Series 3 Information

[Supafly]

I started this thread to collect preliminary information about the new Series 3 Standalone TiVo. I will be posting what I encounter, and I invite anyone else to post their experiences.

MFSInfo

/# mfsinfo /dev/hdx
mfs_load_zone_map: Primary zone map corrupt, loading backup.
MFS volume set contains 4 partitions

   /dev/hdx10
     MFS Partition Size: 288MiB
   /dev/hdx11
     MFS Partition Size: 105833MiB
   /dev/hdx12
     MFS Partition Size: 288MiB
   /dev/hdx13
     MFS Partition Size: 131161MiB
Total MFS volume size: 237570MiB
Estimated hours in a standalone TiVo: 282
This MFS volume may be expanded 4 more times

Bootpage -p:

/# bootpage -p /dev/hdx7
root=/dev/hda7

MFSBackup:

/# mfsbackup -f 9999 -6so /mnt/tivo/tivo.series.3.virgin.mfs /dev/hdx
Scanning source drive. Please wait a moment.
Source drive size is 282 hours
Backup image will be 282 hours
Uncompressed backup size: 2869 megabytes
Backing up 2869 of 2869 megabytes (100.00%)
Backup done!

MFSRestore:

/# mfsrestore -s 127 -zxpi /mnt/tivo/tivo.series.3.virgin.mfs /dev/hdx

Mounting /dev/hda7 worked fine, and I was able to get into the MFS filesystem.

The image restored fine on the 250gb SATA drive, I know there's no difference in space, but the accomplishment here was that the image was valid and can be used on any SATA drive.

How did I get around the WD SecureConnect™ cable? Since I was just testing the method, I had an external power source hooked up to the HD and had it powered at all times. This isn't something that will work in a real environment, but I just wanted to get the information out to the real geniuses and maybe they can get something rolling.

That's about it, nothing special, but I didn't see anything posted for the S3 either here or the *other* forum, so I decided to take a dive myself. Expect the MFS image to be in the usual places in a few hours.

[Supafly]

It never occured to me that you don't probably don't to replace the connectors at ALL.

Yeah, there's nothing special about the SecureConnect assembly, it worked fine on the Segate drive and tested. It never occured to me to even TRY it!

So there you have it, nothing special about the connector, plugs fine into any standard SATA drive.

[justdoit]

Wow!!! So much incompatibility with the power connections itself for SATA drives?

[cheer]

Yeah...naturally some have speculated that Tivo did this to discourage drive replacements and/or lock folks into a particular brand, but more likely they felt that the standard Sata power connector wasn't secure enough -- and I don't blame them.

Supafly: excellent info! Keep us posted as you continue to explore.

[Supafly]

Information about the SecureConnect Assembly modifed above.

Also, the image is on BitTorrent as promised, PM me for details or search in the obvious places. I've set up some seeders to get things moving along.

[monkeyboy1010]

Great info, looking forward to moving some shows off the S3 soon to my PC for backup to HD-DVD.

Thanks!

mb1010

[AbMagFab]

So where did you get the MFS boot disk with the SATA drivers? I can't get my machine to see the drive attached to my SATA port.

[Supafly]

So where did you get the MFS boot disk with the SATA drivers? I can't get my machine to see the drive attached to my SATA port.

You can download the free version here:
PTVupgrade LBA48 CD with MFStools (version 4.04)

The two pay versions are available here:

PTVupgrade LBA48 CD v4.04 Enhancements ($5)
PTVupgrade Universal Boot CD 11c ($20)

[AbMagFab]

You can download the free version here:
PTVupgrade LBA48 CD with MFStools (version 4.04)

The two pay versions are available here:

PTVupgrade LBA48 CD v4.04 Enhancements ($5)
PTVupgrade Universal Boot CD 11c ($20)

Perfect, thanks.

You sure the free one has SATA drivers? I don't see it listed (and can't test until this weekend).

[Supafly]

Perfect, thanks.

You sure the free one has SATA drivers? I don't see it listed (and can't test until this weekend).

Positive, or else the 500GB blank hard drive I restored the image to got its data through osmosis.

[Jamie]

Positive, or else the 500GB blank hard drive I restored the image to got its data through osmosis.

You sure you didn't have your bios set to "Legacy ATA" mode? The upgrade CD's all have pretty old kernels (e.g. 2.4.4). I'd be surprised if they had very good SATA support, indeed if it is in there at all.

[RichB]

I have tried the universal disk and the LBA48 4.04 image with a SATA drive connected. The drive appears in the BIOS but I do not see it in the boot history.

How can I determine if it was mounted as a /dev/hd? or is there a step I am missing?

Thanks,

Rich

[Supafly]

You sure you didn't have your bios set to "Legacy ATA" mode? The upgrade CD's all have pretty old kernels (e.g. 2.4.4). I'd be surprised if they had very good SATA support, indeed if it is in there at all.

I think you might be right, although there is no such setting in my BIOS to that effect, my TiVo drive shows up as /dev/hdk. Which might be why it works fine for me.

However, isn't IDE/ATA/SATA supposed to be transparent to the OS? Shouldn't a real SATA controller report the device as an generic ATA device? It shouldn't matter the physical interface, the why the bits come into the OS are all the same.

[Supafly]

It should be in the list of available ATA devices. Mine showed up under /dev/hdk. You don't want to mount the drive you're restoring to, as there are no partitions to mount. When you issue the mfsrestore command, you're specifying a drive, not a particular partition.

[cheer]

However, isn't IDE/ATA/SATA supposed to be transparent to the OS? Shouldn't a real SATA controller report the device as an generic ATA device? It shouldn't matter the physical interface, the why the bits come into the OS are all the same.

I don't think so -- at least, on one of my PCs here, I can't install *&^%@#$ Windows XP onto the SATA drive unless I build a slipstreamed Windows disc with the SATA drivers integrated...