# Hard drives and black fronts



## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

I think I know most of the symptoms of a failing hard drive, but is this one?

My parent's Tivo suddenly decided that it has got to a point on the hard drive where it simply cannot get past. Not sure why. What happens is that when something is recorded onto this 'bit' of the hard drive the picture simply freezes and the Tivo won't respond to the remote meaning the plug has to be pulled (literally!) to get it going again  Recordings before and ( I assume) after are fine.

New HD?

(Actually they are thinking of getting one anyway as they've just bought a new 40" Samsung HDTV and might need Mode0 )

Also, can any still source the UK S1 black fronts? I know Cyril was the man for this but I haven't seen him post in a while 

Thanks!

*ETA: *Of course, I've now just remember the correct tern is _facias_


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

cwaring said:


> Also, can any still source the UK S1 black fronts? I know Cyril was the man for this but I haven't seen him post in a while :


I would try a search for the word Tivo at a certain well known auction website and look for a listing that provides the part you are seeking.

This firm seems to have been advertising these black Tivo S1 fronts on a long term basis.


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## ...coolstream (Dec 10, 2005)

I hope I don't get into trouble for this, but would eBay item 220050836309 be what you are looking for?

D'oh! Pete beat me to it


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

That's a nice TiVo front.

As for the hard drive issue, I got a 'sticky' bit when my original TiVo's drive was almost full as I'd recorded all of the Live 8 gig at the time and was flicking through it afterwards and it went a little ka-ka when playing a moment towards the end, but if I then rewound the last 9 seconds and let it play it would be fine. 

However, to leave it playing as normal over that bit would give the aforementioned problem so archiving it normally from the TiVo to DVD would mean the problem is on the recording (it would be possible to rewind and edit the jump out but even editing to 1/25th of a second rarely allows for a smooth edit during music).

I think I posted on here at the time and as the disk was almost full these things apparently can happen so that was that. Normal recording once Live 8 had gone was fine, although before long the hard drive was playing up and I replaced it just over a year later anyway.

Is your parents' TiVo almost full, and is there a few things that can be safely deleted? Alternately, if this problem happens during a recording that's not taking up too much space they could leave that recording on there permanently and just not touch it, so that any future recordings won't touch that area at all.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Thanks guys. I do keep checking all things Tivo on ebay but never notice these before  
@Dom. I'll check that out


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## ...coolstream (Dec 10, 2005)

One thing that intrigues me is that the fascia shown in the photo is a Philips. The seller says he also has Thomson fascias but gives no other description. I'm not sure if they would be interchangeable, and since he's away at the moment, there's no way to ask him.

If you find out more, would you let us know?


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Set the affected recording to Save Until I Delete - you almost certainly have a bad sector there. 

As soon as possible, replace the drive - a bad sector is never a good sign. 

As for the facias, the eBay seller IS Cyril from this forum - have you noticed his eBay user name?


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

blindlemon said:


> As soon as possible, replace the drive - a bad sector is never a good sign.


That was my thought. Know where I can get one from? 



blindlemon said:


> As for the facias, the eBay seller IS Cyril from this forum - have you noticed his eBay user name?


<annoyed grunt>


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

I got my hard drive at the time from Pacelink.co.uk as it's pre-configured for just slotting into the TiVo as a replacement, although I see that their biggest drive is still only 120Gb and it was Oct 2006 when I bought mine. I would've thought they'd be selling 250Gb or 500Gb by now.


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## cyril (Sep 5, 2001)

Yes the TiVo facias are interchangeable between the series one.

This means you can swap a Black Philips with a Silver-grey Sony or a Silver Thomson.

I will be back tomorrow!

I only pick up TiVo items every 4 or 5 years or so when I go to the States.

So place your orders for 2010!


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

cwaring said:


> Know where I can get one from?


I could not possibly say....


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

cwaring said:


> Know where I can get one from?





blindlemon said:


> I could not possibly say....





dvdfever said:


> I got my hard drive at the time from ...


You don't recognise sarcasm when you see it, Mr Dom? 

@Cyril. Thanks for the info. I'm sure my dad'll be bidding on one sometime soon


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

cwaring said:


> You don't recognise sarcasm when you see it, Mr Dom?


