recordings, so now I am not sure.

In answer to unitron's questions:
How many computers do you have? What kind? 3 PC's, 1 Mac What kind of TiVos do you have? Use the number on the sticker on the back that starts with TCD. Tivo Series 2: TCD240080 Have you ever opened up a computer or TiVo before? Yes. Ever do anything mechanical? No. Do you have any spare hard drives lying around? No. Is your S2 currently giving any trouble, or just running out of space? Just running out of space.

My first question is this:
If I have a drive ready to go and plug in, what is the recommended method of saving my recordings? I have been trying to transfer Tivo to Tivo via my network(wireless) and that seems like it would take virtually forever.

Any next steps would be appreciated.
Thanks, Jill


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

I figured unitron would be all over this one. 

There are basically two software tools for upgrading to a larger drive for a Series2 unit: MFSLive (a downloadable boot CD that runs Linux) and WinMFS (an executable that is run directly from Windows). Both are widely used (and free) and can be obtained at mfslive.org. Either of these options can be used to copy the contents of your existing drive to the new one as well as expand available recording space to the capacity of the new drive. If you're not a Linux person, WinMFS would likely be the easiest way to go since you can pretty much do everything you need to do by pointing and clicking instead of manually typing commands on the Linux command line with MFSLive.

To use either option you will need to have the ability to connect both your old drive and new drive to your computer so that the contents of the old disk can be copied to the new disk. You can do this by plugging the drives internally into a desktop computer or onto a desktop/laptop via a USB disk adapter (I have this one and it works great for TiVo upgrades).

Finally, selecting a drive is a bit more complicated because the disk architecture used by the Series 2 TiVos (PATA = parallel ata) is pretty much obsolete and has been replaced by SATA (i.e. serial ata). The good news is that you can use a SATA drive in a Series 2 TiVo with an adapter (I have this one and it works quite well in my Series 2 TiVo). As for which new disk to use, I simply reused a couple of SATA disks I had hanging around so I'm not up to date on the current best choice for a Series 2 out there. Hopefully someone else will be able to chime in with a pointer to a good choice.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Good advice. 

I recommend planning out the steps you read from your chosen method and make sure to understand what needs to be done. It may take a few read-throughs, but is well worth it to avoid problems. I made sure I had a hard copy of the instructions with notes so I would not have to search for anything when the time came.

Note: if you copy content directly when doing this, it will take a LONGGG time, it took mine more than hours a few years ago. You may want to cut down to the essentials or copy to a PC first. Also, make sure weather is good with no storms in the forecast.


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

jrtroo said:


> Good advice.
> 
> I recommend planning out the steps you read from your chosen method and make sure to understand what needs to be done. It may take a few read-throughs, but is well worth it to avoid problems. I made sure I had a hard copy of the instructions with notes so I would not have to search for anything when the time came.
> 
> *Note: if you copy content directly when doing this*, it will take a LONGGG time, it took mine more than hours a few years ago. You may want to cut down to the essentials or copy to a PC first. Also, make sure weather is good with no storms in the forecast.


Sorry, by this(in bold) you mean Tivo to Tivo...not to PC and then to Tivo?


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

He's talking about the upgrade copy process taking longer if you have a lot of content on the original Tivo hard drive you want to upgrade.

It takes a "LONGG" time to save shows when you're transferring them to another Tivo or a PC, so you have to pick your poison (so to speak).

If you care about those shows SOOO much that you would be devastated if you lost them, then I would recommend you transfer them to another Tivo or a computer for temporary storage, just in case.

The less content you have on the Tivo hard drive when you do the upgrade, the faster the copy process will go.


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## sbourgeo (Nov 10, 2000)

Jill,

Do you still have the original 80 GB drive in your TiVo? If so, the copy time shouldn't be too bad. My 1 TB drive took about 7 hours to copy so you should be in pretty good shape if you still have the original drive in place since it is quite a bit smaller.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

jilter said:


> Sorry, by this(in bold) you mean Tivo to Tivo...not to PC and then to Tivo?


You may be confusing using the TiVo Desktop program to copy recorded shows, but not TiVo operating system software, from TiVo to computer and from there to another TiVo on your account and home network or even back to the same TiVo with hooking two hard drives to a computer and letting the computer, operated by the appropriate software, copy from one drive to the other.

There are two ways to do the latter, either with a utility that just copies bit for bit without caring what it is, or with TiVo specific programs and utilities that "know" they're using a TiVo drive as source to create another TiVo drive out of the target drive.


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## jilter (Oct 4, 2002)

Yes, it is the original drive in the Tivo.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

I would want the upgrade process itself to go quickly so the new capacity could be used sooner. 

To me, it is worth it to spend a few days offloading shows to a PC temporarily so I could get the new drive installed in a few hours instead of two days (my first install included over 24 hours of copying, not sure how I cut that off of my prior post).


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## lillevig (Dec 7, 2010)

jrtroo said:


> I would want the upgrade process itself to go quickly so the new capacity could be used sooner.
> 
> To me, it is worth it to spend a few days offloading shows to a PC temporarily so I could get the new drive installed in a few hours instead of two days (my first install included over 24 hours of copying, not sure how I cut that off of my prior post).


