# The 9.1 Priority page is up



## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

The 9.1 Priority page is up.

http://research.tivo.com/91priority/index.htm


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

Signed up, thanks!


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## drew00001 (Jan 13, 2007)

Cool, thanks.


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## worachj (Oct 14, 2006)

Bummer....

** At this time Multi-Room Viewing is not available on Series3 or TiVo HD units.


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## George Cifranci (Jan 30, 2003)

Cool...

Signed up both my S2 and S3.


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## ewilts (Feb 26, 2002)

That's some priority list! I signed up and a half-hour later forced a connection. The downloading... is taking its sweet little time . Of course there's no way to know if I would have received it without being on the priority list.

.../Ed


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

worachj said:


> Bummer....
> 
> ** At this time Multi-Room Viewing is not available on Series3 or TiVo HD units.


Here are TivoJerry's comments regarding MRV/9.1 with S2s...
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5556842&&#post5556842


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## Carsten (Feb 5, 2007)

Yay


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## drew00001 (Jan 13, 2007)

ewilts said:


> I signed up and a half-hour later forced a connection. . . Of course there's no way to know if I would have received it without being on the priority list.


No such luck for me 1 hour after signing up.


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## cableguy763 (Oct 29, 2006)

Thanks,

Got it on my S2DT and S3


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## EVizzle (Feb 13, 2005)

hopefully "sometime in november" isn't November 30th...


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## joneSi (Mar 28, 2004)

Schweet. Just signed up my THD and 2 S2 boxes.

Thanks!!!

joneSi


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## George Cifranci (Jan 30, 2003)

I heard the user interface has changed? How so? Anyone have any pics?

Nevermind. I got the update. It looks pretty much the same. I thought maybe they they improved the text and graphics for HD displays.


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## BlackBetty (Nov 6, 2004)

EVizzle said:


> hopefully "sometime in november" isn't November 30th...


does it really matter? I'm just glad we have a firm set month on when it will be implemented.


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## drew00001 (Jan 13, 2007)

drew00001 said:


> No such luck for me 1 hour after signing up.


OK, I got it. I had a pending restart when I woke up this morning.


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## drew00001 (Jan 13, 2007)

BlackBetty said:


> does it really matter? I'm just glad we have a firm set month on when it will be implemented.


I'll be happy if it comes on or before T-day weekend. I expect that will be the first opportunity I will have to use it significantly.


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## StEvEY5036 (Jul 9, 2003)

Signed up last night, installing it now. Not a bad turn around time at all..


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## ZICRON (Oct 2, 2007)

I have a series 2, got the update last night, and now my trasfered files have audio and no video.

The interface is the same, but the graphics and fonts are just a tad different.

It seems slower too.


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## Neenahboy (Apr 8, 2004)

Signed up late last night and it was pushed to my box early this morning. Restarting now...


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## old64mb (Apr 11, 2005)

Installed after adding my boxes to the priority queue last night. Took about 40ish minutes.

Only minor changes I've noticed so far and don't love - the manual recording feature new menu is a lot harder to access individual channels, and the font change - with highlighting the selection on the guide - doesn't really do it for me.

Wish it had included M-card functionality, but that drum's been beat before.


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## Maeglin (Sep 27, 2006)

George Cifranci said:


> Nevermind. I got the update. It looks pretty much the same. I thought maybe they they improved the text and graphics for HD displays.


So many great enhancements in 9.1, and still something petty to complain about...


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## George Cifranci (Jan 30, 2003)

George Cifranci said:


> Nevermind. I got the update. It looks pretty much the same. I thought maybe they they improved the text and graphics for HD displays.





Maeglin said:


> So many great enhancements in 9.1, and still something petty to complain about...


I hardly think my comment deserved that response.

In any case since you want to make a big deal about it. Is wanting a true HD interface for a $650 THX certified device that is touted as being made for HD is being "petty" is it? Wow. You have barely been on this forum a year and your already a fanboy.

So many great enhancements you say?? When the update gets finished the message for the 2007 Fall update just mentions the new advanced wishlist feature. What are the other "MANY GREAT enhancements" you speak of for the Series 3? I am sure there are a number of "bug fixes" but Tivo never feels the need to tell us about those.


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

George Cifranci said:


> I am sure there are a number of "bug fixes" but Tivo never feels the need to tell us about those.


In fact, it seems to be almost a matter of religious doctrine at TiVo that they will not provide public release notes. Occasionally, TiVoJerry or other TiVo folks will let it leak in this forum that a particular issue has or has not been fixed, but that is the exception. It is pretty much left to the users in this forum to empirically determine what has and has not been fixed.


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## Joybob (Oct 2, 2007)

Stupid question but; why don't those of us who have our Tivo's hooked up to broadband get priority? It'd seem like it'd be faster than piping it to the guys on telephone.


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## Maeglin (Sep 27, 2006)

George Cifranci said:


> So many great enhancements you say?? When the update gets finished the message for the 2007 Fall update just mentions the new advanced wishlist feature. What are the other "MANY GREAT enhancements" you speak of for the Series 3? I am sure there are a number of "bug fixes" but Tivo never feels the need to tell us about those.


In case you weren't paying attention...

- Apparent final preparation before the MRV/TTG switch is thrown next month (I'd call that a big one)
- Crestron integration (no use for that yet, myself, but it's likely nice for those that do)
- Improved handling of emergency alert messages (no more terminally disrupted recording or playback)

I'm sure there are a number of bug fixes as well.

Some things just need to be put in perspective. In my case, I have a 50" 1080p set and good eyesight, and I don't see what all of the huffing and puffing over squeezing more text on the screen is about. What they did instead was to take the higher resolution and put higher quality text on the screen. which is the better choice in my book.

If it was SD resolution graphics, text and background all being upscaled from 480 lines after rendering, then I'd have something to complain about. As it stands, though, it isn't.... 720p may not be everyone's idea of what HD is supposed to be, but technically *it is still HD*.


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## Maeglin (Sep 27, 2006)

Joybob said:


> Stupid question but; why don't those of us who have our Tivo's hooked up to broadband get priority? It'd seem like it'd be faster than piping it to the guys on telephone.


That would only be an issue if they pushed the update out to only one box at a time. With the kind of bandwidth that's available in this day and age, that would be silly.


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## rucka (May 15, 2007)

Signed up late last night. Got it sometime today. Re-started and some HD channels seem better (read: more impressive). CBS HD in particular.


