# TiVo Roamio Hard Drive Upgrade, PART 1



## TiVoEvan74

*TiVo Roamio Hard Drive Upgrade, PART 1*

While there have been other threads on this, I wanted to post a new one from the perspective of someone who is a klutz about such stuff.

I also report on several key tips - including restoring a real 30-second JUMP - that were either missing or buried in other threads about the upgrade.

I know it's been said before, but believe them when they say:

*THE ROAMIO HARD DRIVE UPGRADE IS REALLY EASY*!​
If you can use a screwdriver, or an Allen wrench, you can do this. (The tool in this case is a Torx wrench, much the same thing.)

I'm absolutely not a DIY. While I once years ago added RAM to a computer, that's about all I've ever done in the tech realm.

So, if I can upgrade a Roamio, you can, too!

This is definitely a long post. But it's one that I wish I had seen ages ago. I wouldn't have held off the upgrade as long we did!

*OVERVIEW*

Basically, you disconnect everything from the Roamio. Then, all you do is pop the top case off, unscrew the old drive, take it out, move its brackets to the new drive, screw the new drive-bracket assembly back into the Roamio, and pop the case back on. Easy-peasy! TiVo then returns you to the initial guided set up and takes care of everything for you. That's it!

But read through the following!​
*PRELIMINARIES*

First thing we did was to watch and delete most of the shows on the Roamio before upgrading its drive. We got it down to about 4%.

Next, I used the marvelous PyTivo program and transferred the about 10GBs of shows to my laptop wirelessly. Didn't take that long. We also knew that if we lost the shows it wasn't that big a deal, anyway. It's just TV!

TIP: Before transferring the remaining shows to your computer, you may want to check whether they are on the TV schedule as it could be easier to simply re-record them than spend time transferring them from the Roamio to the computer and back again. If you spot shows that are coming up, make note of them, delete the corresponding ones you have recorded, and simply re-record them after doing the upgrade.

Next, be sure to take digital camera photos of your One Passes (what used to be known as Season Passes). You will have to restore them manually. In fact, PyTivo will show you your season passes, so you can simply screenshot those!​
*CONCERNS*

I was worried about the power supply biz. Horror stories from the old days about shocks and warnings about being careful. Well, I needn't have been concerned. Just don't touch anything on the left side of the Roamio and you'll be fine. Everything you need to do is on the right side of the unit (looking from the back) where the hard drive is. And, it's easy to remove the drive.

Note: One concern I had was that the upgrade would install the new OS, which I definitely did not want. It didn't do that. Same old OS it came with, speedy and efficient (albeit it with the same dumb, space-wasting Discovery Window across the top and the time irritatingly always showing!)​
*WATCH VIDEOS WITH DIRECTIONS*

Use this YouTube video for your actual upgrade. It has good narration.






It's better than this one with the banjo music and no narration:






However, watch *both* of them ALL the way through before starting! It'll give you a clear picture of what to do. (The second one even shows an error in installing the brackets!)​
*THE HARD DRIVE TO GET*

The absolute consensus here is to get the Red Western Digital hard drive: WD30EFRX. I did and it works fabulously.

Got it from Amazon. *WD30EFRX Red 3TB NAS Hard Disk Drive* - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JJLW4M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1​
*TOOLS NEEDED*

*Q-tip, Rocket blaster, and Kleenex. These are important as you will likely find dust inside, especially on the fan itself, and as l*ong as you are there you might as well remove it.

*NOTE THE WARNING IN REPLIES. FOIL IS NOT RECOMMENDED! *Sheet of aluminum foil. Touch the foil every now and then to ground yourself, especially if you walk elsewhere and come back. *UPDATE: Touch the OUTSIDE frame of the TiVo to ground yourself. But do NOT touch the INSIDE. *Put the drives on top of the anti-static plastic bag the new drive came in. Avoid putting them on anything metallic!

*Torx set with T8, T9, T10, and T15*.

Note: you may need only two or three of them for *your* Roamio, but there have apparently been changes, so it's best to be prepared! Also, even if you already have a set, spending $9 on a spare set could be a good idea as some cheaper ones can warp and be rendered useless. However, it was easy to unscrew things, so an extra set may be unnecessary. In any event, if the worst happens, you should be able to find a set at a local hardware store.

I bought this Torx set off of Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078RLVMSK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1

However, it'd be better to get one with a screwdriver handle. The little ratchets can be hard to turn.

Here's what I used for my Roamio:

T9 for back screw

T8 I think (not T10) for removing drive with brackets.

T15 for removing the brackets from the drive. As to the brackets, see the tip below.​


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## TiVoEvan74

*TiVo Roamio Hard Drive Upgrade, PART 2*

*TIPS*

As you remove a screw put it on the rug or table in the same relative position it was when you took it out. And, put the Torx wrench you just used right next to it, so you'll know which one to use when putting things back together.

*CRUCIAL*: Remove one bracket at a time and reattach it to the new drive, making sure to orient it correctly each time! They are positioned upside down from each other.​
*PIECE OF CAKE!*

If you follow the video directions, you'll have no trouble replacing the hard drive! It was really no harder than turning a screwdriver to remove several screws and then screw them back in.

I installed a battery-operated smoke detector the other day which was harder to do as I had my arms over my head to screw in the base plate. As I mentioned:
*
THE ROAMIO UPGRADE ITSELF IS REALLY EASY!*​
*TRICKIEST PARTS*

Getting the top off the Roamio is one of the hardest parts of the entire operation. Contrary to the video, don't use a screwdriver to pry it off - You will scratch the edges and deform the plastic. The clips are on the left and right sides near the corners and about 4" in on the sides. You can, with some gentle prying, pushing, and lifting, manually pop it off. You will feel as if you're going to break something, so just be careful and gentle.

Putting the case back ON after you've installed the drive is also tricky. There's a tab at the front of the top case below the logo that needs to go UNDER a tab on the base of the unit. Otherwise, it won't fit right. After that's done, popping it back on is easy.

