Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

8

Time Required

                          10 minutes

Sections

1

  • Hard Drive
  • 8 steps

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  • BackTiVo Bolt ( Series 6)

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Introduction

What you need

Step 1

              Remove the Torx Screw on the Back
  • This screw is a different length than all the other screws.

This screw is a different length than all the other screws.

1024

Step 2

              Remove Cable Card cover
  • Undo the clips to lift up the Cable card slot cover

Undo the clips to lift up the Cable card slot cover

Step 3

              Undo 2 Screws holding the case to the board/base
  • Do not attempt to remove the housing yet. Still 3 more screws and plastic clips holding it in place

Do not attempt to remove the housing yet. Still 3 more screws and plastic clips holding it in place

Step 4

              Remove the HDD Cover
  • This shows the placement of the clips so you know where to place your plastic pics.
  • Make sure to left this cover straight up when removing as you can see on the left side it has prongs that slide into the other part of the plastic housing.

This shows the placement of the clips so you know where to place your plastic pics.

Make sure to left this cover straight up when removing as you can see on the left side it has prongs that slide into the other part of the plastic housing.

Step 5

              Remove 3 Remaining Screws Holding Case to Board
  • Case is still clipped in so do not attempt to remove the case yet

Case is still clipped in so do not attempt to remove the case yet

Step 6

              Remove the Plastic Housing
  • Plastic Pic placement shows where the clips are.
  • I found it easy to use a 5th pic on the right to help separate the housing from the board

Plastic Pic placement shows where the clips are.

I found it easy to use a 5th pic on the right to help separate the housing from the board

Step 7

              Remove Screw holding HDD Tray to the Board
  • Once you undo this screw you can unplug the harddrive and left up the HDD to separate the HDD and tray from the Board
  • Then undo the screws holding the tray to the HDD. Put the Tray on you new HDD and screw it in.

Once you undo this screw you can unplug the harddrive and left up the HDD to separate the HDD and tray from the Board

Then undo the screws holding the tray to the HDD. Put the Tray on you new HDD and screw it in.

Step 8

              Final Pictures of the board with the new HDD
  • Afterwards I decided to go ahead and add the plastic routing clips on, which are not shown in the picture.

Afterwards I decided to go ahead and add the plastic routing clips on, which are not shown in the picture.

To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.

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                                                                                      11 other people completed this guide.

Author

                                      with 1 other contributor 


                    Jacob

Member since: 09/22/2018

497 Reputation

                                      1 Guide authored                  



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Gman - Aug 30, 2019

Reply

I’m using a bolt+. One thing I couldn’t figure out how to do was step 4 without breaking the clips for the HDD cover. Even though they snapped off, it’s generally not a big deal, and will actually make it easier the next time to take the thing apart. One thing I noticed about the design is the cooling is terrible. The fan is placed in an off-center area where it sucks air in and the pressure forces it to blow out the bottom. In addition, the HDD is sitting on top of a sealed area and has no airflow. For those with hard drive failures, heat is likely the culprit in this case…poor design. I’m not even gonna put the HDD cover back on. Instead I’ have some 80mm usb powered fans I’m just gonna have blow straight into the side of the bolt across the HDD.

Jacob - Dec 2, 2019

Hello. Just wanted to send you this interesting article from backblaze about hard drive failure in relationship to heat. I am not disagreeing with you I think the heat distribution design does not work very well as I have also done the same thing and added a usb powered fan to the bottom of the TiVo. And since you seem to be interested in taking apart your TiVo. I’ll leave these articles here about using SSDs in DVRs. You may find it an interesting read. Link 1 and Link 2.

Jerry D - Nov 17, 2020

Reply

Any update to supported HDDs as the ones listed are no longer available?

Kieran Ecker - Sep 14, 2021

Reply

Very nice guide! Thank you, Jacob! I thought for sure I broke off those HDD cover tabs. They let loose with a mighty CRACK, but to my surprise, they were all intact. I replaced the existing bad HDD with a Toshiba 2TB (MQ03ABB200). Put everything back together, plugged it in and got the start up screen. It sat there for a while, formatting the HDD I assume, and then it went to the guided set up. It works perfectly now. So thankful for this guide!

zekeotsuka - Feb 12, 2022

Hi Kieran, how long did it take to format the HDD? Was there any indication as to how long to expect, like a timer or progress bar? Thanks for any advice you have.