# Maxtor Diamondmax & Series 2...



## Chip Moody (Nov 3, 2004)

Hey everybody... Haven't been here in a while - upgraded my Series 1 several years back, and now it's time for Tivo #2.

I've got a brand new 200 Gig Diamondmax drive that it turns out I >don't< need for a computer project, and as luck would have it, a friend that is giving me his 40 Gig Tivo-brand series 2 Tivo. (It's about a year old)

I'm considering making this 200 Gig drive the only drive in this unit - I'm assuming I can hook it and the stock 40 Gig drive to my PC and run utilities that'll make the 200 a functional "A" drive? Anything I should look out for or be aware of?

Thanks,
- Chip


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## azitnay (Jan 20, 2003)

Just be sure you have TiVo software version 5.x or higher, and that you use one of the LBA48-compatible boot CDs.

Drew


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## BobCamp1 (May 15, 2002)

DiamondMax 10 drives don't seem to work in Tivos. It needs to be Diamondmax 9 drive or earlier.


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## Chip Moody (Nov 3, 2004)

BobCamp1 said:


> DiamondMax 10 drives don't seem to work in Tivos. It needs to be Diamondmax 9 drive or earlier.


 Ya' gotta be kidding me... 

Okay, how 'bout a 250 Gig Maxtor MaXLine Plus II (7Y250P0)

Thanks,

- Chip


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## fredfillis (Sep 25, 2002)

Check this thread for a start.


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## BobCamp1 (May 15, 2002)

Chip Moody said:


> Ya' gotta be kidding me...
> 
> Okay, how 'bout a 250 Gig Maxtor MaXLine Plus II (7Y250P0)
> 
> ...


Well, I think it will work. The only way to know is to try it! Please let me know if it works.


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## Chip Moody (Nov 3, 2004)

BobCamp1 said:


> Well, I think it will work. The only way to know is to try it! Please let me know if it works.


 Okay, I'm getting that drive ready to try, so I'll let you know how it works out.

I just took posession of the Tivo itself this morning. It's a TCD24004A, running version 7 of the software.

Do I need to worry about the size of the hard drive I put in to this unit? I thought all series 2 units could handle drives larger than 120 megs, but a few things I've read here have me concerned...

Thanks for all the help everyone. I'm not exactly a n00b, but I guess I feel pretty close to it.

- Chip


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## BobCamp1 (May 15, 2002)

The version of software in your Tivo already supports the large hard drives. Just use the PTVUpgrade CD, because it supports LBA48. Download it here:

http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/software/lba48/lba_4.01_license.html


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## Chip Moody (Nov 3, 2004)

Well, I'm honestly suprised that from the time I took the screws off the back of my Tivo to the time I had it in place in my bedroom and all hooked up was under two hours. That included taking the 40 gig drive out, doing the transfer from it to the 250 gig, then putting everything back.

So far so good - thanks for the help!!

- Chip


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## ashu (Nov 8, 2002)

Chip Moody said:


> Well, I'm honestly suprised that from the time I took the screws off the back of my Tivo to the time I had it in place in my bedroom and all hooked up was under two hours. That included taking the 40 gig drive out, doing the transfer from it to the 250 gig, then putting everything back.
> 
> So far so good - thanks for the help!!
> 
> - Chip


So I'm assuming you DIDN'T bother trying the DiamondMax 10 (200GB) drive? I'm looking at getting a 100GB drive in that series to rescue a dying B drive in a 120_80 configuration on my 240xxxx.


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## Chip Moody (Nov 3, 2004)

Correct - on the advice of Bob Camp, I went with the 250 gig drive instead of the DM10. (And hey, the extra 50 gigs doesn't hurt) 

- Chip


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## ashu (Nov 8, 2002)

Durn and dingjam it 
I picked up the $20 100 Gigger anyway. It'll go into a PC< and I'll see whether my DRT800's rescued (it has a 300 Seagate now) 80Gigger has enough bits for a DD from the failing drive  It's 5400RPM and 2MB cache, so it *should* run nice and cool. Hopefully.


