# Harddrive Question for S2 Tivo



## nocola (Apr 14, 2006)

Hi, I am thinking of upgrading my Tivo's hard drive (80hr) and I want to know what is the biggest drive I can put in it. What type of drive would be the best for me to use as in the RPM of the drive.


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## tivoupgrade (Sep 27, 2000)

nocola said:


> Hi, I am thinking of upgrading my Tivo's hard drive (80hr) and I want to know what is the biggest drive I can put in it. What type of drive would be the best for me to use as in the RPM of the drive.


A 750GB PATA drive is the largest single drive you can put in. I don't think there are any 1TB PATA drives available, but they may be coming soon, as well.

If your TiVo can hold two drives, then 2 x 750GB is also a possibility, but you are better to put a single drive in; your unit will run cooler and it will be more reliable.

RPM of the drive does not matter one bit; a 5400 RPM drive is fine, but a 7200 RPM drive will work fine too - just keep in mind that most 7200 RPM drives are noisier.

Lou


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## nocola (Apr 14, 2006)

is the pata the same as the ide type of drive that the tivo needs.


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

yes


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## nocola (Apr 14, 2006)

Thanks for clearing it up for me. I found the drives that I am looking for and they are both within my price range. Does anyone know witch of the drives is better. They are both 500GB. Westren Digital and seagate. If there a thred out there please put the link here. if not any help will be great. Thanks


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## tony07737 (Jul 26, 2008)

I purchased a Pata db35 seagate drive for a S2 tivo but since the tivo has an IDE interface it cannot be directly connected. 
Can someone recommend an adapter I can purchase that will do the job for this upgrade?
Thx!
Tony


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

tony07737 said:


> I purchased a Pata db35 seagate drive for a S2 tivo but since the tivo has an IDE interface it cannot be directly connected.
> Can someone recommend an adapter I can purchase that will do the job for this upgrade?
> Thx!
> Tony


??? PATA is IDE an adapter is not needed or do you have a SATA drive?

I have not used either

This one has TiVo mentioned several times in the Customer Reviews
Rosewill RC-203 SATA to IDE Mini Vertical Bridge $19.99

No mention of using with TiVo for this one
SABRENT SBT-STDB IDE $16.99


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## tony07737 (Jul 26, 2008)

I am not sure if this is the best thread to follow up for this problem I am having but here goes. My plan is to end up with the Seagate 500 Gb single drive in the S2 TiVo.
I purchased the "Rosewill RC-203 SATA to IDE Mini Vertical Bridge" and setup that drive with my TiVo 60 Gb drive (Model TCD140060) in my Intel machine with the MFStools boot cd.
I tried several variations of commands to try and setup the Seagate DB35 with the Rosewill adapter. Finally I used # mfsadd -x /dev/hda /devhdb.
That gave me a results like "current estimated standalone 597 hours ... Done! estimated gain 597 hours.
I then put that drive alone into the TiVo and connected it with the Rosewill and waited over 30 mins with the message "Welcome Powering up!" Nothing.
On a side note I tried to put the original drive back in and got a message that says the tivo will not operate without the external drive... or something like that. The drive was already problematic so I am not too concerned about the drive itself. 
But my question is can I setup the Seagate drive without an exsisting TiVo drive to start from and how do I do that?

Any suggestions?
Thank You!


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## tony07737 (Jul 26, 2008)

I ordered and tried the "This one has TiVo mentioned several times in the Customer Reviews Rosewill RC-203 SATA to IDE Mini Vertical Bridge $19.99" And I am not sure what the problem is but the keeps the pc from booking when connected on the IDE cable. I have tried all different configs with no luck. As soon as I discoonect the drive the pc boots. Do I have a bad drive / controller?


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

"keeps the pc from booting" How far does the boot process get? Are you trying to boot from a CD? Adding the device with a drive may re-align your drive locations preventing booting the OS.


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## tony07737 (Jul 26, 2008)

I was attemptiong the boot from the windows drive that was already in the machine. That works without the adapter and teh drive and when I connect the Rosewell and ATA drive the machine doesn't boot at all and in fact the drive seems to make a clicking noice.


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

tony07737 said:


> I was attemptiong the boot from the windows drive that was already in the machine. That works without the adapter and teh drive and when I connect the Rosewell and ATA drive the machine doesn't boot at all and in fact the drive seems to make a clicking noice.


 Clicking noise is usually a sign the drive is bad (can not find track 0) check that the IDE cable is connected with the stripe on the side with the arrow and that the cable is not offset by a pin.


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## tony07737 (Jul 26, 2008)

I did successfully connected the drive to my pc and booted Instantcake. Then I was able to complete the restore successfully acording to Instantcake.
But now when I connect it to the Tivo the drive just clicks.
So I have downloaded the Seagate diags and next I will check the drive, because acording to the Seagate web site "Normal sounds include: Whining noise during drive spin-up. Regular clicking or tapping sounds during drive access. 
Hard clicks when the drive heads park during power saving modes like Standby or Hibernation. "
So now I have to run the diags to see what the deal is.
I do have to admit at least a few time during this process I connected the ribbon cable in the wrong orientation to the IDE to ATA adapter. But I was sure I was correct when it was in the Tivo.


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## c monkey (Jan 5, 2006)

Hi noobie here. I am intrigued by the possibility of being able to expand my Tivo recording space. I have 2 40 hr S2 Tivos and always find myself running out of space. Can someone link me to a step by step explanation of how I can do this? Or should I not even consider it because it requires a certain level of expertise to install more space on a tivo? Thanks in advance


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