# Need advice regarding HD replacement



## tjdavis2768 (Jan 31, 2005)

I have a tivo premier and the hard drive failed. I replaced the original 320 gb with a 2 TB WD drive. Now, after plugging in the tivo, strange things are happening:
1. The tivo welcome, starting up screen appears for a second.
2. Screen goes blank.
3. ALL LED lights blink
4. "NO Signal" appears (I'm hooked up via HDMI). for a vew seconds
5. All leds blink
etc.

I need some advice on what to do next.

Is 2 TB too big? Is there a secret code needed to start up when a new drive is installed?

I've replaced the HD a couple of times on a series 2 tivo with no problems.


----------



## Stuxnet (Feb 9, 2011)

tjdavis2768 said:


> I have a tivo premier and the hard drive failed. I replaced the original 320 gb with a 2 TB WD drive. Now, after plugging in the tivo, strange things are happening:
> 1. The tivo welcome, starting up screen appears for a second.
> 2. Screen goes blank.
> 3. ALL LED lights blink
> ...


You can't just plug in an empty drive. Did you use the jmfs cd to transfer/expand the 320GB-->2TB? Or was this a Weaknees drive?


----------



## dwit (May 5, 2004)

What method was used to prepare(install Tivo software) on the 2 TB hard drive?

Hint: There is only one known method(at this time) for the general public to prepare a drive to be installed in a Premiere. That method involves ,essentially and in short, cloning(copying) the data from a working hard drive which was removed from a Premiere to another hard drive. This is done by connecting the two hard drives to a computer and using the JMFS program(free download) to clone the drive.


----------



## tjdavis2768 (Jan 31, 2005)

Thank you for the reply. I should have realized that some kind of operating system would be needed. I ordered a Weakknees replacement kit. 

The old drive in the tivo crashed completely. Hooked it to my computer and got a "invalid partition table" message. I wanted to try and revive it with spinrite, but spinrite could not even process the drive.

Thanks to all that replied.


----------



## Mfusick (Aug 25, 2011)

If my tivo contstantly restarts and has a bad drive.. I probably can not copy the image from it to a new drive.

What options do I have?


----------



## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Mfusick said:


> If my tivo contstantly restarts and has a bad drive.. I probably can not copy the image from it to a new drive.
> 
> What options do I have?


Make sure it really is the drive and not something else, like the power supply (it can be in between perfect and dead and give odd problems), or the software on the otherwise healthy hard drive.


----------



## mikeyh (Sep 10, 2011)

Mfusick said:


> If my tivo contstantly restarts and has a bad drive.. I probably can not copy the image from it to a new drive.
> 
> What options do I have?


My first Tivo had this from day one. Got it replaced under warranty.
Now the rplacement unit is acting up, rebooting when I access submenus. Can't even get to the clear and wipe everything option. Suck.

It's a NZ model Tivo, tcd663320. Weaknees, InstantCake don't support it.

Is anyone able to provide an image for this?

Mike.


----------



## mikeyh (Sep 10, 2011)

I got a possible dodgy hd in my Tivo. Suspect the file system is corrupt.
Spinrite did not find anything wrong at sector level.

If I was to backup a mate's Tivo hdd, can I put that on my drive and will things work? (same model)

What are the magic steps? Should I Wipe and Clear everything before I connect network etc.? Will his Tivo number come with it? Anyone done this?

Thanks, Mike.
Weaknees/Instantcake don't support this model.


----------



## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

Yes, you can use the drive from another Premiere as a source drive. Use JFMS to copy. You will have to run a "Clear and Delete Everything" when you put your new 2TB drive back in your Premiere to "marry" it to your box.


----------

