Cloning DVR disc

I have a disc-based DVR that’s showing symptoms that suggest its disc is failing. I’d like to replace it (the disc that is). I am fairly sure the software that runs the recorder is on the disc, so just replacing the disc is unlikely to work. Instead I would need to clone the disc onto the replacement.

I’m fairly familiar with Windows and very familiar with RISC OS but I suspect the disc will be in a format neither of them understand. I do however have a collection of rPi’s and two USB-SATA adapters (and indeed USB-IDE adaptrers if the disc turns out to be that old).

Any suggestions how I would go about this? I’m guessing it involves Linux, and my only experience of Unix was Sun-OS 1.4 some decades ago.

What sort of DVR and have you Googled it?

Yes, it’s probably Linux. Some have the firmware in flash, some boot from the harddisc. Some (usually those that support live time shifting) have really weird formats. Others sold for a purpose (like a Sky+ box) it may be messed up on purpose and keyed to something (serial number?) in both the box and the drive.

I suppose it would be possible to perform a sector copy between two drives using RISC OS, I’ve imaged a PC IDE drive this way in the past, but you’d really need to research your device. There’s no point copying if the serial number is checked…

BTW, in Linux, dd will copy stuff.
https://serverfault.com/questions/4906/using-dd-for-disk-cloning

What sort of DVR and have you Googled it?

Panasonic DMR-EX773EB, and no I hadn’t googled, and yes I have now.

Basically it seems the process is

1: copy any video recordings I want to keep on to DVD
2: Install a new hard drive (160GB IDE)
3: Download the firmware and put it on a CD
4: Put the CD in the DVR and “update” the firmware.

If this fails the old drive will be formatted if it’s put back in, for reasons below.

It is apparently possible to clone the drive, but the recorder will insist on formatting the new drive, as it detects what it sees as a copyright issue. There’s a code in NVM which increments each time anything changes on the drive, and it won’t match the new drive. Later firmware apparently also used the drive serial number.

Didn’t verify, but when I needed info about my old XS34 (Toshiba) I usually go to www.avforums.com or www.avsforum.com.

That’s a pretty old unit, it’s probably less hassle to replace it than trying to get hold of a reliable 12 year old obsolete IDE drive. In fact most new TVs have all the functionality of a DVR either out of the box, or by putting a memory stick in a USB port.