# Instantcake and Tivo



## Chris Blount

I know this is well known and widely discussed especially over on the TivoCommunity but I wanted to put a plug in for the Instantcake software. I finally had the opportunity to use it.

Last week the hard drive failed in my 4 year old Samsung DirecTivo. I purchased the $19.95 Instantcake software and a new hard drive and within an hour I was fully up and running. Granted, I lost the programs and all of the season passes but no biggy. The season pass list was written down.

Great software and an easy and cheap way to get your DirecTivo back up and running!

http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm


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## HDTVsportsfan

I can second your comments and positive experience. I had to do the same thing about a year ago. It's money well spent.
Kinda like the 15.00 membership fee for DBStalk.


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## captain_video

Instantcake is a good source for backup images if you did not have the foresight to create one when you got your Tivo or your backup got corrupted for some reason. DVRUpgrade is the only licensed distributor for Tivo images and also for the killhdinitrd'd kernels that allow us to hack our series 2 models. Otherwise, there are boot CD images available for download that allow you to create and restore backup images for free. I make a backup every time any one of my Tivos takes a software update. 

The process is quite simple to perform and doesn't require much Linux expertise other than a few simple commands. I prefer the manual method since it allows me to set up the parameters the way I want instead of letting the software do it for me. There are simple step-by-step procedures provided at the weaknees website, among others.


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## Groundhog45

If you have the opportunity before the disk drive dies, you can make a copy and save the recordings. Lots of good info at http://www.mfslive.org/ Worked for me. You can also increase the size of the drive. Of course, if the disk has already crashed, you need the new image.


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## Iluv2watch

To Captain Video
You mention there are boot CD images available for download. I read this as a Tivo image to restore to a new hard drive. Please tell me where? 

From your previous help to me, I found the mfslive web site. I download their bootable CD for backup & restore. I did not see any images. Did I miss somenthing?

again Thanks


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## Earl Bonovich

Iluv2watch said:


> To Captain Video
> You mention there are boot CD images available for download. I read this as a Tivo image to restore to a new hard drive. Please tell me where?
> 
> From your previous help to me, I found the mfslive web site. I download their bootable CD for backup & restore. I did not see any images. Did I miss somenthing?
> 
> again Thanks


You can purchase one from www.dvrupgrade.com


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## vlhgsd

i just bought in an hr ago and can't get the install to work at all. primary ide set with cdrom as slave as stated in instructions, 2nd ide drive is set for master. goes thru hit enter to "bake" I get:

mount: /dev/ is not a block device
/etc/rc.d/rc.S: /cdrom/.live/bin/ptvbake: no such file or directory
/#

My orig. hd was a 40gb, just doing a from scratch 20gb until my 160 shows up, but at this rate, I might as well cancel the order for the 160 if this isn't going to work.


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## Chris Blount

Try going into your bios and disabling SATA Support.

Also, make sure no other devices are connected. Apparently instantcake is getting confused. It's trying to read another device.


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## code4code5

I used Instantcake to rebuild my Tivo drive, and ever since, I haven't been able to successfully make a call. Do others have that issue too?


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## LI-SVT

I used Instacake and don't have any problems with the daily call. I did have a lot of problems with the original DVR service call.


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## Grentz

If you have issues running it, try another machine if you can. Some computers just dont work well with it (and other linux imagers for that matter).

I have one machine that does not like to run it at all and others it runs great on.


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## ekolu

vlhgsd said:


> i just bought in an hr ago and can't get the install to work at all. primary ide set with cdrom as slave as stated in instructions, 2nd ide drive is set for master. goes thru hit enter to "bake" I get:
> 
> mount: /dev/ is not a block device
> /etc/rc.d/rc.S: /cdrom/.live/bin/ptvbake: no such file or directory
> /#
> 
> My orig. hd was a 40gb, just doing a from scratch 20gb until my 160 shows up, but at this rate, I might as well cancel the order for the 160 if this isn't going to work.


The InstantCake instructions indicate that your new target drive is expected to be larger than the original. If I read your post correctly, you are trying to use a 20GB drive as your new target drive. I just replaced my original (dead) 40GB drive yesterday with a 60GB target drive and everything went smoothly using InstantCake.


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## GirkMonster

You also need to perform a 'clear and delete everything' after installing instantcake. this will sync the image to your equipment. the service id number begins with three digits (like 301), the software version must end with the same three digits (-301 in my example) or it won't work (for long) and you should apparently not connect your phone line and make the first call to activate the dvr service if the numbers don't match...I just did that and it seems to have worked for me.

