# Bolt HDMI fryed during lightning storm..



## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

Looking for ideas on where to go from here.
Last night my Bolt seemed to suffer from a lightning strike. The Bolt is powered through an APC UPS. Cable feed is protected there as well, but a super close strike caused the Bolt to reboot, and my AVR and TV to shut off and come back on. Afterwards, no display from the Bolt. I moved the HDMI from the Bolt to be direct to the TV, and I get display but no sound. Tried a different HDMI port on the AVR, and same thing, display but no sound. The original HDMI port on the AVR is fried as I get no input if I move my BlueRay or PS4 to that input. All other HDMI inputs work fine on the AVR. Tried the Bolt to another TV and same thing, display but no sound. Also, the HDMI handshake takes 15-20 seconds before I get the display with no sound. I am going to try the optical out today to see if I can get sound that way.

So, all that said, what is the best/easiest way to move to a new Bolt assuming this one is fried? With the HDMI handshake taking so long, I figure it won't be long before HDMI goes out completely. My wife has several recording on the Bolt she would like to not lose. Can I move them to a new Bolt? I assume I can't just swap the drive into the new Bolt once it arrives. this is a 2TB drive I put in the Bolt when I first got it.

What would you do in my shoes?
Thanks,
Randall


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## atmuscarella (Oct 11, 2005)

If you bought your Bolt new and are paying monthly or annually for service TiVo will replace it for $50 (for free if you have owned it less than 90 days). Just put the original drive back in it and don't mention the lighting strike, just say it stopped working.

Sorry you will loose all records when you put your old drive into a new bolt. You could see if you can move them to a computer before doing anything.


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## fcfc2 (Feb 19, 2015)

rsday75 said:


> Looking for ideas on where to go from here.
> Last night my Bolt seemed to suffer from a lightning strike. The Bolt is powered through an APC UPS. Cable feed is protected there as well, but a super close strike caused the Bolt to reboot, and my AVR and TV to shut off and come back on. Afterwards, no display from the Bolt. I moved the HDMI from the Bolt to be direct to the TV, and I get display but no sound. Tried a different HDMI port on the AVR, and same thing, display but no sound. The original HDMI port on the AVR is fried as I get no input if I move my BlueRay or PS4 to that input. All other HDMI inputs work fine on the AVR. Tried the Bolt to another TV and same thing, display but no sound. Also, the HDMI handshake takes 15-20 seconds before I get the display with no sound. I am going to try the optical out today to see if I can get sound that way.
> 
> So, all that said, what is the best/easiest way to move to a new Bolt assuming this one is fried? With the HDMI handshake taking so long, I figure it won't be long before HDMI goes out completely. My wife has several recording on the Bolt she would like to not lose. Can I move them to a new Bolt? I assume I can't just swap the drive into the new Bolt once it arrives. this is a 2TB drive I put in the Bolt when I first got it.
> ...


Agree with atmuscarella's recommendations and in addition there are a couple free softwares you can use to move any non-copy protected recordings to a computer and then return them later, kmttg and pyTivo.
TiVo Home Media Features & TiVoToGo


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## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

Yeah, I have used kmttg and Archivo to move stuff to my PC and back to the Tivo in the past. Just didn't want to have to move 1TB of stuff. Sigh. Oh well. I will if I have to....


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## Cheap Flyer (Sep 23, 2003)

Not that it helps you but:

Same exact thing happened to my Roamio Pro. Heard some loud thunder, and the TV went black. I had my Roamio feeding the TV thru an AVR as well. HDMI on the Roamio and the one AVR port got fried. I was also on a UPS, so that didn't help. Sounds to me like the HDMI ports on these TiVo's are quite sensitive as nothing else in the house was affected.

IIRC I was under warranty and TiVo replaced for $50.


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Sorry to hear about the trouble. Moving lots of programs from a large hard drive can definitely be a pain. One suggestion - if you happen to get the replacement Bolt while you still have the bad one, the transfers can happen REALLY FAST between the two Bolts over a full speed 1Gbps network. Not only fast, but you only have to move them one time! I had to do this when TiVo replaced my first Bolt due to video problems.


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## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

V7Goose said:


> Sorry to hear about the trouble. Moving lots of programs from a large hard drive can definitely be a pain. One suggestion - if you happen to get the replacement Bolt while you still have the bad one, the transfers can happen REALLY FAST between the two Bolts over a full speed 1Gbps network. Not only fast, but you only have to move them one time! I had to do this when TiVo replaced my first Bolt due to video problems.


I think this will be my plan. I'll buy a 3TB drive (might as well upgrade from my 2TB) install it in the replacement and just transfer from the old to the new. Then, put the 500GB back in the broken one and send back. I know it makes my cost $150-$200, but I'll have a 3TB Bolt, a 2TB spare drive, and only have to copy stuff once. I have a 1Gig network at home, so speed should be good as you stated.

I wasn't sure both Bolts would be live on my account to do the transfer, but sounds like they will be. My current Bolt is yearly until November, so I assume the replacement will be authorized for the same time frame?


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

rsday75 said:


> I wasn't sure both Bolts would be live on my account to do the transfer, but sounds like they will be. My current Bolt is yearly until November, so I assume the replacement will be authorized for the same time frame?


