# Newer TiVo OS into Older Tivo?



## hasservision (Jul 16, 2007)

So I have a dead hard drive in my S2DT, and at the same time, I was thinking of getting a bigger HDD for my Premiere.

So I'm wondering what would happen if I just took my current Premiere drive, install it into the S2, then get a new larger drive for the Premiere?

Am I playing with fire? Would there be serious problems, or irreparable damage done to hardware?


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

It would never work. at all. Better off keeping the original drive on a shelf "just in case".


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## hasservision (Jul 16, 2007)

Yeah, that's what I figured. 
I was just curious if anyone had ever tried it.
I have an image for a new S2 drive, so I'll probably just buy a new drive and resurrect it from the dead.


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

The drives on a Tivo are model specific, so the TCDxxx *Must* match for it to work properly. Also, The Premiere uses a different drive partition structure then the older models.

If you use Windows, you can download an image, if you Tivo drive has already failed, and using WinMFS make a drive for the Tivo, or backup the original.


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## ronsch (Sep 7, 2001)

If you have an image for your S2 you can restore it to the old Premiere drive and stick it in the DT as long as it's a drive model that is compatible with the S2DT. But you can't just stick it, as is, into the S2DT. That definitely won't work.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

No one has mentioned the other problem - Premieres use SATA drives, while an S2DT uses a PATA drive. You'll need an adapter.


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## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

It may be cheapest to buy a unit off of craigslist and use that drive. Just make sure the models match and do a C&DE. While the drive is not new, these units are often 15-20.


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## lillevig (Dec 7, 2010)

hasservision said:


> So I have a dead hard drive in my S2DT, and at the same time, I was thinking of getting a bigger HDD for my Premiere.
> 
> So I'm wondering what would happen if I just took my current Premiere drive, install it into the S2, then get a new larger drive for the Premiere?
> 
> Am I playing with fire? Would there be serious problems, or irreparable damage done to hardware?


You will need your Premiere drive in order to image a new drive because truncated images are not available for the Premiere and newer boxes. Keeping the original drive will allow you to image future drives for that box in case your upgraded one goes south.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

hasservision said:


> So I have a dead hard drive in my S2DT, and at the same time, I was thinking of getting a bigger HDD for my Premiere.
> 
> So I'm wondering what would happen if I just took my current Premiere drive, install it into the S2, then get a new larger drive for the Premiere?
> 
> Am I playing with fire? Would there be serious problems, or irreparable damage done to hardware?


Most practical thing to do if you're going to keep that S2 DT in service is...well, wait a minute...is it lifetimed? Do you have analog cable that's going to stay analog for the forseeable future? Would you want to spend the money to put 1TB or 2TB worth of hard drive space in it? Is the drive that died the original 80GB or 160GB? Just how dead is that drive? Were there a lot of shows on it you wanted to save?


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## hasservision (Jul 16, 2007)

unitron said:


> Most practical thing to do if you're going to keep that S2 DT in service is...well, wait a minute...is it lifetimed? Do you have analog cable that's going to stay analog for the forseeable future? Would you want to spend the money to put 1TB or 2TB worth of hard drive space in it? Is the drive that died the original 80GB or 160GB? Just how dead is that drive? Were there a lot of shows on it you wanted to save?


It is NOT lifetimed... and I'm still paying a monthly service fee for it... which I know is ridiculous. But I kept it active for the MSD... which probably still isn't as cost-effective.
I think I'll probably just junk the S2DT. Seeing that it doesn't have a digital tuner, there's no point in resurrecting it. 
The drive is very very dead. I tried the freezer trick and several other fixes. There was nothing worthwhile on it because I typically transferred shows I wanted to keep to my PC. Oh well!


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

hasservision said:


> It is NOT lifetimed... and I'm still paying a monthly service fee for it... which I know is ridiculous. But I kept it active for the MSD... which probably still isn't as cost-effective.
> I think I'll probably just junk the S2DT. Seeing that it doesn't have a digital tuner, there's no point in resurrecting it.
> The drive is very very dead. I tried the freezer trick and several other fixes. There was nothing worthwhile on it because I typically transferred shows I wanted to keep to my PC. Oh well!


If you want to upgrade, you can replace your S2DT with Series 3 such as


TiVo TCD652160 HD Digital Video Recorder and keep your current subscription rate, by simply replacing service numbers.

If you go with the Premiere/XL or Premiere 4/XL4, your subscription would be 14.99


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

hasservision said:


> It is NOT lifetimed... and I'm still paying a monthly service fee for it... which I know is ridiculous. But I kept it active for the MSD... which probably still isn't as cost-effective.
> I think I'll probably just junk the S2DT. Seeing that it doesn't have a digital tuner, there's no point in resurrecting it.
> The drive is very very dead. I tried the freezer trick and several other fixes. There was nothing worthwhile on it because I typically transferred shows I wanted to keep to my PC. Oh well!


Okay, you own a 649 and a Premiere.

Any other TiVos on the account?

How long ago did you get that Premiere?

(you may be able to get $99 Lifetime on that S2)


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## hasservision (Jul 16, 2007)

unitron said:


> Okay, you own a 649 and a Premiere.
> 
> Any other TiVos on the account?
> 
> ...


No other Tivos...

I got the Premiere last November or December... can't remember specifically.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

hasservision said:


> No other Tivos...
> 
> I got the Premiere last November or December... can't remember specifically.


You should go read the threads about $99 lifetime, and then see if you can't leverage your Premiere ownership into lifetime for the S2 and then keep it or sell it while it's still of interest to people with analog cable.


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## hasservision (Jul 16, 2007)

unitron said:


> You should go read the threads about $99 lifetime, and then see if you can't leverage your Premiere ownership into lifetime for the S2 and then keep it or sell it while it's still of interest to people with analog cable.


Good to know. Think I'll go that route... if I end up subscribing to cable at my new place.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

hasservision said:


> Good to know. Think I'll go that route... if I end up subscribing to cable at my new place.


You should do it, regardless.

Enhanced resale value, or if you keep it subscribed it pays for itself in 10 months.


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## Nikki1983 (Nov 12, 2012)

Is there a way to recover my image from the original HD so I can transfer it over to a new HD. I tried several times to reboot the tivo unit but it keeps on stalling on the GSOD

Or is there someone that can send me a image I can use for TCD652160 Tivo HD


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

Nikki1983 said:


> Is there a way to recover my image from the original HD so I can transfer it over to a new HD. I tried several times to reboot the tivo unit but it keeps on stalling on the GSOD
> 
> Or is there someone that can send me a image I can use for TCD652160 Tivo HD


I see someone over in the other place you asked has already pointed you to my file.

Welcome to the community and better to to post a question in just one place, after you've used the search tool to see if it hasn't already been asked and answered.

If you're getting a green screen, your drive may be physically still okay, but with slightly scrambled software.

Does the screen say something about having to fix something and taking 3 hours to do it?

Have you ever taken a TiVo apart before?

Have you ever taken a computer apart before?

Have you ever burned a bootable cd image as an image to a cd-r?

I'm trying to get a feel for your experience level to tailor further advice.


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