Special cable for external SATA drive for TiVo?

[Dougmeister]

TiVo HD Series 3 PVR

SimpleTech 1TB External Hard Drive

Opened up the hard drive tonight and found that it came only w/ a USB cable. I powered down my tower and pulled one of the standard SATA data cables. It doesn't seem to fit into the SimpleTech.

Do I need to buy a special cable?

My cable looks more like the "Type L" shown on this page, whereas the connector type on the Simpletech looks more like the "Type I" shown first on the page.

 

[ViRGE]

The Tivo and the external hard drive both use e(xternal)SATA for connectivity. This is a slightly different SATA standard and uses different cables as a result; if you just pulled a SATA cable out of your case it's not going to be the right kind of cable. You're going to need to purchase an eSATA cable.

 

[Dougmeister]

Thanks. As I suspected.

What do I look/ask for? SATA 2? eSATA? Sata "Type I"?

 

[ViRGE]

Just eSATA will do.

 

[Dougmeister]

Will this one do?

Mad Dog's UV SATA Cable

I don't think it will, but the "helpful" person at Radio Shack said that was the best they could do. I'm trying to find one locally, and so far, OfficeMax, Staples, and (probably) Radio Shack don't have it.

 

[NoelS]

This one at Radio Shack doesn't look like eSATA. But you can buy and try, return if it's the wrong connector.

You'll probably have to go to a computer shop for one. You can buy them on-line for about $5.99, but S&H is even more than the cable... Google "eSATA cable" and go to several on-line shops and put the cable in the shopping cart, then check the cost of shipping. Buy the best total price. Expect to pay $10-12...

If I were you, I would return that Simple 1T external (if you can) and build an external set-up yourself for a lot less $$. For example, I bought a Seagate (5 yr warranty) 320GB SATA HDD at Best Buy on the 24th for $59.99 - sale through Dec 29th... You can buy an external eSATA HDD enclosure on-line (with cables) for about $40-50 and put them together. Any size 3.5" SATA HDD you want... or your enclosure can be eSATA, USB or both for t.he same price range. Look here: http://www.newegg.com/Store/Su...me=External-Enclosures

Noel

 

[tw1164]

Have you thought about upgrading your internal drive?

 

[Dougmeister]

NoelS

Thanks for the info and the links.

tw1164

No, I have not thought of that. I upgraded my ReplayTV a few years ago. Is the process much more involved/risky for the TiVo?

Edit: A quick Google search shows me many, many walkthroughs. I did read, though, that if I upgrade the internal drive, it may cause problems if I ever decide to double-dip and add the eSATA later on. Any comments?

 

[de8212]

Black eSATA cable

or

UV Blue eSATA


they also have siler or copper.

All are 6ft an ~$4 so NoelS is correct, shipping will be more than the cable itself. Monoprice has good stuff so don't worry about the quality.

As far as upgrading the tivo drive, I've done it with a seris 2 box and it was simple. Instead of doing it manually I opted to purchase the software. I went with instancake. It was $20 but I was finishged with it in about 45 minutes from opening the box to closing the box. Well worth it to me. As I said that was series 2 but I would imagine series 3 is similar.

Here is where I got the software. DVRUpgrade

Another great source (in case you don't know) is TiVo Community Forums

 

[tw1164]

Originally posted by: Dougmeister
NoelS

Thanks for the info and the links.

tw1164

No, I have not thought of that. I upgraded my ReplayTV a few years ago. Is the process much more involved/risky for the TiVo?

Edit: A quick Google search shows me many, many walkthroughs. I did read, though, that if I upgrade the internal drive, it may cause problems if I ever decide to double-dip and add the eSATA later on. Any comments?

I just got my Tivo HD last week (was using a ReplayTV), so I haven't upgraded anything.

I don't think there's a problem anymore w/ "double-dipping". I've seen people with a 2TB (1TB internal, 1TB external) tivo on the community forum.

 

[tw1164]

I just upgraded my Tivo to a 750GB drive, it's very easy to do. I think the whole process took about an hour.