# Blue too hot screen with HD Tivo?



## HD Boyg (May 5, 2004)

My HD Tivo is displaying the too hot blue screen once in a while. It seems to come up right away after I boot the unit after leaving it uplugged a while (after it's cold). I've replaced the HDD, so I dont think it's the problem. Could it be the power supply?


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## rminsk (Jun 4, 2002)

Too hot blue screen? I have never heard of this one.


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## HD Boyg (May 5, 2004)

Sorry, the blue screen that says "your unit is too hot and will be shut down" Check your ventilation unplug the unit.


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## phox_mulder (Feb 23, 2006)

HD Boyg said:


> My HD Tivo is displaying the too hot blue screen once in a while. It seems to come up right away after I boot the unit after leaving it uplugged a while (after it's cold). I've replaced the HDD, so I dont think it's the problem. Could it be the power supply?


Dumb question, is the fan spinning?

Since it's coming up before the unit has a chance to get hot, perhaps a shorted temp sensor?

phox


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## HD Boyg (May 5, 2004)

anyone know where the temp sensor is? The fan is spinning. The unit definately isn't hot. I even have the top off and now and I'm still getting the blue screen.


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## nlayton (Sep 16, 2003)

HD Boyg said:


> My HD Tivo is displaying the too hot blue screen once in a while. It seems to come up right away after I boot the unit after leaving it uplugged a while (after it's cold). I've replaced the HDD, so I dont think it's the problem. Could it be the power supply?


Are you using the HDMI cable? If so disconnect it and use component and see what happens.

I had this exact same issue. switching to component fixed it. It is a half axx fix, but it works.

DTV has no good response for this.


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## HiDefGator (Oct 12, 2004)

Ditto. What nlayton said. Mine worked fine for a month then started popping up the "too hot screen". Trial and error eventually led me to notice that without the hdmi cable the screen never showed up. Without the hdmi cable it has run for > 12 months with no blue screen popping up.


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## A J Ricaud (Jun 25, 2002)

Do you have the "f" firmware? I seem to recall thet the false overheat problem was fixed with "f".


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## nlayton (Sep 16, 2003)

A J Ricaud said:


> Do you have the "f" firmware? I seem to recall thet the false overheat problem was fixed with "f".


I have the revision "f" software........still has the same problem. Instant too hot message.

I see there a a few places on the net selling refurbed HDMI card's to fix this issue.
From what I have read I believe it's a hardware issue.


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## HD Boyg (May 5, 2004)

I'm using the component outs. I wonder if the unit gives a no temperature which trigers the unit to shut down. If the unit can't tell the temp it assumes it's got trouble and needs to shut down. After 5 reboots yesterday it seems to be running fine for now. 
I can't find anything pertaining to where the sensor(s) are.


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## Runch Machine (Feb 7, 2002)

I find that mine only does this if the HDMI connnection is loose. Try reconnecting it or using a different HDMI cable that fits better.


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

Just curious, but, what temperature does it report?


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## HD Boyg (May 5, 2004)

I borrowed a power supply from one of my other units and swapped it. The blue screen is gone. I guess I'll order a power supply from Weakness.


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## nlayton (Sep 16, 2003)

HD Boyg said:


> I borrowed a power supply from one of my other units and swapped it. The blue screen is gone. I guess I'll order a power supply from Weakness.


Give it some time and see if it comes back. Also try the power supply from the "bad" unit in the good unit. If the problem follows the "bad " power supply, you might have found at least part of the issue.


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## camronfry6 (Jul 5, 2003)

I'm also having this problem, and I have tried using a power cord from a working tivo to no avail.

The fan seems to be running fine as I can hear it and feel it working.

Any other suggestions on how to fix this problem? Thanks!


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## jfh3 (Apr 15, 2004)

camronfry6 said:


> I'm also having this problem, and I have tried using a power cord from a working tivo to no avail.


Re-read the thread. It's power *supply*, not power *cord*. 

If you do swap out a power supply yourself, be VERY careful.


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## camronfry6 (Jul 5, 2003)

When you say power supply, do you mean just plugging the tivo into a different outlet? If not, what do you mean?

