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my 3 year old weaknees hard drives are failing

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  • #1

    my 3 year old weaknees hard drives are failing

    I purchased the Dual 160GB upgrade kit for my 540040 Tivo back in October of 2004. Over the past year my Tivo has started to really stutter. Doesn't matter if it's a live show or a recorded show. I learned to deal with it, but it has gotten much worse. From what I've read on the FAQ and the forums it looks like the hard drives are failing.

    I'm writing here to find out what my options are. Is there anyway to replace the drives and keep my programs that are on them? Can I replace just one drive? Is there anyway that I can check the drives and figure out if it is only one of them that is failing? Do Tivo drives get fragmented? (and therefore can be defragmented) Any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks
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  • #2
    We can test the drives and figure out what's up, and then try to recover data from the failing drive and copy it over to the new drive. But the easiest and fastest method would be to just order a replace kit for your TCD540040.
    Been here a long time . . .

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    • #3
      speed is not an issue so how do I go about testing my drives? and eventually transfering data over?

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      • #4
        Here are some useful links.

        Testing:

        http://www.wkforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9

        Formatting:

        http://www.upgrade-instructions.com
        That's all there is to it!

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        • #5
          First off, thanks for the assitance.

          I tested both of my drives (Maxtor, Diamondmax 16, 160GB drives) and found one of them to have errors on it. It is the drive that is set as the Master, if that matters at all.

          I would like to order another drive through Weaknees but I wanted to know if it would be possible to recover any of the data on the bad drive. And if I can, will there be instructions included with the drive on how to do that?

          Second question, will it matter if I get the same capacity drive or can I get something larger?

          Thanks again.

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          • #6
            The working drive would need to be reformatted in order to be used again, although these days, drive capacities with single drives might obviate the need for going with duals.

            As for saving the programming, you'd either need to use a Linus computer to fully copy all info from the old drive to a replacement, or send it to us for copying. HOWEVER, with drive errors, especially lots of them, the chances of a successfully copy diminish considerably.

            Yes, you can copy the B drive onto something larger, but again, it would need to survive the copy.

            My advice would be to buy a single drive replacement to work by itself, or purchase a drive somewhere and follow instructions online (link above) for copying your image and settings from the old master.
            That's all there is to it!

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            • #7
              Looks like I posted a little too early, however I thank you for the useful information.

              I saw the errors listed in the scan tool before it finished and then found out at the end that I was able to "repair" the errors (there were 6). I ran a second scan and found 1 error and repaired it as well. I'm now running a third scan.

              Is this just a bad sign that the drive is on it's last leg and I should just replace it? If I run the scan another time and find it to be error free will it work fine _in theory_?

              I did not see an option where I could order a new drive and keep my second drive...is that not possible? I ran a scan on it and it passed without any problems.

              Thanks again.

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              • #8
                If the scan runs without errors, the only way to know is it install in and see what happens. I hope it works!

                No way to order a replacement for one drive in a pair without the TiVo coming to us so it can be worked on in Linux.
                That's all there is to it!

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