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Are upgrades safe?
I see a lot of companies offering upgrades to TiVo (weaknees, tvrevo,
9thtee, etc.) Are these safe (no damage to tivo) and reliable? Is there any downside? Are any of these companies better than the others? It would be cool to have 700 hours instead of 40. Thanks -- For email, use Usenet-20031220 at spamex.com |
The short answer:
YES ! In article , Top Spin wrote: I see a lot of companies offering upgrades to TiVo (weaknees, tvrevo, 9thtee, etc.) Are these safe (no damage to tivo) and reliable? Yes (unless you're all thumbs or don't follow directions), yes. Is there any downside? Depends how much cost is a factor for you. If you're handy with PC hardware, you can save money by buying Hard Drives mail-order, and configuring them yourself. http://www.upgrade-instructions.com Are any of these companies better than the others? The three you mentioned all have good reputations. It would be cool to have 700 hours instead of 40. Thanks Unless you get an HD DirecTiVo and use it for SD stuff, your maximum is about 240 hours (with two 160 Gig Drives). The Linux kernel in the non HD TiVos only recognize up to 137 Gig per HD. |
Are these safe (no damage to tivo) and reliable?
Yes. They add little more than what's already in the box. They add a second drive, a very nice quality bracket (weaknees) and a pair of MUCH quieter fans. Using better fans means keeping the unit cooler (mine now runs cooler than stock) and this helps in keeping the drives from burning up. DO NOT LET YOUR UNIT OVERHEAT, upgraded or not! The bane of any IDE drive is heat so don't cook it! Is there any downside? Potentially warranty issues. By adding stuff to the unit you're voiding it's warranty. If/when something died you'd either have to send it back to the upgrade company or pull out the upgrade stuff and send the unit back in 'factory' condition. Most folks who do their own upgrades are prepared to do the latter. If the upgrade portion is the part that dies most of the upgrade companies understand how to work with people pulling the stuff and sending it back for replacement. Are any of these companies better than the others? I got mine from weakness and it's been great. Granted, it's little more than a very nice plastic bracket, a pair of fans, some nice instructions AND the hex tools to open the box and remove the drive. But it's all very nicely done and was a breeze to upgrade myself with a drive I purchased locally (compusa). If/when my unit dies I'll figure out if it was a factory drive or the upgrade. If it's the upgrade then I'll send it off to western digital (3 year warranty). If it's the factory drive then I'll either just toss the drive or pull out the upgraded stuff and send it back for repair. I'm more likely to just do the drive myself. It would be cool to have 700 hours instead of 40. Eh, I find that I'm never filling up the 120/40gb combination I've got now. I just don't bother keeping stuff for any appreciable amount of time (no more than 3 weeks usually). That and having a TON of stuff on the drive sometimes makes it tedious to scroll through page after page on the Now Playing List. I usually suggest folks upgrade like I did, add a 120gb drive with a weaknees kit. -Bill Kearney |
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Hash: SHA1 In article , James wrote: Unless you get an HD DirecTiVo and use it for SD stuff, your maximum is about 240 hours (with two 160 Gig Drives). The Linux kernel in the non HD TiVos only recognize up to 137 Gig per HD. You can replace the kernel on a Series 1 TiVo with one that includes LBA48 support. I have full use of the single 200GB hard drive in my HDR112. ptvupgrade.com has a downloadable CD image that includes an LBA48 kernel and other related disk-upgrade tools at this page: http://www.ptvupgrade.com/support/bigdisk/ This page is also a useful reference on how to do the upgrade: http://www.courtesan.com/tivo/bigdisk.html _/_ / v \ Scott Alfter (remove the obvious to send mail) (IIGS( http://alfter.us/ Top-posting! \_^_/ rm -rf /bin/laden What's the most annoying thing on Usenet? -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.2.4 (Linux) iD8DBQFBImyOVgTKos01OwkRAj5JAKDgEi/K4+c85jlgThz3CRXFa6cvGwCffG1g npOdNBgLgJsN/UGPdzwvu1M= =tjTA -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- |
James shaped the electrons to say:
Unless you get an HD DirecTiVo and use it for SD stuff, your maximum is about 240 hours (with two 160 Gig Drives). The Linux kernel in the non HD TiVos only recognize up to 137 Gig per HD. The Pioneer DVD units have LBA48 support for large drives. As do the *new* standalone units (the silver ones with the glowing logo on the front, as seen on TiVo's site now). They all run 5.x software which has a new kernel. The existing S2 SA units should get that upgrade at some point to allow them to handle large drives as well. -MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762 -- URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098 URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris |
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Oren shaped the electrons to say:
Don't buy promises. Who's buying promises? Buy one of the new units out *now* and you have LBA48 support. That's fact. If you *already own* an S2 you should get it eventually too. And if you buy a Pioneer unit you have it. -MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762 -- URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098 URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris |
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Peter shaped the electrons to say:
Thats not EVEN a promise. What part of "If you buy a new unit now you'll have LBA48 support" is hard to understand? They are out, in stores, shipping from TiVo, etc. And the Pioneer units have had LBA48 support since last year. If you already own a box what are you 'buying'? You didn't buy it for LBA48 support, so if you do get it - bonus. BTW, TiVoPony has indicated the upgrade will hit existing S2 boxes. -MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762 -- URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098 URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris |
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"Jim" wrote in message ... In article , (MegaZone) wrote: Peter shaped the electrons to say: Thats not EVEN a promise. What part of "If you buy a new unit now you'll have LBA48 support" is hard to understand? They are out, in stores, shipping from TiVo, etc. And the Pioneer units have had LBA48 support since last year. If you already own a box what are you 'buying'? You didn't buy it for LBA48 support, so if you do get it - bonus. BTW, TiVoPony has indicated the upgrade will hit existing S2 boxes. Thats what I'm objecting to. This rumor you're treating like FACT. When the source is a TiVo employee, the rumor should be called a prediction. |
Jim shaped the electrons to say:
Thats what I'm objecting to. This rumor you're treating like FACT. What rumor I'm treating like fact? The FACT is the units shipping NOW had it. Period. I have said the existing S2 units *should* get the upgrade and that a TiVo employee has *indicated* that they will. Last I checked 'should' isn't a definite statement, but one of probability. I did not say "S2 units will get it". And the second statement is just passing on what a TiVo employee, TiVoPony, indicated. No definitive statement that S2 units will definitely receive the upgrade. Though I would personally bet on it. -MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762 -- URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098 URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris |
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Top Spin shaped the electrons to say:
I have a Series 2 unit (TCD 2400 8A) purchased last February. How can I tell if I have the support for larger HDs. I'm assuming that I don't. No, the units which have model numbers starting with TCD540 have the new kernel, along with the Pioneer units. How will existing Series 2 units get this new kernel? Is it something that they can download during the nightly call in? Yes, it'd be just like any other software upgrade. No word on when to expect it, but my educated guess is that they'll wait to get some field experience with the new software on the new boxes to make sure it is solid. Since the HW is a bit different - the new boxes have new internals for lower production costs - they'll probably run a beta of the new software on the older hardware. -MZ, RHCE #806199299900541, ex-CISSP #3762 -- URL:mailto:megazoneatmegazone.org Gweep, Discordian, Author, Engineer, me. "A little nonsense now and then, is relished by the wisest men" 508-755-4098 URL:http://www.megazone.org/ URL:http://www.eyrie-productions.com/ Eris |
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