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## Chew (Jan 22, 2003)

_Didn't_ sign up and both my S3 and S2 boxes said "Pending Restart" when I got home from work today. :up:


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## Laserfan (Apr 25, 2000)

> ...both my S3 and S2 boxes said "Pending Restart" when I got home from work today. :up:


I didn't sign up either and my S3 is saying "Pending Restart"!!!  :down:

My S3 wasn't broke--I don't know why Tivo insists on "fixing" it!!!!??!!!


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

Because the software was "broken" and it is prohibitively expensive to support multiple revisions of software simultaneously.


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## Dr_Diablo (Nov 24, 2003)

Submited for the update 40 some hours ago, was "pending restart" this am... Now at the dreaded, "this update may take up to an hour" screen...


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## Langree (Apr 29, 2004)

Put in for the update Monday night, had it this a.m. The wishlist changes are nice.


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## astrohip (Jan 7, 2003)

CharlesH said:


> In fact, it seems to be almost a matter of religious doctrine at TiVo that they will not provide public release notes.


I've always wondered why this is. What possible reason could there be for *not* publicizing release notes? I can't think of a single software product that doesn't do this. For example, it appears my pixellation problem has been resolved (so far, fingers crossed). Why not mention this? Or the new manual recording process?

This isn't a biggie. And it beats what my cable DVR offers (can you say "nothing"). But I've always wondered... why not brag about your new features?


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

I put my S2 and S3 in Monday afternoon, by Tuesday AM my S2 was at 9.1, my S3 hasn't gotten it yet.

just FYI


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

Two days ago, I tried to update the programming info on both my Tivo II 80 hours and my Toshiba DVD Tivo. Both showed the message Unavailable until after scheduled 2AM software update.

Next day the Tivo II showed the 9.1 software, but the Toshiba still showed 8.3. I restarted the Toshiba several times and each time it showed as installing new software or something to that effect and the restart took forever, but each time I still showed the 8.3 software.

After an hour and a half on the phone with a Tivo techie, he bumped me to level 2, but after being on hold another 25 minutes, I gave up and hung up. I have added my unit to the 9.1 request list, but wonder if the same thing might happen. Anyone know of an answer to this problem?

Side question. The 9.1 has finally done away with the incredible slowness since the upgrade to 8.3 back in March or April, but in the To Do List, what do the yellow circle with one check and the blue circle with 2 checks mean? Common sense would suggest one time recordings vs season passes, but I looked at a list of To Do's that were ALL season passes and some had the yellow one check and others the blue two check icons.


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## gdomeier (Nov 6, 2001)

I put in for the priority update yesterday. I tried to manually update tonight, just to check and was told by tivo I could update because there was one scheduled for 2:00 am. I suspect that it it


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## HamDoc (Sep 22, 2006)

Sadness, I signed up 24 hours ago and still nothing. Just to make sure I am doing nothing wrong, we do just use phone and network settings to connect to tivo service now, right?

HamDoc


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## Warhawks (Apr 9, 2007)

Sweet, thanks!


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

All my boxes have it now but my first TiVOHD box that got it seems to have a different version of 9.1 than all my other boxes. There is an L(if I remember correctly) in the version number that none of my other boxes have.


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## Warhawks (Apr 9, 2007)

I signed up around 12:30 and came home at 6:30 and did a hard update and sure enough, it loaded it and it displayed "Pending restart". Waited until Survivor was over and being recorded and rebooting now! I think it is GREAT Tivo has this as an option for its customers...I am always looking for the latest updates in products to make them function even better.


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## kirk1701 (Feb 5, 2007)

bicker said:


> Because the software was "broken" and it is prohibitively expensive to support multiple revisions of software simultaneously.


And when something is broke, someone will fix it 

Thanks for the link, added all three of my units in and should be looking for some new looks by the weekend. :up:


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## MickeS (Dec 26, 2002)

I never signed up on the priority list, but both my Series 2 and Series 3 TiVos were updated last night. I guess they're rolling this out now then...


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

Warhawks said:


> I signed up around 12:30 and came home at 6:30 and did a hard update and sure enough, it loaded it and it displayed "Pending restart". Waited until Survivor was over and being recorded and rebooting now! I think it is GREAT Tivo has this as an option for its customers...I am always looking for the latest updates in products to make them function even better.


You need to go to Tivo Central...Messages and Settings...Account & System Information...System Information and look at Software Version (4th from the top) and see if it starts with 8.3 or 9.1 which has a very different look to it than 8.3

I have been trying to update my Toshiba DVD box for four days now and have added it to priority list 3 days ago, but it doesn't happen. I have seen that "Pending Restart" crap 7 or 8 times already and each time I have booted the box and see the message that it is installing new software and after completion I see I am still with 8.3

This wouldn't even bother me, but back in March or April when my two boxes were updated to 8.3, the slowness navigating through programming it created was maddening and Tivo not only did nothing to fix it, they denied it was even happening even though it was widely discussed right here.

9.1 has fixed that on the Tivo II box although it also made a few undesirable changes. One such is that when looking for a program using the Search by Channel option, holding down the Channel UP/DOWN button no longer causes a rapid scroll. Pressing the Channel UP/DOWN button now only advances you one channel per press no matter how long you press the button.

This is all moot though, because the cable companies are in the process of making Tivo obsolete very soon. Why pay $700 for a high def box from Tivo when the cable companies are giving them away for free and will simply replace them if anything goes wrong with them. The navigation and programming information is not as good, but it is getting better all the time.

As much as I loved Tivo for the past 7 or 8 years, they have developed the arrogance that comes with being the "only game in town". When this update problem first appeared I called Tivo support and got an airheaded female who just kept repeating that my box will be updated automatically and talked over me when I tried to explain that both boxes had been scheduled for update the same day at 2AM, but only one was updated. She then just hung up on me and I have the entire conversation recorded. I just need to find out where in Tivo to send the recording.

I called again and got a guy who immediately understood the problem and spent the next hour and 35 minutes having me try various corrective measures before telling me he was going to put me with a level 2 techie. After being on hold about another 1/2 hour I had had enough and I hung up.

*BE WARNED TIVO, YOU ARE NO LONGER THE "ONLY GAME IN TOWN"*


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I have been trying to update my Toshiba DVD box for four days now and have added it to priority list 3 days ago, but it doesn't happen. I have seen that "Pending Restart" crap 7 or 8 times already and each time I have booted the box and see the message that it is installing new software and after completion I see I am still with 8.3


I wonder if you don't have a hard drive problem and that is why it is not completing and switching to the new partition.

