I have sucessfully did just about everything to my dtivo that can be done. I was only sucessful due to the knowledge and quality of this forum and articles. Other places do not do step by step instructions. Which brings me to my next point. Back a few months back I atempted to remove and replace a prom chip in a R10, which works for a few hours then died. Since it was only 1 of 5 of the tivos i had i gutted the hard drive and sold the rest for parts on ebay. I have tried everything i can think of to unlock the drive. Boot disks, western digital boot disks, linux boot disks, even partition managers, even tried to install xp right on it. Any help to unlock this drive. I did try the older program to unlock some drive but maybe it didint work, new or updated versions would be quite helpful. I hope you as a commuinty will help me out, I can really use this for storage and will be very thanksful the model is a western digital WD800BB (80) gigs. I have also a bunch of 40 gigs from the sddvr40 i modifited with 200gb hard drives i havent started to mess with them but your advice would provide some practical use for the current door stops. THe 40 gig is a maxtor fireball 3 40 gig. Again thanks for any input.
How to pick the right TiVo DVR hard drive? (Page 2 of 2)
Page 2 of 2
Choosing the Right Size:
The bigger the hard drive the better! The biggest consumer hard drive available currently is 750GB with perpendicular recording and they are known to work well on TiVo DVRs. Any hard drive greater 250GB needs special attention in order to work properly on TiVo DVR, so if you are buying a already prepared drive, buy it from a seller who knows what they are doing. Make sure the drive is the same size or bigger than your current TiVo DVR hard drive.
Choosing the Right Brand:
Hard drive quality has improved greatly so most brands work well. The Maxtor Quickview or Seagate DB35 Series seem to be the quietest, followed by Western Digital, Samsung, Hitache. Seagate non-DB35 Series drives do not have AAM features currently so they are slightly louder during seek time. Seagate recently bought Maxtor and discountined the Quickview drives. They introduced DB35 series drives that are made for DVR market and acoustically tuned to the quietest setting and include a 5 year warranty. Seagate DB35 series are the best drives to get for your TiVo. If you are sensitive to noise and your TiVo DVR is in your bedroom, you should get Maxtor Quickview drives or Seagate DB35 series drives.
The Seagate DB35 drives are a bit more expensive and harder to find than other hard drives, but they are specifically made for DVRs. The drives have on board sensors which monitor temperature and adjust various characteristics depending on the temperature. Seagate implemented acoustic management by specifically tuning the drives to run as quietly as possible. Also, the drives have been optimized for DVR usage by being tuned to provide consistent data to the DVR processor. Standard hard drives sometimes can hang while retrying drive needs while the DB35 series move ahead and provide more data to keep video smooth. Finally these drives are tuned to move past errors faster putting the stream of data as top priority. After all, one block being bad might create a dark spot on one frame for 1/30th of a second! If you're serious about your DVR, you need to get a Seagate DB35 (ebay link, remember to look for new drives!).
Used Hard Drive:
Hard drives are always on sale with
or without rebates so there is no reason to purchase a refurbished or used hard drive for your TiVo DVR. You can get 250GB and 320GB hard drives for under $100 (check Bargains for Geeks for sales on hard drives) so don't waste your money on used or refurbished drives!Do-it-yourself?:
A blank hard drive won't work in a TiVo DVR. It has to be prepared properly and loaded with the right software. If you choose to "do it yourself" you need to be technically savvy enough to be able to plug in hard drives correctly in the TiVo DVR and your computer and know the difference between primary and secondary IDE channels and perhaps a little Linux.
DVRupgrade and other vendors provide full-service where you send your TiVo DVR away and it comes back all hacked up to your specifications but if you feel you can do-it-yourself but don't have the time to track down all information on how to hack your TiVo DVR you can always purchase your own hard drive and use DIY software from DVRupgrade.
Warranty Info:
Most retail hard drives come with 1 year warranty from the purchased date. If you can't produce proof of the purchased date, factory date is used. Most OEM drives carry 3 years. Most brands have datestamp on the hard drive. Seagate drives come with date code and you can validate the code at Seagate's site.
| | Retail | OEM |
|---|---|---|
| Hitache | 1 | 3 |
| Maxtor | 1 | 3 |
| Western Digital | 1 | 3 |
| Samsung | 3 | 3 |
| Seagate | 5 | 5 |
Got HDTV? Get yourself the new, TiVo HD today! Faster, cheaper, and without the fluff!
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- member since: 09/12/2006
- rank: 2 of 12436
- 33 articles authored
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Disclaimer... I've never had to unlock a drive before so this information could just be incorrect. :)
With that said, looking around it seems that your WD hard drive can be unlocked using this password (in all CAPS):
WDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWDCWD
You should be able to use a program called ATAPWD (http://www.rockbox.org/lock.html)
You could also grab a copy of The Ultimate Boot Disc (http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/) as it has a copy of ATAPWD on CD.
In ATAPWD
- Erase Prepare
- Erase Unit, password as stated WDCWDC... gives timeout message
- Press F5 every couple of minutes until the drive data shows up again (you must wait until the drive finishes erasing - do not power off) - this could take 30 mins or more.
Drive should now be erased and unlocked. Let us know if that works...
So if a disadvantage to installing two hard drives is not having room for a DVD Burner, does that mean I could install a DVD Burner in my HR-10-250 if I don't install a second drive or is that just true for TiVo units that don't have all the protections the DirectTV Series 2 units have ?
So can you install 2 500gb drives with series 1 instanct cake image???
You are only good as you can get!!Face Reality as it exists not as you want it to be! !
Live large live like King size!!
Okay, I have a question. Parallel ATA drives cost more than equivalent SATA drives. I have seen ads for various new-drive companies that say some of their drives are shipped with PATA to SATA converters. And I've used such converters in computers with no problem. Can I use a SATA drive with a converter card in a Type 2 Tivo? (I'm using a Phillips DSR704 DirecTivo.)
Just so you know, I DID use a SATA drive with a PATA-to-SATA converter card. it's the kind that fits directly on the back of the SATA drive with double-sticky foam tape. On the model I used (about $5 from a Hong Kong address, on eBay) the circuit board for the adapter is red. There is a single jumper on the card; with jumper enabled the drive appears as a PATA Master, with the jumper unconnected it's a PATA Slave drive. I also switched from the cable provided with the TiVo to a far better PATA data cable. It has made data processing more reliable. I've also installed a hard drive cooling fan on top of the drive; remember, heat is a major killer of hard drives.You should also clean out your power supply fan and all the cooling holes on your TiVo.
It's hard to find new smaller hard drives, and 160GB is more affordable to buy, so most people buy 160GB drive and use 137GB of it. Irena from cheap web hosting
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