One of the hardest things of all for me, in fact, was reconnecting HDMI cable! I was trying to put it into the SATA external hard drive port, which obviously doesn't work.

Also, reattaching OTA antenna was a bear- I was trying to attach the wrong cable - the defunct cable connector, whereas the OTA antenna's connector was an easy to screw on thingie.

Having to reconnect all these cables to the back side of the Roamio was tricky, too. In other words, the hardest part of all this was the typical stuff you wrestle with anyway!​
*POSITIVES AND KEY STEPS AFTERWARDS*

One big plus was that redoing it all, the Roamio now found my 5G connection to the router whereas before it had only done the 2.4.​
*RESTORING OFF-LOADED SHOWS VIA PYTIVO*

It wasn't obvious how to do this. One expected a restore to TiVo or upload to Roamio function WITHIN PyTivo itself. That's not how it works!

Instead, at your computer, connect to the wireless network your TiVo is on, then launch PyTivo Desktop. Go to the Roamio! Look under Now Playing, at the bottom, will be the folder you set up on your computer for the TiVo shows! You just select them and transfer them back to the Roamio. It seems to go even faster than the downloading from Roamio to laptop!

Ran into one glitch. While PyTivo fetched the two episodes of Cybil, the Roamio would NOT fetch them back. Oh, well! They're broadcasting re-runs of Cybil OTA, so we'll catch up that way...​
*RESTORE THE REAL 30-SECOND JUMP!*

What threw me was that the out of the box default 30-second skip is actually a slow-motion, 30-second fast forward. You end up seeing all sorts of frames!

To restore the real 30-second JUMP, not a slo-mo slide through, do the following that Weaknees reports:

During playback press:

Select - Play - Select - 3 - 0 - Select​That is preserved even through restarts! It's been so long since I'd done it, I had forgotten it was necessary with the Roamios!​
*FINALLY HAVE INPUT WORKING!*

Could never get the Input button working before, but delved into the menus -Setring and Messages, scroll down to Remote, Cable Card, & Devices, then to Remote Control Setup. Use Set TV Input.​
*SPACE, THE FINAL FRONTIER AND LOTS OF IT!*

Massive amount of space. My Roamio was one of the 500GB; I now have a 3 TB drive in it - so, about SIX TIMES AS MUCH SPACE! Likely it's closer to 6 1/2 once you take into account overhead for the OS.​
*SEARCHING AND NEW WISH LISTS!*

I explored TiVo's search function and found a bunch of new shows to record. I also set up wish lists for several movies, shows, and actors that we hope to catch. However, it had been so long since I used wishlists that things were confusing. (Or, they've changed their operation.). I found the entry or editing of keywords and titles baffling. Turns out you have to scroll over and down and select the word you've entered - it doesn't show up automatically in the entry field. You'll need to put in * after words to catch variations, too. The default now is Auto-record which produces its own set of problems (search the forums for a thread on that).

One thing about setting up wish list searches. Unlike most TiVo menus where pressing select confirms your choice and takes you out of the menu, wish lists figure you want to keep refining your search, so you end up in a labyrinth, going deeper. It's all too easy to hit a wrong button, add an extra letter or keyword, and have to delete the wish list and start over. It can be baffling until you figure out how to escape the menu!​
*CONCLUSION*

In any case, if the message hasn't gotten through:

*THE ROAMIO HARD DRIVE UPGRADE IS REALLY EASY!
*​Any ten-year-old could do this. As Groucho would say,

*"Quick! Get me a 10-year-old!"*​


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## Mikeguy

Thanks for the refresher course and the how-to for the common folk here!


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## Unbeliever

TiVoEvan74 said:


> *Sheet of aluminum foil. * Touch the foil every now and then to ground yourself, especially if you walk elsewhere and come back. Do NOT ground yourself by touching the inside of the TiVo! Put the drives on foil, too.​


Bad idea.

And I say this as a practicing Electrical Engineer with an active NASA Electrostatic Discharge Prevention Certification down to 50V (ESD bunny-suit level).

You don't want to put anything ESD sensitive directly on metal. You want to dissipate charge, not dump charge. (slow, not fast). ESD stations have a static mat that's grounded. And you have an ESD wrist strap grounded to the same point. Place the drive on the mat, let it equalize. Place the Roamio on the case, let it dissapate, then you can put them together. Static mats are designed to drain excess charge slowly, below the damage limit. Placing it on metal is an insta-charge dump

However, for home stuff on consumer level parts, when you don't have all that, you can get safer by leaving the drive resting on the static bag. Stay away from the drive connectors or other electronic components. Grab the metal parts. Open the Roamio, put your hand on the metal parts of the Roamio frame. Wait a few seconds. Then grab the drive by the metal parts, again avoiding the connector. Wait a few seconds. Now you can connect stuff together. I usually lean a forearm (bare skin) on the frame to stay equalized, but if you don't move around much, you don't have to be continuously touching. Wear cotton, that helps.

--Carlos V.


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## TiVoEvan74

Appreciate the update. I had read the aluminum foil tip elsewhere, so obviously that's not a good approach. I can remember directions of touching a PC's frame to discharge static before installing memory. I wanted to avoid recommending that as one could inadvertently hit the power supply.

I have updated the post to reflect your well-grounded reply! 

Most of us don't have wrist bands, anti-static mats, etc., so what do you recommend using as a grounding surface? If I get what you wrote, one should use the plastic bag that the drive came in and sit the drive on that. But one needs two bags, so what would be an alternative, something one would find in a house?! Would any old plastic bag work?


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## TiVoEvan74

One unexpected thing happened after doing the upgrade and transfer back of shows. We watched and deleted one of the transferred shows. What then showed up was the overall list of shows, not the folder with the shows. We had to back out of that to get back to the real top list of folders. When we went back into the right folder, it showed our transferred shows, but there was no longer any options to use the B or C buttons to change was displayed! It showed the shows, but only by date. The same thing happened to all the other folders, too!

We ended up having to restart the Roamio to restore usual behavior. Whether the glitch was due to the transfer of shows or simply a bug that happened to appear at the moment, I have no way of telling!