Try it and post what happens.


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## GirkMonster

code4code5 said:


> I used Instantcake to rebuild my Tivo drive, and ever since, I haven't been able to successfully make a call. Do others have that issue too?


did you do a clear and delete everything? did you check your service id and your software version? see my other post above on the topic.


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## GirkMonster

I just installed the Instant Cake image for a Philips DSR 704 and the software version is 6.2. I have made several successful daily calls and restarted the unit after each one in an attempt to get it to take the 6.4a software update to no avail. I refreshed my services online - which was needed to activate my locals.

Everything is working fine, I would like to get into version 6.4a of the software for a few of the features. Anyone have any ideas on how to get this to automatically take the update?


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## vlhgsd

It did work with the 20gb drive until my 160gb drive showed up. had to disable sata.


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## Chris Blount

vlhgsd said:


> It did work with the 20gb drive until my 160gb drive showed up. had to disable sata.


Great! Glad it finally worked. Thanks for the update.


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## madisonjar

alright, I have 2 R10's coming, is it worth upgrading/hacking these tivos? or is it better just to let them be? I would love to get into media sharing one of these days, what do you guys think?


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## litzdog911

madisonjar said:


> alright, I have 2 R10's coming, is it worth upgrading/hacking these tivos? or is it better just to let them be? I would love to get into media sharing one of these days, what do you guys think?


Other than upgrading the hard drive, the R10 Tivo's are not easily modified unless you replace a hardware IC. Check out the "Tivo Underground Forum" at http://www.tivocommunity.com for more details.


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## TomMac

Chris Blount said:


> I know this is well known and widely discussed especially over on the TivoCommunity but I wanted to put a plug in for the Instantcake software. I finally had the opportunity to use it.
> 
> Last week the hard drive failed in my 4 year old Samsung DirecTivo. I purchased the $19.95 Instantcake software and a new hard drive and within an hour I was fully up and running. Granted, I lost the programs and all of the season passes but no biggy. The season pass list was written down.
> 
> Great software and an easy and cheap way to get your DirecTivo back up and running!
> 
> http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm


I have an old R10 that appears to have a bad hard drive or the drive is corrupt. I swaped the hard with a known good one from another R10 and the box with the bad hard drive worked fine.

If the drive is just corrupt would instantcake fix the problem?

Would it be better to swap the 80gig WD drive for a Seagate 80gig drive that has been loaded using the instantcake program?


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## drill

TomMac said:


> I have an old R10 that appears to have a bad hard drive or the drive is corrupt. I swaped the hard with a known good one from another R10 and the box with the bad hard drive worked fine.
> 
> If the drive is just corrupt would instantcake fix the problem?
> 
> Would it be better to swap the 80gig WD drive for a Seagate 80gig drive that has been loaded using the instantcake program?


yes, instant cake will fix the problem. BUT, if i were you, i would download MFSTools (for free) and copy the image from your good drive to a new drive. the new drive can be larger if you want. more info on downloading and using MFSTools can be found over at tivocommunity.com furms.

essentially, instantcake is a packaged version of MFSTools with an image of the harddrive. since you have a "good" harddrive, you can make your own image. instantcake has an "easy to use" interface (instead of linux command line). but the MFSTools step-by-step is EASY to follow ... and like i said, its free!


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## TomMac

drill said:


> yes, instant cake will fix the problem. BUT, if i were you, i would download MFSTools (for free) and copy the image from your good drive to a new drive. the new drive can be larger if you want. more info on downloading and using MFSTools can be found over at tivocommunity.com furms.
> 
> essentially, instantcake is a packaged version of MFSTools with an image of the harddrive. since you have a "good" harddrive, you can make your own image. instantcake has an "easy to use" interface (instead of linux command line). but the MFSTools step-by-step is EASY to follow ... and like i said, its free!


OH POOH, Thinking I would not want or have a need for the good box I sold it on Ebay!

Stuff happens!


