# Tivo Upgrade problems - please help!



## dschwarz (Jan 14, 2003)

Here are the details. Hope someone can help.

I have a Tivo Series 2 (Model 140060). This was originally a 60GB unit, when the original drive failed (in 2004) I replaced the drive with a new 120GB drive from Weaknees.

Now the replacement drive is starting to fail (freezes every day or two), so I thought I'd backup and replace the drive myself.

I bought a new Western-Digital Hard Drive WD1600JBRTL (160GB), downloaded the Weaknees MFSTools 2.0 Boot CD with LBA48 support and started to follow the instructions at tivo.upgrade-instructions(dot)com

I figure that because I'm already running on 7.1 or above, I have LBA48 support in my existing Tivo kernel, so the 160GB drive should be supported, right?

1) Backed up existing drive to backup.bak file. Worked OK. Said that I had a 59 hour image, already upgraded to 113 hours.

2) Attempted to copy existing drive to new drive using mfsbackup/mfsrestore:

mfsbackup -f 9999 -1so - /dev/hdd | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -zxpi - /dev/hdb

where /dev/hdd is my old Tivo drive and /dev/hdb my new drive

Completed successfully.

3) Installed the new drive in the Tivo and powered it on:

Tivo displayed: "Powering Up..." then "Almost There..." then blank screen, reboot, repeat "Powering Up..." / "Almost There..." endlessly.

4) Reinstalled my old drive in my Tivo and powered it on. Works OK (for now)

Any suggestions as to how I can get my new drive to work properly? I'd like to do this myself if there is a simple solution, otherwise I am happy to pay for a tool like InstantCake, however I do not see that it supports LBA48 on my Tivo model.

Thanks for your help!


----------



## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

A common mistake is to not jumper the new drive correctly when putting it in your Tivo.


----------



## dschwarz (Jan 14, 2003)

I had the drive set to "Cable Select" rather than "Master." I'll try setting it to "Master" when I get home tonight.

Related note: The drive came with a new 80 pin IDE cable, and the WD instructions recommend using the 80 pin cable rather than the existing cable (in PC installations.) Should I be using the 80 pin IDE cable with the Tivo?

Dan


----------



## BrandonSi (Jun 5, 2003)

dschwarz said:


> I had the drive set to "Cable Select" rather than "Master." I'll try setting it to "Master" when I get home tonight.
> 
> Related note: The drive came with a new 80 pin IDE cable, and the WD instructions recommend using the 80 pin cable rather than the existing cable (in PC installations.) Should I be using the 80 pin IDE cable with the Tivo?
> 
> Dan


I would use the TiVo cable. I just put a in a 320gb WD last night, and it didn't like the drive until I removed the jumper completely. Even jumpered for "Master" it locked up, so give it a shot without the jumper first.


----------



## dschwarz (Jan 14, 2003)

Same behavior wtih the drive set to Master. I get "Powering Up..." followed by "Almost There..." screen followed by reboot and repeat the same cycle.

Any ideas on what to do next would be greatly appreciated. I just want to get the new drive up and running, using all 160GB. If I can save my existing season passes, great, but if not, I'll live with that.

Thanks,

Dan


----------



## welchomatic (Oct 13, 2003)

I just thought I'd chip in.

I have a S2 ...40 I got just before rewards 'upgraded' again, and shortly before my lifetime S1 pooped out. Repaired my S1, and attempted to put a 5400RPM 300Gb drive in my S2. I'm not serious about the S2, but would like the new Tivo to work well, as I am paying 6+ dollars a month for it.
Since I am not critically interested in seeing this work, I didn't go any further than usint the free weeknees CD to -9999 copy the original 40 GB drive to the new and untouched 300Gb drive, and I am seeing the same problem. I know the 40Gb drive got the 7.1 software update, as I stayed up 2 hours to see it installed before I installed a 100BT USB the very next day.


Looking forward to seeing a very simple answer,
Welchomatic


----------



## welchomatic (Oct 13, 2003)

I just got inspired to take another whack at my series2. Since I was upgrading from 40G to 300G, I had thought it would be a good idea to set my swapspace to 350, so my mfsrestore HAD been *mfsrestore -s 300 -r 4 -xzpi /dev/hdb*. Just for kicks, since I don't get the GSOD, I thought I'd try *mfsrestore -s 127* as all the literature says to do. It worked perfectly after that.
So if I try to go for 600+ hours later, I'll be in trouble, should that GSOD ever show. I did get it once when adding netword capability to a friends S1.


----------



## ronsch (Sep 7, 2001)

dschwarz said:


> Here are the details. Hope someone can help.
> 
> I have a Tivo Series 2 (Model 140060). This was originally a 60GB unit, when the original drive failed (in 2004) I replaced the drive with a new 120GB drive from Weaknees.
> 
> ...


You didn't really address whether you were trying to save your recordings or not. That would only be possible if you used a virgin image when you installed the 120. The command you used certainly wouldn't save them. I've never seen anyone pipe a compressed backup into a restore although I know of no reason why it shouldn't work. If you have a drive with a FAT32 partition you should really save a copy of the backup image. One other note, the -r 4 is only needed for drives > 250GB. Again, I know of no reason why it should cause a problem with a smaller drive. In my experience, TiVo's come with their single drives jumpered CS and that's the way all mine are running.


----------



## DBowen (Jan 18, 2006)

Not to hijack the thread, but my problem is similar/worse. I used the same steps, minus the backup, just to copy my 40 hr drive to a 120 gig drive. When I put the new drive in, it starts booting up, goes to the almost there screen, then turns off, no real reboot. I have to unplug it to reboot it. 

I thought it was no big deal and that I'd try again later, so I put my original drive back in...and the same thing happens with it!! I don't care about the shows, I just want my tivo working again. Is there anything I might be able to do without buying a new harddrive w/ Tivo installed?


----------



## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

> goes to the almost there screen, then turns off, no real reboo


May be a long shot, If the tivo was in stand-by when you pulled the drive try turning it on with the TiVo button on the remote. Watch for the TiVo to respond to the remote with the lights?


----------



## DBowen (Jan 18, 2006)

HomeUser...You are my Saving Grace!!!!!!!!! Thank You Thank You Thank You!!!!!!!!!!! The most simple thing


----------

