Will same Instant Cake CD work on all series 2 Directv units?

[si5580]

I have a Hughes SD-DVR40 and a Hughes HR10-250. Both are rebooting and locking up regularly and both started doing so at about the same time. No, it is not my AC power.

As much as I'd like to blame the 6.4a firmware, it works for so many people that at most I can theorize that 6.4a is intolerant of hard drive errors.

Thus I have convinced myself to replace the hard drive in one unit, and if successful, to do so in the other.

Does anyone know if the same Instantcake CD will work for both models?

[Lou Jacob]

I have a Hughes SD-DVR40 and a Hughes HR10-250. Both are rebooting and locking up regularly and both started doing so at about the same time. No, it is not my AC power.

As much as I'd like to blame the 6.4a firmware, it works for so many people that at most I can theorize that 6.4a is intolerant of hard drive errors.

Thus I have convinced myself to replace the hard drive in one unit, and if successful, to do so in the other.

Does anyone know if the same Instantcake CD will work for both models?

No, each type of unit requires a different version of the software.

If you are having problems with either of the units, you may want to consider running manufacturer's diagnostics on the hard drives to see if a defective hard drive is the source of your problem. 6.4a is not firmware, it is actually software installed on the hard drive and hard drive problems are the most common of all TiVo DVR problems.

Lou

[si5580]

Thanks for the quick response, Lou. How would I go about running diagnostics?

[Rick Travis]

Which drive company or companies manufactured your drives?

[si5580]

Hi Rick:

I'm not sure of that. Is this something I can ascertain from the menu or do I need to remove the Tivo box covers?

[Rick Travis]

si5580:
You will have to open the box and look. The reason is that Western Digital has a customer loyalty program which will allow you to purchase new upgrade drives at a discount price as long as you are replacing/upgrading a Western Digital drive. It does not mater if the drive is in or out of warranty. You simply give them the serial number and they determine if your drive is eligible for the program. No need to return the old drive, just give them the serial number. Tivo used both Western Digital and Maxtor so you have a 40/60 chance because Tivo used more Maxtors. Remember to unplug the machine 15 minutes before opening the case because Tivo uses an unshielded power supply and a unplugged Tivo removes the danger of Electrocution. :eek:

[Lou Jacob]

Thanks for the quick response, Lou. How would I go about running diagnostics?

Take a look at this article posted at TiVoCommunity (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=416062). There is detailed info (and links) on running diagnostics on your hard drive (keep in mind, this is not a TiVo-specific activity).

Lou

[Rick Travis]

The Manufacturers web sites contain downloads of the diagnostics.
(Maxtor and Seagate) www.seagate.com
Hitachi www.hgst.com
Samsung www.samsung.com
Western Digital www.wdc.com
Diagnostics are usually under service and support \ downloads
What I use is Hard disk Sentinal, a Hungarian program that runs under Windows at www.hdsentinal.com and reads the S.M.A.R.T. information stored on the drive. It gives a good idea of drive health. :)