Internal Hardrive Upgrade???

[scottym]

I recently picked up two series 3 HD cable card ready units. I understand that it's a no brainer, as of recently added TiVo support for external drives, to add external eSATA storage.

I would prefer to add internal drives.

Back in the day a PROM mod, monte or killhdinitrd were not needed (if I recollect correctly) to add addional storage. These techniques seemed to be needed for running a hacked tivoapp or custom kernel.

MFStools worked great to increase storage on my D* S2s.
Has anyone found success increasing storage internally?

Thanks for all your comments...please forgive my post if I'm in the wrong forum...I've been away from TiVo for a few years and real happy to get back on DDB.

[Omikron]

I recently picked up two series 3 HD cable card ready units. I understand that it's a no brainer, as of recently added TiVo support for external drives, to add external eSATA storage.

I would prefer to add internal drives.

Back in the day a PROM mod, monte or killhdinitrd were not needed (if I recollect correctly) to add addional storage. These techniques seemed to be needed for running a hacked tivoapp or custom kernel.

MFStools worked great to increase storage on my D* S2s.
Has anyone found success increasing storage internally?

Thanks for all your comments...please forgive my post if I'm in the wrong forum...I've been away from TiVo for a few years and real happy to get back on DDB.

Internal drive upgrades still work pretty much the same way. You can get an MFSLive disc from mfslive.org and use that, as it's the simplest method.

[captain_video]

I believe you need to use the WinMFS utility to upgrade the Tivo HD drive but you may also be able to use the MFSLive boot CD. I don't have a Tivo HD and I don't really remember exactly which methods work other than WinMFS. You can use the DVRUpgrade LBA48 enhanced boot CD for the series 3 Tivo if you have an SATA to IDE adapter. Otherwise, you'll need the MFSLive boot CD.

[swinokur]

I was able to use WinMFS to upgrade my S3's original drive. I hooked both drives up to SATA connectors, ran WinMFS and did a MFSCopy. I then restarted WinMFS and selected the freshly copied drive, to run MFSSuperSize.

I also used WinMFS to copy a new kernel into the active partition -- but you need a modded prom for that part to make any sense.

(Even better, I have a separate SATA controller for hotswapping drives so I was able to do all this without a reboot.)

[scottym]

All, Thanks for your helpful comments.

Last time I used MFStool was v2.0 so I'm glad to get clued in.

Scott

[bigphil1]

Is there any advantage to using internal drives vs. external SATA? Is it faster, or lower seek times?

Once I finish applying all my hacks I don't want to crack open the case again if possible. So when I do run low on space, I can just go out and add a terabyte ESATA drive without pulling drives.

[scottym]

Is there any advantage to using internal drives vs. external SATA? Is it faster, or lower seek times?

Once I finish applying all my hacks I don't want to crack open the case again if possible. So when I do run low on space, I can just go out and add a terabyte ESATA drive without pulling drives.

I suppose it's less expensive to go internal. I'm also reluctant to add yet another box to my overstuffed equipment cabinet. Most importantly--I like cracking open the case. I'm starting to wonder if I enjoy playing with the innards of my TiVo more than actually watching it!

As far as seek time and speed is concerned I feel confident in saying that seek is not an issue when working with 4MB clusters and sequential (typically) recording of sectors. A 5400 RPM drive was preferable with the non-HD TiVo but with HD I'm not sure if a 7200 is necessary. I sincerely doubt it. I'm getting ready to pull the trigger on 4 500 GB, 5400 Western Digital Drives at $99.99/ea. The slower spinning drive is less noisy.

[tivoROCKsme]

I found this guide on this site www.bumwine.com/tivo.html
does not use the windows based tools

[ScanMan]

I found this guide on this site www.bumwine.com/tivo.html
does not use the windows based toolsWhy use the older, no-longer-supported with unfixed bugs mfstools (no dis to the pioneering Tyger) when there is MFSLive (http://www.mfslive.org)?

[tivoROCKsme]

Thanks for the link. I didn't realize what I posted was obsolete. I'll be using your info when my new toy arrives next week!

[ScanMan]

Thanks for the link. I didn't realize what I posted was obsolete. I'll be using your info when my new toy arrives next week!The bumwine method probably would work in many cases but there are issues with the older mfstools. IMHO mfslive (& WinMFS) are better, improved, currently supported tools based on the original mfstools.

[tivoROCKsme]

Hey Scanman, are any of those links in your sig viable options for TivoHD the new one for $299?

[ScanMan]

Hey Scanman, are any of those links in your sig viable options for TivoHD the new one for $299?Yes and no. First off, you need a PROM mod, i.e. desoldering the prom chip and resoldering a new one with hacked code to bypass the 'chain of trust' (see the forsale section for someone who does this); so killhdinitrd doesn't work on newer tivos at all. However, the hacking concepts in those posts are the same. After you do the prom mod, you'll want to replace the stock kernel with either a custom kernel or a stock kernel that has had the initrd replaced with a null-linuxrc image using the 'replace_initrd' program. Now, you'll be able to make persistent changes to tivo's filesystem. Disable tivo's firewall (iptables) and create the 'rc.sysinit.author' file and start things like telnet, tivoftpd, etc. Apply a tivoapp patch to disable encryption (NoCSO) and the real fun begins.

Having said all that, many believe that the newer stock features like TivoToGo and the Tivo Desktop allow you to extract and insert (via MPEG) shows on your tivo without all the need and fuss of prom removal and the pretty regular maintenance of manually upgrading software, etc. It's up to you...

p.s. I have a hacked TivoHD (among others) and I love it :D

[tivoROCKsme]

Wow, thanks for the info. That honestly sounds like more work than I care to get in to. I agree that the built in tools to easily extract or add mpegs might be all I need, and of course more disk space.