# In-home upgrade in Essex?



## Ben Lovejoy (Mar 14, 2003)

I have a 40Gb Thompson Tivo. I want to upgrade it to the largest size possible (240Gb?) plus a network card, which will be connected to a wireless bridge.

As I am dangerous with screwdrivers and I'd rather not have the hassle of posting it off somewhere, is there anyone who offers in-home upgrades? I don't mind at all about losing the data on it and starting from a blank drive.

Ben


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

If you lived in Wiltshire I might be able to help you.

However, if you have a modicum of hand-eye coordination and go for a pre-configured drive ready-installed with network drivers for your cachecard there's not really much that can go wrong. Many of my customers have never opened a piece of computer equipment before in their lives and there have been no disasters yet... 

Seriously, the hardest part is getting the lid off


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## worm (Feb 10, 2005)

I can attest to that

I got an upgraded drive (160GB) and cachecard, and it took me all of 20 minutes to fit and be up and running.

The hardest parts were getting the case off, and the the 'swearing loudly for 5 minutes' until I read the instructions properly and took the foot off to insert the cachecard.

I honestly wouldn't worry about it - the instructions I got (from blindlemon) were idiot-proof (as long as you read them  ) - lots of pictures etc.


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## Ben Lovejoy (Mar 14, 2003)

Ok, you have to appreciate that a single sighting of me holding a screwdriver results in the emergency services activating their Major Incident Plans. I snapped a bolt whilst adjusting a motorcycle chain because I failed to notice the locking-nut. When constructing a flatpack wardrobe, I managed to put the door on upside-down. I am the anti-handyman.

Knowing this, would you still reckon I could do it without setting fire to most of Essex?


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## thechachman (Nov 28, 2004)

Ben Lovejoy said:


> Ok, you have to appreciate that a single sighting of me holding a screwdriver results in the emergency services activating their Major Incident Plans. I snapped a bolt whilst adjusting a motorcycle chain because I failed to notice the locking-nut. When constructing a flatpack wardrobe, I managed to put the door on upside-down. I am the anti-handyman.
> 
> Knowing this, would you still reckon I could do it without setting fire to most of Essex?


  Given that at no time during your opening/fitting/closing efforts do you require the electricity to be on, and excepting the screws and removing the lid, all you are doing is unplugging a power cable and data cable from the existing HD and putting the new one in its place, yes. The power and data cable for the HD only fit into their respective sockets one way so you cant hook it up wrong :up:


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## Ben Lovejoy (Mar 14, 2003)

Ok, you guys have convinced me, and someone has kindly offered off-list to help. 

Now ordered a 300Gb drive and CacheCard from Tivo Heaven.

Ben


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## thechachman (Nov 28, 2004)

Ben Lovejoy said:


> Ok, you guys have convinced me, and someone has kindly offered off-list to help.
> 
> Sooo ... what's the maximum drive capacity I can install, which network card does the panel recommend, can I get it with Tivoweb already set up, and where do I find the best deals? Ben


 Well, if someone "Tivo hack" knowledgeable is willing to assist, I'd recommend a cachecard+512mb and just purchase a new/blank 400gb or 500gb drive and they can reimage/install afresh

Otherwise if it is just someone with general PC abilities to assist in the opening/removal/replacement, then a cachecard+512mb and whatever massive drive that one of the nice gents here sells preloaded with Tivo/network/etc software as then its just a pull/replace for the HDs and a simple wiggling of the cachecard into its socket/place.


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## ...coolstream (Dec 10, 2005)

Although it it relatively simple to do this job, it is not the easiest one to do given that it is your first.

The case lid is a tight fit and once inside, it requires some intricate work (whereas most PCs are easier due to less restrive space). If you have big fingers, you might find it harder than others.

The biggest change I would make to instructions I have found is to NOT attempt to open the case on a worktop (at eye level). Instead, I chose to do this part with the case on the floor on a carpetted surface. This allows you to use some downward pressure on a surface that will not allow the case to slide away from you!

Once the case is opened, the area you are working on is tight, so plan your moves in your head and don't just dive in gung ho. Remember too that you will be near to the power supply, so obviously have the machine switched off for about an hour before you start. (This will allow the charge to disperse -just in case you should touch a part that you shouldn't).

