Tweet
TiVo Series 2 (TCD540040) original 40GB factory drive failed - upgrade options?
I have a TiVo Series 2 model TCD540040 that started continuously rebooting a few weeks ago. The Tivo would get almost all the way through the "Welcome" and "Almost there..." screens, going blank and rebooting right at the point where I would normally expect to see the animated TiVo arising out of the water and walking up onto land.
I saw a number of threads in both the TiVo and WeaKnees support forums on this subject, and tried forcing the TiVo into repairing its file system (kickstart 57). I succeeded in getting it into the green screen of death at least twice, but it would only stay in the GSOD for 10-15 minutes before the screen would go blank and it would restart the continuous reboot cycle.
I concluded from those threads, and the preceding symptoms, that one or both of the disks was probably bad. (Back when I first got the TiVo, I upgraded it with a 120GB 2nd drive for additional capacity.) So I pulled the cover and tested both the original 40GB drive as well as the 120GB 2nd drive (both Maxtor QuickView drives) using SeaTools for DOS v2.13b. The 120GB drive looked fine, but SeaTools said that SMART had been tripped on the 40GB factory drive - something about having exceeded 70 degress Celsius at some point in the past (which is probably what started the continuous reboots) - and the long DST tests showed at least 10 errors before testing was stopped.
So my real question is: what upgrade kit should I order if I want to be able to continue to use the good 120GB drive? I'd rather not throw it on the pile of good but unused PATA and SATA drives that I already have, if I can avoid it. If I read the "Add vs. Replace" web page right - here - a "replace" kit can't be used in conjunction with any existing drives ("You cannot self-install a replace kit together with any other hard drive that may already be in your TiVo"), but an "add" kit can only be used with the original "drive that was installed in the TiVo at the factory" - which is the 40GB drive that failed. So it seems at first blush like neither of those will let me use the 120GB drive.
I can think of two other options that would involve a bit more work, but might let me get where I want to go:
(1) Order a "replace" kit from WeaKnees for a new main drive, get the TiVo up and running, then use tools like WinMFS to add the 120GB drive back in as a 2nd drive.
(2) Get the TiVo up and running using the 120GB drive as the new main drive. (Not quite sure how to do this, but I do have a CD image that we burned when we undertook the 120GB upgrade.) Then order an "add" kit from WeaKnees for a new 2nd drive.
Bottom line: which of the preceding options are viable? (short of throwing the good 120GB drive out with the bad 40GB drive)
I saw a number of threads in both the TiVo and WeaKnees support forums on this subject, and tried forcing the TiVo into repairing its file system (kickstart 57). I succeeded in getting it into the green screen of death at least twice, but it would only stay in the GSOD for 10-15 minutes before the screen would go blank and it would restart the continuous reboot cycle.
I concluded from those threads, and the preceding symptoms, that one or both of the disks was probably bad. (Back when I first got the TiVo, I upgraded it with a 120GB 2nd drive for additional capacity.) So I pulled the cover and tested both the original 40GB drive as well as the 120GB 2nd drive (both Maxtor QuickView drives) using SeaTools for DOS v2.13b. The 120GB drive looked fine, but SeaTools said that SMART had been tripped on the 40GB factory drive - something about having exceeded 70 degress Celsius at some point in the past (which is probably what started the continuous reboots) - and the long DST tests showed at least 10 errors before testing was stopped.
So my real question is: what upgrade kit should I order if I want to be able to continue to use the good 120GB drive? I'd rather not throw it on the pile of good but unused PATA and SATA drives that I already have, if I can avoid it. If I read the "Add vs. Replace" web page right - here - a "replace" kit can't be used in conjunction with any existing drives ("You cannot self-install a replace kit together with any other hard drive that may already be in your TiVo"), but an "add" kit can only be used with the original "drive that was installed in the TiVo at the factory" - which is the 40GB drive that failed. So it seems at first blush like neither of those will let me use the 120GB drive.
I can think of two other options that would involve a bit more work, but might let me get where I want to go:
(1) Order a "replace" kit from WeaKnees for a new main drive, get the TiVo up and running, then use tools like WinMFS to add the 120GB drive back in as a 2nd drive.
(2) Get the TiVo up and running using the 120GB drive as the new main drive. (Not quite sure how to do this, but I do have a CD image that we burned when we undertook the 120GB upgrade.) Then order an "add" kit from WeaKnees for a new 2nd drive.
Bottom line: which of the preceding options are viable? (short of throwing the good 120GB drive out with the bad 40GB drive)
Comment