# Error Message with MFS Tools HELP-A-NOOB!!!



## thespotlessmike (Dec 20, 2005)

I have a TCD540040 and I'm trying to replace the 40g maxtor TiVo drive with a Caviar 320g hd...i have everything connected correctly in my PC, i booted the Weaknees_lba cd and entered the following command

mfsbackup -f 9999 -so - /dev/hdb | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdd

and got the following error message

mfsbackup: Backup failed to startup. Make sure you specified the right devices, and that the drives are not locked.

I tried replacing the drive letters, but no success. I understand that people have had this problem in the past, but i couldn't find any threads with a good explanation of whats going on....HELP!!


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## mjitkop (Oct 3, 2002)

According to what you wrote, it seems that your original TiVo hard drive (the 40GB Maxtor) is the Primary Slave and your new hard drive (the 320GB one) is the Secondary Slave.

If all you are doing is a direct copy to your new drive, I believe you should type:

mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hdb | mfsrestore -s 160 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdd


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

First for a 320G drive the swap should be at least 160. 
Do you have the 40G original drive connected to the primary channel slave 
the 320G on the secondary channel slave?

from the command line type dmesg | grep ide find where your drives are actually connected in the output


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## thespotlessmike (Dec 20, 2005)

HomeUser said:


> First for a 320G drive the swap should be at least 160.
> Do you have the 40G original drive connected to the primary channel slave
> the 320G on the secondary channel slave?
> 
> from the command line type dmesag | grep ide find where your drives are actually connected in the output


Yup, thats how its set up. What do you mean by "the swap should be at least 160"?


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## thespotlessmike (Dec 20, 2005)

i typed in exactly
dmesag | grep ide
and it said that the command wasnt found...

i tried doing
mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hdb | mfsrestore -s 160 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdd 
that mjitkop suggested, but i got the same error...help help help!!!!!


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

To prevent possible TiVo recovery errors in the future the swap file needs to be larger. The consensus is that 1M of swap is needed for every 2G of storage. Replace the -s 127 with -s 160 in the mfsrestore options. After the copy/expand is complete you need to run the program tpip to fix a known issue with swaps larger then 127 created with mfsrestore.

If dmesg reported that the drives are in the correct locations the check your typing very carefully. Note: the mfsbackup command you typed is not copying the recordings the options in mjitkop post will.

See if mfsinfo /dev/hdd reports valid information about your original TiVo drive.


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## thespotlessmike (Dec 20, 2005)

HomeUser said:


> If dmesg reported that the drives are in the correct locations the check your typing very carefully. Note: the mfsbackup command you typed is not copying the recordings the options in mjitkop post will.
> 
> See if mfsinfo /dev/hdd reports valid information about your original TiVo drive.


the mfsinfo /dev/hdb (my original tivo hd is in b) gives me the following message

Second MFS Drive Needed: No such file or directory
Second MFS Drive Needed2: Illegal seek
Second MFS Drive Needed: No such file or directory
Second MFS Drive Needed3: Illegal seek
mfs_load_volume_header: Total secotors(78703616) mismatch with volume header (703819776)
mfs_load_volume_header: Loading anyway.
mfs_load_zone_map: Primary zone map corrupt, loading backup.
mfs_load_zone_map: Secondary zone map corrupt, giving up.
mfs_load_zone_map: Zone map checksum error!

Can you make sense of that?


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

If this was this a dual drive setup use mfsinfo /dev/hdb /dev/hdd


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## TechDreamer (Jan 27, 2002)

I thought I read on these forums that a larger swap is no longer the way to go. The reasoning was because only a failing hard drive would need it and that a failing hard drive never gets better.


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

> I thought I read on these forums that a larger swap is no longer the way to go. The reasoning was because only a failing hard drive would need it and that a failing hard drive never gets better.


Or anything that causes a re-index of the (now larger) database could be a new version of software, a hickup while downloading data... Id rather trade off a hundred meg of recording time now JIC. It is very difficult to add the extra swap later.


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## BobCamp1 (May 15, 2002)

Try the PTVupgrade CD ver. 4.01 instead:
http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/software/lba48/index.html

Or try using a different PC for the upgrade.

As for swap, you can use 127 for now. If you do finally get it working, then do it again with the more complicated bigger swap and the "tpip" command. Speaking from experience, a few people have screwed up the tpip command and it's one complication the OP doesn't need right now.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

To the OP:

Your 40G drive is probably locked. Check to see what drive size is being reported by Linux during startup. If it reports 9 or 10 GB, you have a locaked drive. You need to run qunlock (which must be run under DOS) to unlock the drive.

Regarding swap - the -r 4 setting is changing the block size used on the disk. This reduces the total number of blocks for a given amount of diskspace. The end result is that 127MB of swap is sufficient, so tpip is not required.


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## thespotlessmike (Dec 20, 2005)

Dan Collins said:


> To the OP:
> 
> Your 40G drive is probably locked. Check to see what drive size is being reported by Linux during startup. If it reports 9 or 10 GB, you have a locaked drive. You need to run qunlock (which must be run under DOS) to unlock the drive.


