# expander



## Kurs0010 (Nov 9, 2016)

Does any western digital expander work for Bolts? I found a 500 gb one for $50


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## PSU_Sudzi (Jun 4, 2015)

Kurs0010 said:


> Does any western digital expander work for Bolts? I found a 500 gb one for $50


No. There is only one model TiVo supports, you'll have to google it for the precise model. I believe it's no longer being made so you'd have to buy it used. Best bet is to replace the HD in the Bolt with a larger one.


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## Kurs0010 (Nov 9, 2016)

PSU_Sudzi said:


> No. There is only one model TiVo supports, you'll have to google it for the precise model. I believe it's no longer being made so you'd have to buy it used. Best bet is to replace the HD in the Bolt with a larger one.


Thanks! Glad I didn't waste my money


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## DrDanQ (Nov 12, 2018)

Tivo's support page lists ten different WD hard drives that are compatible.....
*#*

*Drive ID via eSATA Capacity Enclosure*

1 WDC WD5000AVJS-63TRA0 500GB My DVR Expander

2 WDC WD5000AVVS-63ZWB0 500GB My DVR Expander

3 WDC WD5000AVVS-63H0B1 500GB My DVR Expander

4 WDC WD10EVVS-63E1B1 1TB My DVR Expander

5 WDC WD10EVVS-63M5B0 1TB My DVR Expander

6 WDC WD10EVVS-73M5B0 1TB My Book AV Expander

7 WDC WD10EVDS-73U8B1 1TB My Book AV Expander

8 WDC WD10EURX-73FH1Y0 1TB My Book AV Expander

9 WDC WD10EURX-73C57Y0 1TB My Book AV Expander

10 WDC WD10EURX-73UY4Y0 1TB My Book AV Expander

ALL of those Drive ID's are internal drives.....and most are discontinued now.

There is a seller on Amazon that lists an external drive that they CLAIM is compatible with the Bolt. I'll get a link and post it later....

Dan


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

Most of those are just model variations, but honestly it's just not worth the risk when its so easy to open the box and replace the HD.


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## DrDanQ (Nov 12, 2018)

Sometime I'll have to find out just how easy it is (or isn't) to replace the built-in HD. Or is this something you have to mail in to TiVo and they do it? I've changed out many a HD on my PC over the years....or added new ones.

BTW....here is the link to the WD My Book DVR Expander that Amazon has listed. They "CLAIM" it works with the Bolt.https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001UHOR8...olid=3QB7ZK0HRRBL3&psc=0&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it


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## DrDanQ (Nov 12, 2018)

I've been pondering this for a while now....and even if it's easy to change out a dead HD in my TiVo Bolt....it doesn't help me salvage any "important" movies we've saved on it. They're lost. The same goes for an external HD such as the one Amazon sells. It might work but what happens when it dies? Everything is lost on it.
Since all those "approved" Hard Drives are Western Digital's of either 500 MB or 1 TB....AND since the TiVo requires an eSATA connection from the HD to the TiVo....it seems to me that getting one of those Western Digital internal HD's in a HDD Docking station with an eSATA output would likely work. AND....the advantage of that is that many of those two drive docking stations have the ability to "Clone" another HD in the docking station. So....after a HD gets a few years old....before it can die on you....you could get a 2nd drive and clone the first one so you don't lose anything....you just keep on going. Am I out in left field with all these assumptions and suppositions?????


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

DrDanQ said:


> I've been pondering this for a while now....and even if it's easy to change out a dead HD in my TiVo Bolt....it doesn't help me salvage any "important" movies we've saved on it. They're lost. The same goes for an external HD such as the one Amazon sells. It might work but what happens when it dies? Everything is lost on it.
> Since all those "approved" Hard Drives are Western Digital's of either 500 MB or 1 TB....AND since the TiVo requires an eSATA connection from the HD to the TiVo....it seems to me that getting one of those Western Digital internal HD's in a HDD Docking station with an eSATA output would likely work. AND....the advantage of that is that many of those two drive docking stations have the ability to "Clone" another HD in the docking station. So....after a HD gets a few years old....before it can die on you....you could get a 2nd drive and clone the first one so you don't lose anything....you just keep on going. Am I out in left field with all these assumptions and suppositions?????


