DVR upgrade help

[bnm81002]

I have a Philips DSR704, looking to upgrade the hard drive, what drive is best to use or should I just add another drive to it?

[beejaycee]

Pretty much your choice, either way. But if you swap out the drive, then you have a back-up drive in case the new drive fails. If you add a drive, you have more noise & heat, plus you have to secure it in the case and possibly have to swap the drive cable to a dual connector for the second drive. (In fairness, I haven't read a lot about problems with heat and if you can find a 5400 rpm drive, it will throw off less heat than a 7200 rpm drive.) However, if you swap a drive, you give up some storage space in exchange for having a spare.

Due to current linux kernel issues, drives larger than 137 gigs (I think that is the exact number) will not use anything over that amount. I.e., all of a 120 gig drive will be used but only 137 gigs of a 160 gig drive will be used. Also, 2 - 120 gig drives will yield 240 gigs of storage but 2 - 160 gig drives will yield 2 X 137 gigs or 274 gigs of storage.

[bnm81002]

Pretty much your choice, either way. But if you swap out the drive, then you have a back-up drive in case the new drive fails. If you add a drive, you have more noise & heat, plus you have to secure it in the case and possibly have to swap the drive cable to a dual connector for the second drive. (In fairness, I haven't read a lot about problems with heat and if you can find a 5400 rpm drive, it will throw off less heat than a 7200 rpm drive.) However, if you swap a drive, you give up some storage space in exchange for having a spare.

Due to current linux kernel issues, drives larger than 137 gigs (I think that is the exact number) will not use anything over that amount. I.e., all of a 120 gig drive will be used but only 137 gigs of a 160 gig drive will be used. Also, 2 - 120 gig drives will yield 240 gigs of storage but 2 - 160 gig drives will yield 2 X 137 gigs or 274 gigs of storage.


can you tell me what do I have to do? or which link to go to? thanks

[Mark Holtz]

You might want to read the FAQ, as there is a section on upgrading your DirecTiVo.

I have two Samsung 160GB (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-152-011&depa=0) hard drives running in my DirecTiVo. They're now running about $84 each+free shipping. They have a three year warranty, and using the Ultimate Boot CD, I was able to set the drives into "quiet" mode.

[beejaycee]

Oh, good point! When doing the swap, take a minute and make sure that the drive(s) is set to "quiet" mode. You might not need to do it but if you do skip that step and find the drive(s) to be noisey, then you'll have to take everything apart again to do so. Ask me how I know :)

[bnm81002]

You might want to read the FAQ, as there is a section on upgrading your DirecTiVo.

I have two Samsung 160GB (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-152-011&depa=0) hard drives running in my DirecTiVo. They're now running about $84 each+free shipping. They have a three year warranty, and using the Ultimate Boot CD, I was able to set the drives into "quiet" mode.


thanks for your help, what do you think about Seagate and Maxtor drives? any problems with you upgrade yet? how long have you had the upgrade?

[bnm81002]

Pretty much your choice, either way. But if you swap out the drive, then you have a back-up drive in case the new drive fails. If you add a drive, you have more noise & heat, plus you have to secure it in the case and possibly have to swap the drive cable to a dual connector for the second drive. (In fairness, I haven't read a lot about problems with heat and if you can find a 5400 rpm drive, it will throw off less heat than a 7200 rpm drive.) However, if you swap a drive, you give up some storage space in exchange for having a spare.

Due to current linux kernel issues, drives larger than 137 gigs (I think that is the exact number) will not use anything over that amount. I.e., all of a 120 gig drive will be used but only 137 gigs of a 160 gig drive will be used. Also, 2 - 120 gig drives will yield 240 gigs of storage but 2 - 160 gig drives will yield 2 X 137 gigs or 274 gigs of storage.


what upgrade did you do? what drives do you recommend? thanks

[Mark Holtz]

thanks for your help, what do you think about Seagate and Maxtor drives? any problems with you upgrade yet? how long have you had the upgrade?No opinion on the drives, just don't waste your money on a 8MB cache drive. I still keep running out of space to record programs. The DirecTiVo was obtained in August 2003, the 40 GB hard drive replaced with the first 160GB hard drive in late October, 2003, and the second drive was added in February, 2004.

[bnm81002]

No opinion on the drives, just don't waste your money on a 8MB cache drive. I still keep running out of space to record programs. The DirecTiVo was obtained in August 2003, the 40 GB hard drive replaced with the first 160GB hard drive in late October, 2003, and the second drive was added in February, 2004.


what do you mean by 8MB cache? Samsung has a model SP1614N that has 8MB Buffer, is that what you mean? thanks

[jdspencer]

You may also want to visit the TiVo upgrade forum.
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25

[beejaycee]

what do you mean by 8MB cache? Samsung has a model SP1614N that has 8MB Buffer, is that what you mean? thanks
Some manufacturers may substitute the word buffer for cache. Same thing. I have a 160 gig Maxtor in one DTivo that I ended up taking back out to run the utility to set it to 'quiet mode' and in the other DTivo is an 80 gig Western Digital which did not need for me to set to "quiet mode." Both seem to perform equally well but of course one is 45% smaller in capacity (120 hours vs. 67 hours). I let price be my guide as to which drives I purchased -- I got a $50 deal on the WD and an $80 deal on the Maxtor. Both are 7200 rpm and both have 8 mb cache but I would have been just as happy to buy 5400 rpm/2 mb cache drives if the price was right.

[bnm81002]

You might want to read the FAQ, as there is a section on upgrading your DirecTiVo.

I have two Samsung 160GB (http://www.newegg.com/app/viewProductDesc.asp?description=22-152-011&depa=0) hard drives running in my DirecTiVo. They're now running about $84 each+free shipping. They have a three year warranty, and using the Ultimate Boot CD, I was able to set the drives into "quiet" mode.



does it make a difference if it's retail kit or barebone drives?

[Mark Holtz]

A barebone kit means that you only get the hard drive. Period. A retail kit includes all the cables and mounting hardware for mounting the drive inside a computer.

For the TiVo upgrade, best to go with a barebone drive. If you are replacing the drive with another drive, then all you need are the torx screwdrivers. If you are adding a second drive, then a bracket is needed. I liked Weaknee's kit because it included a special drive cable for hooking up the hard drives without hampering air flow.

[bnm81002]

A barebone kit means that you only get the hard drive. Period. A retail kit includes all the cables and mounting hardware for mounting the drive inside a computer.

For the TiVo upgrade, best to go with a barebone drive. If you are replacing the drive with another drive, then all you need are the torx screwdrivers. If you are adding a second drive, then a bracket is needed. I liked Weaknee's kit because it included a special drive cable for hooking up the hard drives without hampering air flow.


now which drives to use Seagate or Samsung? hard decisions