I am not sure what you can to about it short of pulling and testing the drive in a PC. May be time to just put a newer bigger drive in. 

Considering your slowness you are reporting that surely has to be what is wrong.

Good luck.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> I wonder if you don't have a hard drive problem and that is why it is not completing and switching to the new partition.
> 
> Considering your slowness you are reporting that surely has to be what is wrong.
> 
> Good luck.


The slowness has nothing to do with the hard drive, it began with the last software update last March or April and it was experienced by many and discussed here at length. The excuse given was that it only happened if you had more than 50 season passes and/or wishlist items. It affected both of my Tivos.

When 9.1 was installed on my other box several days ago, the slowness was gone but it continues on the 8.3 box.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> The slowness has nothing to do with the hard drive, it began with the last software update last March or April and it was experienced by many and discussed here at length. The excuse given was that it only happened if you had more than 50 season passes and/or wishlist items. It affected both of my Tivos.
> 
> When 9.1 was installed on my other box several days ago, the slowness was gone but it continues on the 8.3 box.


That doesn't explain away why it won't update to the new version. We have seen that before. Normally points to a drive problem. Just saying.

Maybe a little far fetched... but every new version switches between partitions. If the partition had problems, and then installed to a new partitions that doesn't (read bad sectors). Your slowness would disappear. Admittedly, seems unlikely.


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## BruceShultes (Oct 2, 2006)

Upgrading to a new software version only switches the hard drive partition on which the software is stored, not the one(s) where your recordings or guide data are stored. 

Usually a new software upgrade does re-sort the guide and listing indexes so it is often slower at first while they are being sorted and then faster for a while after the sorting is completed.

Of course, they could always have found a more efficient indexing method, so we can always hope that it continues to be faster.


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## showard594 (Feb 12, 2004)

I have a new THD updated to 8.1 something. I connect manually and does not seem to pick up the 8.3. I put in the system number Wed night and still no 9.1. Would like to see 8.3 at least to get some speed.

Coming off a DirecTivo which has good response time compared THD with 8.1


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## MaryT (Dec 3, 2001)

I was pointed to this thread (thanks) and my series 2 single tuner Sony is also not updating even though it has been pending restart numerous times and been restarted. I even let it go until the 2am restart.

I posted the issue to this thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5573427#post5573427

since it isn't a Series 3, I never even thought to look here.

I've already tried it twice today and still no luck.

I'm thinking that perhaps I better just download the programming to my computer and get a new drive unless someone else has a better idea.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> That doesn't explain away why it won't update to the new version. We have seen that before. Normally points to a drive problem. Just saying.
> 
> Maybe a little far fetched... but every new version switches between partitions. If the partition had problems, and then installed to a new partitions that doesn't (read bad sectors). Your slowness would disappear. Admittedly, seems unlikely.


I think there are too many people reporting the same problem to blame our equipment. I think it is a Tivo problem and I already know they don't give a damn about such things unless it affects huge numbers of people. They also don't go out of their way to help those with life subscriptions.

I had added my box to the priorities list again and at 2AM the box had been scheduled for the new software and at precisely 2AM, the box lit up as if I was going to succeed. A half hour later I checked and there was no change.

While talking to the tech the other day, he mentioned my adapters and that one was a Belkin. I do have a Belkin adapter on the box that got 9.1 and some no name adapter that came with the Toshiba DVD box. Tonight I switched the adapters and will add the box to the priority list again.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I think there are too many people reporting the same problem to blame our equipment.


What makes you say that? I've only read about three so far. Your problem and two in this thread

Hard drives are cheap. Get a copy of Instant Cake and see if it helps.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Tonight I switched the adapters and will add the box to the priority list again.


Why keep adding it to the list? You already have the software downloaded. Doesn't it try and install it after *every* reboot? (don't need to wait until 2am) It will probably just keep trying forever...


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## showard594 (Feb 12, 2004)

OK, I get it (after checking Tivo site). DUH!

Here are the versions. Since my service ID starts with 652 I am set until 9.1 finally hits. I was hoping to get 8.3 since it was reported as faster but I guess I am OK for now. It has been 4 days since requesting the 9.1 so I will just have to wait....

648 TiVo 8.3.1 
649 TiVo 8.3 
652 TiVo 8.1.7.c2


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> What makes you say that? I've only read about three so far. Your problem and two in this thread
> 
> Hard drives are cheap. Get a copy of Instant Cake and see if it helps.


Had to Google Instant Cake to find out what it was, but I still don't know what it actually does. Since I have two different Tivo's I would need two of them although just the one for the problem box would do, but after wandering around their site, I still have no idea what this CD does.


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Had to Google Instant Cake to find out what it was, but I still don't know what it actually does. Since I have two different Tivo's I would need two of them although just the one for the problem box would do, but after wandering around their site, I still have no idea what this CD does.


It lets you build a harddrive from scratch that you can put in your Tivo. It is very valuable after a harddrive failure and you have no backup. With Instant Cake you can create a new drive with fresh software. Your other option would be to buy a drive with software already installed from folks like Weaknees.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

SCSIRAID said:


> It lets you build a harddrive from scratch that you can put in your Tivo. It is very valuable after a harddrive failure and you have no backup. With Instant Cake you can create a new drive with fresh software. Your other option would be to buy a drive with software already installed from folks like Weaknees.


Now you're talkin and I am listening. I have read some of the instructions for adding larger HD's to a Tivo, and I am pretty adept with computers, but I have never looked inside any of my 3 Tivo boxes for fear of voiding the warranty. Since they are all now beyond the warranty coverage, why not.

Is there a table somewhere that will show me the size of my current HD's in an 80 hour Tivo II and a 140 hour Toshiba RS-TX20 w/DVD recorder and what size HD's will produce what capacity when I add a new HD? I didn't find any such table through Google.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Roughly... (hours reported at basic recording quality setting)

40hr -> 40GB
80hr -> 80GB
140hr -> 120GB
300hr -> 320GB

IMO, 320GB is huge for an analog (non HD) tivo. Not sure I ever filled up my S2 when I had a 320GB drive in it.  

Bigger drives become desirable with the TivoHD/S3 due to HD file sizes.

