# Dead Tivo needs a repairer



## Steve Gos (Aug 26, 2002)

After voilent thunder and lightening my Tivo jams on - 'just as few minutes more' - each time I reboot.

Can anybody recommend a UK outfit that will repair and upgrade for me?


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

As far as I know, Pacelink in Ireland are the only company that will do legitimate repairs to UK Tivos. By all accounts it won't be cheap either.

If I recall correctly, it sounds like the lightning's fried your modem so you might be better (ie it'll be cheaper) fitting a Cachecard and getting Tivo to do your daily calls via the internet. 

Someone else will be along shortly to either confirm or deny my idea


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

With the recent storms I've had a rash of queries of this nature and, unfortunately, hanging at "almost there" after a storm is a classic symptom of a blown modem. 

If you have broadband your best option would be to fit a network card and switch to getting your updates over the internet. Cards are widely available and fitting and configuring one is pretty easy if you have access to a PC. Alternatively, if you're not into DIY, then the easiest option would a preconfigured upgrade drive plus a network card for a plug-n-play solution.


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## frogster (Jan 4, 2006)

blindlemon said:


> With the recent storms I've had a rash of queries of this nature .............. a blown modem.


And the same applies to all types of PC modem (internal and external), fax, ADSL box, phone, Sky box etc. etc.

When will people learn that the simple 10 second act of unplugging *ALL* phone connections whenever they hear thunder, or *whenever it is forecast*, could easily save them hundreds of pounds and a lot of hassle?
The world will not end because you unplug a phone connection for an hour or two.

Only unplugging the phone line (and less importantly the mains) is *guaranteed * to be 100% effective. Nothing else even comes close.


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## Steve Gos (Aug 26, 2002)

Thanks a lot guys. It blew my broadband modem too!

So, fitting a network card and switching to getting updates over the internet seems the way forward. 

'Cards are widely available and fitting and configuring one is pretty easy. Can anyone advise ' Where do I get this card, what type and how do I fit it? 

Is there a slot inside Tivo?
Many thanks Steve


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## Automan (Oct 29, 2000)

http://www.tivoheaven.co.uk/ 

Automan.


Steve Gos said:


> Thanks a lot guys. It blew my broadband modem too!
> 
> So, fitting a network card and switching to getting updates over the internet seems the way forward.
> 
> ...


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## worm (Feb 10, 2005)

There's a socket on the motherboard to slot the network card into - takes about 30 seconds if you have the right instructions. 

Not sure how much advertising is allowed, but I got mine from an ebay seller (who is also a user of this forum)


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## Hal9000 (Aug 1, 2006)

worm said:


> There's a socket on the motherboard to slot the network card into - takes about 30 seconds if you have the right instructions.
> 
> Not sure how much advertising is allowed, but I got mine from an ebay seller (who is also a user of this forum)


you may also think of buying a power surge plug that has connections for modem, be it broadband or dialup, i have one for pc its covered with life time cover of 30.000 pounds if it blows, its a belkin prices start about £24.00, if the plug goes faulty you send it back for replacement, i did after 4yrs got nice new one, the only problem with the old one was the light had gone, so they said better to be safe than sorry, the funny thing was  the old plug was from second hand shop and never registered cost me 10.00 pounds, after registering it now covered for life with it.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

frogster said:


> Only unplugging the phone line (and less importantly the mains) is *guaranteed * to be 100% effective. Nothing else even comes clos


But people do go away on holidays and usually have bought their Tivo specifically to record programs that take place while they are away? 

So I wonder if having the Belkin surge filter that does coax and satellite socket power protection and mains protection and a phone line filter wouldn't be the better option for those who wish to actually keep their Tivo running 24/7. Much though your suggestion works if you are sitting at home when the big thunderstorm happens it actually doesn't if you are on holiday or out at work.

I have these filters on all possible access routes to the Tivo but I expect the hard drive or the power supply will probably die instead if I go away for a couple of weeks. Murphy's Law has an uncanny habit of always managing to operate unfortunately.


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## frogster (Jan 4, 2006)

Pete77 said:


> But people do go away on holidays and usually have bought their Tivo specifically to record programs that take place while they are away?
> 
> So I wonder if having the Belkin surge filter that does coax and satellite socket power protection and mains protection and a phone line filter wouldn't be the better option for those who wish to actually keep their Tivo running 24/7. Much though your suggestion works if you are sitting at home when the big thunderstorm happens it actually doesn't if you are on holiday or out at work.


I work mostly from home and don't take holidays so this isn't an issue for me. But if I was away from home for the day and if storms were forecast then I would unplug the phone connections to everything before leaving. This doesn't prevent the Tivo from working and there seems little point leaving PC modems and phones on if no one is using them.

And if I was going away on holiday I would probably ask whoever was going to feed the cat or water the pot plants to also unplug the Tivo phone connection as needed as well. Obviously everything else could be disconnected from the phone anyway for the duration of the holiday.

