# Upgrade attempt with wrong jumper settings



## paulschreiber (Aug 22, 2006)

I have a Series2 TCD240040 model. I purchased a 160 GB Hitachi drive, and want to add the drive so I will have a two-drive tivo.

I booted a PC off the MFS Tools ISO from tyger. So we now have:
hda = PC's C drive
hdb = new 160 GB Hitatchi
hdc = old 40 GB WD
hdd = CD-ROM drive (boot disk)

I then ran mfsadd -x /dev/hdc /dev/hdb

I then noticed that /dev/hdb (the Hitachi) only had 31.x GB of space, and my total space was 69 GB instead of 160+ GB. Oops! It turned out I had the wrong jumper set, and it was at (slave+32GB limit) instead of just (slave).

I cleanly shut down the machine, and fixed the jumper, and rebooted. I ran pdisk and told it to reinitialize the partition table. The disk now had 128 GB (much better, but not the 137 I expected).

I then re-ran mfsadd -x /dev/hdc /dev/hdb.

I shut down the machine, pulled the drives, set the jumpers, and plugged them into the tivo. The tivo booted fine. But: the system info screen says "variable, up to 80 hours" instead of "variable, up to 160 hours."

is something wrong, or is the message misleading?

if the former, how do i fix it?


thanks.


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

I always jumper drives for tivo upgrade as cable select, so I'd try that.
With 200GB of drive space a 240 should have about 230 hours.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Not all PCs will recognize drives set at cable select. You have to be extremely careful when you install the drives using this setting because the drive will assume whichever position you install it in. Cable select is fine for the single default drive but it's safer setting the jumpers correctly when adding a 2nd drive.

Do yourself a favor and get rid of the Hitachi drive. They're probably the worst drives you can install in a Tivo environment. Hitachi assumed the IBM line of hard drives, which were notoriously bad for use in a Tivo and highly prone to failures.

You should also be using the PtvUpgrade boot CD with LBA48 support. AFAIK Tyger's boot CD has never been upgraded to provide large disk support, which is probably why you're not seeing the total capacity available.

My advice would be to start from scratch and install a fresh image using the proper boot CD. Right now you're trying to patch a botched upgrade that's just going to keep getting worse the more you try to fix it.


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

mr.unnatural said:


> Not all PCs will recognize drives set at cable select. You have to be extremely careful when you install the drives using this setting because the drive will assume whichever position you install it in.


So be careful.


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## Avenger (Mar 26, 2002)

mick66 said:


> So be careful.


Well, the idea is that you will be less likely to make a catastrophic mistake during a Tivo upgrade if you limit the number of variables and unknowns in the process. That is why most of the DIY upgrade guides tell the user specifically how to jumper and to connect each drive at each step of the process. Even for seasoned upgraders, it is easy to blow away 250GB of recordings without really trying.

Why risk it? If you have to move jumpers anyway, why not just jumper the drives to EXACTLY the settings you want, rather than trying to remember to put the drives into the right position on the channel?


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

Avenger said:


> Well, the idea is that you will be less likely to make a catastrophic mistake during a Tivo upgrade if you limit the number of variables and unknowns in the process.


Ya duh, that's why I said:


mick66 said:


> So be careful.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

This is a prime example of why you should take any advice offered in a public forum with a grain of salt. Setting the jumpers on a hard drive in a Tivo to Cable Select is simply bad advice as there are too many things that can go wrong. I'm not saying that you cannot do it but rather that you will assume a higher risk factor and invite more things to go wrong. I've been hacking and upgrading Tivos for over six years and believe me when I tell you that if something can go wrong, it will. You're better off adhering to the KISS principle (i.e., Keep It Simple, Stupid) and set the jumpers according to the position they will be assigned in the Tivo. 

It's also a good way to identify which drive is master and which is the slave if they are otherwise unmarked. If they're both set to CS you have to way of knowing which is the A drive or the B unless you physically mark the drives. 

I personally do not like to mark the drives in the event that the Tivo has to be returned for a replacement. If DTV/Tivo sees any odd markings on the drive they'll know right away that you tampered with it and will void the waranty. You may get charged for a new Tivo as a result. Granted, the chances of this happening are probably slim, but why take the chance?


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## Avenger (Mar 26, 2002)

mr.unnatural said:


> It's also a good way to identify which drive is master and which is the slave if they are otherwise unmarked. If they're both set to CS you have to way of knowing which is the A drive or the B unless you physically mark the drives.


I always physically mark them. In almost every case, I'm upgrading a unit that is already out of warranty, so I literally write the drive identifier (A or B) and the date of install right on the top of the drive case in permanent marker. That way, I can readily differentiate the old drives from the new ones, and the A drive from the B. If an upgrader weren't wild about writing right on the drive, simply applying a piece of painting tape to the drive and writing on that would be fine -- that way, you can remove the markings and leave no trace that they were there once the upgrade is completed.

But, like you said, KISS is the word when doing these upgrades. I usually go through Hinsdale's guide before I start an upgrade, and print off just those pages that apply to what I'm doing. I then go through and highlight the commands I need. I mark the drives in advance, and get the jumpers set appropriately. I disconnect the Windows drive entirely from the machine (though I leave it in the computer case), and I use an old 3GB FAT32 hard disk as a bench drive, if I need a place to dump backup files, etc. Only then do I proceed with the backup.

It may sound like a lot of work, but I haven't screwed up an upgrade yet due to a mistake, and I've upgraded dozens of machines for co-workers, friends, and family, as well as my personal machines. It is a great deal more work to remedy the damage once you've wiped out your only Tivo drive and have no backup image, than it is to do it right to begin with.


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## mr.unnatural (Feb 2, 2006)

Good tip on marking with a piece of tape. I generally work with DTivos and not SA models, but a drive upgrade is essentially the same for each type of Tivo with perhaps only slight variations. DTV is a bit more forgiving when it comes to swapping out units that are out of warranty than Tivo might be, hence my caveat about permanent marking of the drives.


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