S2 drives are PATA
S3/TivoHD are SATA


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## GoHokies! (Sep 21, 2005)

SCSIRAID said:


> It lets you build a harddrive from scratch that you can put in your Tivo. It is very valuable after a harddrive failure and you have no backup. With Instant Cake you can create a new drive with fresh software. Your other option would be to buy a drive with software already installed from folks like Weaknees.


I'll highly recommend the Weakness drives. Yes, they are a little more pricey, but the ease of install (it took me 5 minutes tonight) is worth it. After buying a hard drive, instant cake and a sata to usb converter, it wasn't all that much more expensive.

I had to do the hard drive because when I got the 9.1 update there must have been a problem with the "other" partition, because I got stuck in a reboot loop.  Oh well, such is life with computers....


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## juvi77 (Dec 17, 2003)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I think there are too many people reporting the same problem to blame our equipment. I think it is a Tivo problem and I already know they don't give a damn about such things unless it affects huge numbers of people. They also don't go out of their way to help those with life subscriptions.
> 
> I had added my box to the priorities list again and at 2AM the box had been scheduled for the new software and at precisely 2AM, the box lit up as if I was going to succeed. A half hour later I checked and there was no change.
> 
> While talking to the tech the other day, he mentioned my adapters and that one was a Belkin. I do have a Belkin adapter on the box that got 9.1 and some no name adapter that came with the Toshiba DVD box. Tonight I switched the adapters and will add the box to the priority list again.


I'm having the exact same problem with my S2 also. One of my S2's updated a week ago wiht no problem. Since then I've tried 3 or 4 times to reboot and get the update installed on the other S2. I keep getting the installing update message too and it never fully installs. It keeps going back to 8.3 when its finished. Has anyone figured anything out on this? I'm thinking its a bug if 4 or 5 of us are all having the same problem suddenly. I just want my MRV to work again!!


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

juvi77 said:


> I'm having the exact same problem with my S2 also. One of my S2's updated a week ago wiht no problem. Since then I've tried 3 or 4 times to reboot and get the update installed on the other S2. I keep getting the installing update message too and it never fully installs. It keeps going back to 8.3 when its finished. Has anyone figured anything out on this? I'm thinking its a bug if 4 or 5 of us are all having the same problem suddenly. I just want my MRV to work again!!


If you don't believe it is your hard drive, you can just purchase InstantCake and install overtop your current drive. That will put you back to 7.2.1. It will then try to upgrade again to 9.1. (if it makes it that far)

You'll loose your recordings (most SPs should come back after a couple reconnects though; TivoMagic ).

Of course, if you pull the drive to run InstantCake on it, you should probably run the manufacturer's harddrive test to check for problems.

Who knows, maybe the drive is fine, but the download of 9.1 is somehow corrupt. 

$20 will give you the answer though.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> What makes you say that? I've only read about three so far. Your problem and two in this thread


But more are appearing every day and all report the exact same thing. I think that pretty much overrules a HD problem.

That said, I am still very interested in the Instant Cake thing, but I have another question. I saw someone talk about it and mention that some USB adapter is also necessary.

When I buy the cake software and the HD, do I still need other devices to format the HD for Tivo?


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> Roughly... (hours reported at basic recording quality setting)
> 
> 40hr -> 40GB
> 80hr -> 80GB
> ...


Is there a limit to the HD size? The 320GB you show as recording 300 hrs drops down to about 68 hours when you record at Best quality.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> You'll loose your recordings (most SPs should come back after a couple reconnects though


If I go with a new HD, once formatted by Instant Cake, it seems I would have three partitions on that drive, one large one for recordings and two smaller ones that are used when new Tivo software is installed. Couldn't I then copy the recordings from the old HD to the larger partition of the newly formatted drive?

Hmm...with that in mind, couldn't I take the drives from both my Tivo boxes and copy the 9.1 from the one that did install correctly to one of the smaller partitions on the drive that didn't install 9.1?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> If I go with a new HD, once formatted by Instant Cake, it seems I would have three partitions on that drive, one large one for recordings and two smaller ones that are used when new Tivo software is installed.


I think there are more than 3. I know there is two for the software. A swap partition. The partition used to hold recordings (in some proprietary format, i.e. not a linux filesystem like ext3).



Tivo II Jack said:


> Couldn't I then copy the recordings from the old HD to the larger partition of the newly formatted drive?
> 
> Hmm...with that in mind, couldn't I take the drives from both my Tivo boxes and copy the 9.1 from the one that did install correctly to one of the smaller partitions on the drive that didn't install 9.1?


Sorry, doesn't work that way. I never heard of anyone copying individual partitions around.

InstantCake is very simple to use, but not flexible.

winmfs give you more options as far as backing up your drive, etc.

http://www.mfslive.org/winmfs/


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Is there a limit to the HD size? The 320GB you show as recording 300 hrs drops down to about 68 hours when you record at Best quality.


The trick is you need a PATA drive (not SATA for an S2). You can go higher than 320GB, but 68 hours at best is a lot of recordings! 

Not sure you can even buy a PATA 750GB or 1TB drive.

There are ways to combine and mount two drives in an S2. I actually have the kit in my S2 from weaknees. I stopped using it though. It doubles your chance for failure, and a single large drive are so cheap now.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> When I buy the cake software and the HD, do I still need other devices to format the HD for Tivo?


Depends on your PC. Does you computer have the older style Parallel IDE cables? Almost all older computers do. Some of the newer ones have switched entirely to SATA connectors. Most people don't have those and run into the opposite problem when trying to setup SATA drives for their S3s.

There is no "formatting". You run InstantCake and it partitions and copys the software (all while running under linux). With InstantCake you boot to the CD, you do NOT run it like a program in Windows.

They used to have online demo of how the software works/looks. I'll see if I can't find that link...


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> But more are appearing every day and all report the exact same thing. I think that pretty much overrules a HD problem.


What is the count up to now? 4? 

Every update has this unfortunate effect on some people's tivos. Bad hard drive? I dunno. But an excellent time to upgrade. Which always seems to fix the problem.

Like I said, if you think the drive is fine. Then just instantcake overtop your current drive. If that doesn't work, then buy a new one. But with the prices so cheap, why bother?

Weaknees is an excellent resource for preconfigured drives if doing it yourself it not your thing. But you will pay out the nose for that convenience.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> Like I said, if you think the drive is fine. Then just instantcake overtop your current drive. If that doesn't work, then buy a new one. But with the prices so cheap, why bother?


I agree, and now have another thought. As said, I have yet to even open a Tivo box, but I am sure I can do it with no problem, but do not yet know what I will see. If it is just a matter of removing one drive and popping in another as I would with a computer, how about this.