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## spursnut (Sep 27, 2005)

So does anyone have actual evidence of someone attempting to use the Diamondmax in a Series2? (Not doubting you, BobCamp1, I just want to know that someone actually tried it and failed). I'd like to buy that 100/120 GB Maxtor that's on sale now...


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## ashu (Nov 8, 2002)

I bought it anyway. If I can't dd my dying 80 to a spare 80GB I have lying around, then I'll be trying this one. I'm hoping the former option works, however, as my other drive in this 2-drive unit is another 120Gb Maxtor DM 9 power-sucker. I have a feeling, that even with a PowerTrip delaying the spin up on these two, the pair will draw more juice than my Power Supply can handle.


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## snoop (Oct 10, 2002)

I returned my diamondmax 200GB that I couldnt get to work in a directivo R10. Seagate 160GB worked fine. The maxtor gave me "Not recorded - no signal" when playing a recording, then would play it. Menus were slow. Had unrepeating stuttering on playback. Would reboot itself every couple of days. Very strange.


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## spursnut (Sep 27, 2005)

OK, so I contacted Maxtor about DiamondMax10 / Series2. Here's their reply:

Thank you for sending your MAXTOR E-mail inquiry.

Maxtor DiamondMax 10 drives can be used in DVRs and there are no incompatibility issues, but our normal drives are not optimized for digital video recording. If you wish to get a Maxtor drive to add to your DVR, I suggest getting one of our QuickView drives. The best place I've found to purchase our QuickView drives is the following link.

(link to weaknees)


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## Kevin L (Jan 10, 2002)

From what I understand, the DM10 drives either don't have AAM or at least you can't use AMSET to change it to quiet. The DM9 drives work fine, and if set to quiet, are great in a TiVo. Not set to quiet, though, they are very loud when seeking, which is almost always.


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## johnsmithtivo (Dec 29, 2004)

Amset worked for me for both DiamondMax 10 and DiamondMax 9 Plus just a couple days ago. I have one of each in my TiVo -- so far, so good.


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## Kevin L (Jan 10, 2002)

That's good to hear that amset works on the DM10s, too, John. Without AAM set to quiet, these drives are way too noisy for a DVR.


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

I tried a DM10 160GB drive in BOTH a S1 & S2 and it would not work, it would stutter every 2 seconds or so. Dropped in WD and Seagate without ANY problems in the same units. Maxtor may say they work but there are alot of us who tried and they don't.


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

Earlier DM10 drives work fine -- I have two of those in my TiVos. Maxtor changed something in recent model(s) of DM10 that causes the stuttering problem. Another user reported that upgrading the TiVo OS to 7.x "solved" the stuttering issue. I don't have personal experience with that because I returned the stuttering drives right away.


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## KFJTivo (Sep 21, 2005)

I just got done swapping out a 200gb DM10 from an R10. It did "work" but the stuttering drove me to change it (not every 2 seconds, but frequent enough to be annoying). It was also very noisy! I've since put in a Seagate and it's much quieter with no stutter.


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## msw323 (Oct 30, 2003)

johnsmithtivo said:


> Amset worked for me for both DiamondMax 10 and DiamondMax 9 Plus just a couple days ago. I have one of each in my TiVo -- so far, so good.


Can Amset be used after it has been in the Tivo? i.e. can I just pull out the drive, hook it up to the PC, run Amset and return it back?


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

yes


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## johnsmithtivo (Dec 29, 2004)

Everytime that I've used amset I've also used MFStools, so I don't know for sure, but don't see any reason why amset won't do its magic on its own. Anyone?

I have a 200GB DM10 and a 200GB DM9+ in there and can't hear a thing.

(Edit: Thanks C3! Boy, am I a slow typist!)


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

johnsmithtivo said:


> (Edit: Thanks C3! Boy, am I a slow typist!)


