# Switching a TiVo Roamio Pro for a TiVo Bolt + 3Tb, what will I need to do?



## cromeyellow (Nov 4, 2008)

Will it be simple? Just switch the cable cards? Has anyone done this?

The current connections are with an HDMI going out from the TiVo to the TV, along with digital optical from the TiVo to the surround sound system. I also have regular RCA cables coming out of the TiVo connection to a DVD recorder (my DVD recorder does not have an HDMI IN port, for recording only via RCA or S-video cables), which the DVD recorder in turn has its own HDMI going to a different port on the TV. Will it be more or less the same with the Bolt?

I'm realizing now that maybe the optical hookup isn't even needed. Is there an advantage to using it for separate audio versus doing everything via HDMI? (Such as by hooking the TiVo via HDMI to the surround sound, and then another HDMI from the surround sound to the TV.)


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## CaseyJ (Apr 26, 2017)

You will have to re-pair your cable card. The bolt only has a spot for one cable card. So you may have to replace them. Also the bolt only has an HDMI output, no RCA or S-Video outputs. There is an optical output and a mini audio output.


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## cromeyellow (Nov 4, 2008)

How much 4K content is there yet anyway? Does it come from the cable, or only streaming?


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

cromeyellow said:


> How much 4K content is there yet anyway? Does it come from the cable, or only streaming?


I don't believe any cable company is providing 4K content via QAM, but you would have to verify that your provider isn't. Beyond that the Bolts currently can stream 4K Content from Netflix and YouTube.


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## cromeyellow (Nov 4, 2008)

Is this going to work:
Stream and transfer recordings between TiVo boxes
to transfer what is on the Roamio Pro to the new Bolt + ?

My place the WiFi is spread over two different houses large property, three different Airport Extremes and a Time Capsule are broadcasting all over the property in a vast network, and in the past when I've tried to stream on the farthest away TiVo from content that is on a TiVo that is far away from it, it hasn't really worked.

In this case I'll put the old TiVo right by the new one, and try to transfer recordings. How long does it take, is it even worth it?

Is there a way to transfer everything and just leave it alone for a day or two, or I have to do it one program at a time?


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

cromeyellow said:


> Is this going to work:
> Stream and transfer recordings between TiVo boxes
> to transfer what is on the Roamio Pro to the new Bolt + ?
> 
> ...


The time it takes all depends on the WiFi connection/robustness. For some, it can be as fast as real-time streaming, for others, significantly slower. Try it to see your results.

If you go to online.tivo.com, you can select multiple shows to transfer at a time.


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## ajwees41 (May 7, 2006)

cromeyellow said:


> Is this going to work:
> Stream and transfer recordings between TiVo boxes
> to transfer what is on the Roamio Pro to the new Bolt + ?
> 
> ...


 if you do it via tivo online website you can transfer all non copy protected content and let it do it over night


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## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

cromeyellow said:


> In this case I'll put the old TiVo right by the new one, and try to transfer recordings. How long does it take, is it even worth it?
> Is there a way to transfer everything and just leave it alone for a day or two, or I have to do it one program at a time?


Transfer one large program. In Network Settings, Network Troubleshooting, Transfer History you can see the transfer rate and time. Do the math. If your network is up to it, the rate should be several hundred Mbps. A Pro and Bolt both have Gb ports. The physical distance between TiVo units doesn't matter, only the network speed.


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## cromeyellow (Nov 4, 2008)

Thanks! for all the suggestions.

Turns out first thing I had to do is transfer this new Bolt + to the account with my three Roamio Pros. They had put the Bolt + on my old TiVo account that had two Series 1s on it.
And then, I had to do a forced connection to TiVo service, twice, on both the Bolt + and each of the Roamio Pros, and restart all boxes too, to make them all start working together.

That done, now I am transferring stuff. My WiFi is pretty fast at most parts of the property, but this Bolt + is far away from the main Time Capsule it is slower here.

So far I moved all of the One Pass from the one Roamio Pro to the Bolt + , all online. Pretty cool!

As far as transfer online, most were copyrighted with the red forbidden circle to the left.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

cromeyellow said:


> Turns out first thing I have to do is transfer this new Bolt + to the account with my three Roamio Pros. They put the Bolt + on my old TiVo account that had two Series 1s on it.


Why did you set up a new account for the Roamio Pros?

Scott


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## cromeyellow (Nov 4, 2008)

I didn't set up a new account, I just have always had two accounts, one very old one for the two Series 1 and a newer one for the three Roamio Pros.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

cromeyellow said:


> I didn't set up a new account, I just have always had two accounts, one very old one for the two Series 1 and a newer one for the three Roamio Pros.