You mentioned earlier that instant caking the original drive will dump current recordings. What if I buy the new HD, cake it and install it and start fresh but just replace the original drive to watch the recordings on that HD.

I also agree that 68 hours is a lot of recordings, but by formatting two 320GB HD's couldn't I then alternate between the two to jump to 136 hours.

Or three HD's to get...?<g>


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## Carsten (Feb 5, 2007)

greg_burns said:


> The trick is you need a PATA drive (not SATA for an S2). You can go higher than 320GB, but 68 hours at best is a lot of recordings!
> 
> Not sure you can even buy a PATA 750GB or 1TB drive.
> 
> There are ways to combine and mount two drives in an S2. I actually have the kit in my S2 from weaknees. I stopped using it though. It doubles your chance for failure, and a single large drive are so cheap now.


You can buy converters that convert SATA <-> PATA. In this case SATA -> PATA.

http://www.pcgears.com/default.aspx?oid=108015

25$

Now i dont know the file system restrictions on the S2.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I agree, and now have another thought. As said, I have yet to even open a Tivo box, but I am sure I can do it with no problem, but do not yet know what I will see. If it is just a matter of removing one drive and popping in another as I would with a computer, how about this.


You will need a torx screwdriver. (not sure the size) It is just as simple as removing the old drive and popping in the new one *if the drive is preconfigured from a place like weaknees*.

Otherwise you first have to prep the drive using InstantCake.



Tivo II Jack said:


> You mentioned earlier that instant caking the original drive will dump current recordings. What if I buy the new HD, cake it and install it and start fresh *but just replace the original drive to watch the recordings on that HD.*


 Not following you. If you buy a new hard drive, or IC the original your recordings will be gone. You will be starting fresh either way.

Are you talking about putting back in the other drive when you want to watch shows off it? Sounds kinda extreme. Why not just transfer the shows to a computer via Tivo2Go prior to removing it? Then you can transfer them back once you've IC the drive.



Tivo II Jack said:


> I also agree that 68 hours is a lot of recordings, but by formatting two 320GB HD's couldn't I then alternate between the two to jump to 136 hours.
> 
> Or three HD's to get...?<g>


Combining drives is not recommended (IMO). Increases your chance of failure. One drive dies, the whole system is useless and you have to IC both drives to get going again. If you want more than 320GB, just buy the biggest PATA drive you can get. (or buy an adapter like *Carsten* suggests, though I have no experience with using one)

If you ever get to the point of actually buying a drive be aware of acoustical concerns. (Seagate drives cannot be tuned using Acoustical Management software to quiet them down.)


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## SCSIRAID (Feb 2, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> You will need a torx screwdriver. (not sure the size)


Its a T10.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I agree, and now have another thought. As said, I have yet to even open a Tivo box, but I am sure I can do it with no problem, but do not yet know what I will see. If it is just a matter of removing one drive and popping in another as I would with a computer, how about this.
> 
> You mentioned earlier that instant caking the original drive will dump current recordings. What if I buy the new HD, cake it and install it and start fresh but just replace the original drive to watch the recordings on that HD.
> 
> ...


You can get a 500GB drive for under $100. Just get that and use WinMFS to copy the original drive to the new drive. Everything will be retained from the old drive and your capacity will be increased to 65 HD hours.
Or you can get a 750GB or 1TB drive. Either way you can use WinMFS to copy the old drive to a new drive using a WinXP or Vista PC.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

aaronwt said:


> You can get a 500GB drive for under $100. Just get that and use WinMFS to copy the original drive to the new drive. Everything will be retained from the old drive and your capacity will be increased to 65 HD hours.
> Or you can get a 750GB or 1TB drive. Either way you can use WinMFS to copy the old drive to a new drive using a WinXP or Vista PC.


Any concern with copying the old to new if the old drive is suspect?


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> winmfs give you more options as far as backing up your drive, etc.
> 
> http://www.mfslive.org/winmfs/


Wasn't able to register, it kept telling me I didn't type the confirmation in correctly. I know it is case sensitive, but half the time I was guessing whether a letter was in caps or not, hard to tell. Then it blocked me out for too many attempts. Is winmfs a free program?

I just ordered 2 Maxtor 500GB HD's and am on my way to get IC.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I just ordered 2 Maxtor 500GB HD's and am on my way to get IC.


You do know you cannot mount 2 drives in a Tivo without a kit right? I would also say again, using 2 drives in a single Tivo is not a wise choice. Doubles your chance for failure.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Wasn't able to register, it kept telling me I didn't type the confirmation in correctly. I know it is case sensitive, but half the time I was guessing whether a letter was in caps or not, hard to tell. Then it blocked me out for too many attempts. Is winmfs a free program?


I registered and downloaded it the other day no problem. I don't think those things are case sensitive are they?


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> You do know you cannot mount 2 drives in a Tivo without a kit right? I would also say again, using 2 drives in a single Tivo is not a wise choice. Doubles your chance for failure.


I bought the two drives to install in two Tivos, not both in one. I also bought IC for my Tivo II and my Toshiba w/DVD. I briefly read the instructions for ICake but it appears that to use it, I must burn the ISO file to a DVD. Is that correct or do I have to extract the files in the ISO file and install them all to the DVD?

Very glad I noticed the warning that ICake may overwrite your main HD if you are not careful. I have a new Dell that I bought to run the Vista beta test and dont use it at all now, so I will use that to format the Tivo drives.

I also found the PDFs that show install directions for the HDs since I still havent opened either box and see it is even easier than putting a HD into a PC.



greg_burns said:


> I registered and downloaded it the other day no problem. I don't think those things are case sensitive are they?


First, let me ask again, is this software free or not?

They are case sensitive:

Confirmation code: * 
Enter the code exactly as you see it. The code is case sensitive and zero has a diagonal line through it.










Tried to insert image of the confirm code screen to show how ridiculous it is to determine case, but It doesn't seem to be working, maybe the attachment will show it.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I must burn the ISO file to a DVD. Is that correct or do I have to extract the files in the ISO file and install them all to the DVD?


You must burn the .ISO to a CD-R (not DVD). Use ImgBurn www.imgburn.com



Tivo II Jack said:


> First, let me ask again, is this software free or not?


The software is F-R-E-E.

