# Tivo Bolt XXX (software downgrade) error



## akhnaten (Dec 3, 2009)

Please help. I just got a refurbed Bolt directly from Tivo. My original Bolt had a video hardware problem. I took the upgraded 2TB HD out of my original Bolt and put it in the refurbed Bolt. On boot up, after a few minutes, it displays an error "XXX (software downgrade)" on a red background. It then says to call customer service. My original Tivo had been plugged in and working with the 2TB HD until just before I swapped it into the refurb Bolt. However, the original Tivo was deregistered by Tivo about a week ago, even before the refurbed Bolt shipped. How do I resolve this error
Thanks,
akhnaten


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## A J Ricaud (Jun 25, 2002)

akhnaten said:


> Please help. I just got a refurbed Bolt directly from Tivo. My original Bolt had a video hardware problem. I took the upgraded 2TB HD out of my original Bolt and put it in the refurbed Bolt. On boot up, after a few minutes, it displays an error "XXX (software downgrade)" on a red background. It then says to call customer service. My original Tivo had been plugged in and working with the 2TB HD until just before I swapped it into the refurb Bolt. However, the original Tivo was deregistered by Tivo about a week ago, even before the refurbed Bolt shipped. How do I resolve this error
> Thanks,
> akhnaten


You will have to do a "clear and delete" to get it to work. All the recordings will be lost in the process.


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## akhnaten (Dec 3, 2009)

A J Ricaud said:


> You will have to do a "clear and delete" to get it to work. All the recordings will be lost in the process.


I took the 2TB drive out and stuck it back in the old Bolt. Then I Cleared and Deleted the drive. I then stuck it into the refurb Bolt and had the same problem.


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## BigJimOutlaw (Mar 21, 2004)

Format the drive to wipe it. The new box will automatically re-format it and download the software it needs.


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## akhnaten (Dec 3, 2009)

I was finally able to get it to work by setting up the refurb Bolt with its original 500GB HD. Once that setup was complete, I put my 2TB HD into the refurb Bolt and it came up normally.
I suspect that wiping the drive in a PC, thus removing all traces of Tivo software, would have resolved the issue as well. But that is a LOT more work than what ended up working. Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.
akhnaten


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## ThAbtO (Apr 6, 2000)

Every Tivo is encoded so shows on the original DVR would work.

I suspect that your replacement Tivo has been running a lesser version of its software.
You could have copied the shows over to a PC from the still subscribed Tivo, Move the 2TB over, run Clear & delete Everything, transfer shows back from the PC.


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## akhnaten (Dec 3, 2009)

ThAbtO said:


> Every Tivo is encoded so shows on the original DVR would work.
> 
> I suspect that your replacement Tivo has been running a lesser version of its software.
> You could have copied the shows over to a PC from the still subscribed Tivo, Move the 2TB over, run Clear & delete Everything, transfer shows back from the PC.


ThAbtO, that sounds very interesting for next time. Can you point me to a document that describes how to copy the files to a PC? I thought the entire drive would be encrypted, or at least the shows. I know everything from Frontier FIOS TV is encrypted, except for the basic OTA channels.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

akhnaten said:


> ThAbtO, that sounds very interesting for next time. Can you point me to a document that describes how to copy the files to a PC? I thought the entire drive would be encrypted, or at least the shows. I know everything from Frontier FIOS TV is encrypted, except for the basic OTA channels.


Encryption by Frontier is not the issue as this encryption is removed by the TiVo using the CableCARD. All recordings are then re-encrypted _*by the TiVo*_ so that they only be decrypted by that TiVo but can be transferred(actually copied) to a PC using the TiVo s/w and any number of programs on the PC unless they are copy protected. Copy protection is controlled by your cable operator. I don't know what Frontier's copy protection policy is.

You should investigate kmttg and pyTivo.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

lpwcomp said:


> Encryption by Frontier is not the issue as this encryption is removed by the TiVo using the CableCARD. All recordings are then re-encrypted _*by the TiVo*_ so that they only be decrypted by that TiVo but can be transferred(actually copied) to a PC using the TiVo s/w and any number of programs on the PC unless they are copy protected. Copy protection is controlled by your cable operator. I don't know what Frontier's copy protection policy is.
> 
> You should investigate kmttg and pyTivo.


If Frontier Copy protects them then transfers would be prohibited. Only streaming the content would be allowed.


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## lpwcomp (May 6, 2002)

aaronwt said:


> If Frontier Copy protects them then transfers would be prohibited. Only streaming the content would be allowed.


Did you actually read my entire post? Particularity this part:



> ...* unless* they are copy protected. Copy protection is controlled by your cable operator. I don't know what Frontier's copy protection policy is.


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## ggieseke (May 30, 2008)

From what I've heard, Frontier is the TW of FIOS. On every fiber network that they bought from Verizon they promptly copy-protected everything except the local channels.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

lpwcomp said:


> Did you actually read my entire post? Particularity this part:


I think I quoted the wrong post.


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## olimazi (Sep 14, 2012)

BigJimOutlaw said:


> Format the drive to wipe it. The new box will automatically re-format it and download the software it needs.


Format how, in Windows FAT32?


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## mtepper27 (Jul 8, 2019)

I’m having the same software downgrade red screen error when replacing the TE3 hard drive with a new one. If I were to wipe the new hard drive, how would I format it and then would it work with the TR3 software? 

Fat32 or NTFS?


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## pl1 (Jan 18, 2007)

mtepper27 said:


> I’m having the same software downgrade red screen error when replacing the TE3 hard drive with a new one. If I were to wipe the new hard drive, how would I format it and then would it work with the TR3 software? Fat32 or NTFS?


The TiVo Bolt will format a blank drive. There is no need to format it. If it was in a TiVo and you want to wipe it, in Windows, you can delete the partitions in Administrative Tools> Computer Management> Disk Management. That's it. No need to format. TiVo will install the last version it was running. So, if it was on TE3, it will run TE3. If you are trying to downgrade to TE3, you have to let it start running TE4 first.


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## mtepper27 (Jul 8, 2019)

Thank you. It’s a Roamio. So I will just delete the partitions. I appreciate you responding.


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