Official InstantCake Discussion Thread (Series1 and Series2 Units Only)

[Lou Jacob]

This is a revised and reprinted version of the Official Discussion Thread hosted at DVRplayground from November, 2005. That thread is now locked and is archived, however the discussion may be continued here. If you want to refer to any specific posts, please link to them in your questions, and a moderator will help to migrate the relevant material over to the new forums. Thanks again for your support!

Official InstantCake Discussion Thread

Although InstantCake is a DIY product and is offered without warranty or support directly from DVRupgrade, we've created this thread as a way to consolidate common support issues. We'll respond here and there and we hope other users of the software will as well. I think you'll find that most common problems are easily solved and there are only a few problems that people have. Remember, InstantCake is widely used by thousands of people, so if you are having a problem, be rest assured that it can be solved by following the advice in the subsequent pages.
In the spririt of minimizing the often repeated questions asked here, please take a moment to do a few things before posting your InstantCake questions in the official support thread, or elsewhere on the forum:

• Please read the InstantCake release notes for your specific InstantCake product.InstantCake is similar on all products, however there are differences depending upon the type of TiVo you have. You should absolutely review the release notes prior to attempting your installation.

• Please read the InstantCake installation instructions.Even if you have a general product question, the answer may very well be here; its only one page, and there are even screen shots of the program in operation.

• Please use the search feature of the forums.Believe it or not, InstantCake has been available now for almost four years. That means there is a very good chance that your question has already been asked, and answered in this forum. Try the search feature before posting your question, you may be happy with what you find!

• Don't be afraid to post your questions, but please provide enough detail so that they can be answered!

• It should go without saying that many people have different perspectives, and are at different levels of computer knowledge and skill. Nonetheless, try not to make too many assumptions when posting your questions. Sometimes, what you consider to be an unimportant detail is a key one -- so if you don't have the time to document the actual problem you are having, please don't expect anyone to spend much more time trying to solve that problem.

• Share your newly-found knowledge! If you figure something out that you think others may benefit from, please post it here!

• Please write a testimonial. We always appreciate your testimonials and if you post one here, we'll be forever grateful.

Note that this is a technical support thread designated for the support and usage of InstantCake products. This is not a product information thread, nor is it a technical support thread for upgrade issues which have nothing to do with InstantCake; if you have a different question, please create a new thread and hopefully, a member of the community will respond!

[hardyboyj]

I just completed the InstantCake instructions (recently purchased) to upgrade my Tivo to 2 x 500Gig drives. I received the Congratulations! message but then received the following 3 lines:

umount2: Device or resource busy
umount: /dev/hdb: not mounted
umount: /var/log/mount: Illegal seek

then

/#_

Am I good to go and install the 2 drives into my Tivo?

Thanks,

J-G

[Lou Jacob]

I just completed the Instantcake instructions (recently purchased) to upgrade my Tivo to 2 x 500Gig drives. I received the Congratulations! message but then received the following 3 lines:

umount2: Device or resource busy
umount: /dev/hdb: not mounted
umount: /var/log/mount: Illegal seek

then

/#_

Am I good to go and install the 2 drives into my Tivo?

Thanks,

J-G

It sounds like things are fine. The /dev/hdb: not mounted error could be an indication that your CD-ROM was not connected properly (it should be configured to be the primary slave (/dev/hdb), but some have reported that it will work with other configurations (but you will get that error).

It won't hurt to try with both of your drives, but if things don't work, you'll want to go back and review the instructions and ensure that your drives and CD device is connected properly. Good luck!

[hardyboyj]

It sounds like things are fine. The /dev/hdb: not mounted error could be an indication that your CD-ROM was not connected properly (it should be configured to be the primary slave (/dev/hdb), but some have reported that it will work with other configurations (but you will get that error).

It won't hurt to try with both of your drives, but if things don't work, you'll want to go back and review the instructions and ensure that your drives and CD device is connected properly. Good luck!

Thanks Lou for the quick response. I tried installing the 2 drives and my Tivo simply stays on the main boot-up screen and never goes to the gray screen saying "one more minute...". I tried connecting the drives on the different IDE cable connectors on the Tivo with the same result. I've read somewhere that it makes no difference which IDE connector you connect the master or slave drive to. Could you confirm this is the case or should the drives be connected in the same way as they are when connecting them inside a computer, meaning the middle connector is master and the end connector (on the IDE cable) is slave on the Tivo?

I also tried a different ribbon cable on the Tivo, different ribbon cables on my computer and as a last resort I tried the upgrade on a different (newer) computer (although with the same CD-ROM drive) with the exact same message. After installing the drives in my Tivo I still get the same result with the main Tivo screen and nothing else.

I will try the upgrade using a different CD-Rom drive to see if it resolves the problem. I am quite sure I've followed the instructions to a tee but will double check everything again when I try the new CD-Rom drive.

I've re-installed the original hard drive (shipped with the unit) with the same ribbon cable I've been using in my dual drive setup and the Tivo works fine. Just so you know I decided to upgrade my Tivo using Instantcake after one of the 2 previously upgraded hard drives (I originally used MFS Tools, qunlock etc.. but that was pretty complicated) died on me.

My guess is I'm going to see the same results even with the new CD-Rom drive. I'm including some extra information in case you see something that doesn't look right.

The drives I'm trying to upgrade to are both 500 Gig Seagate Ultra ATA/100 drives. The version of Instantcake is ver 1.0e.

