# Getting a Hughes GXCEBOT TiVo working again



## Aviatrix51 (Aug 17, 2006)

Hi, I'd been having intermittant problems with my Hughes GXCEBOT DirecTV/TiVo unit - it's been freezing, rebooting itself, etc. My instict is that it was the HD that was dying on it. Per DirecTv techsupport, I attempted to reformat/reboot the unit.

This signed it's deathwarrant. I now get this lovely bright green screen that screams - A Severe Error has occured - please wait while the unit attempts to repair itself. If not working in 3 hours - call customer care.

I called DirecTv and got a new R-15 unit. I HATE it. I've had it less than a day and I HATE it. It's not a TiVo and the interface sucks.

DirecTv said they did not want my Hughes unit back, and I own it. What can I do about getting the unit I Love working again? I'm in Mass. I suspect it needs a new HD. (If I'm gonna pay to have DVR service - and the 6.00 a month covers as many DVR's as I have why NOT get the old unit running again on another TV?)

Thanks for the help!

Kate


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## rock_doctor (Oct 22, 2000)

Easy... Get yourself a new hard drive. Try to get a retail drive as the warranty is better. Then get yourself a copy of instant cake (you can purchase a cd or buy it and download it). You will download an ISO which you will burn to a CD. Put the HD into your computer (after disconnecting the windows HD) and then boot from the CD. It will do the rest. So you can have it running in less then two hours and less then $150 depending on the size of the drive you want to install (I believe you are limited to 134 GB because it is a series 1 unit. Check the upgrade forum for more details. 

good luck,
mark


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## IOTP (Aug 7, 2001)

Aviatrix51 said:


> Hi, I'd been having intermittant problems with my Hughes GXCEBOT DirecTV/TiVo unit - it's been freezing, rebooting itself, etc. My instict is that it was the HD that was dying on it. Per DirecTv techsupport, I attempted to reformat/reboot the unit.
> 
> This signed it's deathwarrant. I now get this lovely bright green screen that screams - A Severe Error has occured - please wait while the unit attempts to repair itself. If not working in 3 hours - call customer care.
> 
> ...


Check out your local staples. They have a 160 GB for $69 no rebate. Sure, you'll only get 137 GB out of it, but 120 hour GXCEBOT unit.

The CD burning described is a pretty painless option.


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## Stanley Rohner (Jan 18, 2004)

What did DIRECTV Techsupport tell you to do to "reformat" the unit ?


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## puffdaddy (Mar 1, 2006)

I'm speculating a "Clear and Delete All", as this rebuilds the MFS filesystem (leaving the ext2 partitions untouched).


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## PeteEggebeen (Jul 21, 2002)

I have the exact same model and have done this several times. Instant cake is the greatest! If you have any probs feel free to PM me.

For burning the cd, I download the latest version of nero ultra that is free and have good luck burning the cd at 4x.


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## Aviatrix51 (Aug 17, 2006)

They had me do a "clear all and delete". I also have written down instructions to reboot the unit, but the clear all and delete gave it the green screen of death.

My sweetie doesn't think I can fix it. I work with pc's doing tech support but I'm dealing with a very specific software application, so I have very little experience in building/repairing pc's.


I still hate the damn R-15. We both don't like it. Can't wait to get my real TiVo back again.


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