Hack 26. Adding a Second Drive the Quick-n-Dirty Way | Tivo Hacks. 100 Industrial-strength Tips Tools 2003

Hack 26 Adding a Second Drive the Quick-n-Dirty Way

Live on the edge and add another drive without performing a full backup of your software, or without even removing the original TiVo drive from its case .

While backing up your TiVo and restoring while expanding it onto larger space is definitely the recommended way to go about things, there are two faster options if you have a one-drive TiVo and you're willing to shave a few steps. The added benefit of this indiscretion is that you have to buy only one additional hard drive for your TiVoinstead of twowhen replacing the factory drive

Using mfsadd

The one definite way to lose some steps is to cut the backup out of the picture. Pull out your TiVo's one drive [Hack #21] and install it in your PC [Hack #22] along with the new hard drive that you are going to expand your space with. Boot up MFS Tools 2.0 [Hack #23], and at the prompt type:

 #  mfsadd -x /dev/hd    X    /dev/hd    Y

where /dev/hd X is replaced with the IDE location of your original TiVo drive and /dev/hd Y is new drive you are planning to install. This should take only a few seconds, and it will report the results and sizes of your drives. If it all looks good, then Control-Alt-Delete your system and pull the drives out. If it didn't work, then pray that you can get it working by backing up and restoring.

Using BlessTiVo

This is really flying by the seat of your pants. If you opt for this, then you don't even need to remove your TiVo's drive. Instead, you're just going to set up the new drive and then screw it right in.

You are going want to open up your TiVo [Hack #20] so you can install your new drive. Now install only your new drive in your PC [Hack #22].

Before booting your PC, make sure your BIOS is set up to boot from either the BlessTiVo CD or a floppy (see how the BIOS is set up for booting up MFS Tools [Hack #23], and mimic that). If you have it all set up, then boot away.

For those of you booting off a CD, press Enter at the boot : prompt to bring up a /# prompt. If you are booting off a floppy, you are going to see a program called TiVoMAD , asking you to Please enter hdb, hdc, or hdd . Just Control-C to abort that program and press Enter until you see the # prompt. Verify the sizes of your drives and unlock as necessary a la the instructions for booting up MFS Tools. If everything has gone well, enter the following at the prompt:

 #  BlessTiVo /dev/hd     X

About 1 second will go by, and your computer will print out a message telling you, hopefully, that the drive was blessed. Mazel Tov! It will also tell you the size that your drive has been blessed to. The size of this partition should be within approximately 5-10 GB of the actual drive size , depending on the drive. Do not install your drive into your TiVo if the number reported is far too small. If this does not work for you, then pull your TiVo's hard drive [Hack #21], install it into your PC [Hack #22], and then back her right up [Hack #24] and restore it onto your new dual drives [Hack #25], because there are no short cuts for you this time around.

If BlessTiVo does not report the correct blessed size of your new drive, do not install it. If you do, your TiVo will not recognize the full size of the drive, and recovery will be too painstaking to be in the scope of this chapter.

If this all looks good, then Control-Alt-Delete your computer, power down, and install your new drive alongside your old drive.

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