When you installed the 300gb in one unit, and 160gb in the other unit, did you install ONLY the drives--one drive in each unit?

Jeff ... Yes, I installed the 160GB drive in the first problem unit after removing BOTH the previous two drives. I installed the 300GB drive in the second unit to replace the previous single 120GB drive.

I had a briefe glimmer of hope when the second TiVo box beganthe setup all of a sudden, after being in the gray screen for some time. But that setup only went to the attempt to log into TiVo over the internet, and then failed. After rebooting, it's back to the gray "powering up" screen "forever."

Pretty strange. Have you checked the jumpers on each drive, and checked the cables?

Michael: Yes, the jumpers on the new Seagate disks were correctly set by WK as "Master, No Slave." I have tried various flat cables, back-and-forth between the two units, or the short two-connector (single-disk) cable that came original with one of the units, or other 80-pin (ultra-)ATA cables I happen to have. All attempts get the same result.

Since I do get the powering on screen, the new (or old) disk(s) spin up and continue to spin, the front green light comes on, and the two fans in each unit spin, it looks like these units show none of the described symptoms of power supply failure. That being the case, I'm having to resign myself to motherboard problems.

I've been trying to avoid acquiring replacement units since I have "grandfathered" lifetime TiVo subscriptions on these two TiVo Series 2 boxes. But since those original subscriptions go back to 1999-2000 Series 1 boxes, I guess I can't be too greedy. Looks like I will order a couple of bare boxes from WK and bite the bullet. If the available bare boxes are compatible with my new Seagate formatted disks, O.K. ... if not, I will have to return the new drives to WK for reformatting.

I use only DirecTV, and have had two boxes to facilitate overlapping recording of shows, and have them networked in two different locations (family room and bedroom). I looked at the dual-tuner DirecTiVo boxes, but they don't offer HMF, which I like and use, and I do not have paired satellite cables wired into my wall jacks -- just a single cable to each location. And the DirecTiVo boxes don't network over the USB to my PC. Unless you can advise me otherwise, two basic stand-alone units seem to be my best option for now, especially since I'm not going to HD for at least two years.

Sorry for the long-winded "thought-dump" ... but thanks for listening and trying to help!

Well, I really don't have a good idea left.

Did you boot these drives in a PC before putting them in the TiVos, by any chance?

Michael: Thanks for thinking on it!

I did not try to boot disks on a PC. My "hacking" stops at installing upgraded, prepared drives by people like WeaKnees, and not trying anything to format or "fix" drives myself.

I, too, ran out of ideas, so have ordered a couple of WeaKnees-upgraded TiVo standalone units, and am returning the two disks I brought in this week to try in these older units. Your sales group is very accomodating, and I JUST got word the two new units have shipped and will be here Tuesday.

If you don't appreciate TiVo, then try living without it for ten days! My wife and I are so busy we never watch anything but the morning and evening news "live" ... and sometimes the latter gets time-shifted as well. Going back to using VHS tapes to capture and manage episodes of "The Wire," "In Treatment," and "The Daily Show" reminds me of those days when that's all we had. Ugly!

30/30

Glad we could help, in the end.

I totally agree on the problems of living without TiVo. If I go to a hotel, I don't even both to turn on the TV. I just wait and watch when I get home again.