InstantCake Sorrow

[Caller#4]

Not much series 3 activity yet, as I assume that the hard drives have not begun to fail yet. I have a series 3 unit, Tivo TCD648250, that locks up and freezes the video on a regular basis. Usually a hard drive problem.
Enter Instant Cake for Series 3 Tivo: CD648

This CDROM does not include support for a SATA interface. In advanced mode, I see the choices for hard disk mounting. They are all EIDE interfaces, namely: hda, hdb, hdc, etc. as would be expected in Linux. As we all know, SATA drives are detected using the SCSI kernel routines and are designated sda, sdb, sdc, etc.

I don't see that the disk contains any serial ata support in the bootable linux system files, and there is no mention of serial interfaces in the shell scripts that run Instant Cake.

Lastly, the DVR Upgrade website is full of admonitions to read the instructions, read the installation notes, read the posts in the blog and in the forum. None of those things seem to exist for the Series 3 software. Did I miss a chapter in Tivo 101?

Thank You!
Caller#4

[Rick Travis]

Not much series 3 activity yet, as I assume that the hard drives have not begun to fail yet. I have a series 3 unit, Tivo TCD648250, that locks up and freezes the video on a regular basis. Usually a hard drive problem.
Enter Instant Cake for Series 3 Tivo: CD648

This CDROM does not include support for a SATA interface. In advanced mode, I see the choices for hard disk mounting. They are all EIDE interfaces, namely: hda, hdb, hdc, etc. as would be expected in Linux. As we all know, SATA drives are detected using the SCSI kernel routines and are designated sda, sdb, sdc, etc.

I don't see that the disk contains any serial ata support in the bootable linux system files, and there is no mention of serial interfaces in the shell scripts that run Instant Cake.

Lastly, the DVR Upgrade website is full of admonitions to read the instructions, read the installation notes, read the posts in the blog and in the forum. None of those things seem to exist for the Series 3 software. Did I miss a chapter in Tivo 101?

Thank You!
Caller#4
http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/recommended_products.cfm?index=s3_icake&intProductID=384
Is this what you are looking for. Plug it in to the CDrom and plug the seriial cable from the mother board into it? Hope this helps

[Caller#4]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your idea. I did think of getting an IDE to SATA adaptor, but I don't think the Upgrade Team had this in mind. ....or did they? Its hard to tell what they had in mind because there are no release notes, no installation instructions, no FAQ and no forum postings about the subject of Series 3 drive imaging.

Besides, when you are using such an adaptor, the sytem is slowed considerably by whatever methods the adaptor manufacturer chooses to use to make the conversion to SATA. Kernel parameters that set the PATA behavior may or may not be effective.

The real solution is to add the proper kernel support for scsi and the drivers like sata_sil to the bootable CDROM so that the SATA drives can be directly recognized. Am I out to lunch on this?

Regards,
Caller#4

[Lou Jacob]

Hi Richard,

Thanks for your idea. I did think of getting an IDE to SATA adaptor, but I don't think the Upgrade Team had this in mind. ....or did they? Its hard to tell what they had in mind because there are no release notes, no installation instructions, no FAQ and no forum postings about the subject of Series 3 drive imaging.

Besides, when you are using such an adaptor, the sytem is slowed considerably by whatever methods the adaptor manufacturer chooses to use to make the conversion to SATA. Kernel parameters that set the PATA behavior may or may not be effective.

The real solution is to add the proper kernel support for scsi and the drivers like sata_sil to the bootable CDROM so that the SATA drives can be directly recognized. Am I out to lunch on this?

Regards,
Caller#4

Actually, an SATA-IDE adapter is EXACTLY what we had in mind; hence this info in the product description (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/product1.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=384&Category_ID=5&page=prod&type=Model&ModelID=115) (right above the buy button):

Note that this version of InstantCake uses a boot CD which does not directly support SATA interfaces. To use this version of InstantCake, you will need an IDE - SATA converter which is available for purchase on our site. (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/)

As for the instructions, they are linked everywhere (even in my signature) but in case you missed them, they are here (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/forums/showthread.php?t=5).

You are correct, there are no specific release notes for the product (yet), but there is nothing fundamentally different; following the instructions is really all that is required.

Sorry if you missed that bit about SATA not being supported, but we did go out of our way to put it right by the purchase link, and if you add this version of InstantCake to your cart, we recommend the SATA-IDE adapter (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/recommended_products.cfm?index=s3_icake&intProductID=384), immediately...

[sweetsgreen]

I was going to purchase the instantcake cd for the series3. The problem is that I can only do the upgrade on a laptop... I do have a SATA/USB enclosure, and was wondering if the boot CD would recognize a USB hard drive?

[Lou Jacob]

I was going to purchase the instantcake cd for the series3. The problem is that I can only do the upgrade on a laptop... I do have a SATA/USB enclosure, and was wondering if the boot CD would recognize a USB hard drive?

The CD is not designed to work with a laptop or a USB hard drive; so no, that won't work.

None of our DIY software tools are designed for use with laptops; they are designed for PC's with IDE controllers (and in the case of InstantCake for the Series3, you need an IDE-SATA converter, as well.

A kit (or recertification) would be a better fit in this case.