# DVRExpander upgrading can be duplicate instead lose recordings



## trade (Sep 1, 2005)

I have a Elite connected to a old WD External DVR Expander 500Gb to 1Tb, with Time Warner isn't possible transfer almost none recording via TiVo Desktop.

So attaching the new DVRExpander will lose recordings, there is an alternative as duplicate the drives or each Tivo perform a recording signature on the DVRExpander.

Thanks for comment

Trade


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

trade said:


> I have a Elite connected to a old WD External DVR Expander 500Gb to 1Tb, with Time Warner isn't possible transfer almost none recording via TiVo Desktop.
> 
> So attaching the new DVRExpander will lose recordings, there is an alternative as duplicate the drives or each Tivo perform a recording signature on the DVRExpander.
> 
> ...


I can't tell if you want to move the external drive to a different TiVo or replace it on the same TiVo with a different external drive.

The recordings on the external drive you have now are tied both to that particular TiVo and to the internal hard drive of that particular TiVo.

So moving that external to a different TiVo means losing the recordings.

If you need to replace it, then maybe it could be "Xeroxed" to another WD TiVo Certified external drive and used with that same TiVo and the recordings saved that way.


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## trade (Sep 1, 2005)

Thanks for your answer, yes i want upgrade the DVRExpander with the same Tivo, so what tool can use to Clone the old drive with the new one, I will need a command to expand the space later. 

I made upgrades of internal drives using MFS Windows, but I don't know if this tool works with the DVDExpander.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

trade said:


> Thanks for your answer, yes i want upgrade the DVRExpander with the same Tivo, so what tool can use to Clone the old drive with the new one, I will need a command to expand the space later.
> 
> I made upgrades of internal drives using MFS Windows, but I don't know if this tool works with the DVDExpander.


I think what you're talking about is WinMFS, and unfortunately the guy who wrote it, spike, doesn't seem to be active any more and isn't available to answer questions.

Because the TiVo has a very small list of approved Western Digital drive model numbers (the drive inside the external enclosures), and it checks any external connected to it and will only work with drives on that list, you're pretty much limited to using the particular externals that WD makes for using with the TiVo.

If you currently have a 500GB, and you think it's about to fail, you could possibly replace it with a 1TB instead of another 500GB, but I'm not at all sure about being able to use the extra 500GB.

To save the recordings, you'd have to "Xerox" that 500 to the 1TB with the "byte for byte copying" Linux command line utility

dd

or one of the 2 fancier versions of it

dd_rescue

or

ddrescue

dd

and

dd_rescue

are available on the MFS Live cd v1.4

What doing it that way will do is copy the 500GB to the first half of the 1TB which could make it report itself as a 500 instead of a 1TB.

Maybe you could then use WinMFS to expand it, or maybe not, I can't say for sure because I'm not sure exactly how those external expanders are formatted, and whether it's similiar enough to the way TiVo used to do dual internal drives on the Series 1 and Series 2 models.

You could buy the 1TB WD expander (if you can find one) and try it, and since once you copy from the 500 you can set the 500 aside, if the experiment doesn't work, the 500 won't be any worse off than before and the recordings will still be on it.

And you could try to sell the 1TB to someone or use it as a regular eSATA external drive on a PC.


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