# Upgrading Roamio with WD60PURX



## TivoRocks193 (Aug 10, 2005)

Long time TiVo user, last upgrade I did was back in the Series 3 days. From what I understand Roamio is a heck of a lot easier than the older models to update the hardrive. Three questions for the community:

1) Is the WD Purple 6TB (model WD60PURX) compatible with Tivo Roamio Plus/Pro models? Do I need a specific version/firmware? I remember for some TiVos and HDs, only certain firmware for certain models worked.

2) Is there any difference between Plus and Pro, besides the disk drive?

3) Is it really as easy as popping in a blank drive? Aka, there's no formatting/boot disks or anything? I just open the box, shove the drive in (delicately) and I'm done?


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## b-ball-fanatic (Aug 5, 2003)

TivoRocks193 said:


> Long time TiVo user, last upgrade I did was back in the Series 3 days. From what I understand Roamio is a heck of a lot easier than the older models to update the hardrive. Three questions for the community:
> 
> 1) Is the WD Purple 6TB (model WD60PURX) compatible with Tivo Roamio Plus/Pro models? Do I need a specific version/firmware? I remember for some TiVos and HDs, only certain firmware for certain models worked.


If you research the comments by the really knowledgeable "drive guys" around here, it doesn't sound to me like the Purples are recommended.



> 2) Is there any difference between Plus and Pro, besides the disk drive?


No.



> 3) Is it really as easy as popping in a blank drive? Aka, there's no formatting/boot disks or anything? I just open the box, shove the drive in (delicately) and I'm done?


Yes. But especially with a very high-capacity drive, you should test any drive before use, preferably with at least the manufacturer's long test. This takes several hours, but it's worth knowing that you're starting with a good drive. Some also recommend doing a full write test as well. Again, I think the added confidence in the drive is worth that little bit of extra time up front.

A couple other things: You don't just pop it in and it starts right up. The Roamio detects the new drive and has to take some time to set it up. Then you'll need to call your cable company to get the cable card re-paired. Then finally, it's worth pointing out that you void your TiVo warranty as soon as you open the case. Chances are good that it won't matter, but that's a small risk that you assume with the disk swap.


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## TivoRocks193 (Aug 10, 2005)

Thanks, is there another 6TB drive that is recommended for Roamio? I chose the Purple one because it appears to be the one Weaknees might be using.

For the setup, I'm aware it needs to install/rebuild the system, but compared to what I used to have to do with special partitions/images/boot disks, it sounds super easy.


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## b-ball-fanatic (Aug 5, 2003)

TivoRocks193 said:


> Thanks, is there another 6TB drive that is recommended for Roamio? I chose the Purple one because it appears to be the one Weaknees might be using.
> 
> For the setup, I'm aware it needs to install/rebuild the system, but compared to what I used to have to do with special partitions/images/boot disks, it sounds super easy.


The Purple drives, like the Reds, are designed for RAID environments, and my understanding (infinitely less technical than the drive guys) is that the TLER feature can be problematic* when used with non-RAID Controllers.

The Green AV drives are the ones TiVo uses, and the ones you'll see most-recommended around here. I believe they go up to 4Tb.

Yeah, you're right....it _is_ super easy compared to "the old days." The Roamio keeps its OS on board and just sets up the storage file system on the HDD.

Edit: 
* I should clarify that I haven't seen anything to suggest that people _are _having issues with them, but that there are added risks to using a TLER-enabled drive with a controller (like the TiVo's) not designed to work with that feature.


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## TivoRocks193 (Aug 10, 2005)

I see a 6TB Green on NewEgg, WD60EZRX : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236797

Is the WD Green really the way to go? Seems like the WD Purple are better. Any links/info about the problems with WD Purple drives?


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## b-ball-fanatic (Aug 5, 2003)

TivoRocks193 said:


> I see a 6TB Green on NewEgg, WD60EZRX : http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822236797
> 
> Is the WD Green really the way to go? Seems like the WD Purple/Reds are faster. Any links/info about the problems with WD Purple/Red drives?