To be fair, I only typed one short word.


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## Kevin L (Jan 10, 2002)

I'll second and third c3 and John. Yes, it can be done after it's been in the TiVo without doing anything else. In fact, I didn't even take the drives out of the TiVo. Just disconnected the power and IDE cables and hooked up cables from the PC. Remember, if you're running WinXP or Win2K on your PC, do NOT boot into the OS with the TiVo drives connected. For safety sake, just disconnect the PC's drive and boot to DOS with the floppy you hace amset on.


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## sigma957 (Nov 3, 2001)

spursnut said:


> So does anyone have actual evidence of someone attempting to use the Diamondmax in a Series2? (Not doubting you, BobCamp1, I just want to know that someone actually tried it and failed). I'd like to buy that 100/120 GB Maxtor that's on sale now...


Yes, this problem is well documented. I personally had problems when I added a Maxtor Diamondmax 10 drive to my HR10-250. It's not that the upgrade 'fails'. Everything worked fine for a couple of days until I got enough recordings on the Tivo that it started to use both drives. The video would then pause every 10-15 seconds when playing back recorded shows. I exchanged the drive for a WD and have not had any problems since. If you look at the eletrical specs for the Maxtor drives you'll see that they require considerably more 12V current when spinning up than just about any other manufacturer's drives. It is likely that the Tivo power supply, which is much smaller than a typical PC power supply, simply can't handle it.


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## johnsmithtivo (Dec 29, 2004)

sigma957 said:


> Everything worked fine for a couple of days until I got enough recordings on the Tivo that it started to use both drives. The video would then pause every 10-15 seconds when playing back recorded shows.


This is what I'm afraid will happen to me, but maybe I'll stay lucky.  Is it possible to know which drive the TiVo is filling up now? This is my setup:

Master: 200GB DiamondMax 10, Model 6L200R0
Slave: 200GB DiamondMax Plus 9, Model 6Y200P0

So far, so good, but I'm no where near filling up one drive yet. I'm trying! I'm trying!


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

Not related to power requirement. You would have the same problem even if that's the only drive in the system, and the drive is spun up already anyway.


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## jamoke (Oct 5, 2003)

For what it's worth:

I've been running Maxtor Diamondmax 10 drives in two seperate DTivos for about three months now with absolutely no problems.

Drives = Maxtor 6B200P0 (200GB)

Tivos= HDVR2 & RCA-DVR40

I ran the AM utility on both drives at install and both are quiet.

Performance has been rock solid and both Tivos have HMO and MRV hacks.

I don't know if I have just been lucky or if there is a bit of Maxtor Panic out there.

I'd have no problem installing another if the price was right.

Just my 2 cents.


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

There is no Maxtor Panic. It's a fact. Older versions of DM10 work fine out of the box -- I have two of them. Newer versions of DM10 have this problem.


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## ashu (Nov 8, 2002)

Well, I got lazy and returned the incredible deal Maxtor 10 (120GB for 20 after two $4 rebates) and picked up a 90-10% Hitachi 250 (or is it 300?) which is now en route. And NO rebates.

Hopefully I can freeze the dying slave 80GB drive before I do a mfsbackup from the 120+80 combo to the new 250/300 Hitachi. And this also means I can go with a single drive solution. On an aging TiVo/power supply - this may be a very smart idea.


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## SJAndrew (Sep 30, 2005)

Please post back your experience with the Hitachi drive - I'm looking at using the same one. I have one in my computer (a SATA model) and it's been fantastic - quiet, cool, and fast.


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## ashu (Nov 8, 2002)

I read the newegg reviews (its the basic 7K250, 250GB) and bought from buy.com combining discounts, coupons and free shipping. The reviews are certainly impressive, notwithstanding the wimps who think it still uses IBM 'Deathstar' technology 

A number of reviews on storagereviews is giving this family of drives (the 7K250 and T7K250 or something like that) among their highest marks/rankings. I'd consider tehse second only to Seagates  Of course, a Seagate deal at outpost now has the 300 for 99.99 (albeit after a 40 rebate) and free shipping. Que sera, sera.

