# Moving Drives from TCD240040 to TCD649080



## nvt (Aug 19, 2003)

I have looked for previous answers on this question but did not find it exactly (btw the new feature that searches for similar info based on the title of the new post is great)

This thread talks about moving drives from one Tivo to another which seems to answer my question that no matter what you cannot just put one set of HD from different model Tivo into another

This thread talks about using images from different machines and suggests they are incompatible

I bought the original TCD240040 some time back and did my own upgrade with x2 120Gb drives (that seems small now but at the time it was big). This unit was having problems so I sent it to Weaknees for upgrade (this is a long and not a happy story which I plan on posting). Turns out it was power supply issues and that was replaced and they also put in a single new drive. I have my two old drives that worked and want to upgrade my dual tuner unit with minimal effort. This is mainly because I have difficulty finding a machine that I can boot from the Tivo tool CDs effectively from and get it to recognize the plugged drives.

So - is it possible to just pull the old drive and replace the two HD's from the TCD240040 and place this in the untouched TCD649080. I know I loose all the recordings and need to dual drive bracket but that's all fine.

If not is there specific tools to carry out the upgrade for different models and will it deal with the fact these are not clean virgin drives?
Should I run a diagnostic HD utility and do a low level format and check disk function (if so should I find a Maxtor utility or is there one better suited for Tivo that comes as part of any new CD)
Thanks,


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

To move drives from one TiVo to another, you need to meet these requirements:
1. The first three (3) digits of the TiVo Serial Number (TSN) must match. The TSN is always in format XXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX. For instance, a TCD240040 will have a TSN of 240-000X-XXXX-XXXX. So, a drive in a model TCD240040 will work in a TCD24004A. But the drive from a TCD240xxx will NOT work in a model TCD649080.
2. The size of the donor drive must be at least as large as the original drive in the TiVo. So if you try to put a 40GB drive from a TCD240040 into a TCD240080, it will not work. The original drive in a model TCD240080 is an 80GB drive. However, the 80GB drive will work in the TCD240040, which originally had a 40GB drive.

In either case, the shows recorded on the donor drives cannot be view on the new TiVo. They are encrypted with a key specific to the TiVo that recorded them. When you move a drive to a new TiVo, you MUST run the Clear and Delete Everything (C&DE) to marry the drive to the motherboard.

In order to be able to use the drives from your model 240 in your model 649, you have to install the correct version of the software for that model. You can do this by purchasing a copy of Instant Cake for the model 649 from DVRupgrade.com for $20. Or you can use the free mfstools found at www.mfslive.org to copy the image onto the drives. But you'll have to get a compatible image of the hard drive.

Again, this will destroy the shows on the drives you will eventually put in the model 649.

Sorry for the long winded response, but there are subtle things when moving drives around to different models.

Good luck,
robomeister


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

... this statement is actually not correct:



> 2. The size of the donor drive must be at least as large as the original drive in the TiVo. So if you try to put a 40GB drive from a TCD240040 into a TCD240080, it will not work. The original drive in a model TCD240080 is an 80GB drive. However, the 80GB drive will work in the TCD240040, which originally had a 40GB drive.


In actuality, a drive from any TCD240 system will work in any other TCD240 unit, and as you did state, the recordings cannot be moved across the units. I think you may have meant to say that an IMAGE backed up from a TCD240080 will not fit on the original 40GB drive of a TCD2400404 unit as original drives, when backed up, need to be restored to drives of equal or greater size...

... with all of that said, it really doesn't matter given the original question, but I did want to clear that up in case people were scratching their heads on that one.

Note to the OP... ANY drive that you are working with, new or old, should have the manufacturer's diagnostics run on it; no sense in putting any effort into moving drives into another TiVo without knowing whether they might have an existing problem ahead of time!

Cheers,
Lou


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## KRKeegan (Jul 20, 2004)

Sorry to HiJack your question, but I have a similar question to ask as well.

*1. Is there any way to copy season pass and tivo suggestion data from one TiVo HD to another TiVo HD?*

I am asking because my roommate wants to keep my TiVo HD and buy me a replacement TiVo HD rather than deal with having the cable company come out and move the cable cards from one TiVo HD to the other.

I would like to copy my 40+ season passes and all of my tivo suggestion data over. But it sounds like I have to run a "Clear Everything and Delete" to marry the new drive. Won't this also clear my season pass and suggestion data?


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

KRKeegan said:


> Sorry to HiJack your question, but I have a similar question to ask as well.
> 
> *1. Is there any way to copy season pass and tivo suggestion data from one TiVo HD to another TiVo HD?*
> 
> ...


No, you won't be able to do that for the very reason you described (unless there is some trick I don't know about).

One of the things we recommend to our customers, for making it easier to recreate season passes, is to take a few digital pix of your season passes before performing your upgrade. That will make it much easier to create things from scratch. Of course, you'll need to create some 'wishlists' for any shows not currently listed in the guide, but it will still work...


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## aztex999 (Jan 8, 2009)

tivoupgrade said:


> . . . .
> One of the things we recommend to our customers, for making it easier to recreate season passes, is to take a few digital pix of your season passes before performing your upgrade....


Call me Old School, but I took out a pen and a piece of paper and wrote them all down. I also added an edited second column, after realizing that some shows had been canceled, and my prioritization order needed a little tweaking. After installing the new drive, just go down the list creating Passes.

By all means, though, create _some_ kind of a copy. Otherwise, you might forget about shows that are not currently running new episodes (_Rescue Me_, _Real Time With Bill Maher, Curb Your Enthusiasm_ come to mind in my case). And don't forget the Wish Lists.


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