The card has a socket on it that you would connect the ethernet cable to. You might find it easier to connect the cable to the card before you seat the card in the socket on the tivo board. (due to the cramped space).

Once you have seated the card, you have to feed the cable from inside the case to outside the case.

My instructions talked about an obvious hole to do this through. I could see the hole but also saw that when the case lid would be refitted, there was a lug that tried to cover this very hole. A small hacksaw was required to remove this lug (leaving a piece of metal just smaller than 1cm square).

I used cable that is fitted with a moulded sheath. Carefully loosening the sheath (but not removing it) allowed me to slide it along the cable from the point that it connects to the card to the point that the cable leaves the case. It is a snug fit, and allows the cable to sit in the slot snugly. It also prevents the cable from rubbing against the sides of the hole and protects tivo from intruding objects and gives a more professional finish to the job!

Changing HDs is easier especially if you have purchsed a pre-configured drive. The first person to reply to your post in this thread, will be able to help you purchase such a drive. I bought mine from him and was very satisfied with his 'next day' service!

Unfortunately I am in Scotland, so unless you fancied a 'weekend away' I wouldn't be able to help you anymore than with words of encouragement, but if it would be of any help, you could PM me for my phone number.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do!


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## Cainam (May 25, 2004)

> I could see the hole but also saw that when the case lid would be refitted, there was a lug that tried to cover this very hole. A small hacksaw was required to remove this lug (leaving a piece of metal just smaller than 1cm square).


 I just bent the lug up about 45 degrees to give the cable room to come out, no hacksaw necessary


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## ...coolstream (Dec 10, 2005)

Cainam said:


> I just bent the lug up about 45 degrees to give the cable room to come out, no hacksaw necessary


That's true, but since the moulding from the cable was the same size, removing the tab allowed the shielding to fit more securely and give a more professional finish


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## Ben Lovejoy (Mar 14, 2003)

I don't think I'll worry about a professional finish - the only person to see the back of my Tivo is the cat, when he crawls behind the TV in search of spiders.


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## Ben Lovejoy (Mar 14, 2003)

Thanks to all for encouragement, advice and offers of help. In the end, an ex-PC engineer friend did it for me, but having watched him do it I think I'd feel confident doing it another time.

I'm perfectly content with Basic quality (much of it will end up being converted to MPG and watched on my laptop anyway), so 361 hours should keep me going for a while. :-D


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## ...coolstream (Dec 10, 2005)

Glad to hear you got the job done successfully.

Watching someone else is so much more inspiring than mere text


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## Ben Lovejoy (Mar 14, 2003)

Thanks, and yes - in fact, a video of the installation process would be quite a handy thing if someone fancies a little project. 

The only time-consuming thing we found is I'd glanced at the default IP address for the network card, thought 'That's on my network so is fine' and it took a while to realise that my router was 192.168.*0*.1 and the Tivo was at 192.168.*1*.200. Once we figured that out, though, it was plain sailing.

Steve had preconfigured everything, including setting TyServer to run on startup, so as soon as we got the router changed to .1. I was immediately able to do a 10-second test-recording and pull it off onto my laptop. 

Ben


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## The Obo (Feb 22, 2005)

Ben Lovejoy said:


> I'm perfectly content with Basic quality


I think that's the first time I have ever heard anyone say that!!!


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## Ben Lovejoy (Mar 14, 2003)

The Obo said:


> I think that's the first time I have ever heard anyone say that!!!


Hehe. There are things in life where the quality is very important to me, but TV ain't one of them. The main reason for the Tivo upgrade is to be able to pull stuff onto my laptop to watch while travelling. That is never going to be at high quality, and as that's how 95% of my TV viewing will be done[1], it seems pointless to record at any higher quality.

Ben

[1] I currently watch TV once a month. People get confused about why I have a TV gadget when I'm such a rare TV viewer, but for me that's the whole point of Tivo - I get to decide when I'm in the mood for TV and exactly what I want to watch. Until we have true unlimited video on demand, Tivo is the closest thing. However, now I can transfer stuff to my laptop to watch on trains and planes, I'll probably watch a fair bit more.


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