All my testing and constant reboots with the TiVo open are revealing that the DiamondMax 9 120GB that is the primary drive is also quite noisy and gets VERY hot. I'll be happy to move that into a well-ventilated PC case as an add-on drive  No more Maxtors for me.


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## SJAndrew (Sep 30, 2005)

I share your low opinion of Maxtors.

Do you have any concern about the heat on a 7200 RPM Hitachi?


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## Michael R (Oct 10, 2000)

BobCamp1 said:


> DiamondMax 10 drives don't seem to work in Tivos. It needs to be Diamondmax 9 drive or earlier.


The one I bought from Hinsdale works or at least it has for the last two days since I installed it. Time will tell.


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

spursnut said:


> OK, so I contacted Maxtor about DiamondMax10 / Series2. Here's their reply:
> 
> Thank you for sending your MAXTOR E-mail inquiry.
> 
> Maxtor DiamondMax 10 drives can be used in DVRs and there are no incompatibility issues, but our normal drives are not optimized for digital video recording. If you wish to get a Maxtor drive to add to your DVR, I suggest getting one of our QuickView drives.


Obviously just a coincidence that the 'normal' drives start having problems now that the much more expensive 'quickview' drives are available....


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## ashu (Nov 8, 2002)

SJAndrew said:


> I share your low opinion of Maxtors.
> 
> Do you have any concern about the heat on a 7200 RPM Hitachi?


I'm optimistic. buy.com's return policy (like most online stores) sucks, so I'm stuck with it. Gets here by Friday. Upgrade over the weeeknd, hopefully - with a full mfsbackup | restore from the dying drive.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

What line are the maxtor retail kits that go by L01PX00 like L01P120, L01P200, L01R300?

I have done a few upgrades for people with these drives and I am starting to hear complaints. Boy this sucks, I will have to swap them with another brand.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

Also anyone know what exact maxtor models are ok and which are not, or a general idea? I have heard complaints about the 300GB/16MB buffer and a recent 120GB (bonus offered in a 100GB box) with 8mb buffer.


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## PaulaBerge (Dec 6, 2002)

How can you tell if a Maxtor is a DiamondMax 10?

I bought a Maxtor Ultra16, 250 gb, 7200 rpm, Ultra ATA/133.

The side sticker says DiamondMax but no number after it.

There is a sideways number on the sticker that says R6L6. 

Another line says KIT: L01R250

It's been running for about 36 hours. I noticed some freezing after it was installed, reset the digital cable box hoping that was the problem, and haven't seen any freezing since.


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

PaulaBerge said:


> How can you tell if a Maxtor is a DiamondMax 10?


It's printed on the drive label. If you don't get stuttering problem every few seconds when you watch live TV, you're most likely OK.


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## PaulaBerge (Dec 6, 2002)

c3 said:


> It's printed on the drive label. If you don't get stuttering problem every few seconds when you watch live TV, you're most likely OK.


Thanks C3, I'm going to take it apart tonight, put another fan in and cross my fingers.

I won't be taking this chance again.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

PaulaBerge said:


> Thanks C3, I'm going to take it apart tonight, put another fan in and cross my fingers.
> 
> I won't be taking this chance again.


You have a DiamondMax 10 there....

http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/data_sheets/diamondmax_10_data_sheet.pdf

I would suggest replacing it now rather than later. Sucks, happened to me too with the 300GB drives.


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## AquaX (Mar 4, 2003)

PaulaBerge said:


> How can you tell if a Maxtor is a DiamondMax 10?
> 
> I bought a Maxtor Ultra16, 250 gb, 7200 rpm, Ultra ATA/133.
> 
> ...