You specifically want the Green AV drives (suffix EURS or EURX), as they don't use a feature called IntelliPark, which isn't appropriate for TiVos.

Faster? Better? I'm not sure what you mean.....the drive can only be as fast as the system it's installed in. If the TiVo platform has a 3Gb/sec interface, that's the max (theoretical) transfer you get, regardless of the drive's rating. Also, bear in mind that we're talking about speeds (in all these drives) that are _far more _than adequate for the how a TiVo uses the drive, so we have the luxury of optimizing for other factors such as noise and heat. Faster-spinning drives are louder, but offer no additional benefit over, say, a 5400rpm drive in a TiVo environment. (These drives actually use IntelliPower, a variable-speed technology.) And I know from my own experience that the Reds run noticeably hotter than the Green AVs, so I'd venture a guess that the similar Purples do as well. That's an important consideration in the small, enclosed box Roamio uses.

Rather than search and gather links for you, you could start by looking at the drive comments by user nooneuknow....that should take you to some of the pertinent conversations.


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## TivoRocks193 (Aug 10, 2005)

I don't believe there is a 6TB AV drive. One post also claimed Purple was a lot like an AV drive. Is there an acceptable 6TB drive that will work?

I did search history information, but I saw a lot of conflicting posts, which is why I started a new thread to address drive compatibility of all WD 6TB drives.


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## b-ball-fanatic (Aug 5, 2003)

Well, completely aside from the topic of drive "color" options, note that 6Tb are not as yet plug'n'play in Roamios, which won't use all the available space. But hopefully you'll get the feedback your looking for.


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## TivoRocks193 (Aug 10, 2005)

I thought 6Tb were plug and play, at least I found some reviews that seemed to imply that.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Where?


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## TivoRocks193 (Aug 10, 2005)

Ah, I was reading Amazon reviews for 6TB, but didn't realize Amazon merges reviews for multiple different drive sizes, so it looked like people were installing 6GB. I withdraw my question then!


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

b-ball-fanatic said:


> You specifically want the Green AV drives (suffix EURS or EURX), as they don't use a feature called IntelliPark, which isn't appropriate for TiVos.
> 
> Faster? Better? I'm not sure what you mean.....the drive can only be as fast as the system it's installed in. If the TiVo platform has a 3Gb/sec interface, that's the max (theoretical) transfer you get, regardless of the drive's rating. Also, bear in mind that we're talking about speeds (in all these drives) that are _far more _than adequate for the how a TiVo uses the drive, so we have the luxury of optimizing for other factors such as noise and heat. Faster-spinning drives are louder, but offer no additional benefit over, say, a 5400rpm drive in a TiVo environment. (These drives actually use IntelliPower, a variable-speed technology.) And I know from my own experience that the Reds run noticeably hotter than the Green AVs, so I'd venture a guess that the similar Purples do as well. That's an important consideration in the small, enclosed box Roamio uses.
> 
> Rather than search and gather links for you, you could start by looking at the drive comments by user nooneuknow....that should take you to some of the pertinent conversations.


The WD A/V drives are coming from the factory with Intellipark not enabled, but as far as I know they are still capable of it if you do enable it--but of course you wouldn't want to if you're going to use it in a TiVo.

The big difference between the A/V drives and the others is that they worry less about getting the input right than they do about getting all of the input.

If you're saving a spreadsheet or database, or loading one into RAM from the hard drive, you want everything to be correct, and will tolerate an extra fraction of a second here and there for error-correction subroutines and whatnot.

But if you're trying to record the output of, say, 2 to 6 tuners, and playback one of them at the same time, you don't have time for the drive to tell the source to hold on a moment while I do this or that again for the 13th time, and since a mistake in one byte or a few bytes probably won't mean anything worse than a "wrong" pixel here or there that you might not even notice, what would be totally unacceptable on your accountant's work PC is not that big a problem on one intended to gulp down a flood of audio and video.


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