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## TiVoEvan74

Another follow up. Had the same glitches again - the vanishing sorting buttons and the issue of looking within a folder and seeing the top level list of folders rather than the shows!

This happened after deleting a recent freshly recorded show!

Anyone else had such a problem?*

Is it a known Roamio bug? A hard drive upgrade bug? A bug introduced by transferring back shows from the hard drive (although it's also affecting folders of non-transferred shows).

* Turns out that I have, but had forgotten it. See

Lost sort options in My Shows

It seems to be related to having Energy Saving Standby turned on! Hope they fix this soon!

------------------

*SOLUTIONS*

1. However, short of restarting, the reset HD Interface trick mentioned there seems to work quite well and happens very quickly!

In the TiVo Central screen, simply press Thumbs Down, then Thumbs Up, and tap the Play button twice. (That saves you from having to restart the device, which takes a while and can interfere with recording of shows!)​
2. Otherwise, one can turn off Energy Saving Mode:

Look under "Settings & Messages", then "Remote, CableCard, & Devices", and scroll down to "Power Saving Settings", select it, and change it to "Manual". That will stop the dysfunction, but means losing Energy Savings!​


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## aaronwt

TiVoEvan74 said:


> Appreciate the update. I had read the aluminum foil tip elsewhere, so obviously that's not a good approach. I can remember directions of touching a PC's frame to discharge static before installing memory. I wanted to avoid recommending that as one could inadvertently hit the power supply.
> 
> I have updated the post to reflect your well-grounded reply!
> 
> Most of us don't have wrist bands, anti-static mats, etc., so what do you recommend using as a grounding surface? If I get what you wrote, one should use the plastic bag that the drive came in and sit the drive on that. But one needs two bags, so what would be an alternative, something one would find in a house?! Would any old plastic bag work?


The Roamio has an external power supply. So no issues.
I've upgraded many dozens of Tivos going back to 2001. And I've never run into any static issues. And have never used a grounding wrist strap with any of those dozens of TiVos.


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## ggieseke

Roamio Plus and Pro models have internal power supplies.


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## LarryAtHome

Also don't believe that just because you place something on an anti-static mat that it is grounded and does not have a charge. For example, a plastic pen has a charge on it. It is placed on an anti-static mat. Don't assume it is now grounded. The part of the pen that is touching the mat may have the charge drained off, but the rest of the pen may still hold a charge or take some time for the charge to drain. The plastic can act as an insulator for the charge does not flow to the mat very quickly.


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## mattack

TiVoEvan74 said:


> Next, be sure to take digital camera photos of your One Passes (what used to be known as Season Passes). You will have to restore them manually. In fact, PyTivo will show you your season passes, so you can simply screenshot those!


You can do this with kmttg, you don't need to do it your low tech way!


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## TiVoEvan74

OMW! Using a digital camera is now "low tech"! 

From what I've read, kmttg is a bear to set up and use. That may be wrong, but the "low tech" method is surefire and easy to use!


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## TivoJD

You will be much happier if you install kmttg, I thought the same. After setting up a new bolt, just getting the channel list alone via kmttg and my Roamio was sooo worth it. Not to mention, you can transfer season passes in seconds as well. Those two features alone make it very worthwhile.


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## mattack

TiVoEvan74 said:


> OMW! Using a digital camera is now "low tech"!
> 
> From what I've read, kmttg is a bear to set up and use. That may be wrong, but the "low tech" method is surefire and easy to use!


I'm definitely technically proficient, but kmttg is just a Java app.. as long as you can run Java apps, you can run it..

it will even search for tivos on your network.

You can configure a lot of stuff, but especially just to download RAW files (and not reconvert them to something else), it's relatively easy to use.. Since it is Java, it does have a lowest common denominator UI..


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## mattack

TiVoEvan74 said:


> OMW! Using a digital camera is now "low tech"!


of course it is. That's just one step above writing them down on paper manually.


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## Drpepr

Also not so skilled but attempting this. My roamio top is metal not plastic. 

Other than the case is the inside the same?


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## HerronScott

Drpepr said:


> Also not so skilled but attempting this. My roamio top is metal not plastic.
> 
> Other than the case is the inside the same?


You mention in another thread that you have a Roamio Plus which is more like the old TiVo's. The inside layout will be different than the Roamio Basic/OTA but the general steps will be the same with the differences being in the details (screws and method to remove cover for example).

Scott


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## Drpepr

Thanks ....just completed it. So easy!!


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## skypros

Thank You for the informative thread..... It answered my questions.... So I did not have to ask them !


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## CodeButcher

If you don't want to markup the seams of the cover, Use a guitar pick or if you have plastic pry tools from a cell phone tool kit, they work well.

I've read somewhere a WD30PURX (purple) drive also works well.


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## TiVoEvan74

*Have you tried a guitar pick? *The ones I own bend far too easily to work, as far as I can tell. Now, it's possible that something thicker and less pliable-- e.g., old vending machine cards, old xerox cards, or old credit cards could work -- ones where it wouldn't matter if they snapped in two. They'd be more inflexible than the the guitar pick, permitting greater force!

In any case, your recommendation of a plastic tool designed for the job makes sense. *I would strongly advise against anyone using a screwdriver -- as I discovered, it's far too easy to mark, scratch, chip the edge of the case!*


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## JoeKustra

I have replaced three Roamio hard drives and two fans. I use metal putty knifes. Once you do one, the rest are easy. On my first I broke one clip. Now I know what the inside looks like.


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## LarryAtHome

CodeButcher said:


> I've read somewhere a WD30PURX (purple) drive also works well.


From Western Digitals web site

"The WD Purple drive is designed specifically for 24/7 DVR and NVR surveillance solutions and is optimized with AllFrame™ technology for system playback and performance."

