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Replacing H.D.s with same size drives

I'm trying to replace BOTH H.D.s on my upgraded dual unit and replace them with identical size H.D.s. After reading Hinsdale's "How To" article, I'm still unclear on UPGRADE CONFIGURATION #5, entitled "From: Any Dual Drive TiVo, To: New A and New B Drive (replacing both drives)".

In that particular paragraph, he gives the command to copy the original drives to the new LARGER drives. QUESTION - Can you still use that command if the new drives are the same size as the ones you are replacing??? Here's the command he has in the article:

mfsbackup -Tao -/dev/hda /dev/hdb | mfsrestore -s 127 -xzpi - /dev/hdc /dev/hdd


On the surface, the method looks preferrable since you can copy both hard drives (Old A drive to New A drive & Old B drive to New B drive) at the same time. If this isn't the right command, can someone please point me to the right one.

Thanks!!!

Mike

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Registered: Jul 2002
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Your problem is the -s 127 parameter which expands your swap (Good Thing) making the image too big for your drives (Bad Thing).

Why not use dd? Boot to a non-swapped environment (default mode on MFS Tools 2.0 CD is fine), check your DMA settings and do

dd if=/dev/hdX of=/dev/hdY bs=32k

for both drives. MFS Tools 2.0 can't copy both drives simultaneously and it's quite a bit slower than using dd in a non-byteswapped environment.

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Please do not PM me asking for TiVo backups. I don't have any.

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Robert - You posted the following answering my question re. copying one drive to another:

"If you don't want to keep your recordings, just take a standard backup of the old drives and restore to the new. Make sure you include -x and list both new drives as targets and MFS Tools 2.0 will create a married pair for you."

I'm going to copy from h.d. to h.d. for both the "a" drives and the "b" drives.
What would the dd command be if I have the old and new hard drive connected at the same time??? I'm taking for granted you can only do 1 pair at a time.

Thanks! Mike

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The dd command above is what you want, just substitute hdX and hdY with the device nodes for the source and target drives, respectively.

I don't remember the details of your previous question - look at my post counter! The command you posted is using an MFS Tools pipe transfer to copy recordings. Using dd is equivalent in your case and more efficient, but will still take many, many hours.

If you're saying you don't want to take your recordings with you then you can do the move much more quickly (a few tens of minutes). Take an ordinary 'divorced' backup of you current drive set and then restore if to the new drives. You'll probably have to use the same swap size as before (ie, if you used -s 127 before use it again, otherwise don't use it).

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Please do not PM me asking for TiVo backups. I don't have any.

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dd -x if=/dev/hdX of=/dev/hdY bs=32k

Is that where the -x goes, or if not, where does it go?

Mike

The -x is used to NOT save the recorded shows, right?

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Try not to confuse dd and MFS Tools.

The dd command I offered you clones one hard drive onto another of equal or greater size (this will not work if the target drive is even one block smaller than the source). By cloning the drive you transfer everything including recordings and the 'marriage' to the other drive, but it does take hours.

-x is an MFS Tools parameter. It instructs MFS Tools 2.0 to fill any unused space on the target drive(s) with TiVo recording partitions.

If you do not want to take your recordings with you (do you realize just how much easier this would be to explain if you would just SAY whether you wanted to take your recordings or not?), then you can just take a normal MFS Tools backup of your current drive set and restore it to your new drives with the same options you used on the mfsrestore side of the pipe in your first post.

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Please do not PM me asking for TiVo backups. I don't have any.

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Sorry, Robert......Thought I made myself clear that I didn't want to save the recordings. That's what I thought the -x was all about.

Mike

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Robert, here is what I'm trying to do and as far as I can see, Hindale's "How to" article (or any other) doesn't DIRECTLY address it.

I started with a standalone Philips unit that came with a 30 hr. hard drive. I have replaced it with a 80 gb Maxtor 7200rpm and have ALSO added a second hard drive that has the same specs as the A drive (Maxtor 80gb 7200rpm).

I want to copy the A drive onto another 80gb Maxtor hard drive (5400rpm) and I also want to copy my B drive to another 80gb Maxtor hard drive (also 5400rpm). I DO NOT WANT TO SAVE THE RECORDINGS.

All my hard drives are the same size and the same brand. I'd like to use dd, which I gather, means doing 1 copy at a time (which is fine with me). What is the dd command to do this and NOT save any recordings? Please type out the command for me so I don't screw it up.

Unfortunately, all the documentation that I've read is for adding hard drives that are BIGGER. I know that you can copy from one H.D. to another with this command:

dd if=/dev/hdc of=/dev/hdd hb=32

What do you change in it to NOT save the recordings?


Thanks for your time AND patience!

Mike

*** I'm doing this to reduce the amount of heat created by 7200rpm hard drives and using 5400's, instead.

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Sorry, I thought I'd covered that in my last post:

If you do not want to take your recordings with you, [...] then you can just take a normal MFS Tools backup of your current drive set and restore it to your new drives with the same options you used on the mfsrestore side of the pipe in your first post.

dd is not the right tool for this job - it just copies bytes from a source to a target, it has no understanding of the TiVo filing system and therefore can not be configured to do a selective backup and omit the recordings.

MFS Tools can make this sort of backup, so backup your current drive set as per New Hinsdale:

mfsbackup -6so /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc /dev/hdb

Swap your drives over and restore to the new drives as per New Hinsdale:

mfsrestore -s 127 -xpi /mnt/dos/tivo.bak /dev/hdc /dev/hdb

and you'll transfer all your data, but no recordings. It should only take 10-15 minutes each way.

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Please do not PM me asking for TiVo backups. I don't have any.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Robert S
Your problem is the -s 127 parameter which expands your swap (Good Thing) making the image too big for your drives (Bad Thing).

Why not use dd? Boot to a non-swapped environment (default mode on MFS Tools 2.0 CD is fine), check your DMA settings and do

dd if=/dev/hdX of=/dev/hdY bs=32k

for both drives. MFS Tools 2.0 can't copy both drives simultaneously and it's quite a bit slower than using dd in a non-byteswapped environment.

---

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Yes, use the mfsadd function

mfsadd -x /dev/hdX /dev/hdY

and it'll add the empty 20Gb on the B drive to your usable space - as you inferred, dd clones the drive so it appears to the TiVo as the same size as the source disk.

(Fast enough for you?)

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Please do not PM me asking for TiVo backups. I don't have any.

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quote:

---

Originally posted by Robert S
Yes, use the mfsadd function

mfsadd -x /dev/hdX /dev/hdY

and it'll add the empty 20Gb on the B drive to your usable space - as you inferred, dd clones the drive so it appears to the TiVo as the same size as the source disk.

(Fast enough for you?)

---

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Registered: Jul 2002
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Yes, it'll work on any valid TiVo drive set and fill unused space after a dd or MFS Tools restore operation.

You have to have both drives connected and list the A and B drives' device nodes on the command line.

BlessTiVo uses an internal upgrade mechanism in the TiVo software that allows it to work without modifying the A drive. mfsadd needs to modify both drives.

__________________
Please do not PM me asking for TiVo backups. I don't have any.

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