# Correct process steps going from S2 to TivoHD to upgrade?



## ted_b (Mar 8, 2002)

I have a couple Tivos currently in the house, which is wired for networking. I know Tivo well, but not upgrading. I am replacing a Series Two and it's 32 inch Sony tv with a TivoHD and a new flat panel HDTV, and wanted to upgrade the TivoHD too, and add a MyDVR expander. I have purchased all of the above, but the tv and the new WD10EVCS aren't here yet. The Series Two will be put out to pasture as a non-serviced, but network'd Tivo (for now). I'll transfer my service to the TivoHD and use the Series 2 to simply store the current archived stuff until i move it over. Is this the right order to proceed?:

Step 1: force Series 2 update so I have a fresh two weeks of guide info to record off of, just in case, and also move it to the basement tv and an internet connection down there (for future sharing).

Step 2: get the new flat panel in and set up, then transfer the Tivo service to the TivoHD and do an initial guided setup to insure all warrantied non-upgraded stuff is working, preparing for cable card install visit..

Step 3: get cableco to come in and do successful cable card install (WOW cable in NE Ohio), asking him/her to bring multiple cards just in case.

Step 4: using WinMFS (and great FAQ tutorial steps in eSata FAQ, etc.) do the WD10EVCS internal 1TB upgrade/swap and move over any initial recordings made, then reconstruct TivoHD box and reconnect.

Step 5: connect MyDVR expander as eSata, making sure it runs ok.

Are steps 4 and 5 corrrect or should I do MyDVR stuff first before upgrade? Will cable card info carry over fine with a correct version of WinMFS? Should upgrade go before cable card install? Shoot any holes...

thx
Ted


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

You can transfer only while both boxes are subscribed to the tivo service. Without Tivo service, there wouldn't be any guide to record from. The THD will work on any TV, HD or not. Step 4 and 5 are not correct, they need to be both hooked to the computer and MFSADD them (because it would be a modified THD).


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## ted_b (Mar 8, 2002)

ThAbtO said:


> You can transfer only while both boxes are subscribed to the tivo service. Without Tivo service, there wouldn't be any guide to record from. The THD will work on any TV, HD or not. Step 4 and 5 are not correct, they need to be both hooked to the computer and MFSADD them (because it would be a modified THD).


ThAbtO,
Thanks. Your first sentence is two issues to me, sorry for the mixup. I'm confused as to why I can't transfer old shows while both Tivos are on my net. Do i need Tivo service just to see them? If so, alternatively, couldn't I move those few shows to the PC, while S2 is in service, then transfer service, and move show back to TivoHD? Your other statement about the guide....I simply meant that once I had two weeks of guide my S2 Tivo should be able to record those shows after being orphaned, right? It just needs Tivo service for the guide, then it will run out.

OOPs, I see that the stock MyDVR doesn't work on a TivoHD that has an upgraded hard drive with out "upgrading" it also...thanks. Guess i should have just bought another esata drive and done my own?? Oh well.

So..in the FAQ (that I obviously didn't read well enough or I'd have known about my stock MyDVR issue) I see this:

_13. Disconnect the original TiVo drive. Keep your new internal drive connected and connect the drive that you will use in an eSATA enclosure. If you are connecting a retail eSATA drive to the SATA port on your PC, you will need a SATA -> eSATA cable such as the SIIG CB-SA0311-S1 (Buy.com, TheNerds.net, or ProVantage.com) or the PPA Int'l 3848 (Newegg.com)._

If my PC has it's own external esata connection can I assume that I can use that for the addition of the MyDVR drive for this mfsadd process, even though the newly upgraded internal drive is connected via SATA?

Thx


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Basically you cannot do much of anything without the service except watch live tv and the already recorded shows.


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## nigebj (Sep 8, 2004)

ThAbtO said:


> Basically you cannot do much of anything without the service except watch live tv and the already recorded shows.


So MRV 'phones home' does it ? Interesting, I'd assumed that provided a machine was taken off the WAN, it would still be able to MRV, but would never get any form of service update. Guess it makes sense for their subsidized hardware model though.


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## ted_b (Mar 8, 2002)

Well, I decided to take my MyDVR and use it plug-n-play for my SA 8300HD (since it's in the theater room and I need the extra hrs for movies, and the 1TB upgrade on my TivoHD will get me by for quite awhile in the family room); so I did the 1TB WDEVCS upgrade tonight on my TivoHD. The cable cards were installed successfully this afternoon so it was time. The upgrade went perfectly, MFSCopy took like 8 minutes (since I had only about 6 hrs of transferred-and-edited-thru-VideoreDo SD on there so far) and now all is well. I have a 142 hr (HD recording capacity) HDTivo. Thanks for all the help!


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## ciper (Nov 4, 2004)

Why don't you return the expander and use the money to buy a larger external drive?


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## ted_b (Mar 8, 2002)

ciper said:


> Why don't you return the expander and use the money to buy a larger external drive?


Because I need the added capacity on my SA 8300 and it is plug-n-play there; since I upgraded my internal TivoHD drive it became NOT plug-n-play for Tivo. The added capacity (for my 110" big screen movie recordings) is fine. I got it for $99 so I'm happy with the results. And frankly I've no clue or interest in how to create a larger non-verified e-sata disk for WOW's own SA 8300HD-DVR. If I need added capacity for the TivoHD I'll check the market at that time and do the MFSAdd thing again. Thx
Ted


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## Ben_Jamin75 (Dec 18, 2003)

nigebj said:


> So MRV 'phones home' does it ? Interesting, I'd assumed that provided a machine was taken off the WAN, it would still be able to MRV, but would never get any form of service update. Guess it makes sense for their subsidized hardware model though.


The "problem" with this is all of your boxes keep a list of what other boxes they can talk to. The old box doesn't have the new box on it's list and if you let it phone home to get the updated list, it will find out it's not subscribed anymore

I just tried the same thing last night with no luck. I swapped out a S2DT for a TiVoHD. It took several forced calls to get the box to update the software to v11 and show a,a,a in the system info screen under TiVoToGo.

Even with that on the info screen, my lifetime'd TiVoHD and the new box wouldn't talk to each other. The both boxes reported that the other didn't have any recordings. It wasn't until this morning after ANOTHER forced call that the new box recognized it had been named on tivo.com.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

This is the upgrade/expansion forum http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784


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