I am using 2 of the purple drives in my Roamio OTA's (one in each) and being they were designed for DVR's, they work fine in my Roamios.​


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## CodeButcher

I only mentioned guitar pick because I got one in a Phone kit, as well as an ABS plastic pry tool that looked like a guitar pick with a thick center. Once you know where the tabs under the cover, all you need to do is apply pressure there to unlatch the clip. Plastic credit cards also work but sometimes you just need a sharp edge to get into the seems.


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## alyssa

i've upgraded lots of tivo's over the years- including a cable card roamio a few years ago.
I now need to upgrade a OTA roamio- what's the biggest hdd i can put in it? I understand the 3TB would be the simplest- 
I don't have access to a desk top - so i just have the ports on my laptop usb2&3, hdmi and a thunderbolt 3. I'm trying to figure out if it's easily possible to do a larger upgrade with my laptop.
I don't have any extra time so the simplicity of dropping in a 3TB drive is appealing 


eta: i just realized i'm coming up on my 15 year anniversary for joining this board....LOL wow


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## CodeButcher

alyssa said:


> i've upgraded lots of tivo's over the years- including a cable card roamio a few years ago.
> I now need to upgrade a OTA roamio- what's the biggest hdd i can put in it? I understand the 3TB would be the simplest-
> I don't have access to a desk top - so i just have the ports on my laptop usb2&3, hdmi and a thunderbolt 3. I'm trying to figure out if it's easily possible to do a larger upgrade with my laptop.
> I don't have any extra time so the simplicity of dropping in a 3TB drive is appealing


I have not seen anyone try using a hard drive larger than a single 3TB, or if they do they will only be able to access 3TB. I work with CCTV systems and there was a 3TB limit a couple years back on h.264 DVRs. I'm fairly new to the Tivo community, but I've had a few ReplayTV units in the past, and they are very similar. As long as you don't need to backup you old Tivo HD, you just drop in the New drive and Go. If there is a way to access the old HD with dock, I'm all for that. I'm still trying to get PyTivo to work.


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## alyssa

CodeButcher said:


> I have not seen anyone try using a hard drive larger than a single 3TB, or if they do they will only be able to access 3TB. I work with CCTV systems and there was a 3TB limit a couple years back on h.264 DVRs. I'm fairly new to the Tivo community, but I've had a few ReplayTV units in the past, and they are very similar. As long as you don't need to backup you old Tivo HD, you just drop in the New drive and Go. If there is a way to access the old HD with dock, I'm all for that. I'm still trying to get PyTivo to work.


i was able to install a 6tb in to a cable roamio a few years ago - If i remember correctly i was able to do that using connections off my MOBO. I just am not sure it's possible with an OTA 4 tuner tivo Nor can i find the thread/ process in the help area.... /sigh/ but i haven't looked hard yet.


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## CodeButcher

I just read on Tivo repair and upgrade website, that the Series 5 846500, 846510, and 846000 models can take up to 10TB drives.


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## HerronScott

alyssa said:


> i was able to install a 6tb in to a cable roamio a few years ago - If i remember correctly i was able to do that using connections off my MOBO. I just am not sure it's possible with an OTA 4 tuner tivo Nor can i find the thread/ process in the help area.... /sigh/ but i haven't looked hard yet.


The TiVo Upgrade Center forum is where you want to go to find information on drive upgrades but I think the specific thread you want for upgrading a Roamio to a drive larger than 3TB (4TB-8TB) is below:

MFS Reformatter (mfsr)

Scott


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## alyssa

HerronScott said:


> The TiVo Upgrade Center forum is where you want to go to find information on drive upgrades but I think the specific thread you want for upgrading a Roamio to a drive larger than 3TB (4TB-8TB) is below:
> 
> MFS Reformatter (mfsr)
> 
> Scott


thank u scott! yes mfs reformatter is the process. i could not remember the name.

and it's possible to do it with a usb 3.0.....now for time & cost benefit analysis. Thankfully i have a few days before the tivo arrives.


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## ggieseke

MFSR Notes:

Some USB 2.0 docks will work as well, but many of them only support drives up to 2TB. Most USB 3.0 docks can handle larger drives even if you run them on a USB 2.0 port.
The current limit is 8TB. I think I know how to break through that limit now, but I don't have any 10 or 12 TB drives to test with.


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## alyssa

Thanks for all you've done! MFS reformater is w great tool- Apparently I did an upgrade 2 years ago. I remember it being super easy to use. Especially after the earlier DYI upgrades for Series 3  i seem to remember even donating to the cause. I gotta say having 6TB of storage has been wonderful - 

I don't know if i can be a test subject for the 10TB as tempting as that might be tho- I've just started back to school in Networking & Server Admin and am on a tight budget both time & money wise. I don't even know if i can do a 6TB upgrade.... or 8TB


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## alyssa

I just checked the specs for a few 3.0 docks. A few of the cheaper docs only supported drives up to 4TBs


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## ggieseke

Probably just old specs, but keep looking. You can find good ones for about $25 or even less. I've used this one.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00APP6694/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


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## CodeButcher

TiVoEvan74 said:


> Here's what I used for my Roamio:
> 
> T9 for back screw
> 
> T8 I think (not T10) for removing drive with brackets.
> 
> T15 for removing the brackets from the drive. As to the brackets, see the tip below.​


I just upgraded my Series 5 Roamio OTA VOX, The back screw is a Hex 2.0mm but a T8 will work, as for the drive brackets and drive screws they are both T10.


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## alyssa

ggieseke said:


> Probably just old specs, but keep looking. You can find good ones for about $25 or even less. I've used this one.
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00APP6694/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1


oh I found a doc at Frys. I was just letting folks know that they'd need to check the specs if they need to use a dock.

For folks who are considering the upgrade from a stock hard drive to a 3tb, the extra effort to double the final hdd is really very very easy. Basically take the old hdd out,
drop the new drive into the tivo,
take it out 
attach it to your computer
Download & unzip a file, (my remembrance of the software is that it's super easy to use!)
run that file on the attached hdd,
reinstall the new 6tb drive into the tivo

now to sell my 6tb cable only roamio tivo


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## bobolink

A slight tweak on my Roamio OTA:


> Go to the Roamio! Look under Now Playing, at the bottom, will be the folder you set up on your computer for the TiVo shows!


