November 8, 2005 12:41 PM

powergui said:

Ok. I've perused this site for a while and am a little unsure about what I need to buy.

I have 4 DirecTV Tivos. One Series 1, 2 Series 2 80GB, 1 Series 2 40GB. To the latter I added a 160GB (maybe 200GB?) extra drive (using mfstools, as I recall).

All I want is to get these boxes (maybe just the Series 2s) networked. I don't need any more disk space.

I *think* I want the PTVNetCD product (the one matching whatever version of software is running on these units). Is that all I need? Do I need to buy any hard drives?

Will the installation preserve the settings and saved programming on my existing units? Even the one I've already tweaked to add the additional hard drive?

Thanks.

If you want to use the PTVnet CD, just be sure that you've already created the drives you are using with mfstools (don't use your original drive).

For answers to commonly asked questions, please refer to the
InstantCake Instructions and Release Notes,
Official InstantCake Discussion Thread, and the
Official PTVnet Discussion Thread

November 8, 2005 2:40 PM

powergui said:

I'm not sure what is meant by "created the drives you are using with mfstools." My understanding is that mfstools can backup drives or add additional space but I'm not clear on how I would use it to "create" a drive (especially one that already exists). Can you clarify on that point? What mfstools commands would I need to apply?

Would this be covered in the instructions for PTVNet CD? Are those instructions available online?

PTVnet is not designed for use with your original TiVo drive. It is for use on drives you've imaged using MFStools. We do not provide assistance with MFStools; what I'd recommend is you get yourself new, blank drives, and use InstantCake in combination with PTVnet, then you won't need to worry about the details of using MFStools at all.

For answers to commonly asked questions, please refer to the
InstantCake Instructions and Release Notes,
Official InstantCake Discussion Thread, and the
Official PTVnet Discussion Thread

December 3, 2005 4:23 PM

powergui said:

So first I have to get PTVUpgrade "installed" on each unit before I can install PTVNet? Is that a reasonable way to put it?

I'm cool with buying InstantCake to get the requisite PTVUpgrade bits. But I don't really want to go out and buy new hard disks ($50 x 3 at least; maybe more if I have to replace the 160GB drive, too).

What's the down side to simply re-using the disks I've got? Can't I just use InstantCake to replace what's on them? Worst case, I use mfstools to restore them to their original non-PTVUpgraded state (presuming I've backed them up beforehand).

The downside is that if (for whatever reason) you need to go back to an original "untouched" drive, you can't. Its really a good safety measure, and considering the price of drives (I just got a 250GB drive from CompUSA that was 59 bucks after all of the rebates) its really not too much for the extra insurance- but it iis up to you ;). The steps that you should consider (I just completed my first upgrade using the PTV tools - GREAT stuff BTW) are the following:

1. Purchase the network and instacake tools from PTV
2. Burn them onto 2 cd's
3. Put the NETWORK cd in first. It will actually get to a stage in the installation that it will ask you if you want to put the instacake CD in - and then take over from there :).
4. Finish the process then pop the new drives into your system.
5. Since you have multiple TIVO's check out the thread on HMO/MRV options - there is a nice script you can execute on your various TIVO's to enable multi-room viewing (see barefooter's posts and my posts in the thread).

Enjoy!