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HDVR 120gb->120gb Drive updrade question...
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Posted by: ThePhantom

OK -- excuse my Linux ignorance, but I just want to make sure...

Last week I upgraded my HDVR2(3) from the "stock" Maxtor 40gb drive to a Seagate FDB 120gb drive via the use of the dd command and MFSADD... All went exceedingly well...

Anyway, to make a long story short, the Seagate is unacceptably noisy (for the bedroom) while seeking, and it appears that the Barracuda drives do not support "standard" AAM commands. I just ordered a Maxtor FDB 120gb drive, which I'll place in the bedroom HDVR2...

Question is: I plan on dd'ing the Seagate drive to the Maxtor. I'm unsure as to whether the drives are identical (in terms of sector size). Would running MFSADD again after copying be prudent? Or would dd simply do the trick???

TIA!

Posted by: weaknees

dd wont even work if the old drive is even slightly larger than the new drive - you might need to go back to a backup without recordings.

But if it does work, you can then do mfsadd again and get any extra space.

Michael

Posted by: ThePhantom

Excellent! Thanks for the quick reply. The Maxtor is due to arrive on Friday. I'll post my experiences once I jump thru the hoops. I wanted to avoid reverting to the 40gb drive as my HDVR2 got a mind of its own (as you could imagine) once it got the 120gb drive and recorded everything under the sun!

Thanks again...

Regards
:D

Posted by: Robert S

The Maxtor is about 2Gb larger than the Seagate, so there's no problem copying it.

Contrary to weaknees's post (sorry Michael), you can't run mfsadd again because the partition table is already full.

You might want to read this thread on DMA settings before you start.

Posted by: ThePhantom

Sooooo, will the aforementioned 2gb of extra diskspace simply be lost after the copy? If so, I assume there'd be no adverse effects to leaving it that way...

Posted by: Robert S

The TiVo will be blissfully unaware of its existence.

If you're into hacking you could modify the partition table and use the space for storing binaries in, but you can safely forget about it.

Posted by: MCodanti

quote:
Originally posted by Robert S
The Maxtor is about 2Gb larger than the Seagate, so there's no problem copying it.

Contrary to weaknees's post (sorry Michael), you can't run mfsadd again because the partition table is already full.

You might want to read this thread on DMA settings before you start.

I thought that MFS Tools 2.0 said you could upgrade 3-5 times before you had to go back to loosing recordings. Is that not correct?

I am trying to upgrade an 80 (that was an upgrade from a 40) to a new 120. I'm getting the response that the target is too small.. Is there something special I need to do?

Posted by: Robert S

It's sort of yes-and-no correct. You can think of scenarios where you could upgrade a TiVo five times without reverting to a backup (whereas TiVoMad requires you to start from an unexpanded image), but that doesn't mean there aren't limits that can stop you upgrading before that.

I told you what the problem is in his case and yours is the same. The partition table on the A drive is full.

Your can choose between reverting to a backup or going twin-drive.

Posted by: MCodanti

quote:
Originally posted by ThePhantom
Anyway, to make a long story short, the Seagate is unacceptably noisy (for the bedroom) while seeking, and it appears that the Barracuda drives do not support "standard" AAM commands. I just ordered a Maxtor FDB 120gb drive, which I'll place in the bedroom HDVR2...

FYI Seagate has their own tool for adjusting the noise management feature of their drives. I think the 80 I got came in quite mode.

Posted by: MCodanti

quote:
Originally posted by Robert S
It's sort of yes-and-no correct. You can think of scenarios where you could upgrade a TiVo five times without reverting to a backup (whereas TiVoMad requires you to start from an unexpanded image), but that doesn't mean there aren't limits that can stop you upgrading before that.

I told you what the problem is in his case and yours is the same. The partition table on the A drive is full.

Your can choose between reverting to a backup or going twin-drive.

OK, I guess I mis-read the MFS Tools post that says:

"It's all over the hack FAQ and the underground. You can only have TiVo upgrade with a blessed drive once. It is set in stone, if you want to upgrade again you lose recordings. Not anymore. Due to research into the workings of TiVo, MFS Tools is now able to upgrade a drive without having to bless it and rely on the TiVo software to upgrade it correctly. In fact, with MFS Tools 2.0, you can upgrade again and again, upgrading one drive up to 5 times (3 for some models)"

That sure sounds to me like you can upgrade one drive at least 3 times.

Posted by: Robert S

There's nothing wrong with your reading skills, but Tiger's documentation leaves a lot to be desired.

You started with 13 partitions on your A drive. When you upgraded the first time you added two more. There are only 16 entries in the partition table, so there isn't room for another pair.

13 partition A drives were only just coming on to the market when Tiger wrote that, so most TiVo owners could expand their A drive twice.

You can upgrade the B drive several times, because there are no system partitions on it, but the A drive is much more limited.

Posted by: MCodanti

OK, that's too bad... Now I don't know what to do with this 120, as there is no way I would be allowed to erase the current recordings, and I am sure adding another drive would be too noisy.

If D* would just release HMO, I could just move the programs around and not have to worry about all this... :(

Posted by: ThePhantom

quote:
Originally posted by MCodanti
FYI Seagate has their own tool for adjusting the noise management feature of their drives. I think the 80 I got came in quite mode.

Not anymore :( AAM is explicitly disabled in the Barracuda 7200.7's and newer Barracuda V's. It's still in the drive specs, but there's no means of setting it... Seagate claims it's due to some patent infringement.

Posted by: weaknees

quote:
Contrary to weaknees's post (sorry Michael), you can't run mfsadd again because the partition table is already full.

Yes, my mistake--didn't pay close enough attention to the model in the first post. Good catch, Robert S.

Posted by: yahooo

I am trying to determine if I need a bracket to add a 120gb second drive to my DirecTivo Hughes HDVR2 model. I just came across this statement on 9thTee's site.

You will need this if you are going to mount an additional hard drive in a Standalone Series 1 TiVo or most of the new Series 2 TiVo's but you do not need a bracket for the DirecTiVo Units

Essentially saying that I don't need a bracket because I have a DirecTivo. Can any of the experts here confirm or refute this?

Thanks...

Posted by: Robert S

That's the original SA TiVo drive bracket. The original DTiVoes used a different bracket that could hold two drives. The newer Series 2's and S2 DTiVoes are different again. Have a look at the brackets on weaknees.com, you should find a more enlightening description of what you need (I can't keep track of which new models need which bracket, but weaknees does).

Posted by: looter

I just added a 120GB Seagate ATA V to my HDVR2(3) and it is clicking very loudly. How would I put this drive in "quite mode"? It doesn't click if the DTiVo is in standby.