# Stuck on Starting Up after Internal HD replacement



## STX535 (Aug 12, 2021)

So my Bolt+ 3TB had the 4 blinking lights. Everything I read and checked led me to believe my hard drive was done. I order a 3.5 WD Purple External Drive and enclosure and appropriate cables (I think) but they won't get in for a few days. To have Tivo to watch over the weekend, I bought a 2.5 internal WD Blue 1TB 2.5" drive. 
Replacement seemed to go fine. No hiccups. 
When I plug it in, I'm stuck on the STARTING UP screen forever. I believe I'm on the newer TE4 interface (darker). Did I need to do something to the drive before I inserted it? I inspected the power adapter/brick which seemed fine. I'm reluctant to try the external route if I can't get the internal to work. I might have to move on to something else since I've invested so much already.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

STX535 said:


> So my Bolt+ 3TB had the 4 blinking lights. Everything I read and checked led me to believe my hard drive was done. I order a 3.5 WD Purple External Drive and enclosure and appropriate cables (I think) but they won't get in for a few days. To have Tivo to watch over the weekend, I bought a 2.5 internal WD Blue 1TB 2.5" drive.
> Replacement seemed to go fine. No hiccups.
> When I plug it in, I'm stuck on the STARTING UP screen forever. I believe I'm on the newer TE4 interface (darker). Did I need to do something to the drive before I inserted it? I inspected the power adapter/brick which seemed fine. I'm reluctant to try the external route if I can't get the internal to work. I might have to move on to something else since I've invested so much already.


I'm not sure if that is a known to work 2.5 inch hdd. The only one I know of that will work is the 1 and 2 TB Toshiba drives. There are no 3 TB drives which have a good record of service and TiVo stopped shipping boxes with them.
Toshiba 2TB MQ03ABB200 5400RPM 16MB SATA 2.5" Laptop HDD Hard Disk Drive 15mm | eBay

EDIT: And I might add, I'm not sure I would recommend a refurb or even an open box. You might have to wait for a brand new drive. It looks like they are all out right now. Unless you want to spend $90 for one.


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## MrDell (Jul 8, 2012)

pl1 said:


> I'm not sure if that is a known to work 2.5 inch hdd. The only one I know of that will work is the 1 and 2 TB Toshiba drives. There are no 3 TB drives which have a good record of service and TiVo stopped shipping boxes with them.
> Toshiba 2TB MQ03ABB200 5400RPM 16MB SATA 2.5" Laptop HDD Hard Disk Drive 15mm | eBay
> 
> EDIT: And I might add, I'm not sure I would recommend a refurb or even an open box. You might have to wait for a brand new drive. It looks like they are all out right now. Unless you want to spend $90 for one.


 Just wanted to chime in&#8230;. A family member used this same drive you recommended and it has been working great! It was ordered from Amazon.


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## STX535 (Aug 12, 2021)

I'm dumbfounded. I'm curious if my Bolt has other issues and the drive failure and subsequent new drive/Starting Up failure are symptomatic of anther issue.


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

STX535 said:


> I'm dumbfounded. I'm curious if my Bolt has other issues and the drive failure and subsequent new drive/Starting Up failure are symptomatic of anther issue.


It's probably the wrong drive. Many people have tried many different drives. List of drives that don't boot under TE4 21.x on Bolt


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## MrDell (Jul 8, 2012)

STX535 said:


> I'm dumbfounded. I'm curious if my Bolt has other issues and the drive failure and subsequent new drive/Starting Up failure are symptomatic of anther issue.


With the TiVo Bolt the first place to look and the most likely cause is hard drive failure. It's very important to make sure that a compatible drive is installed as pl1 mentioned&#8230;. If not you will see what you are witnessing. I would strongly recommend some external cooling in the future as most people have had great results extending the life of the new hand drive.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

STX535 said:


> I'm dumbfounded. I'm curious if my Bolt has other issues and the drive failure and subsequent new drive/Starting Up failure are symptomatic of anther issue.