Tivo Central->My Shows->Devices->PC name->Documents->My Tivo Recordings...
But thanks. Getting the shows restored was the last piece of the puzzle.


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## TheNewGuy55

Thanks to everyone for such a great community. I am new to Tivo as of 2 years ago when we cut cable. I have been reading this thread and others and and probably missed it but, if I replace my stock HDD, the lifetime guide subscription is still accessible, correct? Is that information stored on the Roamio bios or at Tivo HQ? I just want to make sure I don't lose that when I upgrade the HDD for much need extra space. Thanks in advance for the assistance


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## V7Goose

Your lifetime subscription will not be affected in any way by changing the hard drive. The box identity is tied to a chip on the main board.


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## TheNewGuy55

I finally received the the famous WD30EFRX and it had bad sectors. I am hoping the rma will send a new one of the same model. Is it just me or are these 3TB Red models becoming scarce?


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## skypros

I do not believe so.... I see them still available SOLD and SHIPPED through Amazon (not a 3rd party vendor) for about the price I paid.



TheNewGuy55 said:


> Is it just me or are these 3TB Red models becoming scarce?


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## CodeButcher

TheNewGuy55 said:


> I finally received the the famous WD30EFRX and it had bad sectors. I am hoping the rma will send a new one of the same model. Is it just me or are these 3TB Red models becoming scarce?


I used WD30PURX (purple) with no problems. It's designed to be a DVR drive. Its 5400 RPM so it does not heat up as a 7200 RPM drive.


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## shwru980r

Installed a 2TB WD20NPVX in my Bolt Vox recently.


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## skypros

Just a heads up for anyone that would like to upgrade to a WD red 3-TB
Amazon has them right now (2-17-19) for $99.99

https://www.amazon.com/Red-3TB-NAS-...=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B008JJLW4M


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## CodeButcher

skypros said:


> Just a heads up for anyone that would like to upgrade to a WD red 3-TB
> Amazon has them right now (2-17-19) for $99.99


That's about normal price. Most compatible 3TB drives are usually under $100. I got my WD30PURX for $64.


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## garylapointe

CodeButcher said:


> That's about normal price. Most compatible 3TB drives are usually under $100. I got my WD30PURX for $64.


According to CamelCamelCamel.com it's the lowest non-third party price.


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## DFWHD

Just did the upgrade on one of my Roamio OTAs to the 3TB WD Red and also added the cable card bracket from a salvaged Roamio and replaced the fan with the WeaKnees replacement from Amazon and this was super easy. 25 minutes and all was done. The only thing I was expecting to be different (maybe my misunderstanding) was that it would reload the software back to TE3 as it was when purchased, but TE4 came up. No biggie... Thanks to all for contributions to this thread!


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## 172pilot

I keep seeing so much conflicting information.. Hoping this thread is new enough that those watching it may have current info.. I have a Roamio which I believe has a hard drive slowly going bad.. Tivo is just acting "funny" and sometimes wont play shows.. I have a new drive coming tomorrow, and I'm fine with the process of getting the drive working, but would LOVE to be able to transfer the shows and season passes.

I've downloaded pyTivo and KMTTG. I seem to be able to get .tivo files off of it, and will let it download them all overnight tonight, but even though i've seen references to these programs being able to upload back to the Tivo, I can't find any option to do so. I have seen references to Tivo making this impossible, but I'm not sure what the current state of the technology is.. (Yesterday's "impossible" is often just a new button on today's software!)

Another option would be a dd style backup of my drive.. I guess that would be OK but I think my current drive is 2 or 3 TB, and the new one is 4tb so I'd like to be able to use the whole thing. I think if I dd it, I'm stuck with the partition sizes I have, right?

SO.. What's my best path forward? I have upgraded many Tivos since my original series 1, but I've been pretty much out of the scene for about 5 years and want to make sure what I'm reading is up to date!!

TIA..


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## Mikeguy

Is your Roamio box on the TE3 software/user interface or the newer TE4?

If TE3, towards the bottom of the Roamio box's My Shows listing, you will see a folder listing for the folder on your PC where your shows are stored (assuming that pyTivo (as well as your PC) is up and running; the folder share is set in pyTivo); you then can enter that folder and choose the files to transfer (copy)/pull to your TiVo box. (Earlier, you also could "push" a show to your TiVo box, from within pyTivo; a change by TiVo eliminated the push capability.) If the folder share is not appearing on the TiVo box, there likely is a pyTivo connection issue--you may need to fully exit pyTivo (both the underlying pyTivo engine and any pyTivo UI) and then restart it and/or your PC again (in my experience, this is not uncommon).

Unfortunately, TiVo has not included that capability with TE4 (a reason I use TE3). If you are on TE4, you can sidegrade over to TE3 (there are various threads here with the instructions--easy enough to do, but note that you will lose any recordings on your TiVo box in the process, and so save any recordings you wish to preserve to your PC first).


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## 172pilot

99% sure by "TE4" you mean the new hydra interface? If so.. yes, I have that.. I'm not yet a fan, but I'm getting used to it.. That being said, perhaps this is a way to replace the drive.. What do you think of this plan:
1: Use PyTivoDesktop or KMTTG to move all current videos (and season passes??) to the PC
2: Install new hard drive. If it doesn't come up with old software, do the downgrade while there's nothing on it
3: While on old software, use <some software?> to migrate videos and other resources back to Tivo
4: Now I could decide to (or not to) re-upgrade to hydra..

If that makes sense, then my question is whether there's a specific format I need to make sure to use while downloading to make sure it's compatible to be re-uploaded.. 
Another option I MIGHT have is to use Tivo's new web-based transfer manager.. I think I have a premiere unit in the closet that has lifetime and hasn't been plugged in since 2014.. If that can be used to store the shows on before I swap drives, could that be an option? I dont know how the web transfer system works.. never saw that 'till researching this problem..

