# Drive Exchange/Replacement



## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

Each on my S2 TiVos has two drives. All are running the same software version. I keep a spare unsubbed S2 around in case one of my subscribed boxes dies. The theory is, I can pull the drives from a failed S2, should one die, place the drives in the spare S2 box and sub it on a monthly basis until I can get the lifetime sub box working again.

Is this a sound theory or will the spare box balk at transplanted drives? I should probably note that the S2s include:
TCD23xxx
TCD24xxx
TCD54xxxx
TCD64xxxx

If it works with the transplanted drives, will the recordings on those drives (which were made on the lifetime sub S2) be playable? Will they be playable if the box remains unsubbed? 

Is there a utility that will back up a single drive from the drive pair and allow restoration back to it or do all backup/restore tools require that both drives be present (treating the set as a unit of some sort)? What I'm thinking about here is pulling the (practically new) drives from one S2 box, saving the contents (recordings and all) elsewhere then reformatting the drives and restoring their former contents.

It's been a while but I seem to recall that at some point in my TiVo experience I moved a drive from one box to another and had some sort of problem.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Marconi said:


> Each on my S2 TiVos has two drives. All are running the same software version. I keep a spare unsubbed S2 around in case one of my subscribed boxes dies. The theory is, I can pull the drives from a failed S2, should one die, place the drives in the spare S2 box and sub it on a monthly basis until I can get the lifetime sub box working again.
> 
> Is this a sound theory or will the spare box balk at transplanted drives? I should probably note that the S2s include:
> TCD23xxx
> ...


You can't move a drive from one TiVo to another (same model #) without doing a full Clear and Delete all so there is no way to save your recordings that way. You could move them to your computer then beck to the new TiVo.
There may be a way to copy two drives down to one and save your recordings, look on this sight for that answer http://www.mfslive.org/


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## wscannell (Dec 7, 2003)

Also, you cannot go monthly on a spare TiVo without a term commitment of 1 year.

You can backup single drives using dd, although that is not recommended. Look at mfslive.org as previously mentioned for tools to back up and copy tivo drives.


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

lessd said:


> You can't move a drive from one TiVo to another (same model #) without doing a full Clear and Delete all so there is no way to save your recordings that way. You could move them to your computer then beck to the new TiVo.http://www.mfslive.org/


Oh, bummer. I guess what I really need to do is order a set of drives and use mfslive to copy the works to the new set. Then I can reformat the quirky drives and test them thoroughly.

Oh, and thanks to wscannell for pointing out the 1-year commitment requirement to go monthly.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Marconi said:


> Oh, bummer. I guess what I really need to do is order a set of drives and use mfslive to copy the works to the new set. Then I can reformat the quirky drives and test them thoroughly.
> 
> Oh, and thanks to wscannell for pointing out the 1-year commitment requirement to go monthly.


Try going to a single drive if you can, more reliable.


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

lessd said:


> Try going to a single drive if you can, more reliable.


Two 500s are cheaper and, probably, more reliable than the newer 1 TB drives.

Who makes a good IDE 1 TB drive that would work well in TiVo?


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## billboard_NE (May 18, 2005)

I also heard that if a drive is acting flaky you do not want to copy from it. This was from one of the places that sell Tivo drives.


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

Marconi said:


> Two 500s are cheaper and, probably, more reliable than the newer 1 TB drives.
> 
> Who makes a good IDE 1 TB drive that would work well in TiVo?


The new WD 1Tb drive retail version works great as i have put about 10 of them TiVo Series 3 and TiVo-hd over the last month or so, the TiVo runs about 5 degrees cooler and no problems. I payed $259 at Best Buy when they had them on sale, I do not know the best place to get one now.


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## Mike500 (Jun 29, 2004)

Marconi said:


> Two 500s are cheaper and, probably, more reliable than the newer 1 TB drives.
> 
> Who makes a good IDE 1 TB drive that would work well in TiVo?


Try telling Charles A. Lindbergh that two engines on an airplane were more reliable than one.

That's why most have never heard of Nungersser and Coli or Stanton Wooster.

Two drives, as in two engines, means twice as likely to fail.


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

lessd said:


> The new WD 1Tb drive retail version works great as i have put about 10 of them TiVo Series 3 and TiVo-hd over the last month or so, the TiVo runs about 5 degrees cooler and no problems. I payed $259 at Best Buy when they had them on sale, I do not know the best place to get one now.


Fry's.com and and least some Fry's bm have the WD green 1TB on sale for $259.xx at this time.


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

Mike500 said:


> Try telling Charles A. Lindbergh that two engines on an airplane were more reliable than one.
> 
> ...
> 
> Two drives, as in two engines, means twice as likely to fail.


I would think that the 500 GB drive technology is more proven than the newer 1TB drive technology. I'm guessing that Lindbergh relied on a proven reliable engine, instead of some newfangled thing for his trans-Atlantic flight.


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## Marconi (Sep 8, 2001)

dwit said:


> Fry's.com and and least some Fry's bm have the WD green 1TB on sale for $259.xx at this time.


SATA, yes. How about a PATA version?


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

Marconi said:


> SATA, yes. How about a PATA version?


I don't know if there has ever been a 1TB pata drive available for purchase by the mass public.


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