I posted before blindlemon, so now I'm just confused...


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## 6022tivo (Oct 29, 2002)

dvdfever said:


> I got my hard drive at the time from Pacelink.co.uk as it's pre-configured for just slotting into the TiVo as a replacement, although I see that their biggest drive is still only 120Gb and it was Oct 2006 when I bought mine. I would've thought they'd be selling 250Gb or 500Gb by now.


I used to sell 120gb ones at around 93/94 also, when the higher capacity drives became cheaper, and other people started to sell them I packed it in...

I was suprised by the amount of sales I got then, and always avoided higher capacity drives, as if tivo ever did a SW update, everyone with drives above 120gb with the newer kernal whould be knackered, and I don't think my inbox or phone would of stopped for weeks, never mind the cost of receiving and reposting all the drives back out.

120gb was the limit for me, also like pacelink.


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## dvdfever (Jun 2, 2002)

6022tivo said:


> I used to sell 120gb ones at around 93/94 also, when the higher capacity drives became cheaper, and other people started to sell them I packed it in...
> 
> I was suprised by the amount of sales I got then, and always avoided higher capacity drives, as if tivo ever did a SW update, everyone with drives above 120gb with the newer kernal whould be knackered, and I don't think my inbox or phone would of stopped for weeks, never mind the cost of receiving and reposting all the drives back out.
> 
> 120gb was the limit for me, also like pacelink.


Right, I get it now. I remember the kernel being mentioned in my posts about the TiVo I got recently, and when I was updating to 2.5.5a and getting the subtitles back on, and luckily the kernel stuff was done before I got it so it's quite happy with the 250Gb hard drive* but I wouldn't have a clue how to do it myself, and I guess that's the same boat a lot of people were in.

(*which is almost full due to a few still-to-be-watched films, plus loads of clips of this and that which I'm archiving and uploading to Youtube, but I'll be freeing up a fair bit of space soon. I used to get annoyed about programmes stopping over the Xmas period but now it's a godsend so I can catch up)


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

6022tivo said:


> 120gb was the limit for me, also like pacelink.


But it now seems obvious Tivo will never upgrade the UK software.

Their only remaining next likely act is to discontinue the service but I don't think that will happen till we are around 10 years on from the last bulk sales of UK Tivos in 2002 - so not before 2012.

The only circumstances in which an earlier close down is likely is if Tivo goes bust or is taken over by a rival company with an alternative service to Tivo in the UK.

I think certain people at Tivo probably derive some pleasure from a die hard band of UK enthusiasts continuing to use their service and the cost to them is probably negligible.

So coming back to hard drive upgrading activities I don't see any reason for those in this business to now be worried about exceeding the 137Gb drive drive size limit for the original kernel.


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## cyril (Sep 5, 2001)

6022tivo said:


> I was suprised by the amount of sales I got then, and always avoided higher capacity drives, as if tivo ever did a SW update, everyone with drives above 120gb with the newer kernal whould be knackered, and I don't think my inbox or phone would of stopped for weeks, never mind the cost of receiving and reposting all the drives back out.
> 
> 120gb was the limit for me, also like pacelink.


Yes - I gave a 160GB drive to my dad a few years ago ,and told him NOT to do a full system reset.
One month later he complains it's not working -turns out he had done a full system reset. 
I have just given him a pair of 250GB drives and told him not to do a system reset. He will probably knacker it next month!


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## 6022tivo (Oct 29, 2002)

Pete77 said:


> But it now seems obvious Tivo will never upgrade the UK software.
> 
> So coming back to hard drive upgrading activities I don't see any reason for those in this business to now be worried about exceeding the 137Gb drive drive size limit for the original kernel.


I think you are right, but at the time, I did not want the hastle of hundreds of unhappy customers, they wanted more than the 120gb I was offering, but I was not going to take the risk.

Now, I don't we have to worry about a upgrade, and if we did, I understand that the newer kernal was included as part of the last official update for US customers, so we may not have a problem anyway..


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Sorry Cyril. My dad took one look at the price of the facia and decided a can of black spray-paint would be cheaper


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