Lou Jacob
05-27-2008, 03:29 PM
Introduction
IF YOU FIND THESE INSTRUCTIONS USEFUL, PLEASE RATE THIS POST IN THE PANEL ABOVE AND TO THE RIGHT. THANKS!
InstantCake is a custom DIY software tool designed to quickly and easily create a basic replacement drive kit from a standard off-the-shelf PC hard drive. InstantCake comes as a single CD (or as a downloadable ISO which can be easily burned to CD) for your specific TiVo Digital Video Recorder. The CD must be booted from your PC's CD-ROM drive, and it will ask you several simple questions about the upgrade you wish to perform. InstantCake will then create a replacement drive kit on one or two standard hard drives that must also be connected to your PC. Your original TiVo hard drive is not used or required for the upgrade and we recommend you keep it in a safe place and use it as a backup in case anything goes wrong with the new drives you've created.
The InstantCake family of products have been available since February, 2003. They are mature products used by many people on practically every TiVo system available, to date. We are confident that if you follow these instructions, read the associated release notes, and are relatively comfortable with your PC, you should have no problem using the product. With that in mind, we are not accountable for your technical abilities, PC in compatibilities, CD burner issues, etc. So if you are not up for a DIY project, please consider our kits and professional services if you are looking to save time and get a guarantee.
Requirements for using InstantCake
You will need an x86-based Personal Computer (PC), and a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM which you can use to boot our CD. The InstantCake CD will not run on a Mac. However, you do not need to be running Windows XP or any specialized software on your PC, in fact, we recommend you disconnect your hard disk drive(s) to ensure their protection; we don't want you to accidentally overwrite anything important.
The boot CD used for this version of InstantCake is known to support USB 2.0 to SATA (and IDE) controllers such as this one (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/accessory_nomodel.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=778) and that means you can use a standard laptop to prepare a drive, as well.
You will also need a hard drive to prepare for your TiVo unit. This drive should be larger than the original stock drive of your unit.
How does it work?
The InstantCake software boots and runs from a CD we supply you or can be burned if you've downloaded it as an ISO. You will need one or two blank hard drives which will be formatted for use in your TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD.
For units such as the TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD, we recommend using only one drive, vs two as complications can occur if you have any problems with eSATA enclosures, bad cables, or other variables that can affect the ability of both drives to work well together. With that said, the software has been tested and does work with two drives on both types of systems.
We do not recommend you use your existing TiVo disk drive for InstantCake installations, in fact, in many cases it will not work: the target drive is expected to be larger than the original - please keep your TiVo drive in a safe place as a backup; at least until you've used InstantCake successfully at least once.
Directions for using InstantCake
Step 1: Configure your PC such that your CD-ROM drive is connected so that you know what IDE or SATA controller it is configured to use. Most PC's and laptops have a CD-ROM configured as the primary SLAVE device (/dev/hdb), but this will vary from PC to PC. The InstantCake software will ask you how your drive is configured, so do take a moment to look into this if you can. If you have more than one CD/DVD device in your system, you may want to disconnect all but one of them. We also recommend you disconnect your PC's primary hard drive (and any other hard drives that are installed in your PC) to ensure they are not accidentally overwritten by the InstantCake software. On a laptop, this is not possible, but also keep in mind that any external devices will be defined as SATA devices, not PATA devices, so just be careful and you will be fine.
Step 2: Configure your PC's system BIOS so that you can boot from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM device automatically.
Step 3: Configure and connect one or two new drives destined for your TiVo on the PC's IDE or SATA interface.
Step 4: Apply power, and boot the InstantCake CD. The CD should automatically boot itself up and prompt you with several questions before your kit is built. If you'd like to see an example of how the process works, check out these screen-shots (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/screenshots/InstantCake-TCD652/index.cfm) for more details.
Step 5: Please take note of all messages, warnings and instructions which may be displayed when the InstantCake program is done running. Knowing these important details may make a difference, especially if you need additional support.
Step 6: Install your new drives in your TiVo; you can use our hardware installation instructions as a reference.
IMPORTANT: If you have any problems specifying the device names when running the InstantCake script, the script may exit itself abruptly. It is OK to restart the script and try again; you do not need to reboot your PC. Similarly, if you make a mistake when entering something and want to start over, you can exit the script and start over without rebooting if you prefer. To exit the script, simply type <ctrl>-c</ctrl> on your keyboard. To restart the script, just type: PTVbake3 and the script will start over from the beginning.How do I purchase InstantCake?
InstantCake is available for purchase on our web site here (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm).
IF YOU FIND THESE INSTRUCTIONS USEFUL, PLEASE RATE THIS POST IN THE PANEL ABOVE AND TO THE RIGHT. THANKS!