Its not locked...I scrolled up and it reports all of my hard drives as the correct sizes.


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## Diana Collins (Aug 21, 2002)

thespotlessmike said:


> the mfsinfo /dev/hdb (my original tivo hd is in b) gives me the following message
> 
> Second MFS Drive Needed: No such file or directory
> Second MFS Drive Needed2: Illegal seek
> ...


This would appear to indicate that the 40GB drive was part of 2 drive set (IOW a second drive had previously been added to the unit). If not, you've got a problem with the 40GB drive. Does the TiVo boot with the 40GB installed?


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

Hey guys. I just picked up the TCD540040 and bought a 250GB hard drive to go in it. Exactly like thespotlessmike stated in the first post.

I've spent the last two to three days trying to get the whole formatting to work.

Downloaded MFStools2.0 and have been following the link on Hinsdale and also at weaknees.

The problem is that nothing I try works. I've tried backing up the original over, that doesn't work. I've tried a direct transfer (mfsbackup...|mfsrestore...) and that doesn't work. So I wanted to see what kind of info my source drive displayed.

I just typed in mfsinfo /dev/hdc (my original 40GB TiVo) and got this message:
Second MFS Drive Needed: No such file or directory
Second MFS Drive Needed2: Illegal seek
Second MFS Drive Needed: No such file or directory
Second MFS Drive Needed3: Illegal seek
mfs_load_volume_header: Total secotors(78703616) mismatch with volume header (567095296)
mfs_load_volume_header: Loading anyway.
mfs_load_zone_map: Primary zone map corrupt, loading backup.
mfs_load_zone_map: Secondary zone map corrupt, giving up.
mfs_load_zone_map: Zone map checksum error!

I don't think my drive is locked because I can read the right value for the size of the hard drive.

I don't think this drive was ever used as a Dual drive TiVo, but I'm not sure since I did buy it used.

Any help? I'm completely stuck right now.... Thanks in advance!


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

chales said:


> Hey guys. I just picked up the TCD540040 and bought a 250GB hard drive to go in it.


Did your TiVo have the original drive? Does the TiVo work with the drive? If not you need to obtain a preloaded drive, an image or purchase InstantCake http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/instantcake/


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

HomeUser said:


> Did your TiVo have the original drive? Does the TiVo work with the drive? If not you need to obtain a preloaded drive, an image or purchase InstantCake


From what I can tell, the HD in the TiVo was the original. Secondly, the drive does work with the TiVo. It funtioned like a regular 40GB TiVo.

When I get home from work today I'm thinking of plugging the original drive back in to the Tivo and ensuring that it still works.

Say it didn't, is there an easy way for me to format the new hard drive so TiVo can read it. I'm not interested in the data on the original 40GB hard drive.

Thanks!


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

If it works in the TiVo then mfsinfo should recognize the drive. Check to be sure the drive is really where you think it is use cat/proc/partitions or dmesg | grep ide


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

HomeUser said:


> If it works in the TiVo then mfsinfo should recognize the drive. Check to be sure the drive is really where you think it is use cat/proc/partitions or dmesg | grep ide


Thanks for the help. I'll take a look and see if the drive still works. I'm 100% I was accessing the drive correctly with the command.

You seem to know a lot about this, when I typed MFSINFO /dev/hdX and got the error, what do you think would cause that kind of an error message? Damaged drive? Inproper access?


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

Looking at the error from the output of "mfsinfo /dev/hdc" mfs_load_volume_header: Total sectors(78703616) mismatch with volume header (567095296) 
78703616 * 512 = 40Gig 
567095296 * 512 = 290Gig

Looks like mfsinfo thinks the drives are married 40G + 250G 
If the 40G does not work by its self in the TiVo try mfsinfo /dev/hdc /dev/hde (if the 250G is on the secondary channel as the primary drive)

Also interested in the abbreviated output of the commands from the previous message.


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

HomeUser said:


> Looking at the error from the output of "mfsinfo /dev/hdc" mfs_load_volume_header: Total sectors(78703616) mismatch with volume header (567095296)
> 78703616 * 512 = 40Gig
> 567095296 * 512 = 290Gig
> 
> ...


You know what! This makes sense! At one point I tried doing a mfsadd, which, now that I think about it, married the drives. At the time I thought it was just configuring a setting so the TiVo would recognize the drive size. So how do I fix this now? Thanks for the help btw! I'm pretty lost right now. And a big fat NOOB


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

You need a 3rd drive with an ext2 (linux) or a FAT32 partition (NTFS will not work) to save a shrunken backup without the recordings from the 2 drives. The backup will be a file around 200 - 500Meg. Both the Hinsdale and Weaknees have instructions for making the backup from the 'A' + 'B' drives. Then restore from the backup file to the 250G single drive. 
Suggest you do not use compression 6 it is broken I have had success with 3. and if you have room make a couple with different values JIC.


