# Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKB - For Series 2 upgrade?



## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKB

Are there any issues using this drive for an upgrade for a series 2 Tivo? 

I know that some one in the U.K. forum had problems with it for a series 1 tivo. But how about a series 2?


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

Bump...


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## timmmyboi (Feb 8, 2008)

Malcontent said:


> Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD5000AAKB
> 
> Are there any issues using this drive for an upgrade for a series 2 Tivo?
> 
> I know that some one in the U.K. forum had problems with it for a series 1 tivo. But how about a series 2?


I have this exact drive in my series 2 (649080) that I've had about 6 months. I bought the "Instantcake" software from DVR Upgrade for $20 and worked like a charm. I was amazed at how much faster the DVR was also once I did the upgrade. I think the 16MB buffer in the drive has something to do with it. But Jesus the recording space you have on "best quality" is very impressive!

Very happy I made the switch!


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

timmmyboi said:


> I have this exact drive in my series 2 (649080) that I've had about 6 months. I bought the "Instantcake" software from DVR Upgrade for $20 and worked like a charm. I was amazed at how much faster the DVR was also once I did the upgrade. I think the 16MB buffer in the drive has something to do with it. But Jesus the recording space you have on "best quality" is very impressive!
> 
> Very happy I made the switch!


Thanks for letting me know.


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## mike (Mar 26, 2002)

I just bought the exact same model from Newegg.com. I'm expecting it on Wednesday. I've ALWAYS had good luck with Western Digital, including the 7200RPM models. At $70, it's a steal!

1 x ($69.99) HD 500G|WD 7K 16M ATA100 WD5000AAKB - OEM $69.99

Mike


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

mike said:


> I just bought the exact same model from Newegg.com. I'm expecting it on Wednesday. I've ALWAYS had good luck with Western Digital, including the 7200RPM models. At $70, it's a steal!
> 
> 1 x ($69.99) HD 500G|WD 7K 16M ATA100 WD5000AAKB - OEM $69.99
> 
> Mike


Are you going to use it for a Tivo upgrade? If so, let me know how it goes.


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## mike (Mar 26, 2002)

Malcontent said:


> Are you going to use it for a Tivo upgrade? If so, let me know how it goes.


Yes, I'm going to use the new 500GB in my Series 2 Sony SVR 3000 to replace a perfectly fine, 2-year-old 300GB Western Digital. I'm really only upgrading because of the low price. The extra recording time is just a bonus. Plus, now I'll have a decent back-up sitting on the shelf just in case. :up:

I'll let you know how it works out.

Mike


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## mike (Mar 26, 2002)

Well, I backed up my current 300GB drive and performed a simple restore to the Western Digital 500GB with 16MB cache. This was really just a test to make sure the 16MB cache drive is compatible with my Sony SVR3000 Series 2. Worked like a champ! :up:

(Sorry - just realized I hijacked your post.)

However, I'm now having difficulties with preserving recordings. After the successful restore above, I attempted to copy the 300GB directly to the new 500GB preserving all recordings and ran into an insufficient target drive space error.

msfbackup -Tao - /dev/hdc | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hda

Why would going from a 300GB to 500GB result in the error?

Mike


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

mike said:


> However, I'm now having difficulties with preserving recordings. After the successful restore above, I attempted to copy the 300GB directly to the new 500GB preserving all recordings and ran into an insufficient target drive space error.
> 
> msfbackup -Tao - /dev/hdc | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hda
> 
> ...


I don't know the answer to your problem. But have you tried using Winmsf to do a full copy? It pretty much eliminates the need to use the command line.


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## mike (Mar 26, 2002)

Malcontent said:


> I don't know the answer to your problem. But have you tried using Winmsf to do a full copy? It pretty much eliminates the need to use the command line.


You read my mind! I'm doing that right now. 2:10 to go...


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

mike said:


> You read my mind! I'm doing that right now. 2:10 to go...


Let me know how it goes.


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## mike (Mar 26, 2002)

Malcontent said:


> Let me know how it goes.


Malcontent,

WinMFS did the trick (again!). The WD SE16 WD5000AAKB drive works great. It's quiet too! The TiVo's cover is off & I can hardly hear it. :up:

Is it just me or does every second seem like a minute when powering up with a new drive? 

Mike

PS I highly recommend Newegg - I bought the new LG GH22LP20 CD burner from them last week and got it within 3 days of ordering. I then bought the WD drive from them and again, got it within 3 days. Both were within a dollar or two of the best price on the internet.


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## Malcontent (Sep 5, 2004)

mike said:


> Malcontent,
> 
> WinMFS did the trick (again!). The WD SE16 WD5000AAKB drive works great. It's quiet too! The TiVo's cover is off & I can hardly hear it. :up:


That's great! How warm does the new drive get? Notice any speed increase with the new drive? How much recording time did you get with the new drive? Did you remember to supersize the new drive within Winmfs?


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## mike (Mar 26, 2002)

Malcontent said:


> That's great! How warm does the new drive get? Notice any speed increase with the new drive? How much recording time did you get with the new drive? Did you remember to supersize the new drive within Winmfs?


The TiVo reports 39°C with the cover on for about an hour now - same as the 300GB WD drive. I slid the cover back and performed a "scientific _hand _check". The new drive was _just _warm - about the same as my PC drive, which has a few fans (and right now, an open case).

It's hard to tell if it's faster, but menu selections seem to almost have a snap rather than a transition. Maybe it's just my imagination.

Best quality = 160 hrs, 32 mins
High quality = 257 hrs, 34 mins
Medium quality = 339 hrs, 29 mins
Basic quality = 565 hrs, 12 mins​
(I did NOT supersize the drive)

I mentioned before that it was quiet...it's actually *much *quieter than my already upgraded, so-called quiet fan! I unplugged the fan and could barely hear the drive spinning, writing or seeking. I've always had very good luck with Western Digital drives (knock on wood). We'll see how it's running and I'll post a follow-up in a few days/weeks.

Mike


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