# Replaced failing drive in S2, now continually reboots



## mrogers (Feb 19, 2005)

I replaced two drives (80+200), one of which was failing, in a friend's TiVo with a single 160GB drive. As I originally brought up in the mfstools thread, I used the proper commands suggested by Spike and the TiVo OS transfer appeared to proceed normally (I've done a number of TiVo upgrades, including two drives -> one larger drive, just never two drives -> one smaller drive, and they've all gone fine). The command I used was:


```
backup -qf 9999 -so - /dev/hda /dev/hdb | restore -s 128 -xzpi - /dev/hdd
```
Where hda and hdb were the old A and B drives, and hdd was the new drive.

The TiVO continually reboots after the "Almost there..." loading screen, right when the welcome video should start playing. Does anyone know what is causing this or what to do next? Do I need to find a virgin OS image to fix this?


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

Did you divorce the drive as specified in spike's instructions.


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## mrogers (Feb 19, 2005)

I thought that command did effectively divorce the drives, since it truncates the filesystem at backup time. On the MFSLive web site I don't see any specific instructions for divorcing a drive...there's a link to a page, but that page doesn't have anything on it about the subject.


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## mrogers (Feb 19, 2005)

OK well if no one knows anything about this...what would happen if I copied a drive from a different Humax 80 TiVo that's working perfectly? They're the exact same model...would that work? I assume the service number is hard-coded on the motherboard and is not part of the software, right?


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## lafos (Nov 8, 2004)

That would work, but you have to do a "Clear and Delete Everything" to link the drive to the TiVo.


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## mrogers (Feb 19, 2005)

lafos said:


> That would work, but you have to do a "Clear and Delete Everything" to link the drive to the TiVo.


OK I'll probably do that then...could you elaborate on "Clear and Delete Everything" please? Do you mean the master reset functionality from the TiVo interface itself, or some other command-line tool on the MFStools CD? I just want to be clear before I begin.


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## lafos (Nov 8, 2004)

mrogers said:


> OK I'll probably do that then...could you elaborate on "Clear and Delete Everything" please? Do you mean the master reset functionality from the TiVo interface itself, or some other command-line tool on the MFStools CD? I just want to be clear before I begin.


I'm referring to the Clear and Delete Everything in the TiVo menus. It completely resets the software and the system is configured as it was when it was new. If using an image from another TiVo or a fresh install, say with InstantCake, the C&DE function "marries" the drive to the TiVo.


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## mrogers (Feb 19, 2005)

ARGH. I did the OS transfer from the working TiVo, and this time it spent a LONG time booting, then started to slide the home menu onto the screen....and then it rebooted. What the hell? Has anyone experienced this? Do I just write this thing off as dead?

Recap of what I've tried:

backup -f 9999 -qso - /dev/hda /dev/hdb | restore -s 128 -xzpi - /dev/hdd (current 80GB A drive + 200GB (dead)B drive to new 160GB)

backup -f 9999 -qso - /dev/hda | restore -s 128 -xzpi - /dev/hdd (same as above, without B drive present)

backup -f 9999 -qso - /dev/hda | restore -s 128 -xzpi - /dev/hdd (working 300GB drive from same model TiVo to new 160GB)

All of these result in the same thing: a reboot after the startup sequence. When my friend pulled the plug on this thing about a month ago, it was operational but showing all the signs of hard drive failure: stuttering recordings, wonky playback and interface movement, etc. Now it won't boot, even with an image from a 100&#37; operational TiVo. How could something else in the system be damaged, but still allow it to go through the bootup sequence?

I have one other thing I want to try...I'd like to divorce the dead 200GB from the original 80GB drive. How can I do this without using an intermediary drive?


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