# do i need the original tivo drive to replace with 400gb?



## psrc (Jan 24, 2006)

Hi, I have been browsing this forum for a few months new, I just recently bought my TIVO series 2 540040 model, and want to upgrade to 400GB seagate. The question I have is, do I have to remove the 40gb from the tivo and plug it into the PC in order to copy the files needed? or does the mfstool 2.0 from weaknees site will be all I need? I would like it to be a clean install and the 40gb I was going to keep as an emergency spare. 

I used to have a desktop PVR setup and unfortunately not happy with it... TIVO is here to stay for me and my wife. 

Regards,
Robert


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## mjitkop (Oct 3, 2002)

You will need the original 40GB hard drive in your PC in order for mfstools to copy the TiVo software to your new hard drive. Unless you already have the image file of the TiVo software for your DVR model on your PC hard drive or on a CD.


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## psrc (Jan 24, 2006)

I see.

I am trying to limit the downtime since my wife will beat me up on it, she is in love with since we got it, which is less then 1 month.

Would you happen to know if there is a downloadable tivo software that I would be able to use instead of copying from the original 40GB?


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## the new guy (Oct 29, 2004)

You could use InstantCake from PTVUpgrade, but it really doesn't take that long to make an image from your existing drive, especially if you don't save the recordings. Save yourself the $20 and backup the original drive while nothing good is on TV.

Tim


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## psrc (Jan 24, 2006)

ok, I will be doing the copy. I do have one last question, once I make the copy, does it save all my current settings and saved recordings? if not, not a big deal, but if it does, of course always better. Thanks again for all the help.


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## mick66 (Oct 15, 2004)

psrc said:


> ok, I will be doing the copy. I do have one last question, once I make the copy, does it save all my current settings and saved recordings? if not, not a big deal, but if it does, of course always better. Thanks again for all the help.


A backup copy of the Tivo software will include all of your settings, but not the recordings. 
You can copy your original HD including all settings and recordings directly to a new larger HD w/o making a backup. You can save the original HD and use that as a backup should the need ever arise.


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## mjitkop (Oct 3, 2002)

If I were you, to save time and frustration, I would just use the original 40GB in your PC with your new 400GB drive and type (just this alone, nothing else):

mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hdX | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdZ

where hdX corresponds to your original 40GB drive and hdZ is the destination 400GB drive.

This will copy EVERYTHING (TiVo software, settings, and RECORDINGS) onto the new drive and adjust the recording time to the new size of the hard drive.
This will NOT make a seperate backup of the TiVo software anywhere as a file. This should be fine because you said that your original drive is still good and you'll keep it as a backup so technically you don't need to backup your TiVo software. It is recommended though but technically not necessary for you to have an upgraded working DVR.

No matter what you decide, when you open your DVR, pay attention to the warning in the upgrade instructions:

*WARNING: When removing the power cable and IDE cable from the hard drive, be very careful not to jar or dislodge the front panel ribbon cable running from the front of the TiVo to the motherboard. If you power-up with this cable even partially dislodged, you can permanently damage your TiVo.*


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## psrc (Jan 24, 2006)

mjitkop said:


> If I were you, to save time and frustration, I would just use the original 40GB in your PC with your new 400GB drive and type (just this alone, nothing else):
> 
> mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hdX | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdZ
> 
> ...


This is great news, you have been very helpful in knowing what I wanted to do without being anxious about the upgrade.

For this setup, do I need to plug the 40GB drive primary and the 400GB drive slave, and then boot up with the MFStool? Or will it boot into a linux prompt by itself?

I will be disconnecting my normal computer harddrive (that has windows xp) just so I do not risk it causing problems to any of the TIVO drives.

Also, I am thinking of adding an additional hard drive bracket, and just to put the 40GB in there with the 400GB, but not plug in the 40GB (just using it to store it, so I do not misplace or damage the 40GB. Would I have a heat issue that would require me to have to consider adding an additional fan? Thanks in advance.

And thanks in advance for all the help that are going to be provided.