Thanks so much for the response.. This tech has gone a long way since the first MFSTools live disk I used to use, and I dont want to do something wrong!! (Cant deal with the wrath of losing every single simpsons episode, which my son has stored on that thing!!)


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## Mikeguy

A good plan, and you're already there: pyTivo Desktop will do transfers both from a TiVo box and also back to it (the latter only under TE3).

Just use the standard format (.TiVo) without decrypting the file and you're all set for the file being transferred back. Either of 2 transfer modes can be used, PS or TS. I stick with PS, as TS mode has seemed to have been more problematic. The only downsides: PS mode can be slower; and subtitles will be lost, IIRC.

As you note, you also could transfer the shows to and then from your Premiere box using TiVo Online, a benefit being that all the show metadata will be maintained. Personally, if I am doing more than a few shows at a time, I prefer to pull the shows under the Device listing on the target box's My Shows listing, as TiVo Online often is glitchy for me--however, this is not available under TE4.

And as you mentioned kmttg: note that in addition to saving and then reloading your Season Passes, it also can be used to save and reload thumb ratings for Suggestions.

You're right on track!


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## Bigg

I put a WD Green 3TB in my Roamio OTA two and a half years ago, and it works great. Even when I don't get around to watching stuff for a while, it stays at 10-15%.


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## 172pilot

Mikeguy said:


> A good plan, and you're already there:


Hmm.. seems like there's tradeoffs for ALL of this.. (figures!) I would want the subtitles ( we use captions a lot) but then the comment about keeping the metadata if using the Tivo Online.. That seems important. I dont know exactly which metadata is at risk using the PyTivoDesktop but if that means it wont know the shows season/episode, or maybe the episode descriptions, I'd rather use a different means if possible. 
So far, I haven't gotten Tivo Online transfers to work.. It says it's going to go, but then nothing transfers.. And, I haven't gotten PyTivoDesktop to upload anything to the premiere (I got it going with a new 2Tb drive I had laying around, which I loaded from an old saved backup I had, and then expanded it)..

The good news is that my roamio disk that I thought was failing is seeming to do OK so far (crossing fingers!) so maybe this whole firedrill turns out to be a learning experience and it's going to survive. I did delete about 40% of my shows to try to prune down what I need to backup in the meantime, and I'll probably try to keep a backup of the .tivo files on PC for last resort just in case!

I'll keep trying. I really appreciate the help!
Steve


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## hasservision

Thinking about finally upgrading my stock Tivo Roamio drive to something bigger. Is 3TB still the cap for drive size? 
Thanks!


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## Mikeguy

hasservision said:


> Thinking about finally upgrading my stock Tivo Roamio drive to something bigger. Is 3TB still the cap for drive size?
> Thanks!


For the box automatically formatting, etc. the hard drive, yes. But if you're willing to share doing the prep. work, not in the least. See: MFS Reformatter. MFS Reformatter (mfsr)


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## CodeButcher

hasservision said:


> Thinking about finally upgrading my stock Tivo Roamio drive to something bigger. Is 3TB still the cap for drive size?
> Thanks!


Pretty much, if you don't want to use MFS Reformatter. It's practically Plug and Play with a 3TB drive. After a year my 3TB is 97% capacity.


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## SuziQ777

TiVoEvan74 said:


> *TiVo Roamio Hard Drive Upgrade, PART 1*
> 
> While there have been other threads on this, I wanted to post a new one from the perspective of someone who is a klutz about such stuff.
> 
> I also report on several key tips - including restoring a real 30-second JUMP - that were either missing or buried in other threads about the upgrade.
> 
> I know it's been said before, but believe them when they say:
> 
> *THE ROAMIO HARD DRIVE UPGRADE IS REALLY EASY*!​
> If you can use a screwdriver, or an Allen wrench, you can do this. (The tool in this case is a Torx wrench, much the same thing.)
> 
> I'm absolutely not a DIY. While I once years ago added RAM to a computer, that's about all I've ever done in the tech realm.
> 
> So, if I can upgrade a Roamio, you can, too!
> 
> This is definitely a long post. But it's one that I wish I had seen ages ago. I wouldn't have held off the upgrade as long we did!
> 
> *OVERVIEW*
> 
> Basically, you disconnect everything from the Roamio. Then, all you do is pop the top case off, unscrew the old drive, take it out, move its brackets to the new drive, screw the new drive-bracket assembly back into the Roamio, and pop the case back on. Easy-peasy! TiVo then returns you to the initial guided set up and takes care of everything for you. That's it!
> 
> But read through the following!​
> *PRELIMINARIES*
> 
> First thing we did was to watch and delete most of the shows on the Roamio before upgrading its drive. We got it down to about 4%.
> 
> Next, I used the marvelous PyTivo program and transferred the about 10GBs of shows to my laptop wirelessly. Didn't take that long. We also knew that if we lost the shows it wasn't that big a deal, anyway. It's just TV!
> 
> TIP: Before transferring the remaining shows to your computer, you may want to check whether they are on the TV schedule as it could be easier to simply re-record them than spend time transferring them from the Roamio to the computer and back again. If you spot shows that are coming up, make note of them, delete the corresponding ones you have recorded, and simply re-record them after doing the upgrade.
> 
> Next, be sure to take digital camera photos of your One Passes (what used to be known as Season Passes). You will have to restore them manually. In fact, PyTivo will show you your season passes, so you can simply screenshot those!​
> *CONCERNS*
> 
> I was worried about the power supply biz. Horror stories from the old days about shocks and warnings about being careful. Well, I needn't have been concerned. Just don't touch anything on the left side of the Roamio and you'll be fine. Everything you need to do is on the right side of the unit (looking from the back) where the hard drive is. And, it's easy to remove the drive.
> 
> Note: One concern I had was that the upgrade would install the new OS, which I definitely did not want. It didn't do that. Same old OS it came with, speedy and efficient (albeit it with the same dumb, space-wasting Discovery Window across the top and the time irritatingly always showing!)​
> *WATCH VIDEOS WITH DIRECTIONS*
> 
> Use this YouTube video for your actual upgrade. It has good narration.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's better than this one with the banjo music and no narration:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> However, watch *both* of them ALL the way through before starting! It'll give you a clear picture of what to do. (The second one even shows an error in installing the brackets!)​
> *THE HARD DRIVE TO GET*
> 
> The absolute consensus here is to get the Red Western Digital hard drive: WD30EFRX. I did and it works fabulously.
> 
> Got it from Amazon. *WD30EFRX Red 3TB NAS Hard Disk Drive* - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch
> 
> https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JJLW4M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1​
> *TOOLS NEEDED*
> 
> *Q-tip, Rocket blaster, and Kleenex. These are important as you will likely find dust inside, especially on the fan itself, and as l*ong as you are there you might as well remove it.
> 
> *NOTE THE WARNING IN REPLIES. FOIL IS NOT RECOMMENDED! *Sheet of aluminum foil. Touch the foil every now and then to ground yourself, especially if you walk elsewhere and come back. *UPDATE: Touch the OUTSIDE frame of the TiVo to ground yourself. But do NOT touch the INSIDE. *Put the drives on top of the anti-static plastic bag the new drive came in. Avoid putting them on anything metallic!
> 
> *Torx set with T8, T9, T10, and T15*.
> 
> Note: you may need only two or three of them for *your* Roamio, but there have apparently been changes, so it's best to be prepared! Also, even if you already have a set, spending $9 on a spare set could be a good idea as some cheaper ones can warp and be rendered useless. However, it was easy to unscrew things, so an extra set may be unnecessary. In any event, if the worst happens, you should be able to find a set at a local hardware store.
> 
> I bought this Torx set off of Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078RLVMSK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1
> 
> However, it'd be better to get one with a screwdriver handle. The little ratchets can be hard to turn.
> 
> Here's what I used for my Roamio:
> 
> T9 for back screw
> 
> T8 I think (not T10) for removing drive with brackets.
> 
> T15 for removing the brackets from the drive. As to the brackets, see the tip below.​


