# Tivo-HD TCD652160 Blinking Green Light



## MatrixOutsider (Mar 7, 2003)

The fan and hard drive spin up and the Ethernet lights turn on. However, the tivo does post and it shows no video. Is the power supply shot and/or the motherboard?

Thanks


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## timhbtr53 (Apr 25, 2014)

Have you tried composite cables and not HDMI? The hdmi ports seem to go bad for no reason on the HD. Don't give up just yet. EDIT....A blinking green light on a S3 in most cases it's needs a reboot for a update. You might go with composite cables then do a reboot.


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## gkottner (Jun 5, 2010)

I have the same issue on my TivoHD. It started when I upgraded the hard drive. What worked for me is just keeping it plugged in for a few hours. After that I rebooted and it came up fine. It's been running for over 6 weeks now without issue. I'm not ruling out power supply issues, since my old eyes couldn't really tell if they were bulged or not. I use this as a backup unit so I'm less concerned about the problem.


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## lyee (Oct 29, 2011)

I recently had the same problem and found a previous thread where heating up the memory chips towards the back of the unit with a hair dryer allowed the THD to boot up and run normally. I tried this and was surprised that it worked. It's been running for a few days now. However, if it is put into standby mode, it won't wake up again but a quick power cycle solved that.
The root cause points to the memory chips. They either have to be replaced or perhaps the solder joints have to be reflowed at best.


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## mharbold (Apr 6, 2002)

gkottner said:


> I have the same issue on my TivoHD. It started when I upgraded the hard drive. What worked for me is just keeping it plugged in for a few hours. After that I rebooted and it came up fine. It's been running for over 6 weeks now without issue. I'm not ruling out power supply issues, since my old eyes couldn't really tell if they were bulged or not. I use this as a backup unit so I'm less concerned about the problem.


When you say you rebooted, what exactly do you mean? My TiVo HD got the fast blinking green light after unplugging the power cord and waiting 30 seconds to plug it back in on advice from a Comcast tech because I wasn't getting a signal on live TV. Now, the light keeps blinking and nothing comes up on the screen. I've tried unplugging and plugging the power cord many times, but nothing. Is that what you mean by "reboot"? I seem to remember around 8 months ago this happening and I did something to fix it, but can't remember what. Any advice would be appreciated.


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## mharbold (Apr 6, 2002)

lyee said:


> I recently had the same problem and found a previous thread where heating up the memory chips towards the back of the unit with a hair dryer allowed the THD to boot up and run normally. I tried this and was surprised that it worked. It's been running for a few days now. However, if it is put into standby mode, it won't wake up again but a quick power cycle solved that.
> The root cause points to the memory chips. They either have to be replaced or perhaps the solder joints have to be reflowed at best.


Could you give more details? Where is the memory chip and how long did you hear it up? Was the TiVo powered on while you did this? Thanks!


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## gkottner (Jun 5, 2010)

Good timing on this. We had a power outage last week and I got the continually flashing blinking light again. My plug it in and wait for a few hours didn't fix the issue this time. I unplugged the tivo from the wall,took off the cover, and took it to the bathroom since we don't have any standalone hair dryers. The 4 RAM chips are almost next to the hard drive. They're maybe 1/2 inch by an inch. I wish I would have taken a picture. I turned the hair dryer on high and kept it about 6 inches from the chips. I just went back and forth across all the chips for about 30 seconds. Took the tivo back to the living room, put the cover back on and plugged it back in. Came right back up and has been running for over 2 days now. Everything appears to be working as expected. Hope that helps.

Here's a link to a picture. They are almost centered on the motherboard near the bottom of the hard drive.

http://www.angusj.com/tivo/


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## rickydee (Nov 21, 2006)

Had the Tivo HD with the flashing blinking lights and tried heating the memory chips with a hair dryer. 

Miraculously it booted up after a few minutes applying the heat to the memory chips. 

How long has this solution lasted for those who were successful in getting their units to boot this way? Is there anything else that can be done to alleviate the problem so it won't recur?


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## tivobw (Oct 26, 2002)

gkottner said:


> Good timing on this. We had a power outage last week and I got the continually flashing blinking light again. My plug it in and wait for a few hours didn't fix the issue this time. I unplugged the tivo from the wall,took off the cover, and took it to the bathroom since we don't have any standalone hair dryers. The 4 RAM chips are almost next to the hard drive. They're maybe 1/2 inch by an inch. I wish I would have taken a picture. I turned the hair dryer on high and kept it about 6 inches from the chips. I just went back and forth across all the chips for about 30 seconds. Took the tivo back to the living room, put the cover back on and plugged it back in. Came right back up and has been running for over 2 days now. Everything appears to be working as expected. Hope that helps.
> 
> Here's a link to a picture. They are almost centered on the motherboard near the bottom of the hard drive.
> 
> Tips for upgrading the hard disk drive of an Australian Series 3 TiVo.


FYI gkottner, I followed your advice to get my blinking-green-light TivoHD back up and running. Thanks for the tips, worked like a charm!!!


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## alvincool (Dec 10, 2007)

When you heat the memory chips it's not heating the chips themselves that makes any difference. The solder connections are very old and brittle and have fractured. The hair dryer remelts the solder and fixes that. It's permanent if it completely melts.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

alvincool said:


> When you heat the memory chips it's not heating the chips themselves that makes any difference. The solder connections are very old and brittle and have fractured. The hair dryer remelts the solder and fixes that. It's permanent if it completely melts.


A hair dryer does not come anywhere close to the temperature required to melt solder.

Scott


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## alvincool (Dec 10, 2007)

I agree that it won't "melt" the solder to a liquid form nor can you use one to reflow (i didn't have a better term). Please insert whatever term you would prefer for what it does to fractured and brittle solder connections. I personally use a heat gun with temperatures of up to 600 degrees depending on how far away I position it.


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