# Swapping Tivo drives, again



## tralfaz (Jan 9, 2004)

Swapping hard drives question:

Tivo A: TSN 240-xxx, 80-hour upgraded to 160, lifetime service
Tivo B: TSN 540-xxx, 40-hour upgraded to 320, monthly service
Tivo C: TSN 642-xxx (HD), 180/20 hour, lifetime service


So, I just upgraded to HD, and I only need 2 Tivos, so I'll be keeping the Tivo HD, and one of the other two. Since one has lifetime service, it's the obvious choice. Tivo C, the HD, replaces Tivo A; so Tivo A will replace Tivo B. I won't use Tivo B anymore.

The problem is, when I moved Tivo A to setup Tivo C, Tivo A apparently died. Turns on, fans starts, but nothing else ever happens. I am assuming the hard drive died, but of course I don't know this for sure.

Assuming it IS the hard drive, I could buy a new one, go through the motions of copying a Tivo image, guided setup, the works. I can do this, not a problem, just tedious and time consuming.

But... could I simply swap the hard drive from Tivo B (540-xxx), which I just recently upgraded so the hard drive is really only a month or so old, and put it into Tivo A (240-xxx)? Both are at the same system software version level, but being different serial number lines, I don't know what differences there are between the two. I do know that my 240 responds more quickly than my 540, and the menu has a different background animation, but other than that, they appear identical.

So, before I go and do this (and possibly cause damage?), does anyone know if this will work? Assuming of course that it was the hard drive that died. Sounds like if the two Tivos were the same serial number line, this would be no problem (just lose recorded programs, may have to do guided setup again, etc). But haven't found any posts on this topic addressing this setup specifically.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

No. They are different platform versions,as in different hardware.
You need to get a 240 software version to install on that HDD.


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## dornitram (Sep 15, 2004)

I'm kind of in the same boat, my Lifetime Series 2's (240-xxx) hard drive is making some bad noises. I have another Series 2 (240-xxx) that I'm paying monthly on, but don't need anymore. Since they are both 240-xxx can I just swap them out?


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

dornitram said:


> I'm kind of in the same boat, my Lifetime Series 2's (240-xxx) hard drive is making some bad noises. I have another Series 2 (240-xxx) that I'm paying monthly on, but don't need anymore. Since they are both 240-xxx can I just swap them out?


Yes, You will need to do "Clear And Delete Everything" to register the drive to the TiVo.

Are you sure the noise is not coming from the fan?


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## dornitram (Sep 15, 2004)

It's a high-pitched sound and it seems like it's a hard drive b/c it's electrical. It's hard to explain. But even if I switch them out it will still work right? Do I do the clear and delete before or after the switch? I don't care about anything on the drives.


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## HomeUser (Jan 12, 2003)

dornitram said:


> It's a high-pitched sound and it seems like it's a hard drive b/c it's electrical. It's hard to explain. But even if I switch them out it will still work right? Do I do the clear and delete before or after the switch? I don't care about anything on the drives.


You need to do it after you switch the drive.

From what I understand the CADE writes whatever TiVo uses for the unique ID/key to the disk.


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