# Will TiVo ever allow for 2TB external?



## Bighouse (Sep 3, 2004)

I have read some of the threads on this, but I don't quite understand the reason why the premiere models can't accommodate a 2TB external drive if they can already do a 1TB drive, can't TiVo remedy this with some kind of software update or is it somehow a hardware limitation in the units?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Currently the only way to get the 2TB external drive is from Weaknees. And you need to send your box in for them to do it. The largest external drive TiVo sells is a 1TB drive which is tithe largest officially supported drive.


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## Dr_Diablo (Nov 24, 2003)

Bighouse said:


> I have read some of the threads on this, but I don't quite understand the reason why the premiere models can't accommodate a 2TB external drive if they can already do a 1TB drive, can't TiVo remedy this with some kind of software update or is it somehow a hardware limitation in the units?


are you refering to an internal drive or a external device?


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## Bighouse (Sep 3, 2004)

aaronwt said:


> ...you need to send your box in for them to do it.


This suggests that it's a hardware issue then. Does it invalidate the TiVo warranty if they open and mod the box? Or do they just not want their software upgrade magic not released for public self-deployment?


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## Bighouse (Sep 3, 2004)

Dr_Diablo said:


> are you refering to an internal drive or a external device?


External. I already have a 2tb internal on my Elite.


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

i am running a 2TB external on my elite. I sent my original drive to DVRdude from ebay and he sent back married to an additional 2TB I put it in an external enclosure and it works like a charm.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

my GUESS (which i suppose is as good as any) is eventually once TiVo feels comfortable that enough S3's are dead to not supoort them anymore they will work with WD to have the 'officially sanctioned' drive be 2TB. If I remember correctly the original S3's are limited to 1TB drives due to the software (linux kernal?) on those boxes.

So as long as someone with an S3 might want to buy an external drive they only can sell 1 TB while supporting a single setup.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

buddhawood said:


> i am running a 2TB external on my elite. I sent my original drive to DVRdude from ebay and he sent back married to an additional 2TB I put it in an external enclosure and it works like a charm.


I didn't know DVR_Dude was also doing these. I was very pleased with the couple of internal drive replacements I got from DVR_Dude.

I would love to have more storage capacity in my Elites, but I don't want to have it on two drives with one being external. If it could be two internal drives, like you could do with the HR10-250's I would do it.


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## steve614 (May 1, 2006)

Bighouse said:


> This suggests that it's a hardware issue then. Does it invalidate the TiVo warranty if they open and mod the box? Or do they just not want their software upgrade magic not released for public self-deployment?


Not necessarily. They may only need the internal hard drive because it is paired with the motherboard through the TSN.
I think the reason you have to send the box in is because Weaknees is NOT an "authorized" repair center.
End users are not supposed to be opening the Tivo. That voids the warranty.
By accepting just the hard drive from and end user to perform a modification, that opens Weaknees to liability (i.e. they could be found to "knowingly" modifying TiVo software).
If you send the box in, then they can claim to be "repairing" your Tivo and selling you an external drive in the process.

Of course I could be totally wrong, but it's a theory. 

Edit: I just found this on Weaknees site.



> NOTE: Weaknees is not an authorized repair center for TiVo, Inc. While we have been selling and repairing TiVo DVRs since 2001 and have countless satisfied customers, our repairs are not approved, authorized, or otherwise warranted by TiVo. If your unit is less than a year old and is still under warranty from TiVo, our repair work may void your remaining TiVo warranty.


And yes, it is because they don't want their "magic" released.

I have to commend TCF member comer for giving us a path to upgrade the internal drive on the Premiere. He could have kept his method secret and set up e-bay sales like DVR Dude to make a profit (IMO).


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## Bighouse (Sep 3, 2004)

Well maybe in the upcoming software release update for the premier/elites they will change things to support a 2tb external drive for the elites...might be a nice way to sweeten the deal for selling more elite models.


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## Dr_Diablo (Nov 24, 2003)

aaronwt said:


> Currently the only way to get the 2TB external drive is from Weaknees. And you need to send your box in for them to do it. The largest external drive TiVo sells is a 1TB drive which is tithe largest officially supported drive.


what model number drive did you purchased?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Dr_Diablo said:


> what model number drive did you purchased?


I don't want to use an external drive. I had purchased a 1TB and 2TB drive from DVR Dude, but I sold the Premiere with the 2TB drive and will be selling the Premiere with the 1TB soon since I have two Elites now. I'm hoping the IP box comes out soon and plan to use that box instead.


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## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

Much better to offload the shows you want to keep to a PC anyway, having an external drive just doubles the chance of failure.


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## CharlesH (Aug 29, 2002)

Other than the option of cancelling the warranty, I got the impression that using "unauthorized" repair agents such Weaknees really did not really bother TiVo. Weaknees isn't facilitating theft of service or altering the software, and that is what will bring nasty letters from TiVo lawyers. One reason TiVo cannot condone customers opening the box is that the inside of the Tivo box has exposed high voltage points, and they don't want to get sued due to someone getting electrocuted.


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## Dr_Diablo (Nov 24, 2003)

Bighouse said:


> I have read some of the threads on this, but I don't quite understand the reason why the premiere models can't accommodate a 2TB external drive if they can already do a 1TB drive, can't TiVo remedy this with some kind of software update or is it somehow a hardware limitation in the units?


Yes, they could code sftware to increase the external drive, but more then likely have noclue how to do so...

