# WeaKnees upgrade kit



## Mahty (Jan 6, 2006)

I finally got around to opening a Bolt 3TB upgrade kit I bought a month ago from WeaKnees and discovered that the anti-static bag had already been opened (top of bag stripped off at perforation). The bag, whose open end was folded over and taped closed in the middle, contained a desiccant pack, but I would question the duration of that pack's usefulness since the anti-static bag wasn't airtight.

So, is it typical to receive an upgrade drive from WeaKnees whose anti-static bag has already been opened?

I'm currently putting the 2.5 inch drive -- a Western Digital Blue WD30NPRZ born on xxOct2016 -- through WD's DLDIAG extended test. Hopefully it'll check out OK.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Aren't the drives preconfigured for the TiVo from Weaknees? They used to be and if so the anti-static bag would have to be opened for them to write to the drive.

Otherwise you could have just purchased your own drive for less. And the Bolt would have automatically configured a 3TB or less drive on it's own.

EDIT: Yes. i just looked at the Weaknees upgrade page. It says


> You do not need a computer in any way for this TiVo upgrade kit - *this drive is completely formatted for your TiVo here at WeaKnees* - no further modification is necessary.


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## Mahty (Jan 6, 2006)

aaronwt said:


> Aren't the drives preconfigured for the TiVo from Weaknees? They used to be and if so the anti-static bag would have to be opened for them to write to the drive.
> 
> Otherwise you could have just purchased your own drive for less. And the Bolt would have automatically configured a 3TB or less drive on it's own.
> 
> EDIT: Yes. i just looked at the Weaknees upgrade page. It says


Perhaps WeaKnees always opens anti-static bags to do their own testing on hard drives before shipping any of their upgrades kits. Even so, I always make it a point to run my own extended tests before installing a new hard drive.

But, as you mentioned, I don't think WeaKnees had to write anything to my upgrade drive or to any upgrade drives 3TB and smaller that are targeted for Roamios and Bolts. Those machines will format such drives themselves.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Why would you buy this from weaknees if not for them to have performed some service on it?


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## Mahty (Jan 6, 2006)

jrtroo said:


> Why would you buy this from weaknees if not for them to have performed some service on it?


I really only wanted a Western Digital WD30NPRZ drive for my Bolt upgrade and could find no other source than WeaKnees for this item.


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

Why is the WD30NPRZ so hard to obtain?
I would have expected it to be available on the WD website (it's not)
I went with the 2T upgrade (WD20NPVZ)


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

There are definitely places to buy it. But it isn't really worth the almost $300 cost. I didn't even pay two thirds that price for the 4TB drive in my Bolt, back in 2015.


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## Mahty (Jan 6, 2006)

Well, I finally got around to installing my Weaknees-purchased WD30NPRZ drive into my TiVo Bolt, and now -- a week later -- I am hearing occasional short periods (occurring maybe only once or twice per day -- I can't say exactly) of clicking from the drive. That is not a good sign. At the time of delivery some eight months ago (yes, the drive is now out of Weaknees standard warranty), the drive passed all WDDIAG tests.

It's my fault for having waited too long before installing the drive, but I'm now even more suspicious of the fact that the drive arrived in a pre-opened (i.e., cut open) anti-static bag with no zip-seam or other way to recreate an airtight seal. (I wonder why they even bothered to put a desiccant packet inside.) The open end of the anti-static bag was simply folded over and fastened with a short vertical piece of tape.

So when I look back at the Weaknees website, I notice they advertise their standalone WD30NPRZ product as being "Brand New Sealed." Do they consider my purchase to have been "Brand New Sealed?" I know that there was no need for Weaknees to open a factory-sealed WD30NPRZ for any disk formatting or such. The Bolt will automatically format the drive.

Do you think Weaknees ripped me off by selling me a used (e.g., returned?) item as new?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Weakness used to format all their drives for TiVos. If that is still the case then that is why it was opened.

Edit: yes that is still the case. I just looked on their website and it says the drives are preformated for the TiVos.

Sent from my Nexus 7(32GB)


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

No, I don't think they ripped you off. Look up the drive to see if it still has Mfr. warranty on it.


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## exdishguy (May 1, 2004)

Mahty said:


> Well, I finally got around to installing my Weaknees-purchased WD30NPRZ drive into my TiVo Bolt, and now -- a week later -- I am hearing occasional short periods (occurring maybe only once or twice per day -- I can't say exactly) of clicking from the drive. That is not a good sign. At the time of delivery some eight months ago (yes, the drive is now out of Weaknees standard warranty), the drive passed all WDDIAG tests.
> 
> It's my fault for having waited too long before installing the drive, but I'm now even more suspicious of the fact that the drive arrived in a pre-opened (i.e., cut open) anti-static bag with no zip-seam or other way to recreate an airtight seal. (I wonder why they even bothered to put a desiccant packet inside.) The open end of the anti-static bag was simply folded over and fastened with a short vertical piece of tape.
> 
> ...


