# broken tivo



## rac8006 (May 29, 2007)

what does it take to replace the disk in a tivo? What if you don't have the insertable card?


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## ForrestB (Apr 8, 2004)

rac8006 said:


> what does it take to replace the disk in a tivo? What if you don't have the insertable card?


A Torx 10 and Torx 15 screwdriver and about 15 minutes. 
Hinsdale Upgrade Instructions

If you need a new Tivo hard drive, you can either buy them preimaged from this site's sponsors (see ads at the top of the page) or buy a generic 3.5 inch IDE/PATA hard drive and use a PC with at least at least 2 free IDE ports and a CDROM burner and follow the Hinsdale instructions above.

DirecTV will happily send you a new card for $20 along with a 2 year commitment. http://www.directv.com/


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## rac8006 (May 29, 2007)

I was hoping that I could you the unit with its two HD tuners to record hd tv without having to pay for the service. I don't currently have cable so I don't want to have to pay for cable just to be able to pay about $5.00 to record ota TV. I guess the unit is of no value to me.


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

What is the model number of the unit in question? Is it a DirectTV TiVo (DirecTiVo) or a Stand Alone (SA) TiVo? Series 1 or Series 2 or Series 3?

A little info can to a long way.

But if you are looking to record without a sub, you won't get much help on this forum.


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## rac8006 (May 29, 2007)

Its a HR10-250. So I guess my best bet is to discard this unit and build a linux system to do this.

Thanks for your input.


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## Finnstang (Sep 11, 2003)

rac8006 said:


> Its a HR10-250. So I guess my best bet is to discard this unit and build a linux system to do this.
> 
> Thanks for your input.


Feel free to send it to me.


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

Just FYI, all DirecTV Tivos or DirecTiVos record the digital signal directly from the satellite to the hard disc. None of the DirecTiVos have tuners in them. So it is a none starter for what you want to do.

However, I would suggest selling the unit on ebay. The HR10-250 is a highly desirable unit. Many here would like to have it, actually. (See Finnstang above.) 

Good luck.


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## rac8006 (May 29, 2007)

robomeister said:


> Just FYI, all DirecTV Tivos or DirecTiVos record the digital signal directly from the satellite to the hard disc. None of the DirecTiVos have tuners in them. So it is a none starter for what you want to do.
> 
> However, I would suggest selling the unit on ebay. The HR10-250 is a highly desirable unit. Many here would like to have it, actually. (See Finnstang above.)
> 
> Good luck.


When I look at this unit it has two cable connectors and one antenna connector that splits to what looks like two tuners. I know that this unit can record off ota signals. So I'm not sure what you mean by this unit does not have any tuners in it.


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## BTUx9 (Nov 13, 2003)

HR10-250 DO have a tuner in them (they're sort of a hybrid), but it only tunes ATSC digital HD broadcasts OTA (it can't handle SD NTSC broadcasts)


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## robomeister (Feb 4, 2005)

Ah, good to know. So can you do what the OP asked, use the ATSC tuner on an unsubbed unit? I'm guessing the answer is still -- no.

Thanks for the clarification. I'm a SA TiVo guy, don't know a lot about the DirecTiVos. 

robomeister


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

You can use the HR10-250 unsubbed to buffer digital OTA TV, just not record it without an appropriate DirecTV subscription and satellite connection. If you want to record just OTA, get the TiVoHD.


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