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  • #1

    Another TiVo Upgrade!

    I've been through the upgrade process before, and seemed to have forgotten everything from the first time, and can't find the notes I made on my printout of the most-excellent Hinsdale guide during the previous upgrade.

    I have a Series 2 24004A to which I added a 160gig "B" drive about a year-and-a-half ago. Recently, I've had the GSOD a couple of times, so I'm guessing the "A" drive is getting flaky. Found a new 250gig drive (for $70!), so I'm going to replace the "A" drive, but have a couple of (hopefully not too dumb) questions. I'll be using Upgrade Configuration #4 (From: Any Dual Drive TiVo, To: New A or New B Drive)

    1) Do I not need to format the new "A" drive before doing the dd command? I'm pretty computer savy in the Windows world, but still a raw rookie with Linux. I don't see any mention of formatting anywhere in the document, so I'm assuming that Linux takes care of everything on the fly.

    2) I see from other posts that there is an issue with LBA48? Given the size of this drive, do I need to do anything special, or just run the dd, then mfsadd?

    Thanks for any tips!
    John Schneider
    Marietta, GA
    Tags: None
  • #2
    Oops. Nevermind about question #1. I just went back and read the entire Hinsdale guide again and found this under step #2: You do not need to run a low level format or zero out any new or previously used hard drives as the upgrade utilities will overwrite and claim all the space for the expanded TiVo.

    I'm still concerned about question #2 though.

    Also, I remember reading something (can't remember where) a while back that said you could only do the two-drive upgrade 3 times. Something about a limit on the number of times you can "marry" two drives. Is that accurate?

    Thanks again

    Comment

    • #3
      You do need an LBA aware boot CD to get all of the space from a 250. What boot CD are you using?
      Been here a long time . . .

      Comment

      • #4
        I just downloaded Tiger's Mfs Tools Boot CD from the link in Hinsdale's guide (http://www.newreleasesvideo.com/hins.../MFSLBA48.zip), but have not yet burned it to CD. I'm assuming, based on the name (MFSLBA48.zip) that this is an "LBA aware" boot CD?

        Thanks for the reply!

        Comment

        • #5
          Yes. That one should work just fine. Maybe post the amount of hours shown when you run the mfsadd and we can see for sure.
          Been here a long time . . .

          Comment

          • #6
            Ok, now I'm getting worried. The file I downloaded above (MFSLBA48.zip) and burned to CD, when I boot from it, after all the linux messages, it shows:
            ************************************************
            *PTVupgrade LBA48 Utility Disk Version 1.0 - Series1 Units Only *
            ************************************************

            I just double-checked, and the link "For most model TiVos" is indeed MFSLBA48.zip, and the link "If you have older Series 1 models" points to (MFSTOOLS20.zip). Could the two links have been swapped somehow?

            Also, I don't see any indication of my hard drives, booting with either of the two images. The primary master is my Win98 boot drive, primary slave is my current TiVo "B" drive and the secondary master is my current TiVo "A" drive. The only thing I see in the linux messages is that hdc is my CDROM drive! I didn't have any problems with my previous upgrade (adding a "B" drive) 2 years ago.

            Any ideas what's going on here????

            Comment

            • #7
              Try the instructions, and the related boot CD, from here:

              http://www.upgrade-instructions.com
              Been here a long time . . .

              Comment

              • #8
                Thanks for the tip, but that CD won't boot. I used the same software (ISO Recorder) to burn it as I did the others, but this one doesn't appear to be bootable.

                Comment

                • #9
                  The weaknees_lba_boot_cd.iso is definitely bootable and works with most hardware. Please describe in as much detail as you can what you see when the cd fails to boot. Do you get a boot prompt at all? Does the linux kernel appear to be starting? Is there anything unusal about your PC? usb keyboard? Serial ATA controller?

                  For another boot iso you can try, download this: http://www.weaknees.com/weaknees_sata.iso. It was developed for upgrading Series3 TiVo's, but it will work with Series2's as well. It has a newer linux kernel (2.6.18) that may have better hardware compatability with recent hardware than the kernel used on the older cds.

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    When I boot from the weaknees_lba_boot_cd, I don't see anything. I have my BIOS set to boot first from the CD, then floppy, then hard drive. The CD will light up momentarily, then the floppy drive, then it goes back to the hard drive. With those same BIOS settings, the LBA48 and MFSTools booot CDs boot up just fine. I even tried burning the image a couple more times, using Nero, then Ultra ISO, but I get the same result - it just won't boot. Very strange indeed.

                    I'll give the newer image you mentioned a try, and maybe that will also solve my drive problem. I just realized that my CDROM is plugged into the IDE controller on the motherboard, but the 3 drvies are plugged into an add-in IDE card. Evidently Linux can't see that card. I'm sure there is some way to get Linux to recognize it, but my Linux skills are pretty thin.

                    Thanks for the response!!!

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      Originally posted by johnmsch View Post
                      ...
                      I'll give the newer image you mentioned a try, and maybe that will also solve my drive problem. I just realized that my CDROM is plugged into the IDE controller on the motherboard, but the 3 drvies are plugged into an add-in IDE card. Evidently Linux can't see that card. I'm sure there is some way to get Linux to recognize it, but my Linux skills are pretty thin.
                      The weaknees_sata.iso cd will probably recognize your PCI IDE card. Run listdrives to list all the drives it sees. The drives may show up as something other than /dev/hda through /dev/hdd, but listdrives should tell you the correct device name to use.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        Michael & JSP - Again I really appreciate your responses. I finally remembered that during the last upgrade, I used the two IDE ports on the motherboard. I just hooked the drives up that way and used the LBA48 boot CD. I have successfully created and tested my backup, and am now in the process of doing the "dd" copying of the old "A" drive (40gig) to the new "A" drive (250gig). I'm almost there!!!

                        Thanks again and Happy Holidays!!!!!

                        Comment

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