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## captain_video (Mar 1, 2002)

If you're upgrading to a 400GB drive then you'll need the LBA48 boot disk and not the standard version. Get the free LBA48 boot disk download from PTVUpgrade.com. Otherwise, the image will never get expanded beyond the 137GB boundary.


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## mjitkop (Oct 3, 2002)

As mentioned by captain_video, indeed you will have to use the Boot CD image of MFSTool 2.0 with Large Kernel Support (a.k.a. LBA48). He suggested you download the free version from PTVUpgrade.com. Another possibility is to download it from the link given in the instructions created by WeaKnees (since you mentioned it).

I'm assuming you have already visited http://tivo.upgrade-instructions.com/ so you must have already selected your TiVo 540040 model. 
The link to download the MFSTools 2.0 LBA48 image as listed by WeaKnees in their instructions is: http://www.weaknees.com/weaknees_lba_boot_cd.iso
Once downloaded, you will have to burn the ISO image onto a CD. I don't know if you are familiar with ISO files but just in case you wouldn't know, they have to be burnt in ISO mode and not as a regular file. If you are not sure how to do that, I can suggest that you download and install DeepBurner Free 1.7 on this site: http://deepburner.com/?r=download
When you start DeepBurner, you have the option "Burn ISO image" so it will do that automatically for you.

Once you have your MFSTools 2.0 with WeaKnees Large Kernel Support CD, boot your PC from it. As you said, disconnect your Windows XP hard drive before and connect your original 40GB drive as the Primary Master (hda) and your new 400GB drive as the Primary Slave (hdb).

Once the PC has booted to Linux from the MFSTools CD, at the prompt type:

mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hda | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdb

It should take a while but I can't tell you how long exactly. Don't be surprised if takes more than 1 hour or even 2. You will see a progress bar on the screen anyway to let you know how the upgrade is doing.

Just make sure you set the jumpers the right way on the hard drives before and after the upgrade in your PC.

That should do it for the upgrade.

Now, personally I would not recommend that you put your original 40GB hard drive in your TiVo even if it's not connected. The reason being that the drive would get hot for no reason and I would rather put it away somewhere at room temperature. Just my opinion even if it would work the way you described it.

I hope I got the upgrade instructions right for you.

Good luck!


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## psrc (Jan 24, 2006)

mjitkop, captian_video, mick66, the new guy, you guys are great, thank you for the information, and I have now have all my questions answered.

I think this thread will be able to help anybody with the same concerns as I do, in a very clear way. Thank you guys again.


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## 2njl (Jan 23, 2006)

mjitkop said:


> mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hda | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdb


What's the story on swap sizes with very large (300-400GB) drives? In some of the 20+ page sticky threads, it's mentioned that 127MB is the limit, or maybe that it isn't anymore. On a 540040, is 127MB enough for GSOD to repair a 400GB drives? Does anyone really know...or is everything just a guess unless it's been seen to fail? Should a larger file/partition be created with such large disks?


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

The story of swap files. 

For any drive larger than 250GB, you need a larger swap file. The general rule is -- 1MB of swap for each 2G of hard disc space. For example, with a 320GB drive, you need at least 160MB of swap space (-s 160). So your restore command to expand to a larger drive would look something like this:

mfsrestore -s 160 -r 4 -zxpi /mnt/backup.bak /dev/hdZ

The problem is with the mfstools. The tools cannot properly initialize any swap file larger than 127MB (-s 127). So you need to do an extra step to initialize the swap file. You need a tool called tpip. I know it is on the PTVupgrade 4.01 boot CD. However, there are two versions of the tool, each with a different set of command switches.

Version 1:
tpip -s --swapped /dev/hdZ

Version 2:
I can't remember, might have to search for this.

From experience, the swap file is used for several things. The GSOD is one, but it is also used when new software updates are received. I had problems with a 320GB drive when version 7.2 came out. The TiVo was stuck in a reboot loop. When I put a properly initialized swap file on the drive, it updated correctly (no reboot loop).

Hope this helps.


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## psrc (Jan 24, 2006)

*mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hda | mfsrestore -s 127 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdb*

By using the above line, I will not be able to utilize my full 400GB hard drive?