I picked up one of the L01R250 drives at CompUSA today, and yes, it is a DiamondMax 10. Model 6L250R0. So it may exhibit the problems that others have reported.

Mine is going in my computer, and my 200GB Seagate is going in the TiVo, primarily because the extra 50GB would be better used on my computer, but also to avoid any potential problems.


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## PaulaBerge (Dec 6, 2002)

jshorr said:


> You have a DiamondMax 10 there....
> 
> http://www.maxtor.com/_files/maxtor/en_us/documentation/data_sheets/diamondmax_10_data_sheet.pdf
> 
> I would suggest replacing it now rather than later. Sucks, happened to me too with the 300GB drives.


It still seems to be working, I think since we have the backup, I'll just let it go for awhile and see what happens. I have another S2 running so I'll record anything I don't want to lose to that.

AquaX, that's a good idea, I'm going to watch the sales and then replace the Maxtor - my husband and I are still trying to recover from the upgrade.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

Any more news on this front? I believe I read something on another thread about power consumption, the drive pulling too much power for the tivo power supply......would there maybe be something relating to the power management of the drive inside the Hitachi Feature tool that could be adjusted? It's a shame we can't use these new DiamondMax 10's because they are priced well.


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## PaulaBerge (Dec 6, 2002)

jshorr said:


> Any more news on this front? I believe I read something on another thread about power consumption, the drive pulling too much power for the tivo power supply......would there maybe be something relating to the power management of the drive inside the Hitachi Feature tool that could be adjusted? It's a shame we can't use these new DiamondMax 10's because they are priced well.


We're still using the one we put in and it's working fine, didn't put the twin breeze fan in either (too lazy) and the temp, although a few degrees higher, is still in the normal range. Maybe Maxtor changed something, maybe it's hit or miss, I don't know.


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

jshorr said:


> Any more news on this front? I believe I read something on another thread about power consumption, the drive pulling too much power for the tivo power supply......would there maybe be something relating to the power management of the drive inside the Hitachi Feature tool that could be adjusted? It's a shame we can't use these new DiamondMax 10's because they are priced well.


This problem has nothing to do with power consumption. It sounds like Maxtor has fixed this issue, so just make sure you buy from a place where you can return the drive without charge.

Based on the datasheet specs, the new Seagate 7200.9 series up to 300GB should be great for DVR application. Quiet and 5-year warranty.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

C3,

Can you elaborate any on Maxtor fixing the issue or link me to the thread? I did not hear about that. I would up with the freeze issue and just gave up on DM10's.

I don't mean to set off any HD arguments but my 7200.8 300GB in my RS-TX20 has very loud seeks..


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

I don't have links for you. Just going by my feeling that not many people have reported problems with DM10 in the recent months. As long as there is no charge for returning the drive, just try it.

I was going to put a 7200.8 300GB in my TiVo for the Olympics, but I couldn't stand the seek noise, so I just returned it (30 minutes ago). Haven't seen 7200.9 300GB yet.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

Heh maybe people stopped trying 



c3 said:


> I don't have links for you. Just going by my feeling that not many people have reported problems with DM10 in the recent months. As long as there is no charge for returning the drive, just try it.
> 
> I was going to put a 7200.8 300GB in my TiVo for the Olympics, but I couldn't stand the seek noise, so I just returned it (30 minutes ago). Haven't seen 7200.9 300GB yet.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

Anyone else? Anyone been using the latest Maxtor drive's in TiVo's without issue?


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

Bumping this one more time, any more information on it? I'd love to pick up a 300GB DM10 to use, if the problems have been fixed....


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## RCY (Aug 12, 2005)

You probably already saw my experience. I just bought a DiamondMax 300gb Ultra 16, 7200 rpm, 16mb cache. Initial results are good, with the exception of a bit of noise. There is another thread where a utility is suggested for that. If I'm able to try that, I'll post results here.

Paid $89 for the 300gb drive at Fry's here in SoCal.


