# Best hard drive replacement/upgrade?



## Ronnie G. (Jul 6, 2018)

I own a Tivo Roamio 1TB OTA that I purchased new on Black Friday exactly 3 years ago. It has served me well, but it still contains the original WD10EURX 1TB hard drive that it came with when new.

I have already had to open up this unit to replace the small internal fan, which got noisy, so I do know how to get into the box to replace things. Also, I am an experienced Linux and Clonezilla user.

Because the original hard drive had a 3 year warranty, I'd like to replace it now before it fails and takes all of my saved recordings with it. I had planned to buy an identical drive and just use Clonezilla to make a perfect copy of my current drive onto the new/identical replacement drive. I tried buying a "new" WD10EURX from an Amazon third-party seller, but of course, the S.M.A.R.T. data show that it is really just a factory refurb unit, and I have no idea how long that might last.

Also, I have only just stumbled onto this thing called MFSTools, which sounds great, and will be, if it actually works to copy my existing saved recordings onto a new and perhaps larger drive.

I would certainly like to replace the current 1TB drive with a larger 2TB drive if possible.

I gather that WD doesn't even manufacture the Green drives anymore. :-(

I have perused the forums here a little bit and different people are recommending different colors of WD replacement drives for the Roamio. Some say "blue" but others say "red" and still others say "purple".

So my question is simple: What is the best and least-hassle *brand new* 2TB drive that I should buy for my 2017 vintage Roamio OTA 1TB, given that I want maximum life/reliability, going forward, and that I plan to use MFSTools to copy over my existing saved recordings?

Please provide exactly model numbers if possible, and also please let me know if you merely -think- that your recommended drive will work, or if you have actually seen it work. If the drive(s) you recommend will require some fiddling, e.g. of internal setting, before installation into the Tivo, then please indicate that also. Thanks.

P.S. I have a nice PC setup here, and I can easily clone drives, e.g. using Clonzilla, or, I guess, MFSTools.


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## LarryAtHome (Feb 18, 2008)

A couple of years ago I upgraded my Roamio OTA with a Western Digital 3TB WD30PURZ. I had no shows or setting to save, so I installed it and then went through the initial setup procedure. No problems as of yet for the hard drive, but my fan is starting to make noise when it powers up after a loss of power. I have the replacement fan, but it is yet to be installed.
I did not copy or clone my hard drive when I installed it, I just put the blank hard drive in and let the TiVo take care of the formatting. I do use KMTTG to copy the shows off my TiVo to my PC that I want to save.


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

WD's Red Plus or Purple drives are usually recommended. For the Red Plus that would be a WD20EFRX (make sure that you don't get the newer WD20EFAX).


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## josim (May 22, 2016)

I have a Roamio Basic, 5 years old, and an OTA, 3 years old. Both have original 500 GB drives. Your hard drive may live on for years so you may want to let it ride. If you simply want to increase capacity, go for it.


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## Ronnie G. (Jul 6, 2018)

ggieseke said:


> WD's Red Plus or Purple drives are usually recommended. For the Red Plus that would be a WD20EFRX (make sure that you don't get the newer WD20EFAX).


OK, so what's the difference between red & purple?

What would be the model number for a suitable purple 2TB replacement?

And lastly, what's bad about the WED20EFAX versus the WD20EFRX?


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Ronnie G. said:


> OK, so what's the difference between red & purple?
> 
> What would be the model number for a suitable purple 2TB replacement?
> 
> And lastly, what's bad about the WED20EFAX versus the WD20EFRX?


EFAX is SMR, not recommended. EFRX is CMR, should work with any Tivo. Only the 2-6TB EFAX are SMR. For now.

Current model 2TB Purple would be WD20PURZ. Previous model would be WD20PURX. Either will work. Would come down to cost and/or warranty. For a current model RED you'd need a Red "Plus". WD20EFRX. Actually you could still find some WD20EFRX that say "Red" instead of "Red Plus". The important thing is the EFRX. You DO NOT want the WD20EFAX. EFAX for 2-6TB = bad, EFRX 2-6TB = good. 8TB and up is a different story.


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## Ronnie G. (Jul 6, 2018)

OH CRAP! I think my plan just went down the toilet! It seems that the www.tyger.org web site, which is where all of the MFSTools stuff much be downloaded from, has been offline since December 1, 2020.

Now what?


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Ronnie G. said:


> OH CRAP! I think my plan just went down the toilet! It seems that the www.tyger.org web site, which is where all of the MFSTools stuff much be downloaded from, has been offline since December 1, 2020.
> 
> Now what?


? https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AI_H3CDcpAxfbFM&cid=55E8CBC8B5974BA6&id=55E8CBC8B5974BA6!9181&parId=55E8CBC8B5974BA6!2189&action=locate

The ISO version

Or check post 131 here

MFS Tools 3.2


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Oh, I'd avoid the Blue. I think the current model 2TB is SMR. Though the current 1TB model is CMR. Most people here recommend WD for some reason, they are good but as a rule of thumb for Tivos what you want is a CMR drive. 5400RPM preferred, 7200RPM will work but may be noisier and run a bit hotter. If you like WD the models I gave you will work fine.


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## Ronnie G. (Jul 6, 2018)

tommage1 said:


> ? https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=!AI_H3CDcpAxfbFM&cid=55E8CBC8B5974BA6&id=55E8CBC8B5974BA6!9181&parId=55E8CBC8B5974BA6!2189&action=locate
> 
> The ISO version
> 
> ...


Thank YOU!


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Just FYI WD changed the 3.5" Blues AGAIN. Now some of the same size are CMR, some SMR. So they do make a 2TB Blue CMR drive, the 
WD20EZ R Z. The WD20EZ A Z is SMR. Kinda sounds like the Reds, "R" CMR, "A" SMR. The WD20EZRZ might be cheaper than the CMR Red or Purple models, up to you.

*CMR*
WD5000AZLX (500GB)
WD5000AZRZ (500GB)
WD10EZRZ (1TB)
WD10EZEX (1TB)
WD20EZRZ (2TB)
WD30EZRZ (3TB)
WD40EZRZ (4TB)
WD60EZRZ (6TB)

*SMR*
WD20EZAZ (2TB)
WD60EZAZ (6TB)


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## brobin (Feb 14, 2014)

TygerStripe/mfstools


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## Ronnie G. (Jul 6, 2018)

Just wanted to say "THANKS!" to everybody who chimed in.

I'm gonna go with a RED 2TB, because the consensus view, here and elsewhere, seems to be that RED will do the job nicely, and at 5400 rpm I have some hope and faith that it will stay cool in the Tivo.

One thing that I *am* still wondering about however is whether or not the REDs will power themselves down when inactive for a time. I supposed that it is not really important, as long as the RED drive does what it is supposed to do, but didn't those old GREENs, like the original one that came with my Tivo when new, do that?


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