If using a diff. power supply doesn't work, do you have any other suggestions?


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## Ben_Jamin75 (Dec 18, 2003)

A power supply is a part inside of the tivo box. The are also used in computers. They take the power coming from the wall and convert it down the to power levels the different parts of system need. The power level the hard drive uses is different than the power level the CPU needs which is different than the power level the fan needs.

Hope this helps.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

when i hear power supply...all i see is 'danger will robinson' .....that's some serious juice


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## TyroneShoes (Sep 6, 2004)

HD Boyg said:


> ...I guess I'll order a power supply from Weakness.


While you're at it, install the fan bracket and second fan, which for $8 will keep your box 10 degrees Centigrage cooler, a significant way to extend the life of the HDDs and other electronics in the box.


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## newsposter (Aug 18, 2002)

adding fans is good. When i ordered the extra with my hard drive, the highest temp so far in an un ACd room is 45 and it's usually 42ish. 

39 with AC on


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## JonFo (Dec 26, 1999)

Very curious to know more about the power supply 'fix'.
Did that really do it?


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## jor-el (May 24, 2002)

TyroneShoes said:


> While you're at it, install the fan bracket and second fan, which for $8 will keep your box 10 degrees Centigrage cooler, a significant way to extend the life of the HDDs and other electronics in the box.


is there a noise penalty to the second fan?


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## jacobms1 (Oct 5, 2004)

I started getting the "blue screen" as soon as I put my xbox 360 in the same cabinet....man that thing gets hot!


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## cstelter (Mar 18, 2002)

Sad day-- I too turned on my TV tonight to find the Blue internal temperature too hot screen. Unplugging/replugging rebooted, but the picture stuttered within 5 seconds and as soon as I selected TiVo central it went to blue screen. After several reboots, only once did it stay active for more than 5 seconds after acquiring signal. That time it kept reporting that my access card was not present, however I was able to select a couple shows from now playing and get them to play a few seconds. The past week I've been getting that Access card msg intermittantly. Anyway-- I tried to see the internal temp but it shut down as soon as I selected Messages and setup that time. My gut tells me something on the motherboard is failing causing both the Access Card warning and the overheat signal (though I'm dubious it's really a heat issue). The unit had performed flawlessly for 2 years until last week when the Access Card msg started popping up. Stopping and restarting the show always cleared up the Access card msg.

Relevant points
1) I use component output (HDMI went pink over a year ago)
2) The unit does not feel at all hot, nor does any part of the motherboard seem to radiate heat
3) The fan is spinning-- the unit still goes to blue screen with the cover completely off.

Someone mentioned Weaknees for a power supply but I looked at their site and must have missed it. I don't have another HD Tivo to try swapping the power supply, but I have a GXEBOT and a SAT-T60. Are either of those power supplies compatable for a test?

At this point I'm thinking a new one is about my only option-- CC just sent me a $500 check because they couldn't fix my HDMI problem. That was a shortlived windfall it seems. At least perhaps I can double the disk space on the new one by keeping my current drive. 

Any other advice out there?


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## hakamarob (May 1, 2002)

i had this issue when i first got my unit. specifically, it started after i had rearranged some of the cables behind the stand. 

after poking around here for a bit, i opened the case, tightened down the hdmi card and have not had an issue since. dunno if this will help anyone.


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## Runch Machine (Feb 7, 2002)

I recently had this problem which had gotten so bad the unit wouldn't work. I opened it up, removed the HDMI card, put it back in and it's worked perfectly ever since.


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## kbohip (Dec 30, 2003)

cstelter said:


> Someone mentioned Weaknees for a power supply but I looked at their site and must have missed it.


They have them still, I just checked. You're not going to like the price at all though. $129.00! Sheesh! That's more than a good quality 600 watt computer power supply.

Speaking of heat and Tivo's. Does anyone here know at what temp this blue screen gets triggered? Mine's been as high as 50C+. That seems way too hot to me.


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## cstelter (Mar 18, 2002)

Runch Machine said:


> I recently had this problem which had gotten so bad the unit wouldn't work. I opened it up, removed the HDMI card, put it back in and it's worked perfectly ever since.


