Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Bartlett, TN
Posts: 10

Just after the warranty ran out on my 20hr SA, I added an 80GB drive (as a second drive) using hinsdale's how to. It went flawlessly and so far I have not had any trouble.

I am thinking of adding another 80-100GB drive soon and was wondering if there are any gotchas that i should be concerned with. I will read the How To again, I just wanted to know off hand if I was going to be in for as easy an upgrade as last time.

Also, I have some shows saved that I really want to keep and I really don't want to have to save them to tape. Are there any other options?

Thanks,
descentr

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 422

Well, you'll be restoring your backup, that's a fact... or at least making one if you didn't before. Either way, make sure you've watched everything you want first, and dumped to tape everything you want to watch but can't keep up .

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: romeoville,il,us
Posts: 2

It won't be as easy as before but you can do it.

If you made a backup copy of your original drive during the first upgrade, you can simply restore that backup to the new 80 or 100 gig drive, expand it, and then rebless the "B" drive and boot them together in the TiVo.

Or, if you didn't make a backup copy, follow Hinsdale's directions for a two-drive backup (it's called divorcing) in order to create a single backup image--see (Step 7, option #2 in hinsdale's guide)
Restore this new image to the intended "A" drive, expand it, then bless your intended "B" drive and make sure both drives are in the TiVo when you boot for the first time.

You can not preserve your recordings if you are upgrading to a larger drive.
You can only preserve recordings if you simply copy the drive to another drive without expanding.

The most common gotcha is configuring the drive jumpers incorrectly....
Hint- Configure them correctly

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Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Bartlett, TN
Posts: 10

Thanks for the info, now I'll just be keeping my eyes peeled looking for a good deal on a drive...

descentr

P.S. just to make sure I am reading the HowTo right:

"Larger drives may function but you are currently limited to a maximum of 2 drives x 137GB (128GiB) or 274GB (256GiB) of usable space."

That is the total for both drives right? So I can take that old 20 out and put a new 120 in with my 80 for a total of 200 GB and all will be swell?

Last edited by descentr on 03-25-2002 at 03:54 AM

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 422

Yes. The warning only applies if you want to put in the 160GB drives - the TiVo will only see 137GB of that drive. 120+80 is not a problem.

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Registered: Mar 2002
Location: Bartlett, TN
Posts: 10

Thanks a million fellas, now to talk the wife into spending more on the damn thing ...

descentr

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Registered: Sep 2000
Location:
Posts: 422

Perhaps you can contribute a section to the HOWTO to do just that? I'm sure it'll be useful to those who want to convince their significant other...

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: FL, NJ, US
Posts: 221

I have the original 20 and a 60 gig drive in my SA. I want to add an 80 (taking out the 20)

Can i
1) copy everyting from the 2 drives to the 80 gig including the recording.
If i do this i wont need to do any expanding.
2) I then want to put in the 60 gig. Can i just bless it and toss it in the tivo?

If so wat section of the how-to should I follow?

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Registered: Jan 2000
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 1290

No, you will lose the recordings.


Backup using the two drive method (ie mfstool backup -6so ...)

You can expand only once and you have already expanded once.

So you have to make a new small unexpanded single drive image using MFStools and then can expand 'one time' again using TiVoMad to re-expand both drives at the same time.

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: FL, NJ, US
Posts: 221

Do i need to devorce the drives befor i do the backup or just put both in my computer and do the back up?

__________________
Should Frigidaire be held legally liable for distracting TV viewers who leave the room during commercial breaks to grab a glass of milk?
-----Doug Isenberg

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Registered: Dec 2001
Location: romeoville,il,us
Posts: 2

Gbaz,
"Divorcing" only refers to the backup image created from a two-drive TiVo. After performing the two-drive backup, the drives are actually still married but the image represents an unexpanded-single-drive-TiVo which is why they nicknamed it "divorcing". If the backup is successful, the two-drives are not altered in any way.

So to answer your question specifically, yes, you need to put both drives in your computer and then follow the instructions for a two-drive backup.

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Registered: Nov 2001
Location: FL, NJ, US
Posts: 221

Thanks. Ill have do do this once my sister gets home and watches all the junk iv recorded for her.

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