Left field...
It's the firmware in the drive that makes it "blessed by Tivo"
The expanders are a second point of failure thus doubling your chances of losing everything, opening the box and replacing the HD with the biggest you're comfortable with before even recording 1 item is what a lot of the more seasoned folks around here do.

As long as you don't go to Hydra/Mira/TE4 there are other options to back up your shows such as kmttg or pytivo, or for some folks the Netgear ReadyNAS units with Tivo hooks built-in.


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## PSU_Sudzi (Jun 4, 2015)

DrDanQ said:


> I've been pondering this for a while now....and even if it's easy to change out a dead HD in my TiVo Bolt....it doesn't help me salvage any "important" movies we've saved on it. They're lost. The same goes for an external HD such as the one Amazon sells. It might work but what happens when it dies? Everything is lost on it.
> Since all those "approved" Hard Drives are Western Digital's of either 500 MB or 1 TB....AND since the TiVo requires an eSATA connection from the HD to the TiVo....it seems to me that getting one of those Western Digital internal HD's in a HDD Docking station with an eSATA output would likely work. AND....the advantage of that is that many of those two drive docking stations have the ability to "Clone" another HD in the docking station. So....after a HD gets a few years old....before it can die on you....you could get a 2nd drive and clone the first one so you don't lose anything....you just keep on going. Am I out in left field with all these assumptions and suppositions?????


It's easy to change out the hard drive on a DVR. The trick as you noted is not to lose your shows before you do. You can transfer non copy protected shows to a PC via kmttg (search the forum here for details about it or google). You can also baxk up your channel list, thumbs up/down, one passes and wishlists.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

General advice:

Do some research. Look it up on YouTube, investigate the user community apps. Don't get an expander.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

The wonderful things about replacing the hard drive on a Roamio or Bolt: it's easy (just a bunch of unscrewing/screwing and sliding the top of the box off/on); and for drives 3TB and less, the box does all the formatting, etc. that is needed, _automatically_.


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## ej42137 (Feb 16, 2014)

DrDanQ said:


> I've been pondering this for a while now....and even if it's easy to change out a dead HD in my TiVo Bolt....it doesn't help me salvage any "important" movies we've saved on it. They're lost. The same goes for an external HD such as the one Amazon sells. It might work but what happens when it dies? Everything is lost on it.
> Since all those "approved" Hard Drives are Western Digital's of either 500 MB or 1 TB....AND since the TiVo requires an eSATA connection from the HD to the TiVo....it seems to me that getting one of those Western Digital internal HD's in a HDD Docking station with an eSATA output would likely work. AND....the advantage of that is that many of those two drive docking stations have the ability to "Clone" another HD in the docking station. So....after a HD gets a few years old....before it can die on you....you could get a 2nd drive and clone the first one so you don't lose anything....you just keep on going. Am I out in left field with all these assumptions and suppositions?????


If saving your content is a requirement, why in the world would you consider an expander?

Assuming the HD in the expander is as reliable as the one in your TiVo, you would be doubling your chances for failure; and and my experience with various external HD cases suggests that it will be much less reliable then the internal HD.

Additionally, the expander cannot be backed up independently of the HD in the TiVo. After the expander is installed, recordings are by design spread to both drives, and if they are out of sync you are out of luck. So adding an expander complicates any backup scheme; you have to open the TiVo to get the internal HD and back up both drives at the same time for it to work.

An expander provides such a trivial amount of storage these days that I don't believe they provide any useful benefit. The only exception would be if you want 13 TB of storage in your TiVo, in which case Weaknees has a turnkey solution for you.


