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Replacing HD in Sony SVR-2000
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Posted by: idokoro

Background: I received my Sony SVR-2000 as a Christmas gift a couple years ago. I've enjoyed it, but since the 3.0 upgrade it's stopped functioning. Having called Tivo and Sony, and having read the various threads in this forum, I've been persuaded that it's a disk drive problem. I've looked at the Hinsdale guide, purchased a Seagate 80GB Barracuda ATA IV HD and am psyching myself up for the job.

I've never replaced a hard-drive before, but I'm reasonably good at following instructions and I've enlisted the help of a friend who's more experienced and knowledgable in working with computers (but is not a Tivo owner.) He's also extremely busy, so I'd like to streamline the process as much as possible.

Since the original hard drive is shot, I've downloaded a 2.5 backup image from a site where I was directed by someone on this forum. Since this means that I won't be backing up my own drive, can I skip that step in the Hinsdale guide?

Also, since I would assume that this image is reliable, can I skip the testing step in the Hinsdale How-To and just go from installing the downloaded image on my new drive and then running TivoMad on it in order to expand it? (I'm not sure we'll have ready access to a TV to test it, anyway.)

In short, I'm thinking that my friend and I could:

1. Hook the new HD up to the Primary Slave IDE connector in my friend's computer, run the Utilities Boot CD, and install the downloaded back-up image on the HD.

2. Power down the computer and (following the Hinsdale instruction) hook the HD up to the Secondary Master IDE connector, power up and run TivoMad.

3. Then put the HD in my Sony SVR -- voila! Wouldn't even have to open the SVR case until this point.

Would this shortcut work? Or am I overlooking something?

One other question: there is a note in the Hinsdale guide regarding "the most recent production model Sony Standalone units released with v2.5.1 OS pre-installed" and the use of TivoMad. If my unit is two years old and never before altered, do I need to pay any attention to this?

Any help would be appreciated. Thanks,

Doke

Posted by: Robert S

Firstly, when you get to the end of this process, you'll realise it's a lot less scary than you think it is now. Nothing you're handling is really fragile, think carefully, act slowly and you'll be fine.

Hard drives don't like mechincal shocks and static electricity. They /really/ don't like mechanical shocks while their turning. Wait for them to spin down when you switch them off, be gentle if you're putting it down on a hard surface. Don't touch the hard drive's electronics - handle it by the metal casing.

TiVo's hard drive sits on a vibration-isolated bracket. It might make sense to put the drive on the TiVo's bracket before you handle it too much.

The connectors will be quite tight - particularly the power connector. Be patient. Gentle wiggling is OK, but make sure the connector comes out straight. Be careful that you hand doesn't smash into the unshielded power supply when the connector parts. When reconnecting, make sure all the pins line up. The data cable should go a good way into its socket with zero force. If you need to push it into the socket, you may have bent a pin. Once the connector reaches the bottom of the socket it will tighten up and need plenty of pressure to seat it properly.

TiVo uses a normal ATA hard drive - if your friend is used to handling them, there shouldn't be a problem.

If your TiVo is sticking at 'Welcome, powering up' (I think the Sony splash screens are a bit different to the ones I'm familiar with, sorry), it probably is the hard drive. If it gets to 'Almost there', there are more possibilities.

Obviously you already have a backup. If your current hard drive is unbootable, the chances of getting a viable backup are slim. So yes, skip the backup step.

You seem to be using the original Hinsdale. You should DEFINITELY use MFS Tools 2.0 and New Hinsdale. MFS Tools 2.0 is actually easier to use than the method you've been studying and you'll get a faster TiVo too!

I don't know why you want to move the drive between steps 2 and 3 - Hinsdale puts the OLD drive on secondary master and the NEW drive on primary slave. MFS Tools 2.0 lets you do those two steps in one:

mfsrestore -s 127 -xzpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc (restore/expand to single new larger A drive)

It doesn't sound like you have a way to test your backup and I don't think there's any reason to do it in two steps (in the original Hinsdale he lets you check the restored backup before you expand it with TiVoMad as it's intrinsically a two-step process, this would let you associate any problem you might have with a specific step.

The problem with 13-partition Sonys does not affect MFS Tools 2.0, it's a limitation of TiVoMad. If you're using TiVoMad, you'll see the partition table printed at boot. Normal TiVoes have 11 partitions. (You won't see the partitions printed with MFS Tools 2.0, you'll see an 'invalid signature' error message, this is normal).

Posted by: idokoro

Yes, MFS Tools 2.0 is just what I need. The New Hinsdale Tutorial really speaks to me and my issues. ;)

Thanks for the tips and the moral support.

Doke