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108 hrs, 15 m...
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Posted by: Dr. Zed

Woo hoo!

Best Quality:....31 hrs, 11 min
High Quality:....50 hrs, 29 min
Medium Quality:..66 hrs, 44 min
Basic Quality:..108 hrs, 15 m...

Well, I had all the components ready, and I decided not to wait for the mount, so here's what I did.

First, I decided that I wanted to protect the bottom, since it has naked circuitry. I took the anti-static bag the drive originally shipped in, split it in half, and cut it down so that the resulting sheet would fit nicely across the bottom. To keep it in place, I wrapped two elastic bands around the drive.

I noticed that, to free the cables that I would need, I would have to cut through a white cable tie that was rather small and very tight. This concerned me, because I also had to make sure that I didn't cut through any of the wires. While I made some very delicate and ineffective attempts with a knife, I realized that I had the perfect tool for the job. A pair of nail clippers. These would be able to slice through the tough plastic without having the problem of continuing to cut when the tension of the plastic gave way.

With the cable tie removed, I looked at the wires. I slightly crimped one of the wire casings with the edge of the nail clipper, but not enough to actually effect the wire within. They were very slight dents and they didn't actually cut into the surface, they were just dents.

I was glad that I wouldn't have to shread the cable. The drive appears to just fit nicely. I suspect that if/when I get the drive mount, the added height will require some shreading, but for now, the drive is just sitting in the empty space, with a pair of elastics for "feet" and nothing holding it in place other than the cable going over the top.

I plugged everything in, and I plugged my TiVos back in (I unpluged the wrong one the first time, so I left both unplugged). Well, it seems that the "battery backup" side of my UPS is not responding for some reason. I had to plug them into the "surge protected only" side. I check the lights. They are on. I turn the TV back on, and I get the "please wait" screen. That's a good sign. Then, a moment of black before ....

the "Philips Presents...." animation. I like this and, after repowering the unit, I usually make a point of watching it just to relax. Sure, I want to tear into the menus and see the result, but I rather relax a bit and enjoy the show. The first thing I notice when I get to TiVo Central is.... it's not responding.

I press a variety of buttons, none of them have any effect. I look over at my desk and, sure enough, both remotes are missing. I have the wrong remote....

Ok, I put down remote #2 (I really need to label these things) and I look around and find remote #1. Whew. Everything is fine. A quick trip into setup and I check my capacity.

Really really big. I like it. http://www.avsforum.com/ubbtivo/biggrin.gif

While I generally watched _everything_ in basic, I've decided to switch to medium. I'm really not doing it for the quality. It's just that, given the choice between a 67-hour TiVo and a 108-hour TiVo, I rather have the 67 hours. Now Showing is going to be a pain as it is with 67 hours.

Yes, I'm fairly certain all this extra space will be quite a burden. http://www.avsforum.com/ubbtivo/rolleyes.gif

I would like to thank everyone on this forum for all the great help.

------------------
"It's like living in the future."™

[This message has been edited by an infinite number of monkeys (edited 10-24-2000).]

Posted by: unixpeon

What hard drive were you using to do this? the 60 giger?

-Adam

[This message has been edited by unixpeon (edited 09-07-2000).]

Posted by: Dr. Zed

quote:
Originally posted by unixpeon:
What hard drive were you using to do this? the 60 giger?

-Adam

[This message has been edited by unixpeon (edited 09-07-2000).]

Yep.

------------------
"It's like living in the future."™

[This message has been edited by an infinite number of monkeys (edited 10-24-2000).]

Posted by: Atrophy

quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Zed:
First, I decided that I wanted to protect the bottom, since it has naked circuitry. I took the anti-static bag the drive originally shipped in, split it in half, and cut it down so that the resulting sheet would fit nicely across the bottom. To keep it in place, I wrapped two elastic bands around the drive.

Woah woah woah!!! The anti-static bag is CONDUCTIVE! That's why it's anti-static - only NON-conductive materials can generate static. (Air, carpet, rubber balloons, etc). The anti-static bag protects by providing a least resistance path to help dissipate any static current.

This provides no extra protection for you than just dropping it into the case - quite the opposite in fact, unless you have the bag perfectly flat and not crinkled enough to touch the drive PCB.

Posted by: krolikoski

Actually I know some bags are not conductive on their surfaces. Some have a middle conductive metal layer for a faraday shield effect with non conductive outer layers. http://www.you-shine.com/package/package2.html

However, I also wouldn't use them. I just used thick cardboard under the drive and tie. The drive is very snug. I not sure I would ship it across country, but it is very secure for resting on top of the TV and moving it.

Posted by: JimJPhoenixAZ

I too couldnt wait for the bracket. It took 2 attempts, but its running flawless! Thanks guys so much! I record in the medium quality so, I went from 8 hours to 56. Gotta love it! I installed the 15 gb Maxtor as A drive and 60 GB as B drive.

The best thing, Staples matched the $184 price!

Posted by: cc

quote:
Originally posted by Dr. Zed:
I noticed that, to free the cables that I would need, I would have to cut through a white cable tie that was rather small and very tight. This concerned me, because I also had to make sure that I didn't cut through any of the wires. While I made some very delicate and ineffective attempts with a knife, I realized that I had the perfect tool for the job. A pair of nail clippers. These would be able to slice through the tough plastic without having the problem of continuing to cut when the tension of the plastic gave way.

FWIW, (and maybe this belongs in the tips thread) on all the Tivos I've upgraded, I take my pocket knife and pry back the little tab on the inside of that white zip tie. That loosens it so I can pull the power cable out of the bundle and then tie the rest of the cables back down.

Posted by: DBCooper

I assume you removed the conductive bag before installing the drive.

I, too, tired of waiting for brackets, so I went to Radio Shack and bought some transparent little rubber feet. They are a soft, almost sticky plastic and very non-skid. One LRF on each corner of the drive. I placed the drive on the flat metal TiVo case and snugged it down with some well-insulated wire. The drive has no tendency to move anywhere. For a permanent install I might have paid the extra +/- $5 for cable ties but my brackets will show up sooner or later and I spent about $1.50 for the LRF.

As for cutting the existing cable tie, I used ordinary wire nippers. It's fairly easy to make sure they don't cut anything else.

Pretty painless, Mr. Dylan. I owe you some suds.