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## DrDanQ (Nov 12, 2018)

Thanks everyone for the great advice! I'm learning much that I didn't know. 
Looks like you need a copy of kmttg, and MFSR.exe along with the know how to swap out the drives. Changing the drive is the easy part for me. What concerns me is that I suspect those two programs (kmttg and mfsr) are both Windows apps.....and I only have a Mac. Does anyone know if those two apps will run on a Mac? And if not....are there any Mac friendly alternatives you can use?


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## DrDanQ (Nov 12, 2018)

Just so I'm clear on this......the kmttg app is to copy/back up your existing data on the TiVo hard drive you're replacing.....and the MFSR.exe is to format the new drive? I "think" those 4TB Seagate drives that seem to be popular on YouTube for placement in Tivo Bolt's have two 2 TB partitions....and this app formats it to a single 4TB partition???


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## PSU_Sudzi (Jun 4, 2015)

DrDanQ said:


> Thanks everyone for the great advice! I'm learning much that I didn't know.
> Looks like you need a copy of kmttg, and MFSR.exe along with the know how to swap out the drives. Changing the drive is the easy part for me. What concerns me is that I suspect those two programs (kmttg and mfsr) are both Windows apps.....and I only have a Mac. Does anyone know if those two apps will run on a Mac? And if not....are there any Mac friendly alternatives you can use?


I'm pretty sure there is a version of kmttg for a Mac. Google kmttg and you should be able to see a lot of help/instructions for it on source fourge. Or you can add some additional fun to your adventure and use boot camp on the iMac to run windows. My new iMac 4K is the best windows machine I've ever had!


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## dianebrat (Jul 6, 2002)

DrDanQ said:


> Just so I'm clear on this......the kmttg app is to copy/back up your existing data on the TiVo hard drive you're replacing.....and the MFSR.exe is to format the new drive? I "think" those 4TB Seagate drives that seem to be popular on YouTube for placement in Tivo Bolt's have two 2 TB partitions....and this app formats it to a single 4TB partition???


There have been issues with Seagate drives failing, it worth reading up on those threads.

MFSR is not needed if you use a 3TB or smaller drive, you just drop it in the Tivo and it formats correctly on its own.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

KMTTG is a Java app. It will run on anything that can run Java, nearly.

-KP


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

DrDanQ said:


> Just so I'm clear on this......the kmttg app is to copy/back up your existing data on the TiVo hard drive you're replacing.....and the MFSR.exe is to format the new drive? I "think" those 4TB Seagate drives that seem to be popular on YouTube for placement in Tivo Bolt's have two 2 TB partitions....and this app formats it to a single 4TB partition???


The auto-format routine in a Roamio or Bolt allocates 65% of the raw drive to one of the media partitions, creates the other 12 partitions (OS, App, SQLite, etc), and assigns the remaining space to the other media partition. That has been the standard drive layout with minor variations since the Series 1s came out. Unfortunately there's still a bug in the OS boot code that ignores the upper 32 bits of any partition size over 2TB, so on drives over 3TB you end up with the total of the lower 32 bits. On a 4TB drive that comes out to about 1.6TB for recordings.

MFSR uses media partitions that are just under 2TB to avoid the bug. It's Windows only, but it should run on virtualization software like Parallels or VMware. If you don't already have a Windows virtual machine setup on your Mac I would stick to 3TB or less.

There is also a beta of MFSTools 3.2 (it's a Linux boot CD) that can copy and expand your existing drive up to 4TB. Send a private message to jmbach if you want a copy.

Do NOT put any drive that uses shingled magnetic recording (SMR) technology in a TiVo. In the limited world of 2.5" drives for a Bolt that means almost all Seagate drives and even many 3TB drives. The Toshiba MQ03ABB300 has a pretty good reputation here. See Bolt Hard Drive Upgrade Choice for more info.


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