TiVo Community Forums Archives - 3 Simple Newbie Questions (Upgrading 140060)

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3 Simple Newbie Questions (Upgrading 140060)
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Posted by: dougg

Well after reading on this incredibly helpful forum, I'm about ready to upgrade my TiVo 140060. A few simple questions though remain that I hope somebody can help me with (and please excuse the ignorance but I haven't really had the time to learn things as well as I probably should have):

1. Do I need to have a computer to do this? (there is so much talk about Toolkits and disk images, etc.). I work on a Mac and though there is a wireless connection, I have no idea what any of this would mean in my case.

2. I'm having some trouble deciding if I should add a drive to what I have or simply replace it with a bigger one. Am I right in getting the general sense that THOUGH my unit can handle two drives, switching to one larger one is the safer bet? (and I'm leaning towards weaknees here as almost everybody seems to have had a good experience with them).

3. Finally on the assumption that I do go with one larger drive, am I right in hearing people say that my TiVo can't really work well with anything larger than a 120 GB drive? Is it not worth getting the 160 GB one for this reason?

Thanks, Doug

Posted by: Gomer Pyle

1. If you want to create the drive yourself, from a drive you purchase yourself, it will be easier to do with a PC. I think it can be done with a Mac, but it is not nearly as well documented.

2. It is easiest to add a second drive. All you have to do is bless a drive, and install it. If you want to swap the drive, you need to copy the drive old drive to the new, which is not hard, but takes more time and learning.

3. The max per drive you can use is 137 GB. A 160 GB drive can be used, buy will not use the last 23 GB. Often you can buy a 160 GB drive cheaper than a 120 GB. Staples currently has a non-rebate sale on Maxtor 160 GB drives for $90.

Posted by: dougg

Thanks much -- a few quick points of clarification though?

1. What does it mean to 'create the drive myself'? If I were to buy a kit from weaknees would i have to create it?

2. If I swap or add, can it be down without copying the original drive (and then all that would happen is I'd lose what I had recorded)?

3. Does it hurt the performance of the TiVo if the drive is 'too big' in this way?

Thanks again!
-Doug

Posted by: Gomer Pyle

1. Doing it yourself means you buy a drive at a local store, and copy it yourself using instructions you can find online. If you buy a kit, you won't need to do anything but swap out the drives. Buying a kit is easier, but more expensive. You have to weigh in on which is your prefered choice.

2. If you swap with a kit, you will lose recordings. If you add a second drive, you won't lose recordings.

3. No performance loss. It just uses less than 100% of what the drive is capable of.