# Software for upgrading Series 3 units - jmfs?



## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

I used jmfs to clone my Premiere drive to a larger drive. I have a couple of used Series 3 units that have been upgraded but they also came to me with their original drives. I want to reset them to factory specs and move some of the drives around. Do I need other software to do with the Series 3 drives what I did with the Premieres or will jmfs handle them as well?


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

You can use WinMFS with Series 3's. JMFS is just for Premiere's.

Scott


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Consider trying MFSTools 3.2. When it copies an image to a larger drive, it keeps the 2 pair partition scheme of the original image as well as keeping the OS in the center of the drive instead of adding another pair of partitions (WinMFS) or a coalesced partition (JMFS).

BTW JMFS can be used with the S3 HD and S3 HD XL


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

jmbach said:


> Consider trying MFSTools 3.2. When it copies an image to a larger drive, it keeps the 2 pair partition scheme of the original image as well as keeping the OS in the center of the drive instead of adding another pair of partitions (WinMFS) or a coalesced partition (JMFS).
> 
> BTW JMFS can be used with the S3 HD and S3 HD XL


Should have mentioned MFSTools. 

And I forgot that I had used JMFS on my one HD!

Scott


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

HerronScott said:


> I forgot that I had used JMFS on my one HD


OK, I have 1 HD and 2 OLEDs, so I still need something besides jmfs for the latter 2, correct?


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Yes. WinMFS or MFSTools.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

jmbach said:


> Consider trying MFSTools 3.2


When I go to the SourceForge link in the MFS Tools 3.2 thread, all I see is something that looks like version 2 and a 2005 date. I also see in the thread where the creator mentions the temporary removal of the .iso.

What are my options for getting a copy?


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

SVTarHeel said:


> When I go to the SourceForge link in the MFS Tools 3.2 thread, all I see is something that looks like version 2 and a 2005 date. I also see in the thread where the creator mentions the temporary removal of the .iso.
> 
> What are my options for getting a copy?


Sent you a PM


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

I got it but I've been online at the office, or with my phone or iPad all day, so I need to get to your message with my laptop.

Thanks a ton. I've actually sent all 3 of the Series 3 unit's power supplies off to be recapped. I sent them yesterday, so I'm hoping I may have them back by Saturday or Monday. I'll let you know how it all works out.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

jmbach said:


> Consider trying MFSTools 3.2. When it copies an image to a larger drive, it keeps the 2 pair partition scheme of the original image as well as keeping the OS in the center of the drive instead of adding another pair of partitions (WinMFS) or a coalesced partition (JMFS).
> 
> BTW JMFS can be used with the S3 HD and S3 HD XL


Does it enlarge the MFS Media partitions greatly to do that?


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

unitron said:


> Does it enlarge the MFS Media partitions greatly to do that?


Yes it does.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

I realized I need a quick clarifying question answered on this... In moving the hard drives around, one thing I need to is make a couple of drive copies to make sure my experimentation doesn't mess me up. In order to simply clone/copy a Series 3 HD and OLED TiVo drive, do I need to use one of the TiVo-specific software solutions discussed above or would my regular cloning software (Acronis TrueImage) allow that? I know how jmfs will expand and supersize a drive but didn't know if I could handle a drive copy my 'usual' way...


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

If Acronis has a byte-for-byte option to clone a drive without attempting to interpret it in any way that would be fine. Otherwise I would drop down to the command line in jmfs and use dd or dd_rescue (whatever it has).

You could also use DvrBARS to capture a truncated or modified full image to your computer assuming that you have enough disk space.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

ggieseke said:


> I would drop down to the command line in jmfs and use dd or dd_rescue (whatever it has).


OK. When I plugged in the HD drive, I was given the usual options (copy, enlarge and supersize, I think). So I selected copy, and it's been running for a little over 45 minutes now. That reminded me of another blind spot in this... Any difference in the software, image, etc., between an HD (TCD652129) and OLED (TCD648250B)?


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Main thing I have found is that the OLED has a 32bit MFS while the HD series has a 64bit MFS. There are some other OS changes as well.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

Thanks for all the feedback above. I'm at the point of admitting that I'm stumped. The drive I copied was from a TCD652120, but it didn't boot in the HD I'm trying to refurbish - it stayed on the 'just a few more minutes' screen for an hour. I just pulled the plug to restart, so we'll see if that makes a difference. Is there an acknowledged Series 3 whisperer in the community that I can contact to see if I can get some advice from someone with a lot more experience than I have?

::::Edited to add::::
I stepped away to type the message above. When I came back, I had a green screen with a message about a 3-hour attempt by the machine to fix the problem


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Several questions 

What software did you use to copy the drive over. If you used MFSTools 3.2, it may mark the image for clean up which may give you the green screen. 

Was the image you copied from working in a HD unit to begin with. 

Does the Copy boot in the HD unit the original came out of.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

jmbach said:


> What software did you use to copy the drive over.


