# Upgrading from Premiere 4 to Roamio and upgrading hard drive procedure



## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

I just ordered a Roamio Plus and a 3 TB hard drive for it as well. I will be transferring my cable card from the Premiere 4 to this new machine. My cable company is Comcast. I have outlined steps below based on a previous upgrade a few years back. Let me know if this process seems correct for when I receive the Roamio tomorrow. Thanks!


Receive NEW TiVo box.
DO NOT remove cable card from OLD TiVo box.
On a TV different from the OLD TiVo, setup the NEW TiVo box with Ethernet (preferred) connection. Activate the TiVo (if not already done), process updates, and ensure the OLD and NEW Tivo boxes can see each other on the network. Be sure to give the NEW TiVo box a name different than the OLD TiVo box (may be a temporary name).
If installing a larger hard drive, power off the TiVo, and perform hard drive upgrade. Safely retain the original hard drive for possible future use. Re-connect the TiVo and process any initial setup and updates as needed. You now have more storage! _Note: if more risky and want to save ~30 minutes, perform step 4 prior to step 3 and never boot up with the original hard drive._
For Comcast Xfinity customers, call the cable card support line at 1-877-405-2298. You will get a rep that actually is familiar with cable cards and will save you a ton of time compared calling the general customer care number.
Explain the swap to the NEW box. When instructed, eject the card from the OLD TiVo, read the serial number to them, and insert the card into the NEW Tivo. Then they will ask for the NEW Tivo's Host ID and Data (shown on one of the TiVo cable card menus).
Hold for a couple of minutes while they pair the cable card to the NEW TiVo, then a few seconds after they return to the phone, the successfully activated screen should show up on the NEW box.
Check channels, especially any premium channels you may have.
If desired, rename the OLD TiVo box and connect to TiVo network. Then rename the NEW TiVo box and connect to TiVo network.
If this NEW TiVo is your primary box, ensure settings to connect to and from TiVo Mini's are set accordingly.
Transfer Season Passes from the OLD TiVo to the NEW TiVo. Easiest via online here: http://online.tivo.com/start#manage
If you want to transfer any shows saved on the OLD TiVo to the NEW TiVo, connect the OLD TiVo to your home network and do so.
Done!


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

dmk1974 said:


> I just ordered a Roamio Plus and a 3 TB hard drive for it as well. I will be transferring my cable card from the Premiere 4 to this new machine. My cable company is Comcast. I have outlined steps below based on a previous upgrade a few years back. Let me know if this process seems correct for when I receive the Roamio tomorrow. Thanks!
> 
> 
> Receive NEW TiVo box.
> ...


Hi,
Sounds like a reasonable procedure. I would be tempted to just pull the cable card and insert it in the new Tivo and then call Comcast, but your idea might be better. Go for it.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

I'll be doing something similar. Any idea if you can transfer shows off the old Premier onto the new Roamino with only the single cable cards? (ie. will a premier box error out with out a cable card installed?)

Otherwise I could then put both boxes on my network and transfer/copy shows I want to keep to my new Roamino box. (or am I missing something???)


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## thefisch (Jul 25, 2015)

My cable provider (and perhaps most do) has a direct support forum on dslreports.com. Based on horror stories of cable co reps not pairing the info right, I decided to put in a pairing request online. It was done in less than 45 minutes. Would have been faster had I been sitting in front of the computer and had the tivo updated as you outlined above. It was worth it not to deal with incompetent phone reps (luck of the draw). I started a thread on the forum first asking for the info they needed so that someone was already responding and monitoring the thread before I got the equipment.


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

ducker said:


> I'll be doing something similar. Any idea if you can transfer shows off the old Premier onto the new Roamino with only the single cable cards? (ie. will a premier box error out with out a cable card installed?)
> 
> Otherwise I could then put both boxes on my network and transfer/copy shows I want to keep to my new Roamino box. (or am I missing something???)


There should be no issue using a TiVo without a cable card for the purposes of transferring shows or watching Netflix and so on. Of course, you will not get any live channels nor VOD from your cable provider which is expected.

After mine is set up per what I outlined, I'll be transferring a ton of shows from the Premiere to the Roamio.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

ducker said:


> I'll be doing something similar. Any idea if you can transfer shows off the old Premier onto the new Roamino with only the single cable cards? (ie. will a premier box error out with out a cable card installed?)
> 
> Otherwise I could then put both boxes on my network and transfer/copy shows I want to keep to my new Roamino box. (or am I missing something???)


