# Series 1 Hard drive Replace



## Colbyt (Jul 6, 2006)

Been lurking and searching this forum for the last few days. I think I have learned the answers but I just want confirmation before spending $. 

I have a series 1, Sony SVR 2000 that previously was upgraded to dual drives and has an ethernet cable hanging out the back. My son added that when he owned the unit. I have never used the ethernet connection. Periodically it locks up, freezes. Recently it was unable to connect and get program updates. Freeing up space on the hard drives solved the problem.

I deduce from common sense and reading here that I have a failing hard drive or bad sectors at least. I am willing to risk the $ for a new drive. Two new ones if it really solves the problem.

It looks like a 160GB is all the bios will support based on what weaknees is selling. Am I correct about that? I can buy that drive a lot cheaper than $149.

I have never cracked the case so i don't know if the e-card is plugged into the bus or was otherwise added. I don't care whether it works or not. I just don't want any problems after I add the new hard drive. I would assume that the drivers for it are located on the primary disk and not in the bios. If I don't install the drivers will I need to remove it?


The physical steps in formatting the new drive do not concern me but easier is always better. Would you DL the software from weaknees or just buy the software from Instantcake?

If I do either software route with just one drive can I take it back out and marry it to a second drive later if I want more space?

Great Forum here. I have enjoyed my lurking.


Colbyt


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## funtoupgrade (Mar 15, 2005)

You can stick in whatever size hard drive you want, and, in my opinion, one drive is better than two in a series one. The Tivo software 3.01 has built in support for the ethernet card which is attached to a special bus on the motherboard.

Also in my opinion, you can get much better help, if needed, here on the forum if you use the free LBA48 downloadable software, rather than the instantcake.

No matter what you decide, go ahead and open the case to get a feeling for what's inside. You won't hurt anything, and it might even need a good cleaning out.


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## rkester (Jan 10, 2005)

I upgraded my Sony years back several times and it was pretty simple stuff. Had to juggle some drives on my PC to get it all doing its thing but the 120gb drive i put in it still works like a champ.

I had added a 45gb drive to the unit along with the original 30. Then the 30 died, I pulled the 45 and replaced them both with a single 120. i think its much more effecient.

I dont think InstantCake or any of that existed then. I had to DL some linux ISO, make a CD, hook the drives into the PC in a certain way, run stuff on them, save it to another HDD, wait for hours for it to do its thing, put the new image on the new HDD, expand it, etc. But only took a few hours and it has worked great since.

And since the S1 pic quality is better it was a no brainer to keep it around.


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## Colbyt (Jul 6, 2006)

funtoupgrade said:


> You can stick in whatever size hard drive you want, and, in my opinion, one drive is better than two in a series one. The Tivo software 3.01 has built in support for the ethernet card which is attached to a special bus on the motherboard.
> 
> Also in my opinion, you can get much better help, if needed, here on the forum if you use the free LBA48 downloadable software, rather than the instantcake.


I followed another thread after reading your post to read more about the LBA48. You are saying with the LBA48 software and the kernal update that I can use any drive to full capacity?

I think I can find that thread again but offhand do you know the download link?

I should point out my Linux experiece is VERY limited.

Colbyt


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## Colbyt (Jul 6, 2006)

rkester said:


> I upgraded my Sony years back several times and it was pretty simple stuff. Had to juggle some drives on my PC to get it all doing its thing but the 120gb drive i put in it still works like a champ.
> 
> And since the S1 pic quality is better it was a no brainer to keep it around.


I have a hunch that is the first drive that has the problems since it came with the box.

In my case in is that lifetime subscription that is makes it really worth the effort to keep it going. The cost of a new unit is minimal compared to the monthly fees.

Colbyt


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## stark (Dec 31, 2003)

The others seem to have the hard drive questions in hand, so I'll try and answer the questions about the Ethernet adapter.

There are two main Ethernet adapters for the SVR-2000 (I have three). One is the TurboNet card (http://www.9thtee.com/turbonet.htm) and the CacheCard (http://www.9thtee.com/tivocachecard.htm), both from 9th Tee.

If you have the TurboNet card installed, you don't need anything else. The latest software for the SVR-2000 supports the card without any additional drivers. You can install updated drives, but if you are just using the card for guide data updates, you aren't gaining much.

The CacheCard is newer and has a faster Ethernet interface. Again not a real issue if you are just using it for guide data. The BIG advantage of a CacheCard is that it holds a copy of the Tivo database in memory on the card. This greatly increases the speed of most database operations, like displaying a long Now Playing list. The downside is that the Cachecard DOES require drivers to be installed. As long as you have the drives pulled, it is a simple process.

You can also ignore the Ethernet card and just use the phone line.


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## Double-Tap (Apr 18, 2002)

Colbyt said:


> I followed another thread after reading your post to read more about the LBA48. You are saying with the LBA48 software and the kernal update that I can use any drive to full capacity?


The magic number is around 137GB. Beyond that the older kernel isn't large disk aware.



> I think I can find that thread again but offhand do you know the download link?


Look here http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/software/lba48/index.html for the PTVUpgrade no cost option ISO. It has copykern and LBA48 support. Just burn the ISO to a CD as a bootable image. Set your computer's BIOS to boot from CD if necessary.

If you happen to do any kernel updating, run this Linux command "uname -a" (without quotes) before upgrading and make of note of the version and date information. Later you can do it again and see what's changed.

Additional stuff for the inquisitively minded and/or Linux OS challenged.  http://www.linuxdevcenter.com/linux/cmd/


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## GlennL (Mar 1, 2005)

I've found Steve Jenkins' site invaluable in replacing my hard drives and adding additional capabilities to my S1. Steve's site is accessible here: http://tivo.stevejenkins.com/network_cd.html.


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