Jmfs, v 1.04 if I remember right. The copied drive behaved as expected, going through 'powering up' and then 'just a few minutes' until the latter hung for an hour. It was only after I unplugged it at that point and restarted in that I got the green screen



> Was the image you copied from working in a HD unit to begin with.


I bought the original as a working drive from a parted out HD unit. To keep that drive 'safe' for potential future use, I decided to first copy it and use the copy for my refurbishing attempt.



> Does the Copy boot in the HD unit the original came out of.


See above - that unit is no longer available.

On the HD unit I'm trying to get working, there was no way to get beyond a 'please wait' screen when trying to do a guided setup with antenna-only. I did manage to get beyond that with cable+OTA, but I wanted to use it with an antenna. I tried multiple guided setups, even redoing them after a C&DE, and any antenna-only setup resulted in the hang.

My next thought was that maybe the software had somehow been hosed (sorry for the technical term)  so I thought I might try a (supposedly) working drive that had never been anywhere near this unit (and a pair of OLEDs I've yet to dive into).

Thanks for the questions. I'm frustrated but am enjoying the learning process and hoping to not let this machine beat me.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

jmbach said:


> Main thing I have found is that the OLED has a 32bit MFS while the HD series has a 64bit MFS. There are some other OS changes as well.


And making it clear that you have to use an OLED image for an OLED and an HD image for an HD.

Scott


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

SVTarHeel said:


> Jmfs, v 1.04 if I remember right. The copied drive behaved as expected, going through 'powering up' and then 'just a few minutes' until the latter hung for an hour. It was only after I unplugged it at that point and restarted in that I got the green screen
> 
> I bought the original as a working drive from a parted out HD unit. To keep that drive 'safe' for potential future use, I decided to first copy it and use the copy for my refurbishing attempt.
> 
> ...


Well it might be related to the version of the OS on your image. There are some 11.0m images on TCF. Snag one of them and see if that will work.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

I realize that forum searching is hit or miss at best, but my search didn't turn up any links for ver. 11.0m for the HD. I have JMFS 1.04 and MFSTools 3.2 already in hand. I'm thinking the following is what I still need, both to work on these machines and to have for my 'toolbox':

latest/best DVRBars version
11.0m image for the HD
image of latest/best OLED version

And, I guess, anything else you guys think of.

Thanks a ton.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

SVTarHeel said:


> I realize that forum searching is hit or miss at best, but my search didn't turn up any links for ver. 11.0m for the HD.


Check this post out for a link.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=10469560#post10469560

Scott


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

HerronScott said:


> Check this post out for a link.


Thanks. Following that link got me both the 652m.bak for the HD and 648250b.bak for the OLEDs. I also found and downloaded the MFSLive 1.4 iso and burned it to a disc and got the the DvrBARS file (not sure what version) as well. Now I'll poke around the threads to find out how to use MFSLive to get the .bak files on a hard drive.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

SVTarHeel said:


> Following that link got me both the 652m.bak for the HD and 648250b.bak for the OLEDs. I also found and downloaded the MFSLive 1.4 iso and burned it to a disc and got the the DvrBARS file (not sure what version) as well. Now I'll poke around the threads to find out how to use MFSLive to get the .bak files on a hard drive.


OK, I think I'm nearing the home stretch, at least on the HD. I realized I might be better off trying this from within Windows, so I downloaded the .tbk files and WinMFS. I tried for a good while but the software wouldn't see any drives. I finally tried compatibility mode and that worked - I was able to clear one of the 160GB drives and restore the image to it.

Frustratingly, I first tried an unused 160GB drive but the Seagate's measurement of 160GB left it infinitesimally smaller that the WD's measurement, so the software refused to deal with the Seagate.

I have one more question on the HD and I'll be ready to go. I'm familiar with the JMFS commands - copy, expand, supersize - but all I saw in WinMFS was an on/off switch for one of them. My question - is that something that is somehow done after the fact or does it need to be switched on before the image restore process?


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

It is for Super-sizing and it can be done at anytime.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

BTW with WinMFS, usually if you cannot see any drives, you did not "Run as Administrator" when you ran it.


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## SVTarHeel (Sep 22, 2014)

jmbach said:


> It is for Super-sizing and it can be done at anytime.


OK, if I can do it now that I've restored the image, how do I go about it? While the drive was still attached, I turned supersizing on and off and I couldn't tell that anything happened. And didn't someone say above that I could use jmfs for the HD? Maybe that would be the easier route.



jmbach said:


> BTW with WinMFS, usually if you cannot see any drives, you did not "Run as Administrator" when you ran it.


I thought the same thing. Running as administrator did nothing. In fact, I thought I had done something wrong until I tried compatibility mode as pretty much a last resort and - voilà - there was the drive.


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## jmbach (Jan 1, 2009)

Have the new drive the only one connected and selected. The super-size on. You won't know anything until you boot it up and look at the recording space.


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