IF YOU FIND THESE INSTRUCTIONS USEFUL, PLEASE RATE THIS POST IN THE PANEL ABOVE AND TO THE RIGHT. THANKS!
InstantCake is a custom DIY software tool designed to quickly and easily create a basic replacement drive kit from a standard off-the-shelf PC hard drive. InstantCake comes as a single CD (or as a downloadable ISO which can be easily burned to CD) for your specific TiVo Digital Video Recorder. The CD must be booted from your PC's CD-ROM drive, and it will ask you several simple questions about the upgrade you wish to perform. InstantCake will then create a replacement drive kit on one or two standard hard drives that must also be connected to your PC. Your original TiVo hard drive is not used or required for the upgrade and we recommend you keep it in a safe place and use it as a backup in case anything goes wrong with the new drives you've created.
The InstantCake family of products have been available since February, 2003. They are mature products used by many people on practically every TiVo system available, to date. We are confident that if you follow these instructions, read the associated release notes, and are relatively comfortable with your PC, you should have no problem using the product. With that in mind, we are not accountable for your technical abilities, PC in compatibilities, CD burner issues, etc. So if you are not up for a DIY project, please consider our kits and professional services if you are looking to save time and get a guarantee.
Requirements for using InstantCake
You will need an x86-based Personal Computer (PC), and a CD-ROM or DVD-ROM which you can use to boot our CD. The InstantCake CD will not run on a Mac. However, you do not need to be running Windows XP or any specialized software on your PC, in fact, we recommend you disconnect your hard disk drive(s) to ensure their protection; we don't want you to accidentally overwrite anything important.
The boot CD used for this version of InstantCake is known to support USB 2.0 to SATA (and IDE) controllers such as this one (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/accessory_nomodel.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=778) and that means you can use a standard laptop to prepare a drive, as well.
You will also need a hard drive to prepare for your TiVo unit. This drive should be larger than the original stock drive of your unit.
How does it work?
The InstantCake software boots and runs from a CD we supply you or can be burned if you've downloaded it as an ISO. You will need one or two blank hard drives which will be formatted for use in your TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD.
For units such as the TiVo Series3 or TiVo HD, we recommend using only one drive, vs two as complications can occur if you have any problems with eSATA enclosures, bad cables, or other variables that can affect the ability of both drives to work well together. With that said, the software has been tested and does work with two drives on both types of systems.
We do not recommend you use your existing TiVo disk drive for InstantCake installations, in fact, in many cases it will not work: the target drive is expected to be larger than the original - please keep your TiVo drive in a safe place as a backup; at least until you've used InstantCake successfully at least once.
Directions for using InstantCake
Step 1: Configure your PC such that your CD-ROM drive is connected so that you know what IDE or SATA controller it is configured to use. Most PC's and laptops have a CD-ROM configured as the primary SLAVE device (/dev/hdb), but this will vary from PC to PC. The InstantCake software will ask you how your drive is configured, so do take a moment to look into this if you can. If you have more than one CD/DVD device in your system, you may want to disconnect all but one of them. We also recommend you disconnect your PC's primary hard drive (and any other hard drives that are installed in your PC) to ensure they are not accidentally overwritten by the InstantCake software. On a laptop, this is not possible, but also keep in mind that any external devices will be defined as SATA devices, not PATA devices, so just be careful and you will be fine.
Step 2: Configure your PC's system BIOS so that you can boot from the CD-ROM or DVD-ROM device automatically.
Step 3: Configure and connect one or two new drives destined for your TiVo on the PC's IDE or SATA interface.
Step 4: Apply power, and boot the InstantCake CD. The CD should automatically boot itself up and prompt you with several questions before your kit is built. If you'd like to see an example of how the process works, check out these screen-shots (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/screenshots/InstantCake-TCD652/index.cfm) for more details.
Step 5: Please take note of all messages, warnings and instructions which may be displayed when the InstantCake program is done running. Knowing these important details may make a difference, especially if you need additional support.
Step 6: Install your new drives in your TiVo; you can use our hardware installation instructions as a reference.
IMPORTANT: If you have any problems specifying the device names when running the InstantCake script, the script may exit itself abruptly. It is OK to restart the script and try again; you do not need to reboot your PC. Similarly, if you make a mistake when entering something and want to start over, you can exit the script and start over without rebooting if you prefer. To exit the script, simply type <ctrl>-c</ctrl> on your keyboard. To restart the script, just type: PTVbake3 and the script will start over from the beginning.How do I purchase InstantCake?
InstantCake is available for purchase on our web site here (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm).
IF YOU FIND THESE INSTRUCTIONS USEFUL, PLEASE RATE THIS POST IN THE PANEL ABOVE AND TO THE RIGHT. THANKS!