The code you posted is "NPCc3J". I do see what you mean about it being hard to tell the case. I do see where it says case sensitive so you are right.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Hold up a sec. Which software is it that you are asking about? MSLive is free. InstantCake is not. 

Which software were you planning on using?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I have a new Dell that I bought to run the Vista beta test and dont use it at all now, so I will use that to format the Tivo drives.


A new Dell probably has about 0 IDE connections in it. All the new ones I've seen are all completely SATA based. 

You need IDE connections to connect an IDE drive to your PC (which I assume is what you bought for your Tivos).


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I just ordered 2 Maxtor 500GB HD's...


What were the model numbers? IDE (PATA) or SATA?


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> The code you posted is "NPCc3J". I do see what you mean about it being hard to tell the case. I do see where it says case sensitive so you are right.


You used the same logic I did. I made the second C lower case because the first was larger looking and I entered the same thing. It was rejected.



greg_burns said:


> Hold up a sec. Which software is it that you are asking about? MSLive is free. InstantCake is not.
> 
> Which software were you planning on using?


Probably Cake, I already purchased the two versions I need for two Tivos, but if it is free I would like to check the other one out.



greg_burns said:


> A new Dell probably has about 0 IDE connections in it. All the new ones I've seen are all completely SATA based.
> 
> You need IDE connections to connect an IDE drive to your PC (which I assume is what you bought for your Tivos).


EEK is right, the Dell is SATA, I forgot that. The two Maxtor HDs I bought are PATA.

I wont have the HDs to install until Tuesday, and this story just turned ugly. Until today, I was getting new program data daily, but tonight I got a TIVO message that my box had not made contact with Tivo Service in over 30 days and that I need new Program listings. Connect now.

I tried several times and when done the connection shows as successful, but when I go to my To Do list, it shows none scheduled and my Season Pass shows I need to connect to the Tivo Service now. I even tried to connect by phone, but it shows no dial tone, but all connections are good.

There is also another problem totally unrelated to this because it is on both boxes. Time Warner did a channel line-up change that affected many channels several days ago, maybe a week. The major network channels didn't change, but I just noticed that the changes have not shown up in Tivo yet. I looked at several recordings on both boxes and any from channels like Sci-Fi, USA and others were recorded on the old channel and what I thought I recorded was missed.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> You used the same logic I did. I made the second C lower case because the first was larger looking and I entered the same thing. It was rejected.


Using your numeric keypad? Not have numlock enabled? I dunno.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> You will need a torx screwdriver. (not sure the size) It is just as simple as removing the old drive and popping in the new one *if the drive is preconfigured from a place like weaknees*.QUOTE]
> 
> The drives arrived today and from formatting the Toshiba (problem drive) to installing it was a snap. Guided setup is complete and it is completing loading new program info as I type. I won't be trite and say it was a piece of cake, so I will just say it was easy as pie.
> 
> Thank you Greg and others who responded.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

I never got around to Instant Caking my second new HD until today and it is now ready to be installed in my second unit (Tivo B). 

If I first transfer all the recordings on the current HD in Tivo B to Tivo A that has already been IC'ed, will they still be viewable on Tivo A when I replace the HD in Tivo B?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> If I first transfer all the recordings on the current HD in Tivo B to Tivo A that has already been IC'ed, will they still be viewable on Tivo A when I replace the HD in Tivo B?


If you use MRV (multi room viewing / or even TTG) then sure. You can move recordings from one Tivo to another and back again as many times as you want. As long as both Tivos are on your account it is permitted by the copyright holder. (The recording doesn't have the red circle with the slash beside it).


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

/*


greg_burns said:


> If you use MRV (multi room viewing / or even TTG) then sure. You can move recordings from one Tivo to another and back again as many times as you want. As long as both Tivos are on your account it is permitted by the copyright holder. (The recording doesn't have the red circle with the slash beside it).


/

I should have explained why I asked that question. I rarely move recordings between Tivo units, and haven't done so in years. I remember moving recordings from one Tivo to another to free disk space on a unit that was getting crowded. After moving the recording, I returned to the crowded Tivo to delete it from there only to find it deletes the recording from both units. This was prior to the recently deleted feature and they were just lost.

I am also having a problem with TTG. I can not get any recordings to transfer to my PC. I am about to install the larger Caked HD in one unit and I wanted to transfer existing recordings to my PC so I can then transfer them back to the new HD.

In my account, I show my two current units listed as account in good standing, transfers allowed and enabled/on.

In Tivo Desktop, I see recordings I transferred 2 years ago and forgot about, but when I click on Pick recordings to transfer, I get a message that There are no Tivo DVR's available on the network.

Between the last sentence and this one I took another look at Tivo Central and in Music Photos, etc. (which I never use) I had to Enable Home Network Applications on both Tivos. It hasn't changed anything yet, but I suppose it is one of those things that take some time to complete.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> After moving the recording, I returned to the crowded Tivo to delete it from there only to find it deletes the recording from both units. This was prior to the recently deleted feature and they were just lost.


Deleting a show from one Tivo does not automatically delete it from another. Never has.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> Deleting a show from one Tivo does not automatically delete it from another. Never has.


I just checked and it doesn't now, but it sure did several years ago. Maybe 5 years or so. I distinctly remember deleting a show and losing it from both Tivos.

I then went to another show I had transferred (although it wasn't called transferring at that time) and hit delete and saw what I missed the first time. There was a message that warned...Deleting this recording will remove it from all Tivo's and it didn't matter if you deleted it from the original unit or from the one you just copied it to.


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## bicker (Nov 9, 2003)

Sorry, Jack, but I can confirm that greg_burns is correct. That was a capability I've been interested in since MRV was introduced, but you could never delete a program from a TiVo except from that TiVo's own interface.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

bicker said:


> Sorry, Jack, but I can confirm that greg_burns is correct. That was a capability I've been interested in since MRV was introduced, but you could never delete a program from a TiVo except from that TiVo's own interface.


I bought my first Sony Tivo 1 about 2000 and my second one, a Tivo series 2 on March 17, 2003. This happened between the Series 1 and the Series 2 units and I am certain that it happened exactly as I described. I am sure because I remember the anger at losing one show before paying attention and seeing the message, Deleting this recording will remove it from all: I dont remember if the last word was boxes, units, Tivos or something else, but I know what it meant. Keep in mind that series 1 Tivos do NOT even have a USB connection and all these transfers had to be done over phone lines.

Anyway, it works the way Greg says now and that is fine, so this is all unimportant. Now, can someone tell me why my Tivo Desktop/Tivo to go feature will not work.