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## TomMac

:grin: I found my old woking R10 apparently I did not sell the box. I have downloaded MFSTools and looked over a little of the information at Tivo Community. Would you have any suggestions before I give it a try?



drill said:


> yes, instant cake will fix the problem. BUT, if i were you, i would download MFSTools (for free) and copy the image from your good drive to a new drive. the new drive can be larger if you want. more info on downloading and using MFSTools can be found over at tivocommunity.com furms.
> 
> essentially, instantcake is a packaged version of MFSTools with an image of the harddrive. since you have a "good" harddrive, you can make your own image. instantcake has an "easy to use" interface (instead of linux command line). but the MFSTools step-by-step is EASY to follow ... and like i said, its free!


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## drill

TomMac said:


> :grin: I found my old woking R10 apparently I did not sell the box. I have downloaded MFSTools and looked over a little of the information at Tivo Community. Would you have any suggestions before I give it a try?


nothing other than follow the instructions. they are actually pretty simple. i guess one suggestion would be to save the backup somewhere. that way, if it ever crashes again, you can restore it from the backup.

good luck!


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## TomMac

drill said:


> yes, instant cake will fix the problem. BUT, if i were you, i would download MFSTools (for free) and copy the image from your good drive to a new drive. the new drive can be larger if you want. more info on downloading and using MFSTools can be found over at tivocommunity.com furms.
> 
> essentially, instantcake is a packaged version of MFSTools with an image of the harddrive. since you have a "good" harddrive, you can make your own image. instantcake has an "easy to use" interface (instead of linux command line). but the MFSTools step-by-step is EASY to follow ... and like i said, its free!


STUFF HAPPENS, I downloaded MFSTools and before I could save an image of my working R10 the hard drive went belly up with a critical error. Nothing I did would get the box working agin. I then had two R10's with bad hard drives.

A few days ago I downloaded instant cake and tried to load the image onto one of the hard drive of a dead R10. The process failed. I then started looking for a new hard drive. However before making the plunge of purchasing a new hard drive I tried one more trick. I formated one of the hard drives and gave instant cake another try.

IT WORKED! It would appear the hard drive is good, it was just corrupted. I will keep my fingers crossed hoping it keeps working.

Currently one of my R10's is up and appears to be working. All I need to do now is activate the receiver and maybe give the other hard drive a test run with instantcake.

In this case purchasing instant cake was $20 well spent.


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## dstager

There is now an InstantCake available with 6.4a software:

http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm


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## BigO69

TomMac said:


> STUFF HAPPENS, I downloaded MFSTools and before I could save an image of my working R10 the hard drive went belly up with a critical error. Nothing I did would get the box working agin. I then had two R10's with bad hard drives.
> 
> A few days ago I downloaded instant cake and tried to load the image onto one of the hard drive of a dead R10. The process failed. I then started looking for a new hard drive. However before making the plunge of purchasing a new hard drive I tried one more trick. I formated one of the hard drives and gave instant cake another try.
> 
> IT WORKED! It would appear the hard drive is good, it was just corrupted. I will keep my fingers crossed hoping it keeps working.
> 
> Currently one of my R10's is up and appears to be working. All I need to do now is activate the receiver and maybe give the other hard drive a test run with instantcake.
> 
> In this case purchasing instant cake was $20 well spent.


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## BigO69

TomMac; Do you know anywhere i can get a InstantCake Cd for my R10 Tivo. I have 2 that look new but the Harddrive,s have quit working. I have searched all over the Web and can,t seem to locate one. I have the InstantCake Disk for my other SDVR2 and for my Hr10-250 that i have used several times.i would gladly swap a copy of my other Instantcake CD,s for a R10 InstantCake. THe InstantCake CD's are easy to use but i am not Computer Savy to do manually.Any help would be greatly appreciated


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## MysteryMan

You're replying to a ten year old thread. The person you're addressing was last seen on this site in 2011.


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## BigO69

MysteryMan said:


> You're replying to a ten year old thread. The person you're addressing was last seen on this site in 2011.


MysteryMano you know anywhere i can get a InstantCake ISO Image for my R10 Tivo!
Tanks


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## MysteryMan

Try a Google search.


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## BigO69

MysteryMan said:


> Try a Google search.


I have been searching for 4 Day, No instantCake.How can i copy my HD from my other Good DTV R10 Tivo.I have used InstantCake before on my HR10-250. I have been Retired for the last 8 yrs. and 
don,t know much about computer lanuage.Is there Instructions that is not complicated for someone
like me to follow!Thanks for your time !BigO


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## MysteryMan

There are several Tivo threads on this site. Try doing a Tivo search here. You may find what you seek in one of those threads.


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## texasbrit

or post on the TiVo community forum....


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