The recording can still play and transfer without a cable card. Cable card is used mostly for mapping channels, decrypting and/or authorizing channels.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

dmk1974 said:


> I just ordered a Roamio Plus and a 3 TB hard drive for it as well. I will be transferring my cable card from the Premiere 4 to this new machine. My cable company is Comcast. I have outlined steps below based on a previous upgrade a few years back. Let me know if this process seems correct for when I receive the Roamio tomorrow. Thanks!
> 
> 
> Receive NEW TiVo box.
> ...


For drives up to 3TB, upgrading the drive is as simple as swapping drives, but for 4 to 6 TB, the Roamio must be updated to the current software beforehand. Cable card info may be lost between swaps, so pairing once after the swap may be better.


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

dmk1974 said:


> There should be no issue using a TiVo without a cable card for the purposes of transferring shows or watching Netflix and so on. Of course, you will not get any live channels nor VOD from your cable provider which is expected.
> 
> After mine is set up per what I outlined, I'll be transferring a ton of shows from the Premiere to the Roamio.


Awesome!!! this just saved me a ton of heat from the wife


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## convergent (Jan 4, 2007)

dmk1974 said:


> I just ordered a Roamio Plus and a 3 TB hard drive for it as well. I will be transferring my cable card from the Premiere 4 to this new machine. My cable company is Comcast. I have outlined steps below based on a previous upgrade a few years back. Let me know if this process seems correct for when I receive the Roamio tomorrow. Thanks!
> 
> 
> Receive NEW TiVo box.
> ...


Swap steps 3 and 4 and it will save you a lot of time. I am pretty sure when you put the new drive in, its going to go through all the same steps again just like it did the first time. I just bought a Roamio and I swapped in the new 3TB drive before I even powered it up the first time.


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

convergent said:


> Swap steps 3 and 4 and it will save you a lot of time. I am pretty sure when you put the new drive in, its going to go through all the same steps again just like it did the first time. I just bought a Roamio and I swapped in the new 3TB drive before I even powered it up the first time.


Thanks. I initially drafted it that way, but thought it might be good to boot with the original to 1) make sure everything is working ok as received and 2) to have that original hard drive updated with whatever the current software is before shelving it.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Steps 5 and 6 are unnecessary. Just pop the card out and install it in the new TiVo. The card does not need to be installed in the old TiVo to unpair it and they have all the info they need for that part already. All they're going to need is the host and data from the new unit and it will save time if you've already installed it and have the pairing screen pulled up.

I recently installed a CableCARD in an HDHomeRun. The card is one I had taken out of a TiVo which I gave to my Mom. They had no problem unpairing it and then pairing it to the HDHomeRun even though it had sat unused for almost a year. (I was too lazy to return it and figured I might need it again some day)


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> Steps 5 and 6 are unnecessary. Just pop the card out and install it in the new TiVo. The card does not need to be installed in the old TiVo to unpair it and they have all the info they need for that part already. All they're going to need is the host and data from the new unit and it will save time if you've already installed it and have the pairing screen pulled up.
> 
> I recently installed a CableCARD in an HDHomeRun. The card is one I had taken out of a TiVo which I gave to my Mom. They had no problem unpairing it and then pairing it to the HDHomeRun even though it had sat unused for almost a year. (I was too lazy to return it and figured I might need it again some day)


That would certainly make it easier! Maybe things have improved on the Comcast side. All I know is way back with the TiVo HD, those morons screwed around for an hour and couldn't figure it out and wanted to do a truck roll. I Googled and found this other phone number and they took care of it correctly in less than 5 minutes.

PS...UPS tracking says the Roamio is Out for Delivery


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## gigaguy (Aug 30, 2013)

sorry to intrude- 
Is there any way to upgrade the OS w/o going thru the guided set up. I might sell a Tivo but TWC told me that the full reset I did would take the Premiere back to it's orig OS version..


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

gigaguy said:


> sorry to intrude-
> Is there any way to upgrade the OS w/o going thru the guided set up. I might sell a Tivo but TWC told me that the full reset I did would take the Premiere back to it's orig OS version..


I've never seen a full reset roll back a version ever. The only way I know of to roll back is to install a drive that was pulled while it had a prior version.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

dmk1974 said:


> That would certainly make it easier! Maybe things have improved on the Comcast side. All I know is way back with the TiVo HD, those morons screwed around for an hour and couldn't figure it out and wanted to do a truck roll. I Googled and found this other phone number and they took care of it correctly in less than 5 minutes.
> 
> PS...UPS tracking says the Roamio is Out for Delivery


Calling the special line is still a good idea. I was just saying you didn't need to leave the card in your old unit. You can move it to the new unit before you call. CableCARDs are one way, so they have no way of knowing which unit it's installed in. It simply monitors an OOB signal looking for a "hit" with it's number on it and the proper host/data info. If it gets it, then it works. The unpairing part happens on their end, so they have everything they need to make that happen.