Don't be. You simply used the wrong drive to replace the bad one. Either get one of the toy 2.5" drives that is KNOWN to work with these boxes, or simply use an external 3.5" drive for much greater reliability. It is slightly possible that you have a bad power supply, but unlikely. Very easy to check that with a different cord.

There are lots of threads on how simple it is to use a 3.5" drive (you CANNOT use any eSATA connections, ONLY SATA to SATA), but do note that you still must be careful to choose one of the right drives - you just have a lot more drives to choose from. TiVo technology is shaky at best. If you want to play in their pool, you have to live within the known limits.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Welshdog said:


> So my Bolt is stuck on the startup screen. It blinks off briefly and then comes back, over and over. No other messages appear, just the modern blue/white Tivo logo. Bad hard drive or other?
> 
> Had not noticed any odd behavior until tonight, when we were greeted with this screen.


USUALLY a Bolt with a bad drive gets stuck with flashing lights - a brief boot loop like you describe could easily be just a bad power cord. Test that by trying a different cord first, then replace the drive if the problem is still there.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

It is very rare that anything except HDD and power supply goes wrong with those boxes (occasionally a failed HDMI output, but that does not affect other functions). If it has lifetime service, I'd definitely try to replace the drive. And since the drive is not totally dead, I'd even suggest trying to copy it with ddrescue first - could save everything for you.


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## kpeters59 (Jun 19, 2007)

I don't know where you buy your hard drives from, but everywhere I buy them from allows me to return it if it's not what I needed. 

Best buy, micro center Amazon. All those places allow for returns and have good prices.

-KP


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## ClearToLand (Jul 10, 2001)

Welshdog said:


> *Replaced the drive, but same behavior - continuously reboots*. No blinking lights, no ability to Kickstart, nothing.



What's the Manufacturer and Model Number of the new HDD? (i.e. WD30EFRX, WD30EFAX)
.
Did you run "Manufacturer's Diagnostics" on the HDD? 
For example, with WD HDDs that would be *Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics*:
FULL Read
FULL Write Zeros
FULL Read (to verify any sectors that were remapped)
.
Did you check the list of '*HDDs known to work with a Bolt*' here on TCF *BEFORE* you bought the new HDD?


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## ClearToLand (Jul 10, 2001)

Welshdog said:


> *Bought the drive from Weaknees*, so it is compatible.


You're yet *another TiVo User with a broken TiVo Unit who refuses to answer simple troubleshooting questions* so sadly I won't be able to help you further... 

Best of luck to you though...


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## ClearToLand (Jul 10, 2001)

Welshdog said:


> *If you were not so abrupt and rude you might get better responses*. It doesn't matter, the Bolt is shot and I will be replacing it.


If you weren't so lazy and stubborn, you might get help to get your TiVo going again (or not). 

Please explain how *I* am rude when I devote HOURS of my personal time typing in detailed troubleshooting instructions for non-Technical folks to follow and they, in turn, just '_blow me off_':

Too complicated.
.
Too much effort / work involved.
.
Crickets...
As I previously said, best of luck to you in all your future endeavors... 


Spoiler



If you change your mind about troubleshooting and answering my questions, I'll be here... 

But if you continue to post negative comments about me, I'm gone...


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## Welshdog (Jan 4, 2005)

kpeters59 said:


> I don't know where you buy your hard drives from, but everywhere I buy them from allows me to return it if it's not what I needed.
> 
> Best buy, micro center Amazon. All those places allow for returns and have good prices.
> 
> -KP


I got a drive from Weaknees and the problem is the same. Will just replace the Bolt at this point.


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## Tad W (Apr 3, 2019)

STX535 said:


> ...Starting Up failure are symptomatic of anther issue.


This may or may not be helpful or related, but my Bolt started failing to start-up most of the time trying to come out of sleep but would start-up for a power off/on or a restart, so under the power saving options I turned off the automatic sleep and have not have the problem since.


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