# If "Clear and delete Everything" is interrupted can Tivo recover?



## stephan00035 (Apr 14, 2004)

I got impatient on a Tivo HD and interrupted the "clear and delete" everything cycle by pulling the power plug. If I restart it again will Tivo be able to recover or is it a fatal error if power is stopped during a clear and delete everything?


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

What was your "plan" for what to do after pulling the plug?


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## stephan00035 (Apr 14, 2004)

LOL I planned to replug it, but now wondering if I should have left it.


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

stephan00035 said:


> LOL I planned to replug it, but now wondering if I should have left it.


Well, I don't think there is anything you can do now besides plugging it in and see what happens.

At worst(most likely), you will just need to re-image, although in that case, you will still most likely need to do the CDE again.

I can email you an image, if needed.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

How do you make an image so small it will send via email?


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

Soapm said:


> How do you make an image so small it will send via email?


More precisely, a link to download; wetransfer.com .


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

I guess I need to more precisely ask my question, if I have an image currently on a 320gig drive is it possible to copy just the image to a smaller drive like say 6 gig?

I would like to make a copy of just my factory image onto one of the old drives I have laying around but didn't know if it was possible.

Edited to ass... or even better can you back up to a DVD or CD?


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

Soapm said:


> I guess I need to more precisely ask my question, if I have an image currently on a 320gig drive is it possible to copy just the image to a smaller drive like say 6 gig?
> 
> I would like to make a copy of just my factory image onto one of the old drives I have laying around but didn't know if it was possible.
> 
> Edited to ass... or even better can you back up to a DVD or CD?


AFAIK(as far as I know), you can make a "truncated image" of any series 2 or series 3 Tivo unit. I have three different series 2 units and a Tivo HD and have truncated images of all stored in files on all of my computers and also on CD. The images, as I recall, are anywhere in size from *about* 200MB - 400MB. This is done using the WinMfs program.

Be aware that winmfs was developed for S2 and S3 units(possibly s1 also) and before the Premiere came out. I definitely would *advise not to try using WinMfs with a Premiere drive*. I have read of at least 2 members here that did and ended up corrupting the drives. I have personally had to reimage(using JMFS prg) a Premiere drive for someone who tried such.

For the *"computer science types"*, JMFS developer, Comer outlines a method of how to *possibly, manually* make one's own truncated image for the Premiere, somewhere in the "Premiere Upgrade Thread".


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Backup images using WinMFS or the older MFSTools typically run about 300-400 MB or slightly larger with the newer models. I have no idea what size a Premiere image would be using whatever tools are currently available as I've never owned one, but I suspect it will be comparable in size. I also have backup images for a series 3 and they're a bit larger, IIRC, but not so big they won't fit on a recordable disc. You can easily back up an image on a CD-R. I've got stacks of Tivo images for my old series 1 and 2 Tivos on CD-R.

If you're looking to create a backup on another drive it will need to be the same size or larger than the original. The reason is that you'd actually be creating a copy of the original drive instead of a backup image. The images are highly compressed, which is why they're so much smaller, plus you don't need to worry about multiple partitions that are created during the restore or copy process. You can, however, store multiple backup images as individual files on a hard drive.


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

mr.unnatural said:


> You can, however, store multiple backup images as individual files on a hard drive.


So could I take one of these back up image files and restore it to a small drive? Lets say I wanted to test enhancements or practice on the kernel, can I put an image on a smaller drive that is IDE instead of SATA?


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Soapm said:


> So could I take one of these back up image files and restore it to a small drive? Lets say I wanted to test enhancements or practice on the kernel, can I put an image on a smaller drive that is IDE instead of SATA?


No, you misunderstood. To restore a Tivo image to any drive, the replacement drive has to be the same size or larger than the drive the image was created from. It's like taking a large file and compressing it like a zip file and then expanding it back to a drive that's smaller than the original file. It simply won't fit. When the image is expanded it creates a host of individual partitions on the new drive, all of which are expected to be a specific size. If there's not enough room to create all of the required partitions, the restore process will terminate.

The only way to restore a Tivo image to a drive that's smaller than the original is to create a small image from the original image, which requires a good deal of Linux expertise and knowledge of the Tivo partition structure. I believe there is a process documented in one of the Tivo forums for doing this, but it's probably at the "other" Tivo forum (i.e., DDB).

You can, however, restore an image taken from an SATA drive and restore it to an IDE drive that's at least as big as the original SATA drive and vice versa. You'll just need to use an appropriate IDE to SATA adapter to use it in your Tivo.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

mr.unnatural said:


> Backup images using WinMFS or the older MFSTools typically run about 300-400 MB or slightly larger with the newer models. I have no idea what size a Premiere image would be using whatever tools are currently available as I've never owned one, but I suspect it will be comparable in size. I also have backup images for a series 3 and they're a bit larger, IIRC, but not so big they won't fit on a recordable disc. You can easily back up an image on a CD-R. I've got stacks of Tivo images for my old series 1 and 2 Tivos on CD-R.
> 
> If you're looking to create a backup on another drive it will need to be the same size or larger than the original. The reason is that you'd actually be creating a copy of the original drive instead of a backup image. The images are highly compressed, which is why they're so much smaller, plus you don't need to worry about multiple partitions that are created during the restore or copy process. You can, however, store multiple backup images as individual files on a hard drive.


I believe the current thinking is that for we mere mortals (people who aren't tiger, spike, or Comer) there is no 'image' of a Premiere drive except another Premiere drive. Apparently something about the bootpage or partition map or partition layout or something is different enough from the S1,2, and 3s that MFS Tools, MFS Live, and WinMFS can't do the trick on the Premieres (but trying to will hose the Premiere drive. Not the target drive, the source, that supposedly is only read from and not written to.).


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## Soapm (May 9, 2007)

unitron said:


> I believe the current thinking is that for we mere mortals (people who aren't tiger, spike, or Comer) there is no 'image' of a Premiere drive except another Premiere drive. Apparently something about the bootpage or partition map or partition layout or something is different enough from the S1,2, and 3s that MFS Tools, MFS Live, and WinMFS can't do the trick on the Premieres (but trying to will hose the Premiere drive. *Not the target drive, the source, that supposedly is only read from and not written to.).*


Sounds rough. I wonder how that happens???


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

The last Tivo I purchased was an S3 so I'm completely unfamiliar with the process for backing up and restoring a Premiere drive. It seems like Tivo keeps making it more and more difficult for hackers to perform even the simplest tasks to maintain their own Tivos with each new model. I'm not sure if they're trying to discourage hackers or if they're just trying to push away potential customers. The primary reason I went with a Tivo over any other DVR wasn't because it was the best DVR available at the time (ReplayTV was much better, IMHO) but rather because it was the only DVR that could be hacked for additional storage and more features.

So far I see absolutely no reason why I would ever consider getting a Premiere. All the bells and whistles they've added amount to nothing more than fluff with no real value (at least, not for me). I just want a device that can record what I want when I want it. You can keep the NetFlix streaming, YouTube and other worthless crap features.


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