TiVo Community Forums Archives - Good Hard Drive, Bad TiVo ...

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Good Hard Drive, Bad TiVo ...
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Posted by: dghahary

Hi,

I wonder if anyone can help me with this issue.

A friend of mine had a TiVo that died - he believe it to be the power supply. In the meantime, the hard drive seems to be fine, but obviously cannot be accessed or used.

Is there any way to recover the shows on this drive by either placing it in a working TiVo or a computer running as a Linux-type system?

If I'm in the wrong forum, please let me know. This is my first post.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

Thanks,

Dash ...

:confused:

Posted by: HTH

Just so people know, some answers were provided in the Help Forum.

Adding to that, if it is a DirecTiVo, swapping the drives to another identical DirecTiVo won't work. You'll get an Error 51 (code for "alien drive present in unit", ref. Area 51) and have to delete all recordings to get it working.

And transplanting between Series1 standalone models of the same make isn't a problem anymore.

There may be a site out there that can handle power supply repair, or someone can recommend an alternative power supply that would work, though might not fit in the case.

Posted by: Robert S

Actually, if it's Series 1 stand alone you can put it in /any/ other US Series 1 stand alone and get the recordings off it. You must not allow it to phone TiVo in this configuration unless it's the same brand as the original.

If it's anything other than a Series 1 stand alone then repairing the original is your only way forward. The Series 2 stand alones used to allow drives to be moved with recordings, but as of 4.0 the same system ties the recordings to the mainboard serial number.

You may be able to find other sites that describe how to work around this problem - it might even be practical for a Series 1 DTiVo, but the Series 2's counter-measures are much stronger than the earlier models.

Posted by: dghahary

Thanks guys...

I should have specified this, but I'm new, so please forgive me... The unit is a series one, but it is a DirecTV unit - so it's not a standalone.

Second, is there a way to take what's on this drive (meaning the shows) and put them on another TiVo that's already working, but without replacing the drive?

Almost like putting two drives in a working TiVo temporarily, and then copying the shows over to the primary drive and then removing the secondary drive.

If not, does using a PC help?

Again, please bare with me since I'm new.

I appreciate all the help, but may be a little slow in understanding the answers.

Posted by: HTH

quote:
Originally posted by dghahary
Second, is there a way to take what's on this drive (meaning the shows) and put them on another TiVo that's already working, but without replacing the drive?

Not in a manner that can be discussed on this forum. That would entail video extraction. We are also barred from informing you where you can find a forum that would allow such discussion. Even in obfuscated form. (We may eventually be barred from even hinting that such a forum exists.)

All I feel comfortable saying is that Google is your friend.

Posted by: dghahary

Thanks. I understand. If you would like to email me, please do so @ dghahary@yahoo.com.

Thanks again for the pointers!