TiVo Community Forums Archives - Can't I just add a hard drive?

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Can't I just add a hard drive?
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Posted by: salgal

Can't I just open up my TiVo and take out one of my two hard drives and hook up just a regular Maxtor ATA/133 Hard drive (without formating it?)? Won't it just be the 'slave' hard drive?
Oh, and if I can do that, should I use a 80GB hard drive with a 2mb buffer or an 8mb buffer?:rolleyes:

Posted by: Robert S

No, that would be a very dumb thing to do. Almost as dumb as trying to upgrade a TiVo without reading Hinsdale.

2mb cache is fine. TiVo streams data continuously, so caching (which assumes you're rereading the same data) makes little difference).

Posted by: salgal

Okay, so I am a newbie! I wanted to just add a new hard drive to my tivo by just replacing one of the two hard drives with a new Maxtor 80 GB, without doing anything to them first. But what is it exactly I will be doing to them if I follow Hinsdale's advice? Please use layman's terms, as I am not super familiar with the technical words.
Thanks,

Posted by: Robert S

I have to wonder why you just don't read Hinsdale and come back with a question that actually means something. Hmm, what can I do with the non-question you have asked?

You haven't specified what sort of TiVo you've got, but as it's a twin I assume it's a fairly old one. The other important issue is whether you want to keep your recordings or not. The system software can be copied in a few minutes, but copying recordings takes many hours and can limit the scope of the upgrade.

You could combine both drives on to the new one, which might be a good idea if the drives have been in service a long time. Obviously one drive will be cooler and quieter than two.

Alternatively you can replace one of the current drives with the new one.

Both these upgrades can be done with or without keeping recordings and in both cases you can use the extra space on the drive.

The other thing you do need to find out is what sort of twin it is. Some of the really early twins are 'true twin-drive' machines. These have to be handled slightly differently to the more usual 'married' twin drives due to some details of the way the MFS system works.

Anyway, like I said, it's all in Hinsdale, explained in very simple terms. The only problem is that Hinsdale covers all the possible upgrades for all the various models of TiVo, so it's a good idea to have a clear idea about what you've got and what you want to do to it.

Posted by: megory

Salgal wrote:quote:
Can't I just add a hard drive?
Can't I just open up my TiVo and take out one of my two hard drives and hook up just a regular Maxtor ATA/133 Hard drive (without formating it?)? Won't it just be the 'slave' hard drive?
NO! Nice dream though!

If you are a computer newbie, this might not be something you want to do unless you are pretty good at following directions (again, see, Hinsdale).

With a computer, you cannot just pop in an unformatted HD and expect it to run as a slave. You must format it so that your computer and programs and motherboard all talk to each other. My computer (still on W98) talks DOS and is formatted through the W98 DOS format capability.

A Tivo HD wants to speak Tivo, thus you must take the steps to format and program that HD to speak Tivoese <g> a form, I believe, of Linux.

Again, read Hinsdale and see if this is a process you feel you want to do. If not, write to weaknees and go to the weaknees site and send your unit to them to upgrad.

Sorry it isn't easier! But, Hinsdale is quite detailed and explanatory, which makes it much easier than trying to figure it out yoursel.

Whateer you do, don't just pop open the box and play around. Be sure you have the right equipment (disk/tools/software) to work on this and also be sure NOT to dislodge some cables (see more in this section) as Weaknees reports that some loose cables can cause permanent damage if the system is powered up.

After you have read Hinsdale and determined which steps are appropriate for your Tivo Unit, and are getting your materials together and head ready for this (that is, if you do decide to go ahead and do-it-yourself) . . . ask more questions with good information and details so the experts here can help you.

Posted by: salgal

Thanks Megory.:) I appreciate your explanation. I am going to give it a try. I will read Hinsdale through a couple of times before I get going.
Cheers.