# tivo keeps freezing



## cruicky (Mar 12, 2006)

Unplug and restart fixes the problem, but only for a short time. Hard to see what can be done, but any suggestions? I live in Aberdeen. If it can't be sorted, is it worth buying a pre-owned machine via ebay, or do I just give up (and go to Sky+)? Has frozen during recording, while watching current progs, or at switch-on. Still OK to watch terrestrial channels on TV. Tivo suggested contact forum.

Very depressing.


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## worm (Feb 10, 2005)

wiser heads will advise, but it sounds like a dodgy hard drive to me.


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

I have to agree it sounds like a failing hard drive, in which case it is eminently fixable 

If you're up for DIY then you can replace it yourself using an online guide like Hinsdale and a blank hard drive; If you prefer an easier (although pricier) option then pre-configured drives are widely available...


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## Raisltin Majere (Mar 13, 2004)

blindlemon said:


> I have to agree it sounds like a failing hard drive, in which case it is eminently fixable
> 
> If you're up for DIY then you can replace it yourself using an online guide like Hinsdale and a blank hard drive; If you prefer an easier (although pricier) option then pre-configured drives are widely available...


He's not allowed to say it himself www.tivoheaven.co.uk

Also http://www.tivoland.com/upgrade_center.html


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## cruicky (Mar 12, 2006)

Thanks for responses - it sounds easier to fix than I had feared! But does this mean repeated HD replacements every few years?


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Unfortunately, life for a hard drive in a TiVo must be the equivalent of something approaching hard drive hell 

I would expect that the average TiVo drive does more work in a month than most PC drives do in 5 years so, unfortunately, even the best drives will fail eventually. However, if you go for a good, reliable make - eg. Samsung or Seagate - then your chances of getting 5 years use rather than 1 will be better, although you could still be unlucky and suffer a failure after a week, a month or a year and a day.

If you go for a DIY upgrade, then if the drive fails within the manufacturer's warranty period (3 years for Samsung, 5 for Seagate) you can ship it back to them for a free replacement. If you go for a pre-configured drive then you will get a warranty from the supplier too, and after that the drive will still be covered by the manufacturer's warranty, so even if you have to buy another pre-configured drive, you will still get a free replacement for the original from the manufacturer which you can use in your PC or resell to recoup some of the cost of a new TiVo drive. 

All in all, even the most expensive options work out pretty cheap when you consider that a 160gb drive gives you 4x the storage you have in your existing TiVo - and with drive prices falling all the time, even if you have to replace the drive every 2 years, as long as you take advantage of warranty replacements, you won't be much out of pocket.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

cruicky said:


> Thanks for responses - it sounds easier to fix than I had feared! But does this mean repeated HD replacements every few years?


Yes but only as in a car requires new tyres, spark plugs, air filter, oil filter, brake fluid and engine coolant at set intervals. And you don't give up on your car just because it needs occasional servicing and parts replaced do you?

Don't forget that even though there is still currently nothing on the market better than Tivo (Sky+ being a heap of useless crap in the opinion of most people here with only a week's worth of advance program listings and Season Passes that don't work properly) nothing is forever and in 5 years time there will probably be something a lot better than Tivo available in the Windows Media Centre Edition area.

If you go for a new Hard Drive now then physically it would be guaranteed by Samsung for 3 years and you would be unlucky for it not to last around 3 years and many Tivo hard drives seem to last nearly 5 years before failing even though some fail earlier. Sky+ users will have exactly the same hard drive failure issue after 2 or 3 years although Sky have made the drive replacement process simpler by severely limiting the functionality of the machine and making it non alterable by the end user.

If you are vaguely one who sometimes tinkers with their own PC then you might also want to see www.steveconrad.co.uk/tivo which explains how to replace a hard drive and/or install a Cachecard to give access to your Tivo from your PC and over the internet too from work or while on holiday (allowing you to set recordings and deleted programs etc).


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