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

Well, the upgrade went smooth! I updated my notes in the original post to reflect my actual steps.

The only thing that wasn't perfect was the copying of the Season Passes from the OLD TiVo to the new. All of them were copied, but not kept in the same order (76 shows...I need my wife and I to chop that list). But other than that, all good!


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## convergent (Jan 4, 2007)

I think you should note in your post that steps 3 & 4 can be done in the reverse order if you don't care about updating a drive that you are going to put in the closet and likely not use again. I'm curious if you have an idea how much time that extra updating took?

Also, you should note in step 5 that the number is for a specific cable company.


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

convergent said:


> I think you should note in your post that steps 3 & 4 can be done in the reverse order if you don't care about updating a drive that you are going to put in the closet and likely not use again. I'm curious if you have an idea how much time that extra updating took?
> 
> Also, you should note in step 5 that the number is for a specific cable company.


Thanks, I added the note for the Comcast number. I'm more of a belt and suspenders guy and wanted to make sure the unit was ok with the original hard drive which is why I have it in that order. But you are correct, if slightly more risky, you can save about 30 minutes by just installing the larger hard drive prior to ever powering up the unit.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

dmk1974 said:


> Well, the upgrade went smooth! I updated my notes in the original post to reflect my actual steps.
> 
> The only thing that wasn't perfect was the copying of the Season Passes from the OLD TiVo to the new. All of them were copied, but not kept in the same order (76 shows...I need my wife and I to chop that list). But other than that, all good!


If you had used online.tivo.com, or kmttg, instead they would have stayed in order.


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> If you had used online.tivo.com, or kmttg, instead they would have stayed in order.


Thanks...yeah, that interface looks better. Maybe TiVo's own site should point to that link vs the one that I have from them in the initial post (I updated it to yours now).


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## ducker (Feb 21, 2006)

hey.... I just did the same process for my new basic... how does the box feel over the spot for your new hard drive... I noticed when I moved the unit around that it is warm/hot for me. was a bit surprised that there was that much heat in there and such a tiny fan.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

ducker said:


> hey.... I just did the same process for my new basic... how does the box feel over the spot for your new hard drive... I noticed when I moved the unit around that it is warm/hot for me. was a bit surprised that there was that much heat in there and such a tiny fan.


The laser thermometer aimed to the right side of my Roamio, where the drive is, shows 90F, while on the left side its about 85F.


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## markmarz (Feb 3, 2002)

dmk1974 said:


> Receive NEW TiVo box.
> DO NOT remove cable card from OLD TiVo box.
> On a TV different from the OLD TiVo, setup the NEW TiVo box with Ethernet (preferred) connection. Activate the TiVo (if not already done), process updates, and ensure the OLD and NEW Tivo boxes can see each other on the network. Be sure to give the NEW TiVo box a name different than the OLD TiVo box (may be a temporary name).
> If installing a larger hard drive, power off the TiVo, and perform hard drive upgrade. Safely retain the original hard drive for possible future use. Re-connect the TiVo and process any initial setup and updates as needed. You now have more storage! _Note: if more risky and want to save ~30 minutes, perform step 4 prior to step 3 and never boot up with the original hard drive._
> ...


Why is it necessary to connect the new TiVo to a different tv than the old? In my case I have only 1 tv, which is a projector. I see nothing in the steps that calls for 2 tv's at one time.

Thanks


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## dmk1974 (Mar 7, 2002)

markmarz said:


> Why is it necessary to connect the new TiVo to a different tv than the old? In my case I have only 1 tv, which is a projector. I see nothing in the steps that calls for 2 tv's at one time.
> 
> Thanks


You can do it on 1 TV and just block the IR on the other box. Just if in separate rooms it's a little easier to perform so a remote isn't accidentally controlling the wrong box.


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## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

A better option then blocking the IR..... before you connect the new Roamio change your current TiVo to a different remote code. Then when you plug in the new Toamio set the remote to a code other then 0 but different then the other TiVo. Then don't use the other TiVo until the Roamio is finished setting up and you can change it's remote code to match.


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## markmarz (Feb 3, 2002)

Dan203 said:


> A better option then blocking the IR..... before you connect the new Roamio change your current TiVo to a different remote code. Then when you plug in the new Toamio set the remote to a code other then 0 but different then the other TiVo. Then don't use the other TiVo until the Roamio is finished setting up and you can change it's remote code to match.


Sounds good, thanks.


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