I can't understand why the Tivo isn't booting up correctly, especially when the Instantcake upgrade seems to be working (other than the three weird lines at the end).

Thoughts?

[Lou Jacob]

The problem does not sound like it is related to your CD-ROM drive, but you do need to ensure it is configured as the primary slave (/dev/hdb), and that the target drives are configured as secondary master and slave. If you are unsure of the way to set your specific drives, check the label (or the manufacturer web site) for the proper jumper settings; we don't recommend using "cable select" to do this.

Also, you may want to try using the software with just one drive, just to reduce the variables; perhaps there is an issue with one of the drives, or your unit - so reducing the variables is always a good idea.

Again, get your initial configuration sorted out, first; it still sound like you haven't pinned those down yet.

[hardyboyj]

I re-checked to make sure the CD-ROM drive is configured as primary slave and it was and when I do the dual drive update the Tivo still does not start-up.

I've tried both drives using the "1 drive option" and still get the same message at the end but each drive boots up properly (individually) in the Tivo .

I'm stumped. Could it be that there's a flaw in my download (or version) of Instantcake that would only allow for a single drive upgrade to work?

I am still hoping to get both drives working.

Thanks,

hardyboyj

[Lou Jacob]

I've tried both drives using the "1 drive option" and still get the same message at the end but each drive boots up properly (individually) in the Tivo .

Nope; it sounds like the software is working just fine. You need to check your jumper settings (use the label on the drive or check the manufacturer's web page to get that sorted out) to ensure your master and slave settings are correct. Also check your IDE cable (maybe its defective). It could also be a problem with your TiVo or the drives which could be preventing the unit from powering up with the two drives (bad power supply, perhaps).

These are all variables you need to eliminate...

[hardyboyj]

Nope; it sounds like the software is working just fine. You need to check your jumper settings (use the label on the drive or check the manufacturer's web page to get that sorted out) to ensure your master and slave settings are correct. Also check your IDE cable (maybe its defective). It could also be a problem with your TiVo or the drives which could be preventing the unit from powering up with the two drives (bad power supply, perhaps).

These are all variables you need to eliminate...

Thanks again Lou for the pointers.

After re-checking that the CD-Rom drive is setup correctly and both hard drives have the correct master and slave jumpers set correctly, and after replacing the IDE cables on both the Tivo and the PC I'm using (3 different ones - just to make absolutely sure) I've decided to live with the single 500 Gig drive in my Series 1. The new drives themselves are definitely not the problem because they have each been tested as single drives in my Tivo and both work fine. They also run through the dual drive Instantcake upgrade process fine.

The problem could be with the Tivo's power supply but that would be a weird coincidence since the same Tivo has been working with 2 drives in it for the past 5 or so years and I am upgrading because the 120 Gig drive went dead on me. Perhaps the bigger size hard drives take more juice than the 100 Gig and 120 Gig combination that I had in there before therefore surpassing the power supply's maximum output power?

In any case Instantcake did its job.

Now that I have that spare 500Gig drive kicking around, is there any chance I could convince DVRUpgrade to give me Instantcake for my series 2 Tivo I have in my basement? Kinda like a 2 for 1 deal?

Over and out.

hardyboyj

[Lou Jacob]

The new drives themselves are definitely not the problem because they have each been tested as single drives in my Tivo and both work fine. They also run through the dual drive Instantcake upgrade process fine.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that. The only way to rule out the drives is to run the manufacturer's diagnostics on them; just because they work individually in a TiVo doesn't mean that there isn't something wrong with them (and just because they don't work together means there is something wrong with them).

Now that I have that spare 500Gig drive kicking around, is there any chance I could convince DVRUpgrade to give me Instantcake for my series 2 Tivo I have in my basement? Kinda like a 2 for 1 deal?

Sorry, no. We always prefer you purchase a kit or our recertification services, however I hope you recognize the value of the InstantCake product (and the support we've provided you in spite of the fact that it is an unsupported product) and are willing to pay for it should you be upgrading a second unit.

[mdpawson]

About a month ago, my hard drive died on my Series 1 DirecTivo (Philips DSR6000R01). I bought a new hard drive (Seagate 300gb) and used Instantcake, following the instructions found at http://www.dvrplayground.com/forum/t...en---Try-this/
for using a large drive on series 1.

Everything has worked fine for a month, and then yesterday my tivo abruptly stopped working. I turned on the tv, hit "display" on the tivo remote to see what it was watching, and that caused a reboot - the "powering up" screen was immediately followed by "cannot load kernel". Powering down and rebooting always gets me the same message.

I popped the drive and ran seagate's diagnostics on it (short and long diagnostics), and it doesn't find anything wrong with the drive.

My tivo was getting fairly full before this happened - is there a usage size limitation that still trips it up despite installing PTVbake-special and tivoflash? Are there any workarounds for this? If it's just a corrupt kernel is there any way to restore that without losing the content on the drive?

Just to clarify - I know how to reinstall InstantCake and "start over" with my TiVo. I just want to make sure that if there's something I'm missing with the big drives on series 1 - a configuration item, or a bit of software, that's going to cause it to fail when it gets to 150 GB or 290 GB or some measure of "too much" content, that I can do that right this time instead of just losing everything all over again in another month. The install that failed after a month followed step by step the instructions referenced in the above link, except that in "Part 3" the instructions have you picking an older kernel - that didn't work for me, but when I picked the later kernel, it did. Otherwise, I followed the instructions verbatim.

Thanks in advance.