Hack 21 Removing TiVo's Hard Drive or Drives

To access the internals of your TiVo, you're going to have to pull out its hard drive.

After opening your TiVo [Hack #20], you should clearly see your TiVo's one or two hard drives (depending on your model of TiVo). The challenge now is to know how to pull them out. Each one of the TiVo architectures (see Section 2.3.1 at the beginning of this chapter) is subtly different, so just to be sure you're armed with enough information; we'll carefully go through how to operate on each.

TiVo's hard drives are usually pretty close to the power supply. As you attempt to remove the drives, be sure to avoid touching the possibly charged power supply.

Removing the Hard Drive from a Type 1 TiVo

If your TiVo has only one drive inside (see Figure 2-2), you will see a gray IDE ribbon cable that runs from the green motherboard to a plastic holder on the hard drive. You're going to have to remove that ribbon cable from the hard drive on the top left. With a two-drive TiVo, you will see both hard drives and the single ribbon cable that connects each drive together and to the motherboard. Completely remove that cable from the hard drive or drives by gently pulling on it. A hard drive also has a white, inch-wide power connector attached to it. Remove that connector, too.

Figure 2-2. A TiVo of architecture type 1, with only one hard drive

Now to carefully free the cables. If your TiVo had only one drive when it left the factory, the power connector for the second drive should be tied down with cable ties and may be tucked underneath the motherboard. You need to slide it out from under the motherboard and cut those ties; be very careful not to cut any of the wires. Next, if the IDE cable is clipped onto a clip next to your hard drive, you'll want to remove the cable from the clip. Don't worry about removing the clip in this case as it is secured with double-sided tape. You may also have to remove a small rubber band or another cable tie in order to free the IDE ribbon cable.

Using your Torx T10 screwdriver, carefully unscrew the two screws that secure the existing hard drive and hard drive bracket to your TiVo. These two screws are located toward the front-bottom of the TiVo, where the drive sits. If you have a two-drive TiVo, remove two screws on each of the two drive brackets. Take note of where the drive is located in your TiVo and how the bracket sits; you will be replacing it in the same place later. Now that everything is loose, remove the drive and bracket by sliding the drive and bracket toward the back of the TiVo and lifting out the bracket/drive combination.

Finally, carefully unscrew the four Torx T15 screws located underneath the drive that secure the drive to the drive bracket. Lather, rinse, and repeat if you have two drives.

Removing the Hard Drive from a Type 2 TiVo

With the cover off, and looking underneath the front lip of the TiVo, you will be able to see one or two hard drives; an IDE ribbon cable that runs from the green motherboard to the drive(s); a red, black, and yellow power cable that runs from the power supply to the hard drive(s); and a red and blue (or red and black) fan cable that runs from the hard drive bay to the motherboard, as shown in Figure 2-3.

Figure 2-3. The fan cable running to the motherboard in a type 2 TiVo

First, gently remove the fan cable from the motherboard by pulling straight up and out.

If you have a Sony SAT T-60, consider yourself unlucky at this point. You're going to have to locate a very pesky screw that connects the drive bay to the case. Look behind the power supply and you should see it. You're going to need a Torx L-key of size 10 or 15 to do this job�you can find one at almost any hardware store. Some TiVo hackers have reportedly used a business card to cover the power supply's capacitors while removing the screw with a screwdriver; you might want to do the same to save you from the nasty shock. Be patient, and take care when removing the screw. But at the same time, rejoice, as we're not going to bother putting this screw back later on.

Orient yourself so that you are looking at the front of the TiVo. Using your Torx screwdriver, unscrew and remove the two screws on the left side of the drive bracket, as shown in Figure 2-4. Also, while you're at it, remove the gold inserts from the blue grommets and keep the screws and inserts together.

Figure 2-4. The two screws to remove when extracting the hard drive bay from a type 2 TiVo

Now you should be able to lift the drive bay up from the left and slide it out of the two holes on the right side of the drive bay, as shown in Figure 2-5. As you slide it up and out, take care not to damage the drive and power cable that are still connected. You should grab the right side of the bracket with your free hand so that the drive bay doesn't slam down into the motherboard as you pull it up and out.

Figure 2-5. Pulling the hard drive bracket up and out to the left

With everything out, remove the power connector or connectors (there should be one connected to each drive on the bay). These cables are sometimes difficult to remove. Just have patience and wiggle them back and forth, as they will eventually jiggle right out. Also, remove the gray hard drive ribbon cable from each hard drive by pulling on the hard plastic connector. Now you can remove the four screws connecting each hard drive to the drive bay and pull out the hard drives. Don't confuse these screws with the screws you removed from the back of the TiVo.

Removing the Hard Drive from a Type 3 TiVo

Finding yourself with the cover off and looking to the front-right of your TiVo, you should be able to see one hard drive; a gray IDE ribbon cable that runs from the green motherboard to the hard drive; and a red, black, and yellow power cable that runs from the power supply to the hard drive.

Reach in, and carefully jiggle the power cable until it comes free and remove gray IDE cable from the hard drive. Please take great care not to jar or dislodge any of the other cables running around the inside of the TiVo.

When removing the power cable and IDE cable from the hard drive, be careful not to jar or dislodge and other cables in the TiVo, but especially take care not to disrupt the front panel ribbon cable running from the front of the TiVo to the motherboard. If you power-up your TiVo with this cable even partially dislodged, you can permanently damage your unit.

Using your Torx screwdriver, unscrew and remove the two bracket screws located at the front-right of the TiVo that connect the hard drive bracket to the lower bracket. Once the screws are removed, you will be able to slide the drive and bracket toward the power supply, and then up and out of the TiVo (see Figure 2-6). Note the ribbon connector attaching the front panel to the motherboard; under no circumstances should you disturb that connector.

Figure 2-6. Pulling the hard drive out a type 3 TiVo

You can now safely remove the four screws connecting the hard drive to the hard drive bay. Take care not to confuse these screws with the four screws you removed from the TiVo's lid.

Removing the Hard Drive from a Type 4 TiVo

The SVR-3000 follows steps similar to those used with the TiVo TCD 140060 and other TiVos based on architecture type 2, with a few slight changes.

Looking underneath the front lip of the TiVo, you will be able to see the hard drive; an IDE ribbon cable that runs from the green motherboard underneath the drive to the hard drive; a red, black, and yellow power cable that runs from the power supply to the drive; and a fan cable that runs from the hard drive bay to the motherboard.

Gently remove the fan cable from the motherboard by pulling straight up and out. Next, using your index and middle fingers, reach down between the front of the hard drive and the front of the TiVo to remove the power cable from the hard drive.

Now, to free the drive bay, use a Phillips-head screwdriver to unscrew the four black drive bracket screws securing the bay to the TiVo chassis. It's best to set these black screws aside so that you don't confuse them with the other screws you have removed from your TiVo so far. You should now be able to lift the drive bay up and out. With one hand holding the bracket, use your other hand to remove the IDE cable connecting the hard drive to the TiVo.

You can now place the bay upside-down on a table. Use your Phillips-head screwdriver to remove the four very short, silver screws connecting the drive to its bay, and set them aside so that they do not get mixed up with the other screws.