Normally you would have just used the original account that you had with the S1. My account is the same although over the years I've moved from 2 S1's to 2 S3's (and an HD for my son) to a Roamio with a Min (and a Bolt for my son). I was curious why you had set up a new account for the Roamio instead of just adding it to your existing S1 account.

Scott


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Why not temporarily hard wire the two boxes in question to speed up the transfer? Can you move to MOCA instead of using WIFI?


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## Pego99 (Dec 26, 2011)

cromeyellow said:


> Will it be simple? Just switch the cable cards? Has anyone done this?
> 
> The current connections are with an HDMI going out from the TiVo to the TV, along with digital optical from the TiVo to the surround sound system. I also have regular RCA cables coming out of the TiVo connection to a DVD recorder (my DVD recorder does not have an HDMI IN port, for recording only via RCA or S-video cables), which the DVD recorder in turn has its own HDMI going to a different port on the TV. Will it be more or less the same with the Bolt?
> 
> I'm realizing now that maybe the optical hookup isn't even needed. Is there an advantage to using it for separate audio versus doing everything via HDMI? (Such as by hooking the TiVo via HDMI to the surround sound, and then another HDMI from the surround sound to the TV.)


Why are you doing this as I thought the Roamio is more reliable than the Bolt?


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## dmurphy (Jan 17, 2002)

Pego99 said:


> Why are you doing this as I thought the Roamio is more reliable than the Bolt?


What would make you say that? The Bolt+ has been every bit as reliable as my Roamios are.


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## Pego99 (Dec 26, 2011)

Only because I thought that 2.5" drives are less reliable than 3.5" drives


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

Pego99 said:


> Only because I thought that 2.5" drives are less reliable than 3.5" drives


Not sure where that came from


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## CaseyJ (Apr 26, 2017)

compnurd said:


> Not sure where that came from


Maybe from all the posts about large capacity 2.5" replacement drives in Bolts failing. Even the go to toshiba drive is now seeing failures.


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## compnurd (Oct 6, 2011)

CaseyJ said:


> Maybe from all the posts about large capacity 2.5" replacement drives in Bolts failing. Even the go to toshiba drive is now seeing failures.


The statement doesn't indicate it is a bolt issue. If 2.5 drives where less reliable than 3.5 then laptops would not exist And there is no reported failures from the stock bolt plus drive


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## CaseyJ (Apr 26, 2017)

compnurd said:


> The statement doesn't indicate it is a bolt issue. If 2.5 drives where less reliable than 3.5 then laptops would not exist And there is no reported failures from the stock bolt plus drive


It's an issue with 2.5" drives in Bolts not laptops. Though there has not been a lot of stock Bolt+ drive failures.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

CaseyJ said:


> It's an issue with 2.5" drives in Bolts not laptops. Though there has not been a lot of stock Bolt+ drive failures.


And just to clarify, it's an issue _with some models _of 2.5" drives in Bolts.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

compnurd said:


> The statement doesn't indicate it is a bolt issue. If 2.5 drives where less reliable than 3.5 then laptops would not exist And there is no reported failures from the stock bolt plus drive


The 2.5" high capacity drives that are being used in the Bolt won't even fit in most laptops. The 3TB drive I bought from amazon has 37% 1 star reviews and almost every one is because the drive won't fit in the laptop.


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## Worf (Sep 15, 2000)

It's amazing these days - in the 90s the drives were around 12.5mm thick, which became 9.5mm in 2000, and sometime after 2015 or so 5.5-7mm became the new standard for "thin" (to compete with SSDs). Now you can buy drives in all the thicknesses easily


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## Sparky1234 (May 8, 2006)

cromeyellow said:


> Thanks! for all the suggestions.
> 
> Turns out first thing I had to do is transfer this new Bolt + to the account with my three Roamio Pros. They had put the Bolt + on my old TiVo account that had two Series 1s on it.
> And then, I had to do a forced connection to TiVo service, twice, on both the Bolt + and each of the Roamio Pros, and restart all boxes too, to make them all start working together.
> ...


Copyrighted stuff won't transfer as you found out. Ethernet speed is way faster...


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

Worf said:


> It's amazing these days - in the 90s the drives were around 12.5mm thick, which became 9.5mm in 2000, and sometime after 2015 or so 5.5-7mm became the new standard for "thin" (to compete with SSDs). Now you can buy drives in all the thicknesses easily


The 3TB 2.5" drive I used in the bolt is 15mm.


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