# Power, Power, give me more power



## hazemi (Sep 1, 2003)

Does anyone know how to add a second power supply to a series 2 (original) TiVo? I don't want to just replace the power supply, I want to add one (because my current supply won't power two hard drives, unless you know of a way I can fix that). I was trying to use a computer PS but those require a motherboard to switch-on, and that won't work for me because I need it to be on all the time (pretty much). 

Any ideas?


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Which two drives are you having problems with?

Newer Seagate drives _will not work at all_ in pairs in an S1 machine but I'm not aware of problems with pairs of drives in an S2.

It shouldn't be necessary, but if your drives are just pulling a little too much power at startup, have you considered using a SmartStart?


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## urungus (Aug 17, 2002)

Rather than spending money into a new power supply, I'd strongly recommend replacing your two drives with a single new high capacity drive. One less component to go wrong, less heat & stress on your system, quieter, uses less electricity, etc.

new 500GB drives can now be had for a little over $100 if you shop around (slickdeals.net, fatwallet.com, etc.)

or do you already have 2 huge drives in your Tivo?

You could try using the power supply from an external hard drive enclosure.


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## hazemi (Sep 1, 2003)

I'm trying to use two seagate drives that are rather new. I'm pretty set on using the two drives, I just need to sort the power situation out. I already have a smart-start


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

As I said above, two new Seagate drives *will not work together* in a Series 1 TiVo - this is well documented; from what you say it sounds like they won't work in a Series 2 either 

What are the drives, exactly?


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## hazemi (Sep 1, 2003)

I'm trying to load up a pair of barracudas


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## pokegol (Feb 24, 2003)

hazemi said:


> I'm trying to load up a pair of barracudas


I think he means what version of Seagate drive. Almost all of their ATA drives are Barracudas these days .

You should see the version listed on the top of the drive. It should say 7200.x where x is 7, 8, 9, or 10.

I believe the problems are with dual 7200.10 drives. Like urungus said, you are much better off buying a single drive than screwing around with powertrips and new power supplies. Unless you are trying for a terabyte+ TiVo. Tnen I would go for it .

edit: Looks like its 7200.9 drives that have the problem. Not sure about 7200.10.


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## hazemi (Sep 1, 2003)

I've got 7200.9 drives 
I really was going for the terabyte tivo, dual 500gb drives (i know it won't be _true_ terabyte, but still). I think it's just too much work at this point and I'm probably going to give up 
Don't want to have to buy a different pair of 500GB drives, and the amount of hardware mods required to power two hard drives doesn't seem so exciting to me after I found out that other people already have broken the 1 terabyte limit.

I do have this tho:


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## bobvr (Sep 20, 2002)

hazemi said:


> Does anyone know how to add a second power supply to a series 2 (original) TiVo? I don't want to just replace the power supply, I want to add one (because my current supply won't power two hard drives, unless you know of a way I can fix that). I was trying to use a computer PS but those require a motherboard to switch-on, and that won't work for me because I need it to be on all the time (pretty much).
> 
> Any ideas?


Simple, just jump 2 pins on an atx power supply http://www.directron.com/2powersupplies.html


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

hazemi said:


> Does anyone know how to add a second power supply to a series 2 (original) TiVo? I don't want to just replace the power supply, I want to add one...
> 
> Any ideas?


Given all the clever people who have hacked the TiVo software to do all sorts of stuff, I'm rather surprised that someone hasn't figured out how to upgrade the power supply in the S2 TiVos. Or figured out how to plug in a modular PS that delivers 12 and 5 volts.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

I don't know where exactly to get them but you can probably use the 5/12V supplies for USB 2.0 cases.


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## lafos (Nov 8, 2004)

If you buy a IDE-USB adapter (usually available for <$20, many include a single drive power supply that has the 4-pin connector for drives and is sealed in a small brick. Check places like PC Microstore or Computer Geeks. You should be able to search on Google, too.


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

I suspect it's the drives rather than the PSU that are at fault here. 

The S2 PSU is rated higher than that in the S1, but if the OP is having problems with 2x 7200.9 drives in an S2 then that implies that either the drives are pulling a stupid amount of power or something else is going on. 

Has anybody managed to get 2x Seagate 7200.9, 7200.10 or new DB35 (7200.1 or 7200.2) drives working in an S2?


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