[ckotchey]

Moments ago, I think lightning just fried my 4504 ReplayTV unit. this makes me very sad, because when I bought it it came with the lifetime activation!


but regardless, here is my question:


now all the shows we had recorded are "lost" because they are (hopefully) safe on the hard drive, but the unit is broken. (when I plug it in, the "on" light blinks, but the unit doesn't respond in any way). If I were to buy a new unit of the same model (i.e. another 4504 from eBay or somewhere), would I be able to put the old hard drive in the new unit and recover my shows? I don't expect the new unit to work without paying for the activation (different serial numbers on the hardware I presume?), but I would really like to recover the recorded shows if possible.


Please let me know. I guess in the end, I'll just be making a bunch of poopli.com requests.

 

[dstoffa]



Quote:
Originally Posted by ckotchey /forum/post/0


If I were to buy a new unit of the same model (i.e. another 4504 from eBay or somewhere), would I be able to put the old hard drive in the new unit and recover my shows?

No need to buy another unit.


You can get your shows to your PC using extractrtv.

 

[YBDBDOO]

The answer to the question is "yes", unless the lightning damaged the hard drive. You can move the drive among like series units.


That said, extractrtv is probably a better idea. If the drive survived, you will know relatively quickly and without the cost of the new unit.


Hope that helps.

 

[hdonzis]

The question is why the 4504 isn't working? You should check out Mikeyboy's for instructions on checking the power supply, etc. on your unit to see if you can figure out what the problem is. If need be, you may even be able to get replacement parts or you unit fixed by him.


If the drive is OK and you just want to get the shows, be sure and use extract_rtv5 because it will also create the XML files necessary if you want to view the shows through DVArchive, WiRNS, or IVSmagic. If you just want the shows to burn to DVD or whatever, then you can use any version of extract_rtv...


Oh, in addition, if your hard drive is OK, putting it in another 4500 that isn't activated won't let you get the shows. The unit has to be activated in order for you to use the Replay (although, you can view the shows from a remote activated Replay). But, if you were going to go to that much trouble, I would definitely try working with Mikeyboy first because he can preserve your unit's serial number so that you keep your current activation...


Henry