Would I simply be able to change the 127 to 200 based on the 1/2 ratio.

Thanks again.


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## mjitkop (Oct 3, 2002)

I'm quite confused too, psrc. I wasn't sure exactly what to do with the swap and I thought I read somewhere that somebody said it was fine to keep the option *-s 127* as long as *-r 4* was used. I guess I misunderstood. Sorry, psrc.

So if I understand correctly now, it's better to do:

*mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hda | mfsrestore -s 200 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdb*

and once this is done, you have to use *tpip*. Indeed, there are 2 versions of *tpip* and I found the right way to use it: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=3652451&&#post3652451

with tpip 1.1:

tpip --swapped -s /dev/hdX

if you use tpip 1.2, the command is:

tpip -1 -s /dev/hdX

This assumes that you have the *tpip* utility. I still don't know for sure where to get this *tpip*. Is it on the free version of the PTVUpgrade CD?


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

prsc -- Your restore line would work and it would use the entire drive. But, if your TiVo tried to do a Green Screen of Death, it might not be able to recover. Or, if software version 7.3 came out, it might not install correctly. Having the larger swap is just an insurance policy. And it is only 73MB, which is nothing in comparison to a 200GB drive.

mjitkop -- Thanks for hunting down the correct tpip command lines. I was working from memory. I know for sure that the tpip program is on the free PTVupgrade v4.01 boot CD. That is how I use it. It is not on the Weaknees boot CD, unless they've added it recently. In my case, I use the Weaknees boot CD and the online Weaknees instructions to do all of my upgrades, excluding the tpip program. Then I reboot the computer with the PTVupgrade CD and do the tpip command. It sounds a little complicated, but it works for me. I think it is version 1.1 of the tpip program on the PTVUpgrade CD.

And, yes, that is a properly formatted command for the mfsrestore to save all your programs. Personally, I used 192 for my 320GB drive, but that's just me. 

Good Luck.


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## psrc (Jan 24, 2006)

I will be attempting the upgrade this sat or sun depending on what my wife says, and I will leave feedbacks of the outcome. Thanks again guys.


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## austinsho (Oct 21, 2001)

Folks....I'm expanding a 40 gb SIR T4040 original drive onto a Seagate 300 gb drive. But I've gotten a couple of error messages:

DriveStatusError BadCRC
DriveReady SeekCompleteError 

Each of these has happened twice. Do I have a drive and/or cable issue? 

Also...I've searched but would like to know in what download the TPIP uitility is contained.

Thanks! Mike Nassour


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## MJHoltorf (Dec 23, 2001)

I have a problem that I was wondering might be related to swap space. I replaced the HDD in my SD-DVR40 (at 6.2) with a 300GB drive using the LBA48 MFS Tools from PTVUpgrade. I specified the swap to be 150MB with the -s 150 switch, based on what people were saying regarding the GSOD issue. Everything went perfectly, and the drive booted in the machine and seemed to work great. Except that 2-3 days later, it locked up. A hard reboot (power off/on) "fixed" it, and it worked for another 2-3 days and then locked up. Needless to say, this has been the situation since the upgrade, and it's kind of annoying. I realized that I did not do the tpip step, and I was wondering if that could be the trouble. If it is, would running tpip on it now clear it up, or do I have to redo the drive at this point? I've done everything short of that (C&D, Pause 58, etc.) TIA for any advice.

MJH


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## 2njl (Jan 23, 2006)

Since mfstools won't properly setup swap >127MB, your 150MB of swap is probably invalid and not being used. I bet your tivo is locking up when it runs out of memory. Take the drive out, and run tpip on it. That should fix the swap and I doubt you have to redo the other steps.


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## bnm81002 (Oct 3, 2004)

mjitkop said:


> *mfsbackup -Tao - /dev/hda | mfsrestore -s 200 -r 4 -xzpi - /dev/hdb*
> 
> with tpip 1.1:
> 
> tpip --swapped -s /dev/hdX


would this command be correct if I was upgrading from my original drive to a 400GB drive using the $5 PTVupgrade LBA48 CD v4.01 with enhancements? thanks


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