What size drive can the TiVo Roamio OTA Vox purchased in 2018 be upgraded to without a problem?


----------



## JoeKustra

SuziQ777 said:


> What size drive can the TiVo Roamio OTA Vox purchased in 2018 be upgraded to without a problem?


The answer is located in every thread found in this post: Romeo OTA hard drive change


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## Mikeguy

SuziQ777 said:


> What size drive can the TiVo Roamio OTA Vox purchased in 2018 be upgraded to without a problem?


Up to and including 3TB, it's a no-work upgrade: the TiVo box automatically will do the prep. work needed on the new drive. Over 3TB, the new drive needs human intervention during the process, using the MFS Reformatter software available here. MFS Reformatter (mfsr)


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## zukdj

Quick question on the Roamio hard drive upgrade, do the Plus and Pro follow suit? Just purchased 2 WD Purple 3TB's for 2 failing machines. I was going to buy the red drives but the one's I was looking at ended up having bad sectors on them.


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## Bigg

I'm almost back to normal DVR usage on my Roamio OTA. I'm currently at 1% with a 3TB drive. Hoping to get to 0% soon and run lean on OTA so stuff doesn't pile up. If the Olympics ever happen though, I'll be able to record every NBC broadcast for the duration of the Olympics and probably only hit 15-20%.


----------



## dskael

TiVoEvan74 said:


> *TiVo Roamio Hard Drive Upgrade, PART 1*
> 
> While there have been other threads on this, I wanted to post a new one from the perspective of someone who is a klutz about such stuff.
> 
> I also report on several key tips - including restoring a real 30-second JUMP - that were either missing or buried in other threads about the upgrade.
> 
> I know it's been said before, but believe them when they say:
> 
> *THE ROAMIO HARD DRIVE UPGRADE IS REALLY EASY*!​
> If you can use a screwdriver, or an Allen wrench, you can do this. (The tool in this case is a Torx wrench, much the same thing.)
> 
> I'm absolutely not a DIY. While I once years ago added RAM to a computer, that's about all I've ever done in the tech realm.
> 
> So, if I can upgrade a Roamio, you can, too!
> 
> This is definitely a long post. But it's one that I wish I had seen ages ago. I wouldn't have held off the upgrade as long we did!
> 
> *OVERVIEW*
> 
> Basically, you disconnect everything from the Roamio. Then, all you do is pop the top case off, unscrew the old drive, take it out, move its brackets to the new drive, screw the new drive-bracket assembly back into the Roamio, and pop the case back on. Easy-peasy! TiVo then returns you to the initial guided set up and takes care of everything for you. That's it!​​But read through the following!​
> *PRELIMINARIES*
> 
> First thing we did was to watch and delete most of the shows on the Roamio before upgrading its drive. We got it down to about 4%.​​Next, I used the marvelous PyTivo program and transferred the about 10GBs of shows to my laptop wirelessly. Didn't take that long. We also knew that if we lost the shows it wasn't that big a deal, anyway. It's just TV!​​TIP: Before transferring the remaining shows to your computer, you may want to check whether they are on the TV schedule as it could be easier to simply re-record them than spend time transferring them from the Roamio to the computer and back again. If you spot shows that are coming up, make note of them, delete the corresponding ones you have recorded, and simply re-record them after doing the upgrade.​​Next, be sure to take digital camera photos of your One Passes (what used to be known as Season Passes). You will have to restore them manually. In fact, PyTivo will show you your season passes, so you can simply screenshot those!​
> *CONCERNS*
> 
> I was worried about the power supply biz. Horror stories from the old days about shocks and warnings about being careful. Well, I needn't have been concerned. Just don't touch anything on the left side of the Roamio and you'll be fine. Everything you need to do is on the right side of the unit (looking from the back) where the hard drive is. And, it's easy to remove the drive.​​Note: One concern I had was that the upgrade would install the new OS, which I definitely did not want. It didn't do that. Same old OS it came with, speedy and efficient (albeit it with the same dumb, space-wasting Discovery Window across the top and the time irritatingly always showing!)​
> *WATCH VIDEOS WITH DIRECTIONS*
> 
> Use this YouTube video for your actual upgrade. It has good narration.​​
> 
> 
> 
> ​It's better than this one with the banjo music and no narration:​​
> 
> 
> 
> ​However, watch _both_ of them ALL the way through before starting! It'll give you a clear picture of what to do. (The second one even shows an error in installing the brackets!)​
> *THE HARD DRIVE TO GET*
> 
> The absolute consensus here is to get the Red Western Digital hard drive: WD30EFRX. I did and it works fabulously.​​Got it from Amazon. *WD30EFRX Red 3TB NAS Hard Disk Drive* - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6 Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch​​https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008JJLW4M/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1​
> *TOOLS NEEDED*
> 
> *Q-tip, Rocket blaster, and Kleenex. These are important as you will likely find dust inside, especially on the fan itself, and as l*ong as you are there you might as well remove it.​​*NOTE THE WARNING IN REPLIES. FOIL IS NOT RECOMMENDED! *Sheet of aluminum foil. Touch the foil every now and then to ground yourself, especially if you walk elsewhere and come back. *UPDATE: Touch the OUTSIDE frame of the TiVo to ground yourself. But do NOT touch the INSIDE. *Put the drives on top of the anti-static plastic bag the new drive came in. Avoid putting them on anything metallic!​​*Torx set with T8, T9, T10, and T15*.​​Note: you may need only two or three of them for _your_ Roamio, but there have apparently been changes, so it's best to be prepared! Also, even if you already have a set, spending $9 on a spare set could be a good idea as some cheaper ones can warp and be rendered useless. However, it was easy to unscrew things, so an extra set may be unnecessary. In any event, if the worst happens, you should be able to find a set at a local hardware store.​​I bought this Torx set off of Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078RLVMSK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s02?ie=UTF8&psc=1​​However, it'd be better to get one with a screwdriver handle. The little ratchets can be hard to turn.​​Here's what I used for my Roamio:​​T9 for back screw​​T8 I think (not T10) for removing drive with brackets.​​T15 for removing the brackets from the drive. As to the brackets, see the tip below.​
> I also have the external hard drive, if I replace the internal one is that affected and recorded programs untouched?