I agree. I also think it's safer to stash the recordings away and forget about copying the old drive to a new drive. then you can just use one of the free SW tools mentioned above to put a bare image on the new drive. I will PM you with an image from a 40GB TCD240 that will work for any member of that family. The free imaging SW allows you to expand the recoding area after the imaging is complete. My personal; preference is WinMFS and a cheap USB to IDE/SATA adapter cable. That way there is no need to crack open your PC to hook up drives.


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## kenray536 (Aug 23, 2012)

I agree, a clean image would be the best.

lillevig, is there anyway that I could also get a copy of your bare image? 

I have a Series 2 with lifetime that recently had the hard drive die.

I would really appreciate it, thank you!


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## kenray536 (Aug 23, 2012)

^^ Btw, I will get my post count up to 10, so that you can PM me. Haven't been back in this forum for you a few years now and it looks like my old account was no longer active or I just couldn't remember the login.


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## lillevig (Dec 7, 2010)

kenray536 said:


> I agree, a clean image would be the best.
> 
> lillevig, is there anyway that I could also get a copy of your bare image?
> 
> ...


Got your PM and sent the link.


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## ronsch (Sep 7, 2001)

sbourgeo said:


> Jill,
> 
> Do you still have the original 80 GB drive in your TiVo? If so, the copy time shouldn't be too bad. My 1 TB drive took about 7 hours to copy so you should be in pretty good shape if you still have the original drive in place since it is quite a bit smaller.





unitron said:


> You may be confusing using the TiVo Desktop program to copy recorded shows, but not TiVo operating system software, from TiVo to computer and from there to another TiVo on your account and home network or even back to the same TiVo with hooking two hard drives to a computer and letting the computer, operated by the appropriate software, copy from one drive to the other.
> 
> There are two ways to do the latter, either with a utility that just copies bit for bit without caring what it is, or with TiVo specific programs and utilities that "know" they're using a TiVo drive as source to create another TiVo drive out of the target drive.


Hi Jill,

As these two gentlemen pointed out the time to copy an 80GB drive will not be long at all. Your best bet here given your experience is to use Winmfs mentioned above, copy the drive to a new one, and put the old one on the shelf as a backup. Winmfs will expand to use all the space on the new drive given the proper options and you'll be ready to go. Your space problem will be solved and you get to keep your old shows.


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## Bob Slone (Aug 28, 2017)

Is winmfs still available for download somewhere?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Bob Slone said:


> Is winmfs still available for download somewhere?


You have what used to be called a private message which the new software refers to as "a conversation".


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## rpj22 (Mar 27, 2016)

Is there a better URL for mfslive.org? It now seems to forward to some scam site with bogus surveys, apps that they demand you download, etc.


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## rpj22 (Mar 27, 2016)

rpj22 said:


> Is there a better URL for mfslive.org? It now seems to forward to some scam site with bogus surveys, apps that they demand you download, etc.


I found v1.4 at the internet archive, and v3.2 at sourceforge MFS Tools. Does that sound like the right stuff?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

rpj22 said:


> I found v1.4 at the internet archive, and v3.2 at sourceforge MFS Tools. Does that sound like the right stuff?


1.4 is the most recent version of spike's MFS Live, which is an .iso file you burn to cd-r *as an image*

That gets you a cd with which you can boot a PC (and *maybe* an Intel-based Mac).

It loads a version of Linux into memory and has MFS Tools as well so you can use them on the Linux command line on Series 1, 2, and 3 TiVo hard drives to do backups and restorations.

3.2 is a newer version of MFS Tools that someone else created (just as spike based his on someone else's earlier work), and I'm not sure just how new of a TiVo it can work with.

WinMFS is also a creation of spike's, but it runs on Windows, so you don't need to know any Linux/Unix commands, just how to use a mouse, but it also only works on S1s, 2s, and 3s.

spike quit supporting his site

mfslive.org

a couple or three years ago without warning, so some domain squatter probably has it now.

Do you need WinMFS for an S3 or older TiVo?


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## rpj22 (Mar 27, 2016)

unitron said:


> Do you need WinMFS for an S3 or older TiVo?


Yes, please. I have an immediate need on an S2, and it sounds like WinMFS is the quickest way there. I saw a post above mention something not working until one has 10 posts ... is that still an issue?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

rpj22 said:


> Yes, please. I have an immediate need on an S2, and it sounds like WinMFS is the quickest way there. I saw a post above mention something not working until one has 10 posts ... is that still an issue?


Used to be, on the old forum software, you needed 10 posts without having been spotted as a spammer and permabanned before you could email private message other members.

A newbie could receive PMs though, and if they'd opted to allow it, could be emailed by established members.

I don't know how the new software works, but PMs are called "conversations" now, and you should have gotten some sort of notification that I started one with you.

(If the email ability still exists, I can't find it)

If not, look in the upper right hand corner of the page and click on "Inbox".


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

Still looking for an image for a TCD540140 (Series 2 nightlight version w/white face plate). If images made pre-Rovi data switch over can't upgrade, I guess I'll need one made post-upgrade.

Reasons below:
Need an image? Don't PM me. :)
Need an image? Don't PM me. :)

Thanks!


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