Their track record speaks volumns

My Tivos gotton so bad that when I turn it on all I get is a black screen until I do a soft reboot, then I';ve lost over half of my paid channels


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## gamo62 (Oct 12, 2002)

Dr_Diablo said:


> Yes, they could code sftware to increase the external drive, but more then likely have noclue how to do so...
> 
> Their track record speaks volumns
> 
> My Tivos gotton so bad that when I turn it on all I get is a black screen until I do a soft reboot, then I';ve lost over half of my paid channels


Really? Tuning adapter? Cable card? I've had both at different times, and have yet to experience any issues. And I have gone from the Dtivo of the old, to the TivoHD, Premiere and PremiereXL. (I passed on the Elite, due to the absence of an OTA tuner)

I'm sure the guys at Tivo know what they're doing. It sounds like you have a hard drive problem.


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## vurbano (Apr 20, 2004)

slowbiscuit said:


> Much better to offload the shows you want to keep to a PC anyway, having an external drive just doubles the chance of failure.


Amen. I do 1TB internal drive upgrades and keep tivodesktop running on the HTPC to transfer what I want automatically anyway. Keeping lots of material on the tivo drive just makes it sluggish IMO.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

vurbano said:


> Amen. I do 1TB internal drive upgrades and keep tivodesktop running on the HTPC to transfer what I want automatically anyway. Keeping lots of material on the tivo drive just makes it sluggish IMO.


I recently filled up my second Elite to test it out. It didn't slow down any with a full hard drive. I've not encountered that issue with my other Premieres either.


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## rdodolak (Dec 18, 2008)

The way it's going mys well support 3TB and 4TB HDDs.


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## Lars_J (Feb 1, 2005)

Why send it in to weaknees, or get an external, when it is so easy to upgrade the internal HD yourself?

I upgraded my Premiere with a 1.5 TB HD (could have gone even higher), and by downloading the software linked to in threads of this forum, and using my home PC to do the transfer, it was far easier than I expected.

Sure, some experience with computers is probably needed, but it was easy for me.


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## Mr. E (May 18, 2008)

Lars_J said:


> Why send it in to weaknees, or get an external, when it is so easy to upgrade the internal HD yourself?


No known internal drive upgrades can exceed 2TB, so if you want more storage space then external is the only way to go for now. I'm holding out hope that some day we'll be able to have at least 4TB internally (when the drives come out). After all, if the Premier can access 2TB internal + 2TB external, then it should be able to access it all from one drive.


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## MichaelK (Jan 10, 2002)

Mr. E said:


> No known internal drive upgrades can exceed 2TB, so if you want more storage space then external is the only way to go for now. I'm holding out hope that some day we'll be able to have at least 4TB internally (when the drives come out). After all, if the Premier can access 2TB internal + 2TB external, then it should be able to access it all from one drive.


just fyi there's already 4TB drives.

here's an example:
http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-Deskstar-0S03364-Frustration-Free-Packaging/dp/B005TEU2TQ

there are others too.

seems to be that the limit to what tivo can "see" is 2 TB per drive.

Funny conversation- just got me thinking back to the beginning of tivo when drives where so small that i vaguely remember one of the directivo's came with 2 drives just to get like 60 gig total. Now we're like orders of magnitude bigger and all clamoring for more.


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

at the risk of hijacking this thread,

I'm looking at getting an 2tb external hdd for a new (yet to be bought) Elite.
Has anyone asked dvr_dude or weaknees if they needed the enitre box or if just the internal hdd will do?
i have no problem voiding the warranty


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## ltxi (Feb 14, 2010)

Weaknees wants the box. Don't know about dvr_dude, but I'd ask.


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

alyssa said:


> at the risk of hijacking this thread,
> 
> I'm looking at getting an 2tb external hdd for a new (yet to be bought) Elite.
> Has anyone asked dvr_dude or weaknees if they needed the enitre box or if just the internal hdd will do?
> i have no problem voiding the warranty


I just sent the drive only to dvr dude


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Except for the original S3, the TiVo interrogates the external drive to get the actual model number of the drive inside the external enclosure.

That number has to be one of the very few WD model numbers on it's list.

Getting it to work with a different model number drive in the external enclousure would involve either adding that number to the list (which is somewhere on the TiVo's internal drive) or somehow getting the drive inside the external enclosure to lie about the model number.

I don't know which they do, or if some do one and some do the other.


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

i got a reply back from dvr dude
he'll take the internal drive only (doesn't need the box)
prices;
Customer provided hard drive: $50 + return shipping
I provide 2TB WD AVGP: $200 + return shipping
I privde 2TB WD AVGP + Antec MX-1: $250 + return shipping


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

As usual DVR_Dude prices and service is excellent. I wouldn't hesitate to purchase from him again if the need arises.

Sent from my HTC ReZound using Forum Runner


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## alyssa (Dec 7, 2003)

yeah, it seems like a no brainier, since i can't do it myself


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

MichaelK said:


> just fyi there's already 4TB drives.
> 
> here's an example:
> http://www.amazon.com/Hitachi-Deskstar-0S03364-Frustration-Free-Packaging/dp/B005TEU2TQ
> ...


TiVo can't see any drive over 2Tb because of the way the big drives are formatted, I tried a 2.5Tb drive and just coped the software from the 320Tb drive to the 2.5Tb drive, no space expansion or super size and the TiVo would not boot.


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