DIY Clinic - Project: The Definitive Guide to Upgrading Your Tivo Premiere
Gary Davis


Tivo Premiere 2-TB Drive Upgrade

WARNING: This project may void your Tivo Premiere warranty. Also, it is possible that this project may render your Tivo Premiere unworkable. Don't rush and double check things all the time.

Prepare to upgrade:

  • Obtain a high-capacity (1 to 2 TB) SATA hard drive
  • Download these three tools as .iso files. Burn to cd's (or bootable USB drives if desired, not discussed in video)
    1. Jmfs current version to clone drive contents and expand capacity
    2. IBM/Hitachi Feature Tool to set the AAM (auto acoustic mgt.) setting to quiet the new drive
      - May not work if drive is connected via USB-to-SATA adapter
      - An alternative is the HDDScan diagnostic utility not discussed in the video
    3. If your dirve is a WD, get Wdiddle3 Tool (current version) to disable the IntelliPark idle timer sometimes
      necessary to prevent software reboot hangs on the Tivo
      - May not work if drive is connected via USB-to-SATA adapter
      - The IntelliPark issue affects:
      • All recent WD EADS, EARS, and EAVS drives
      • EVVS drives manufactured after 9/18/2010
      • EVDS drives manufactured since November, 2010.
      - Wdiddle3.exe can be combined withe the Feature Tool on the same DOS boot CD.
  • Obtain a Torx T-10 and T-15 driver to remove the cover and drive from the Tivo.

Disassemble Tivo

  • 4 Torx 10 screws to remove cover
  • 4 Torx 10 screws to remove drive from chassis
  • 4 Torx 15 screws to remove the 2 brackets from the old drive

Clone old drive to new drive

  • Connect the drives to your computer via USB adapter and/or SATA cables
  • Boot up the Jmfs tool
  • Clone (3 hours if SATA, longer if USB adapter), Expand (a few seconds) and Supersize (also a few seconds)
  • Disconnect source drive from the computer and store in a safe place as backup if ever needed
  • Boot up the Feature Tool. Enable AAM quiet mode
  • If Western Digital Green Drive, boot up the Wdiddle3 tool. Disable Intellipark (Set timeout to about 60 minutes)

Complete the project

  • Disconnect new drive from computer
  • Reassemble the Tivo
  • Connect and power on
  • Verify bootup is successful - it should complete within 10 minutes

Resources

Software

  • Jmfs - To clone the old to new drive. link
  • IBM/Hitachi Feature Tool - To quiet the drive. link
  • HDDScan diagnostic utility - Alternative to Feature Tool. link
    This did not work for me with Windows 7 x64 admin mode.
  • Wdiddle - To disable IntelliPark. link
  • IMGBurn - To Burn ISO images to a CD. link
  • Universal USB Installer - To boot to Linux via USB instead of CD. link
    Comer's notes: To make bootable USB, dowanload "Universal USB installer", start it and follow the instructions.
    When asked what type of Linux, uncheck "download ISO", choose either "Other" or "Slax 6" and navigate to ISO file.

Web Pages

  • Premiere Drive Upgrade Instructions - with all-in-one jmfs Live CD. link
  • Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ. link
    See sections V.14 (Wdiddle3) and V.15 (AAM). This FAQ is primariy for Tivo HD and Tivo S3 (not Premiere) but some
    sections including the sections mentioned are useful.
  • PayPal donation link to Comer. link
    The jmfs software was written by TivoCommunity.com user "Comer". If you like his work, buy him a beer...
  • 7-piece Torx bit set from Amazon (T-10 to T-40). link Search if link does not work
  • WD20EARS 2TB SATA drive from Amazon. link Search if link does not work

Learn from my mistakes:

Other things to think about

  • Know your drives and make sure you select the correct drives from the options.
  • You may void your warranty by doing this procedure though there is no case seal to breach on the Premiere.
  • The jmfs software is provided with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY. Please read the licence terms (GPL v3).
  • Although the jmfs program is not designed to do (and actually attempts to prevent) data loss and distruction, it certainly has a potential to do so. It is ultimately YOUR responsibility to backup, stow away and otherwise protect your data.


YouTube Videos

The video was created with a Canon camera and .MOV files copied to the PC (running Windows 7 x64). The video was edited using Pinnacle V14 and output in Medium MPG4 format for YouTube. The length of the video was over 26 minutes and YouTube limits videos to 15 minutes so I had to split the video into two parts.

Comments or questions to gary@webguild.com