Yesterday I asked:

[Start] I am also having a problem with TTG. I can not get any recordings to transfer to my PC. I am about to install the larger Caked HD in one unit and I wanted to transfer existing recordings to my PC so I can then transfer them back to the new HD.

In my account, I show my two current units listed as account in good standing, transfers allowed and enabled/on.

In Tivo Desktop, I see recordings I transferred 2 years ago and forgot about, but when I click on Pick recordings to transfer, I get a message that There are no Tivo DVR's available on the network.

Between the last sentence and this one I took another look at Tivo Central and in Music Photos, etc. (which I never use) I had to Enable Home Network Applications on both Tivos. It hasn't changed anything yet, but I suppose it is one of those things that take some time to complete. [End]

[New] It has now been over 24 hours and my Tivo Desktop still shows the message that there are no Tivo DVRs available on the network. I have scheduled and am hours away from completing moving all recordings from the Tivo in which I will replace the HD to the the Tivo which already has a new HD, but I would still like to get Tivo to go working.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Keep in mind that series 1 Tivos do NOT even have a USB connection and all these transfers had to be done over phone lines.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> [New] It has now been over 24 hours and my Tivo Desktop still shows the message that there are no Tivo DVRs available on the network. I have scheduled and am hours away from completing moving all recordings from the Tivo in which I will replace the HD to the the Tivo which already has a new HD, but I would still like to get Tivo to go working.


Not sure what is wrong with your TivoToGo, but why not just use MRV between your two Tivos and skip the PC? (MRV is faster than TTG).

What is your network setup like? How are your tivos and pc connected?

BTW, your Toshiba DVD unit; does it have only have a Tivo Basic subscription? If so, that does *not* allow MRV or TTG. From what you wrote above about enabling transfer, etc., this does not sound like it is the case, but want to make sure.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


>


Tivo I's cannot be added to any network.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> Not sure what is wrong with your TivoToGo, but why not just use MRV between your two Tivos and skip the PC? (MRV is faster than TTG).
> 
> What is your network setup like? How are your tivos and pc connected?
> 
> BTW, your Toshiba DVD unit; does it have only have a Tivo Basic subscription? If so, that does *not* allow MRV or TTG. From what you wrote above about enabling transfer, etc., this does not sound like it is the case, but want to make sure.


My Tivo II and Toshiba DVD are connected to my PC via a wired router. I have a life subscription with the Tivo II and monthly paid subscriptions for for the Sony Series I and the Toshiba DVD.

I have moved all from the HD to be replaced in the TII to the new large HD in the Toshiba. Transferring seems to take about as long as watching the recordings, but because it happens in the background without interfering with anything, that is fine. Tomorrow I will put in the new Caked large HG.

I know the TTG is slower, I would just like to get it working again and figure out why it isnt.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Tivo I's cannot be added to any network.


Exactly, or at least not without a TurboNet card being added. I also didn't think they supported MRV. Definately not via phoneline.

Hence my 

It is common to refer to these things as Series 1 and Series 2, or S1 and S2, not Tivo I, TI or TII.  That is just confusing, IMO.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I know the TTG is slower, I would just like to get it working again and figure out why it isnt.


Can you see your PC from the bottom of your NPL lists on your Tivos?

Here is a thread discussing this problem that may (or may not) be of some help.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=369985


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> Exactly, or at least not without a TurboNet card being added. I also didn't think they supported MRV. Definately not via phoneline.
> 
> Hence my
> 
> It is common to refer to these things as Series 1 and Series 2, or S1 and S2, not Tivo I, TI or TII.  That is just confusing, IMO.


When that feature became available shortly after I bought my S2, it wasn't referred to as MRV and I don't remember the exact details, I just know deleting a recording from either Tivo deleted it from all Tivos.

I am good with any abbreviations, I was just trying to make it clear who the manufacturer was since S1 is a Sony, S2 is a Tivo and S2 dvd is a Toshiba. I figured the differences in Instant Cake softwares were because of the manufacturer and that it might be relevant here.



greg_burns said:


> Can you see your PC from the bottom of your NPL lists on your Tivos?


No, not on either one and I don't ever remember seeing it there even though it was up and running at one time, but I last used it 2 years ago.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> No, not on either one and I don't ever remember seeing it there even though it was up and running at one time, but I last used it 2 years ago.


Can you ping your Tivos?

Start->Run->cmd->ping <your Tivo's IP address>

You can find your Tivo's IP address in the network settings screen on the Tivo itself.










Can you access their web page?

http*s*://<your Tivo's IP address>

username: tivo
password: <your Media Access Key>


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> Can you ping your Tivos?
> 
> You can find your Tivo's IP address in the network settings screen on the Tivo itself.
> 
> Can you access their web page?


I was able to ping the Gateway Address and the IP address for each Tivo and access the web page for each S2 and see my Now Playing list for each unit.

Tivo Desktop still tells me there are no Tivo DVR's available on the network and neither Now Playing list in Tivo Central shows my PC


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## jrm01 (Oct 17, 2003)

Anytime my Tivo didn't find my PC I just restarted the TiVo server software and it came back.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

jrm01 said:


> Anytime my Tivo didn't find my PC I just restarted the TiVo server software and it came back.


If you mean rebooting the unit, that has been done multiple times. Both units have been through the Guided Setup process within 2 weeks, one of them only yesterday.

My PC hasn't just stopped appearing in my Tivo now playing list, it has never been there.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

Does anyone know what version of the Linux OS that Tivo uses?


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Does anyone know what version of the Linux OS that Tivo uses?


http://dynamic.tivo.com/linux/linux.asp

No clue. I would start a new thread if you are really interested.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> If you mean rebooting the unit, that has been done multiple times. Both units have been through the Guided Setup process within 2 weeks, one of them only yesterday.


I believe he is referring to the TivoServer software that is running on your PC. Part of TivoDesktop.

I see how you can Pause/Resume (right-click icon on taskbar), but not restart (short of rebooting the PC).


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## jrm01 (Oct 17, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> I believe he is referring to the TivoServer software that is running on your PC. Part of TivoDesktop.
> 
> I see how you can Pause/Resume (right-click icon on taskbar), but not restart (short of rebooting the PC).


Just go to Start => AllPrograms => Tivo Desktop Folder and click on Tivo Server


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

jrm01 said:


> Just go to Start => AllPrograms => Tivo Desktop Folder and click on Tivo Server (Properties)


Then click Exit button. Exit? Why did they call it Exit?