A proper UPS (I have two: one for the AV equipment and one for the PC equipment) will take care of the mains protection and they don't cost much more than a surge protector. In fact I have one that cost a lot less at £19.99

Again : it is the *phone* connection that is the most likely to fry your modem and the equipment attached to it, be it in a Tivo or anywhere else. And the solution is to unplug it when storms are likely. And for good measure one should unplug the mains too. Even with two UPS units this is what I do.


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

frogster said:


> I work mostly from home and don't take holidays so this isn't an issue for me.


Well it would be an issue for most people though. One of the reasons they usually have a Tivo is because they are not at home all the time to fit in with the schedule of the broadcasters.



> And if I was going away on holiday I would probably ask whoever was going to feed the cat or water the pot plants to also unplug the Tivo phone connection as needed as well. Obviously everything else could be disconnected from the phone anyway for the duration of the holiday.


If the Sky Digibox or Freeview box was disconnected from the satellite or aerial input or the mains your Tivo couldn't record at that time. And I wouldn't trust the average helpful neighbour to turn on/off and/or disconnect all that lot and reconnect them correctly. Anyhow many plant waterers and cat feeders themselves have jobs that mean they have to go out in the day.



> Again : it is the *phone* connection that is the most likely to fry your modem and the equipment attached to it, be it in a Tivo or anywhere else. And the solution is to unplug it when storms are likely. And for good measure one should unplug the mains too. Even with two UPS units this is what I do.


Seems easier to put the phone line through a phone line surge protecter just after the master socket before it then gets split to separate the phone and ADSL signal. I have a Voip ATA that redirects my calls that will not work if it is disconnected from the phone line. You might take all your precautions and then still have the hard disks or the power supply in your Tivo fail.


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## Steve Gos (Aug 26, 2002)

Hal9000 said:


> you may also think of buying a power surge plug that has connections for modem, be it broadband or dialup, i have one for pc its covered with life time cover of 30.000 pounds if it blows, its a belkin prices start about £24.00, if the plug goes faulty you send it back for replacement, i did after 4yrs got nice new one, the only problem with the old one was the light had gone, so they said better to be safe than sorry, the funny thing was  the old plug was from second hand shop and never registered cost me 10.00 pounds, after registering it now covered for life with it.


 TIVOMEMORY - TiVo memory upgrade 
18.00 GBP (21.15 GBP inc. VAT)

Is this what I need?

TIVOTURBONET - TiVo TurboNET Ethernet NIC 
55.00 GBP (64.63 GBP inc. VAT)


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

Steve Gos said:


> TIVOMEMORY - TiVo memory upgrade
> 18.00 GBP (21.15 GBP inc. VAT)
> 
> TIVOTURBONET - TiVo TurboNET Ethernet NIC
> 55.00 GBP (64.63 GBP inc. VAT)


I seem to remember reading here before that adding the extra 16MB of Tivo memory on the motherboard makes no real difference as well as potentially destroying your Tivo motherboard if you aren't a dab hand with using a soldering iron.

Rather than a Turbonet card its a Cachecard that's needed as these hardly cost any more these days and can have 512MB of memory fitted in a normal plug on RAM slot (ditto there is also a slot on the side of the motherboard to easily fit the Cachecard to as well). Its that easily fitted memory that seems to make the big difference to speeding up Tivo and not the motherboard memory situation.


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## frogster (Jan 4, 2006)

Pete77 said:


> If the Sky Digibox or Freeview box was disconnected from the satellite or aerial input .......


I don't remember saying anything about the satellite or aerial. Indeed it is largely pointless to disconnect these.

The *phone* connection is the one you most need to worry about, and that is the one that none of these devices need on a permanent basis in order to work. Indeed there is probably not a single device in most houses that needs to be connected to the phone when no one is there. There certainly is no such device in my house.



> Seems easier to put the phone line through a phone line surge protecter just after the master socket before it then gets split to separate the phone and ADSL signal. I have a Voip ATA that redirects my calls that will not work if it is disconnected from the phone line. You might take all your precautions and then still have the hard disks or the power supply in your Tivo fail.


Hey, it's a free country. Do what you like.

My solution is:

1) Free.

2) Totally reliable for protecting against one of the main causes (probably the main cause) of failure in devices that are connected to the phone.

Any other solution either costs money, or isn't totally reliable or both. Yes, you can fit a £25 surge protector with £millions of insurance cover but I would prefer not to have the hassle of claiming on insurance and then having to replace/repair all my equipment (minus my personal data/recordings that may get lost forever), and/or wasting hours reinstalling software and setting up all the new stuff, once you've ordered it and collected it.
And do you really think that the super insurance will pay up for *all* the costs and loss involved? I don't. I wonder just how much you would get to replace a UK Tivo that was discontinued many years ago and no longer has an official distributor?

As a significant part of my income comes from replacing devices that have been fried by lightning down the phone line I suppose I shouldn't complain if people prefer to leave things plugged in.


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