----------



## Scott9mm

Good writeup. I offer one tidbit that may help others. WD sells two types of drives: SMR and CMR. You do NOT want SMR for things like DVRs, NVRs (video security systems), NAS, or any application that writes and re-writes a lot of data constantly. This link tells which WD Red models are which:
Western Digital Announces Red Plus HDDs, Cleans Up Red SMR Mess with Plus Branding
SMR may be fine for some things but the tracks overlap such that sectors need to be completely re-written in a fresh area whenever changed. And that creates a disk-space and access time penalty. Some software may refuse t work entirely.


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## Scott9mm

I'd also add that (for the more adventurous) it is possible to save all current recordings as well as upgrade to a disk greater than 3T using these instructions:
https://www.tivocommunity.com/threads/diy-10tb-roamio.568366/
The fastest way is to connect the old and new drives directly to the disk controller of a PC. However I used a dual docking station which worked just fine over USB, just slower.


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## steve_scifi

This write up made it easy to follow, I had changed hdd on my roamio once before but has been awhile.
However soon after change I got all the lights blinking thing, now I am thinking it may have been ac adapter the whole time.
I found another ac adapter for an old media player and put it on, have not had trouble since, but it has been less than a day soooo.
I have ordered a replacement. If it turns out to be the case may have went to more trouble than needed, upside though I now have Red plus in it.
(update, been 3 days and I have not had any reboots...argh...such an easy fix, could have saved myself so much trouble, time and $)

*Also, there seemed to be some concern about scratching case etc. trying to get open in some of the previous posts. I used the method in the video where the author pulled the top a certain direction and did not have to use any instruments at all. Took a little grip/strength and may be easier if the case has been opened previously like mine but thought I would mention it.


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## mykee50

Hi, I have a Roamio Pro from 2013. It's starting to pixelate on some recordings recently. I'm assuming that means the drive is going bad? This is a great thread on replacement. THANKS, YOU GUY'S. Are there solid state drives available now?

Thanks, Mike, Issaquah, WA


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## ClearToLand

mykee50 said:


> Hi, I have a Roamio Pro from 2013. *It's starting to pixelate* on some recordings recently. *I'm assuming that means the drive is going bad*?


The '_usual_' suspects (in order of replacement cost):
Power Supply
- (Wall warts are the most inexpensive but not for the Roamio Pro or Plus, just the Basic and OTA. You might have to buy a complete unsubscribed unit off eBay to get a replacement power supply. You could also check Weaknees, but I have no experience in this area.)
HDD



mykee50 said:


> ... *Are there solid state drives available now?*



SSDs have been '_available_' for a decade or more. 
Why would you prefer a SSD over a Western Digital Red Plus 5400 RPM 3TB HDD?
How much research into the TCF Archives have you done on installing a SSD into a TiVo Unit?
How much money are you willing to spend on this?
How would you rate your 'Technical Ability' to solve unforeseen problems independently?


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## Finalrinse

mykee50 said:


> Hi, I have a Roamio Pro from 2013. It's starting to pixelate on some recordings recently. I'm assuming that means the drive is going bad? This is a great thread on replacement. THANKS, YOU GUY'S. Are there solid state drives available now?
> 
> Thanks, Mike, Issaquah, WA


Mike, I also have a Roamio Pro, from 2014. I have found, pixalation in my Roamio Pro comes from signal strength that is too Strong/High! Right now I have a 6dB inline attenuator on my coax cable coming into the TiVo. You can check signal strength in "Settings", "Channel Settings". "Cable Signal Strength". If it shows 100% it could be much more because it won't show over 100%. Add attenuators until you get in the 90% range. Also, naturally too low a signal will do the same.
P.S. If it's actually Only on recordings, than not a signal strength problem, but, if it's also on Live TV than a very good chance it's signal strength.
Good luck, let us know?
Tom


----------