I bought my 3TB WD30NPRZ from them and it was sealed. Not saying they did anything nefarious. But it seems odd to me that the seal was broken. I would call them and ask why it arrived that way and let them know about the clicking issues.


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## Mahty (Jan 6, 2006)

exdishguy said:


> I bought my 3TB WD30NPRZ from them and it was sealed. Not saying they did anything nefarious. But it seems odd to me that the seal was broken. I would call them and ask why it arrived that way and let them know about the clicking issues.


When you say sealed, do you mean your WD30NPRZ arrived "factory-sealed," such that you had to cut or tear open the anti-static bag -- as opposed to the anti-static bag having some zip-like resealable seam?



jrtroo said:


> No, I don't think they ripped you off. Look up the drive to see if it still has Mfr. warranty on it.


At the time I received my Weaknees-purchased upgrade kit, I attempted to register the WD30NPRZ with Western Digital and was informed that the drive was an OEM hard drive. Specifically:

"Please be informed that the serial number: xxxxxxxxxxxx is an OEM hard drive.

"If your product was purchased as a component integrated within a system by a system manufacturer, No limited warranty is provided by Western Digital. Therefore, the drive does not qualify for any warranty update. The warranty would be covered through the system manufacturer. Please contact the system manufacturer directly for warranty service."

Is this all legit? I mean, is Weaknees considered an OEM, even when the drive comes as a bare drive in an upgrade kit? Or did they cannibalize the drive from a true OEM's laptop or something and then sell it to me as brand new -- thus explaining why the drive would not have been factory-sealed?


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## exdishguy (May 1, 2004)

Mahty said:


> When you say sealed, do you mean your WD30NPRZ arrived "factory-sealed," such that you had to cut or tear open the anti-static bag -- as opposed to the anti-static bag having some zip-like resealable seam?


Mine was sealed with that zip like seal at the top of the anti-stat bag.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Weakness offers an extended warranty on their drives. They warranty them.
They offer a two year extended warranty for $30.

Sent from my Nexus 7(32GB)


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

There is no conspiracy here. You had a drive go bad that weakness purchased as a OEM with a bag opened as they prepped it in some fashion for your use. It happens, all drives go bad, it's just a matter of when.


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## Mahty (Jan 6, 2006)

Mahty said:


> <snip> I mean, is Weaknees considered an OEM, even when the drive comes as a bare drive in an upgrade kit? <snip>





jrtroo said:


> There is no conspiracy here. You had a drive go bad that weakness purchased as a OEM with a bag opened as they prepped it in some fashion for your use. It happens, all drives go bad, it's just a matter of when.


Yeah, I think I realized that Weaknees must be considered an OEM since Western Digital does not make WD30NPRZs available to retailers or sell it themselves to the general public. I'm just not sure why Weaknees did not provide the drive to me as "Brand New Sealed," like they advertise, since the drive did not need to be prepped.


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## exdishguy (May 1, 2004)

Mahty said:


> I'm just not sure why Weaknees did not provide the drive to me as "Brand New Sealed," like they advertise, since the drive did not need to be prepped.


Good question. Again, mine was sealed. I don't know if they were able to buy a bunch when WD end-of-life'd them or they just sealed them up themselves, but it was sealed. And no prep is needed whatsover since the Tivo reformats the drive as soon as it detects a new drive 3TB or smaller. Mine wasn't prepped in anyway - it was an unformatted blank drive.


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## Mahty (Jan 6, 2006)

I noticed that this past week WeaKnees has started giving a discount on Bolt hard drive upgrade kits if you are upgrading from a WD30NPRZ drive. To get the discount ($50 off of 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB kits; $75 off of 3TB kits) you have to send in your faulty WD30NPRZ drive.

My guess is that they want spare parts in order to repair WD30NPRZ drives so as to keep the stream of 3TB upgrade kits flowing. WD stopped making WD30NPRZ drives a while ago.


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## minimeh (Jun 20, 2011)

Mahty said:


> I noticed that this past week WeaKnees has started giving a discount on Bolt hard drive upgrade kits if you are upgrading from a WD30NPRZ drive. To get the discount ($50 off of 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB kits; $75 off of 3TB kits) you have to send in your faulty WD30NPRZ drive.


I bought the 3TB kit a little less than a month ago. I just wrote to WeaKnees asking for the discount and received an RMA to return my dead drive to get the refund. Pretty cool.


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

Mahty said:


> I noticed that this past week WeaKnees has started giving a discount on Bolt hard drive upgrade kits if you are upgrading from a WD30NPRZ drive. To get the discount ($50 off of 500GB, 1TB, and 2TB kits; $75 off of 3TB kits) you have to send in your faulty WD30NPRZ drive.
> 
> My guess is that they want spare parts in order to repair WD30NPRZ drives so as to keep the stream of 3TB upgrade kits flowing. WD stopped making WD30NPRZ drives a while ago.


Perhaps more likely WD is coughing up money for their failed drives. I kinda doubt Weaknees or anyone repairs failed drives. This could also be the reason that TiVo has been very generous in replacing TiVos with the failed drives.


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