Can i use the small hard-disk inside my disassembled TiVo for other purposes?

Question

I too appart my TiVo* and found a small hard-disk inside. Can i use the hard disk for other purposes? Like a small computer?

Or is it a hard disk engineered for TiVo purposes?

*Note to those who wonder why i would disassemble my TiVo: because i seldom watch TV. The most attractive thing was the 30min rewind (while i go to the restroom), but the feature needs a subscription and a phone cable, so forget it

Answer 1

The HardDrive on TiVo and Motorola are not built for PC's unless you have a special ribbon and power cable, than no.

Even if your able to connect the DVR HardDrive to PC, the computer may not detect it, which becomes a new issue, more likely related to software programming or that the HardDrive is built different from a standard HardDrive.

Thats industry for you, LOL.

I've seen some people on the internet trying to engineer their way around that problem.

http://club.cdfreaks.com/f90/dvr-pc-1037...

http://www.google.ca/search?hl=en&q=ribb...

Just for some addtional info the DVR files are more likely MPEG format.

I wouldn't mind trying this myself.

Answer 2

What kind of Tivo is it?

The series 1 & 2 stand alone Tivos use standard ide drives that can be reformatted and used like any other one.

Also I'm pretty sure that the series 2 (without subscription) can be used as a live tuner with the pause function still working; should be long enough for restroom breaks.

E-mail me if you have questions