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## RCY (Aug 12, 2005)

After some searching and following bad links, I was able to find a copy of Maxtor's AMSET utility. I was able to set the drive to "quiet" mode, and the drive is much quieter. :up:


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

I just tried a DM 10 200GB that I picked up at Staples last week and sure enough I had the freezing problem. The drive was manufactured in December 2005. I was hoping that the probelms were gone but I was wrong! I replaced it with a WD 200GB drive and all is well. I just sold the DM10 on Ebay and I'll make $10.00 ( As long as the rebate shows!)


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

buddhawood, if you still have the drive, what's the firmware version? Maybe the TLA number as well. I'll post mine when I get home (one that works fine).


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## buddhawood (Oct 9, 2000)

c3 said:


> buddhawood, if you still have the drive, what's the firmware version? Maybe the TLA number as well. I'll post mine when I get home (one that works fine).


sorry, it's gone


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

This DM10 200GB works:

TLA: 6L200P0041L11
firmware: BAJ41G20
mfg. date: 1/11/2006


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

Anyone tried any recent DM10 300GB's, possibly manufacturered in 2006? L01R300.


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## RCY (Aug 12, 2005)

Yes, mine is an L01R300 kit, no clue the build date, since it's in my DTIVO. Bought it last weekend at Fry's electronics in SoCal. Used the Weaknees iso and it seems to be working fine. I did have to use the utility AMSET to quiet the drive. YMMV


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

That is very good news, I am buying one from outpost so hopefully it will be exactly the same. Can you give me the drive TLA number and firmware?


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

FYI, I am going to try within the week my new DM10 300GB, TLA is 6L300R0061M11 , mfg 2/13/06. Pretty nice that it went from the factory to my door in 30 days, nice fresh drives from Outpost.com


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## SethC (Mar 31, 2005)

Pardon me for not searching for this answer but these Maxtor hard drives are SATA how do they work in the Tivo? I thought the interface in the Tivo was PATA?


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

????? We're talking about PATA drives, not SATA drives.


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## SethC (Mar 31, 2005)

I did a search on outpost for L01R300 and it came up with a SATA drive. I can't seem to find a 300gb PATA from Maxtor at Outpost


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## 1283 (Sep 8, 2000)

Searching for L01R300 at outpost.com does not return anything. It doesn't give you SATA. L01R300 is PATA by definition.


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

They had them on super sale for 79.99, no rebate and free shipping......I got in one two


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

Finally got around to testing the 300GB and it works great.......

Retail Kit: L01R300
TLA: 6L300R0061M11
firmware: BAJ41G20
mfg. date: 2/13/2006 

I will be testing a 500GB shortly...I am pleased....I have always liked Maxtor drives.....


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## jshorr (Mar 29, 2005)

I'm on my first test with the Maxtor 500GB, it's actually a DiamondMax 11. I must say I've never used a drive this big before...I am nearly certain I prepared it with -s 300 and then used TPIP. I must say, I find the menu to be running slower than I've ever noticed before. Yes it's running the data load right now but it seems quite a bit slower than the 300GB. Does this sound normal maybe, did I do something wrong or does it not like this drive? When I change menus I actually see it drawing the white menu border around the screen before the menu comes up. What do you think?

Edit: Well so far it seems ok, it is recording live TV, loading the data, and I'm transferring & watching a multi-room program....have not seen any stuttering....I think the menus are pretty slow on my Toshiba RS-TX20 as well with a 300GB drive but it's less noticeable because the menu doesn't really have a solid border. Looks like this drive is working well.


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## JYoung (Jan 16, 2002)

Just as an additional data point,
I've had problems with the Diamondmax 10s (2005s) in pcs as well.
On systems that format and recognize other vendors large drives (137 GB +) just fine, I've been having problems with the 137 GB limit with the DiamondMax. I suspect that had a lot to do with the TiVo issue.
I'm upgrading the BIOS in my server this weekend so I may try it in there.


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