Sigh... I tried both removing the HDMI as well as removing/reseating it. Blue screen every time. Also the unit has been in the same cabinet for 2 years with no change to venthilation. Maybe it's worth another shot futzing with the HDMI card. I gave up on it Fri night. DirecTv is shipping me a leased unit with a 2 year commitment for $20 shipping. Would love to be able to cancel that.


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## cstelter (Mar 18, 2002)

kbohip said:


> They have them still, I just checked. You're not going to like the price at all though. $129.00! Sheesh! That's more than a good quality 600 watt computer power supply.
> 
> Speaking of heat and Tivo's. Does anyone here know at what temp this blue screen gets triggered? Mine's been as high as 50C+. That seems way too hot to me.


I see them now... Not sure why I missed them last week. $129 doesn't sound like that bad a deal to me... Wish I could be sure it would solve a problem though, otherwise it will cost me $20 to return the power supply and a further delay in getting a replacement from DirecTV. Just don't want to reup my 2 year commitment because I'm most likely moving in a year and may not want DirecTV after I move.


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## labbie48 (Mar 30, 2006)

only had this problem when I had the HR10-250 set to 1080i. Try setting it to something else and see how it works.


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## cstelter (Mar 18, 2002)

cstelter said:


> I see them now... Not sure why I missed them last week. $129 doesn't sound like that bad a deal to me... Wish I could be sure it would solve a problem though, otherwise it will cost me $20 to return the power supply and a further delay in getting a replacement from DirecTV. Just don't want to reup my 2 year commitment because I'm most likely moving in a year and may not want DirecTV after I move.


Well, to follow up on things (I hate when I dig through a thread to see someone asking exactly my question, only to see the OP never followed up to say how things turned out, so maybe this info will help someone some day)

I swapped out the power supply and it seems to have fixed the problem. However putting the old power supply in another unit did not cause it to blue screen, so I'm not sure what to make of it all. In any case, the device is working for me again so I'm pretty happy.


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## camronfry6 (Jul 5, 2003)

My Philips Tivo Series 1 continues to go back and forth between working and not working due to getting the "blue your tivo is too hot and needs to shut down" screen. 

Again, the tivo is NOT actually too hot, and the fan is working fine.

First, Would buying and installing a new power supply solve this problem?

Second, I think I saw 9th tee has new power supplies for around $25. What is the installation process like for this?

Thanks in advance for the help!


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## kbohip (Dec 30, 2003)

camronfry6 said:


> Second, I think I saw 9th tee has new power supplies for around $25.


They do have new power supplies for $25 but they are for Series 1 SA Tivos. I can't find anywhere on the site where they sell power supplies for the HR10-250.


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## jeffnoll (Mar 2, 2004)

I just replaced a vizio p50 with a maxent 5020 from costo. The vizio was working great except that it had 1 bad hdmi that made things grainy.

So I bring home the maxent and immediately I am now getting the temp overheat shutting down blue screen. I've check the temperature and it's arounr 38, so it's erroneous.

When I got the vizio I replaced the hdml card with a weaknees card because the origifal hdmi on the unit was blown.

Everything is all wired for hdml and I don't want to run more cables behind the unit. Any ideas on what to try?


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## mad6c (Nov 2, 2003)

cstelter,

Mine is doing the exact same thing as your "blue too hot screen" and prior to that I was getting the please insert access card message. I'm going to try and reseat the HDMI card. I've already tried using a composite cable but that didn't do anything.

I'll post back the results.

Mike


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## AlmightyXenu (Sep 20, 2006)

Bought an Apple TV recently. My old RP HDTV only has one HDMI input, so I got a cheap HDMI switch off ebay. After a couple of days of using it I got the same "internal temperature too high" error message. All I had to do to fix it was to swap the new (cheap) HDMI cable for the old (original) HDMI cable that came with the HR10 when I got it three years ago.

Anyways, a possible simple fix. Hope this helps.


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## tds4182 (Dec 16, 2003)

jor-el said:


> is there a noise penalty to the second fan?


It'll be slightly louder but if it's not in a bedroom, you probably won't notice the extra noise.


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