# Is my thought process correct?



## Duf (Aug 31, 2002)

My neighbor has a Tivo Series 2 with a lifetime subscription. A little while ago it developed what I assume to be a drive problem as it won't go past the Tivo "Powering up..." screen. Am I correct that the lifetime sub is tied to hard coded number in the box and not anything loaded on the hard drive?

If so, I am wondering if I would be able to pull an image of my spare, decommissioned Series 2 with WinMFS load it on to a different HDD, slap it back into my neighbor's Series 2 and have his lifetime sub still in place?

I think this will work but I wanted to run it by the guru's here first.


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

Yes, lifetime is tied to the main circuit board, not the hard drive.

The image can only be used, usually, only if the 2 units are identical. Usually need to be the same model numbers. A 540040 image can be used on another 540040 or another 540080, etc, etc.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Just the first 3 digits need to match. Since 7.1, 130/140/230/240s can use the same software.


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## Duf (Aug 31, 2002)

classicsat said:


> Just the first 3 digits need to match. Since 7.1, 130/140/230/240s can use the same software.


Yep they are both 540's, I should be good to go.


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## Duf (Aug 31, 2002)

Ok I ran into a bit of a snafu. The dead drive in the neighbors tivo is 80 gb. The one I want to pull the image from is 120gb. I am trying to transfer just the bare essentials, no recordings. I am using the MFSLive boot cd. 

I am have tried using various command lines I found online to accomodate the copy to a smaller drive but none have worked. They all generate the 'not enough space' error.

backup -f 9999 -qso - /dev/hdc | restore -zpi - /dev/hdd

was the last command line I tried. I even threw another 120 gig drive in there (used to be used in a pc) and it threw the same error.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

You need the "donor" drive to be identical (by the number of sectors) or smaller than the drive the image is going onto.


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## Duf (Aug 31, 2002)

classicsat said:


> You need the "donor" drive to be identical (by the number of sectors) or smaller than the drive the image is going onto.


Damn, even if you are just transferring settings? Argh.... guess I am buying a drive.


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

Maybe try winmfs truncated back up/restore.

http://mfslive.org/winmfs

Otherwise you can buy/download the image(Instant Cake) from dvrupgrade.com for $20.


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

Duf said:


> Damn, even if you are just transferring settings? Argh.... guess I am buying a drive.


Keep in mind that you are still going to lose your settings (and recordings) when you do this. When you put the newly prepared drive into your neighbor's unit, you will get a 'hardware error' and then will need to perform a 'clear and delete everything' so that things will work properly.

From there, you'll go through 'guided setup' just as if the unit were new.

One thing you might want to do, before investing in another drive, and any more labor, is running the manufacturer's diagnostics on your neighbor's hard drive. If you don't find anything wrong with it, the effort might be unwarranted...


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## Duf (Aug 31, 2002)

I appreciate the advice. I picked up a 160 gig DB35 drive for not much dough. It will fix the problem and give the neighbor more room to boot. I threw my working drive into his unit to verify the issue was the hdd, it booted fine with my drive in there.


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