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

jrm01 said:


> Just go to Start => AllPrograms => Tivo Desktop Folder and click on Tivo Server


I realized when I got to the Tivo Server Properties that I had been there and tried all those options before. All I ever see is that flashlight doing a never ending search for DVR's.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> http://dynamic.tivo.com/linux/linux.asp
> 
> No clue. I would start a new thread if you are really interested.


Will do, thanks Greg.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> http://dynamic.tivo.com/linux/linux.asp
> 
> No clue. I would start a new thread if you are really interested.


I got my answer, what I wanted to do can't be done. Much time saved.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> *Can you see your PC from the bottom of your NPL lists on your Tivos?*


For clarity, I will refer to my two S2's as the Tivo and the Toshiba and here is what I did so far.

I instant caked a larger HD for each. I installed a new HD in the Toshiba and then transferred all recordings from Tivo to the new HD in the Toshiba. I then installed the new HD in the Tivo.

I have given up all hope of using my PC to copy recordings from the old to the new Toshiba HD and decided to just transfer the recordings on my old Toshiba HD to the new Tivo HD over this relatively quiet weekend.

Today I reinstalled the old Toshiba HD only to find that now; neither unit was seeing the other to make transfers available. *Amazingly, the Tivo is now showing my PC at the end of the Now Playing List.*

I went to Network Connections and changed the Static IP addresses to what they always were for both units. I disconnected both USB plugs and both power cords and let them sit. After reconnecting the USB plugs and then the power cords, both units rebooted.

My PC still shows in the Tivo NPL and neither unit shows the other as available for transfers, and in Network Connection, each shows its correct IP Address. (2 different addresses)

I have the cover off the Toshiba Unit and the HD is not screwed to the frame so I can swap between the old and new HDs in seconds. Once I get the two units to see each other, I can do the transfers at my own pace overnight while reinstalling the new HD when new recordings are scheduled, but I cant figure out why they do not see each other.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Jack, if you just did the Instant Cake you need to get that Tivo's software rev up to 9.x. MRV no longer works between Tivos if one is 9.x and the other is older (I believe IC is 7.2.x).

Force some connections until it updates to at least 9 something.


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

greg_burns said:


> Jack, if you just did the Instant Cake you need to get that Tivo's software rev up to 9.x. MRV no longer works between Tivos if one is 9.x and the other is older (I believe IC is 7.2.x).
> 
> Force some connections until it updates to at least 9 something.


Greg, you have been right every step of the way and we have now come full circle. If you look back, my first post here was about why my Toshiba unit would not update from 8.3 to 9.1

As it stands now, both new HD's are 9.1 and functioning just fine. So was the old Tivo HD from which I have already transferred all the old recordings and is out of the picture now. The old HD from the Toshiba unit is the one with 8.3 and which contains the old recordings I want to transfer.

I just took that HD out and put the newer one back in to record somethin in about an hour and now that unit is also showing My PC in the NPL and Tivo desktop now recognizes both.

When this first came up, I could see the MRV icon in the NPL, but what I didn't realize was that even though I connected daily and it showed as successful, I was not actually getting any new programming information. It seems that once I had no programming information left, the MRV also shut down for some reason.

Since I was not able to update the software back then, I doubt I can do it now. I keep getting the same messages that it is going to intall new software at 2AM and it goes through the motions as if it did and I get a pending restart before I can connect again. During restart it tells me it is installing new software, but the little bugger is just lying.<g>

I wonder if I Instant caked the other old HD which has nothing I need on it and put it back to 7.2 if I could then transfer from the 8.3 to the 7.2, upgrade the 7.2 to 9.1 and then transfer to one of the new HD's.

Apologies, I am having trouble understanding that last paragraph myself.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> I wonder if I Instant caked the other old HD which has nothing I need on it and put it back to 7.2 if I could then transfer from the 8.3 to the 7.2, upgrade the 7.2 to 9.1 and then transfer to one of the new HD's.


I suspect that if you IC again you will not be able to MRV without calling mothership at least once or twice regardless of the version. Once you've called home twice it is going to upgrade to 9.x again and you will be stuck once more.

If you have recordings stuck on the old 8.x drive you could use WinMFS to copy that drive to a sound working harddrive. And then attempt a kickstart 52 command to redownload the 8.x software (the one it currently stuck at). Presumably, it will then promptly redownload 9.x and attempt to upgrade itself.

Have you tried the kickstart 52 command on the questionable drive and see how it goes?

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5643823&&

All untested waters on my part. But I am interested to see how it goes. :up:


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## Tivo II Jack (Aug 10, 2003)

richsadams said:


> Kickstart procedures generally leave Season Passes, Wish Lists, etc. intact, however data and recordings that used any bad sectors may be lost.


Above is from the link you posted. It seems that the only items at risk for being lost are the recordings, the only thing I don't want to lose in the first place.

It says they will only be lost if bad sectors were used, and a bad disk was one of the first possible causes you suggested. Does the fact that when I re-install the disk that I can play these recordings mean they have not been saved in bad sectors?

Need to add this. When I exchange to new and old HD's in the Toshiba, I noticed the one being removed is fairly hot to the touch. I checked the temperature shown in system information and it shows (as always) 37 deg C which is 98.6 deg F. I taped a pretty acurate thermometer to the surface of the HD and after a half hour or so it read between 109 to 113 deg F. It seems that would be within the 37 deg C once the heat dissipates within the case as opposed to the actual surface of the drive.


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## greg_burns (May 22, 2004)

Tivo II Jack said:


> Above is from the link you posted. It seems that the only items at risk for being lost are the recordings, the only thing I don't want to lose in the first place.


With that in mind, I would not tempt fate. Don't run kickstart on the old drive, first copy everything to a new drive...

I would "dd_rescue" the old/bad drive to the new/good one using the method presented here...

http://www.mfslive.org/softwareguidep6.htm#ddrescue

Note the part about having copied to a bigger drive that I linked to. This should reclaim the unused space after the copy. (This is optional, and can be done after you verify everything is honky dory first.)

Once copied to the new drive, you'll probably be in the same boat with a "bad" download of 9.1 sitting on your other partition. So now I would do Kickstart 52 to redownload 8.3 over top the 9.1 on that partition.

Once it reinstalls 8.3 a second time, it should properly download 9.1 again.

Anyways, that would be what I would try. Good luck.


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