TiVo Bolt Fan and Hard Drive Repair and Replacement

WeaKnees demonstrates how to open a TiVo Bolt and change out the hard drive and fan. This video applies to any TiVo Bolt model including the Plus, the VOX, and the OTA.

[sagould]

Normally I wouldn't attempt to repair *any* electronic device, but this one was so simple, and clean and easy to follow, I replaced the fan. I really liked your comment that you replace them all the time, but with a "little bit of work and a little bit of care" you can get it to work." Because of that encouragement, I did take my time with the flexible cover and got it to work fine. So thank you so much! 😊

[KentuckyRanger]

If you replace the HDD, does the device automatically format it? Or is there a special file that needs to be downloaded and installed on the HDD before installation.

[scottmahl]

Great video, easy repair. Just make sure the antenna says connected. Hopefully my new hard drive will last 6 years...!

[billsherman]

I followed a different video and broke several of the tabs on the tiny cover while removing it. Wish I'd seen your video first! I used a spudger which was quite handy!

[mbhahn]

Thank you so much, I even got the drive for 30 bucks today you have on screen

[JRobert]

Thank you for such a great video. The printed instructions with my drive are very detailed, but I do much better with visual instructions. The great details in this video enabled me to zip right through the whole procedure and got it set up, loaded and ready for duty quite quickly without any bad noises of plastic breaking as you show the right spots. Thanks again!

[wadebarnett]

This was very informative! I'd like to suggest that anyone who wants to keep the case looking good should put a soft cloth on the table. That would cut down on scratches!

[lcarliner]

Do you have plans for covering the new EdgeT2 models? I will be especially interested upgrading the storage capacity in the future. I will not touch an SSD with a ten feet connector cord because of the limited repeated writes to individual sectors! also would be quite wary of drives that uses SMR technology for storage density increases because of concerns with software compatibility! Two things I miss with TiVo: A clock display and caller ID on TV. For TiVo: How about optional accessories that would plugin to the USB ports?

[DjMikeWatt]

It would be cool if you linked to the product pages for the drive and screwdrivers you used.

[tac]

This video saved my keister! Playback started skipping ahead at times. So, after 5 years of operation, I thought "maybe" the hard drive was dying? So, this video made it easy to remove the hard drive. And I thought, why not run SpinRite on it? It can't hurt, right? Well, after 30 hours, SpinRite reported the process was complete, with no ecc errors. I reinstalled the drive, and everything is working fine!

[kseries-only]

@WeaKnees Support would you know how to copy old shows from a failing TiVo Bolt? They sent a new "replacement" one but I'd like to figure out a way to transfer old shows from the old unit (if the drive isn't dead). They say I don't have to send the old one back, it's "scrap"..

[RustyInSeattle]

Would you recommend the Western Digital WD10JUCT hard drive pictured to replace the dead hard drive in a TIVO Bolt Model TCD849500 ?

[israndy]

Thanks for such a clear instructional video. I read elsewhere that you can swap-in up to a 3TB drive w/o having to do anything else, the drive is just formatted by the TiVo. But this is the first posting I have seen since the flurry of people doing this back in 2015-16. Does the new TiVo software handle 4TB or larger drives by itself yet?

[patricknelson]

This was helpful! And oh... looking inside this thing makes me wanna hack it and turn it into a little linux sever so bad. It has so much disk space and reasonable processing capability. It's such a waste of computing power to throw this out!

[AudiophileTommy]

Can you fit a 3Tb Western Digital hard drive in the bolt and which model? Thanks 😊

[ericbrown]

ii have never commented on any videos positive or negative but this was a flawless rebuid video thank you wonderful customer service by phone and video awesome

[johnbrown]

If I put a used hard drive in do I need to format it before install?

[DjMikeWatt]

I just successfully swapped out the original 500GB for a WD Green 2TB drive. Thanks for that assist!

[DrDoss]

There was no mentioning of MFSR file. Why not?

[blueteamlogic]

Do you have recommendations for hard drive models you have seen work?