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

HomeUser said:


> You need a 3rd drive with an ext2 (linux) or a FAT32 partition (NTFS will not work) to save a shrunken backup without the recordings from the 2 drives. The backup will be a file around 200 - 500Meg. Both the Hinsdale and Weaknees have instructions for making the backup from the 'A' + 'B' drives. Then restore from the backup file to the 250G single drive.
> Suggest you do not use compression 6 it is broken I have had success with 3. and if you have room make a couple with different values JIC.


Okay. I did see and try that, however, let me state exactly what I want. I just want to take the 40 out and replace it with the 250. I have the Windows C: in HDA, the new 250GB in the HDB, and the original TiVo 40 in HDC.

I've done the following:

mkdir /mnt/dos
mount /dev/hda1 /mnt/dos

Since my drive is a Series 2, I use the following line next:
mfsbackup -f 9999 -6so /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc (Boot Cd and Floppy users command for Series 2 Standalones and DirecTiVos)

This line never worked for me either, it gave me an error; I believe it was the same error as I stated above.

So would my backup command be different if the drives are now married? Can I simply erase my 250GB to unmarry the two? Or does that now require something special?


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

Now that your drives are married you need to include the second drive in the backup set. mfsbackup -f 9999 -3so /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc /dev/hd? modify /dev/hd? for your 'B' drive. and compression value 6 does not always work when restoring


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

HomeUser said:


> Now that your drives are married you need to include the second drive in the backup set. mfsbackup -f 9999 -3so /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc /dev/hd? modify /dev/hd? for your 'B' drive. and compression value 6 does not always work when restoring


Sweet. I'll try that when I get home. After I run that, I can resinstall just the 250 drive into the TiVo and have it function normally?


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

Thats the plan make a couple of backup files with different compression values the compression has a problem with different processors 3 worked for me you might try 5 also there have been favorable reports using -5so.


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

HomeUser said:


> Thats the plan make a couple of backup files with different compression values the compression has a problem with different processors 3 worked for me you might try 5 also there have been favorable reports using -5so.


Awesome! I can't wait to get home now and try this. I'll let you know how it goes so if anyone else out there is having the same problem I am, perhaps it will help them too.


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

So I booted the TiVo off the 40GB drive and it loops on Boot up now. I get the Welcome, then the Almost there, Just a few minutes more... screen then it goes back to Welcome again.

It must be that the TiVo is now expecting the second drive to be in there, not finding it, so it loops to see if it can find it again or something along those lines.

So I guess the next step is that I'll put the drives back in the computer, do those commands you were talking about, Homeuser, and make sure I'm accessing them correctly.

I'll post my findings...


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

I just checked to make sure I was accessing the drives right, and I was so we can rule that out as the problem.

From what I can tell, the problem seems to be the marriage between the 40GB and the 250GB hard drives. Is there a way to undo this without losing the TiVo image on th 40GB drive?


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

YES, because your drives have not recorded any thing on the new drive use the -s (shrink) in the backup mfsbackup Taso - /dev/hdW /dev/hdX | mfsrestore -zpi - /dev/hdY You need a drive the equal to or larger then the original drive for the restore.

Otherwise put both drives in the TiVo then use Multi Room Viewing to off-load the shows that you want to keep to a PC (or another TiVo) do the restore then re-download them from TiVo Desktop.


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## chales (Apr 26, 2006)

HomeUser said:


> YES, because your drives have not recorded any thing on the new drive use the -s (shrink) in the backup mfsbackup Taso - /dev/hdW /dev/hdX | mfsrestore -zpi - /dev/hdY You need a drive the equal to or larger then the original drive for the restore.
> 
> Otherwise put both drives in the TiVo then use Multi Room Viewing to off-load the shows that you want to keep to a PC (or another TiVo) do the restore then re-download them from TiVo Desktop.


I should have tried that before I bought InstantCake. BUT!!! InstantCake ROCKS! I got the TiVo image on my 250GB hard drive in about 15 minutes, then I installed it back into the TiVo and all set up in about 30 minutes.

I'd recommend using Instantcake to anyone that doesn't want to deal with the hassle. It was 20 bucks but I did it in less than an hour.

Thanks for the help HomeUser!


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## naiLS1 (Aug 19, 2005)

Homeuser, when I backed up my Tivos I used a 1 for compression according to Weaknees instructions. Is there any problem using a 1? I guess I might need to do another round of backups if there is.


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

NO problem, there is an issue on some computers using the compression level of 6. Using level 1 compresses only a little resulting in a larger backup file and Level 6 compressing the most making a smaller backup file. I suggest that if you do not have an extra hard drive or any way to test the backup before doing anything to the original TiVo drive that you make a couple of backups using different values. 

For the record the only value I have ever had fail was the compression value of 6 that value failed once out of the three backups that I made with the compression level 6. I do not recall reading about any problems with the other values altho until I had the one fail I was not paying a lot of attention to the details.


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