This was one area of anger for me (but it worked out OK). My Bolt was Lifetime, and I insisted they cross-ship the replacement so I would not be without a unit while I shipped the bad one back and waited for a replacement. Turned out that they switched the lifetime to the replacement unit before they even shipped it, which effectively shut off the one I still had! I called and reasoned (then eventually screamed at them) that this was just totally unacceptable - they HAD to keep the old one activated - but it all fell on deaf ears. Ultimately, I had to start a new service plan on the original and now discontinued Bolt, and then cancel it for a full refund within 30 days. That worked fine and solved my problem.


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## Fant (Sep 1, 2016)

V7Goose said:


> This was one area of anger for me (but it worked out OK). My Bolt was Lifetime, and I insisted they cross-ship the replacement so I would not be without a unit while I shipped the bad one back and waited for a replacement. Turned out that they switched the lifetime to the replacement unit before they even shipped it, which effectively shut off the one I still had! I called and reasoned (then eventually screamed at them) that this was just totally unacceptable - they HAD to keep the old one activated - but it all fell on deaf ears. Ultimately, I had to start a new service plan on the original and now discontinued Bolt, and then cancel it for a full refund within 30 days. That worked fine and solved my problem.


So they gave you a $50 replacement for a unit with a lifetime subscription? I thought that was only available to those with monthly or annual subscriptions. Makes me worried what I'm going to do if I get a lightning strike. Don't think even insurance would cover that would they?


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## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

My insurance would cover, but I have a $1000 deductible on my homeowners......


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## V7Goose (May 28, 2005)

Fant said:


> So they gave you a $50 replacement for a unit with a lifetime subscription? I thought that was only available to those with monthly or annual subscriptions. Makes me worried what I'm going to do if I get a lightning strike. Don't think even insurance would cover that would they?


No - my Lifetime Bolt was only 1 month old, so it was a free replacement under warranty.

All my TiVos are on a UPS, and every UPS I have ever seen has automatic insurance for equipment damage due to power issues (including lightning). If my equipment ever gets fried, I will pursue replacement either through the UPS company or my homeowner's insurance.


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## imrf (Apr 18, 2014)

rsday75 said:


> Looking for ideas on where to go from here.
> Last night my Bolt seemed to suffer from a lightning strike. The Bolt is powered through an APC UPS. Cable feed is protected there as well, but a super close strike caused the Bolt to reboot, and my AVR and TV to shut off and come back on. Afterwards, no display from the Bolt. I moved the HDMI from the Bolt to be direct to the TV, and I get display but no sound. Tried a different HDMI port on the AVR, and same thing, display but no sound. The original HDMI port on the AVR is fried as I get no input if I move my BlueRay or PS4 to that input. All other HDMI inputs work fine on the AVR. Tried the Bolt to another TV and same thing, display but no sound. Also, the HDMI handshake takes 15-20 seconds before I get the display with no sound. I am going to try the optical out today to see if I can get sound that way.
> 
> So, all that said, what is the best/easiest way to move to a new Bolt assuming this one is fried? With the HDMI handshake taking so long, I figure it won't be long before HDMI goes out completely. My wife has several recording on the Bolt she would like to not lose. Can I move them to a new Bolt? I assume I can't just swap the drive into the new Bolt once it arrives. this is a 2TB drive I put in the Bolt when I first got it.
> ...


Mosr APC units have some kind of surge damaged equipment promise, I'd look into that and have them buy you new equipment


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## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

imrf said:


> Mosr APC units have some kind of surge damaged equipment promise, I'd look into that and have them buy you new equipment


I looked into it with APC. Sigh. Have you ever read the red tape you must do to claim against the device protection plan? You have to register with the warranty card or online. You must detail the equipment that will be connected to the UPS with serial #s. You must only use APC batteries, CATV feed must show protection and outside grounding. All equipment must be shipped to APC at my cost for review, etc, etc, etc.

I bought the UPS 10+ years ago for PC protection. It has its second Batteries Plus replacement battery in it, My CATV feed has a small wire wrapped around the ground rod for the power feed into the house, but not sure if that is enough. The cost to ship to them is high, and I must pay return shipping if I want the gear back....Whew.....might be worth it for $75,000 worth of gear, but not for < $200....


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

rsday75 said:


> I looked into it with APC. Sigh. Have you ever read the red tape you must do to claim against the device protection plan? You have to register with the warranty card or online. You must detail the equipment that will be connected to the UPS with serial #s. You must only use APC batteries, CATV feed must show protection and outside grounding. All equipment must be shipped to APC at my cost for review, etc, etc, etc.
> 
> I bought the UPS 10+ years ago for PC protection. It has its second Batteries Plus replacement battery in it, My CATV feed has a small wire wrapped around the ground rod for the power feed into the house, but not sure if that is enough. The cost to ship to them is high, and I must pay return shipping if I want the gear back....Whew.....might be worth it for $75,000 worth of gear, but not for < $200....


Good to know, I never had a claim, but I though that you would have to go through hoops to get any money from any power protection co. guarantee, UPS or plug strips, all marketing bull.


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## BobCamp1 (May 15, 2002)

A UPS is designed to protect you from negligence by your power company, or if somebody hits a utility pole near your house. It's not designed to protect from lightning strikes.

Nothing will fully protect you from a lightning strike that is within 1000 ft. of your house. Only homeowner's insurance does that.

For example, the absolute bare minimum size wire allowed for lightning protection is 1 AWG. That's over 1/4 inch in diameter. I assume all the ground wires in your house are smaller than that (except for the one connected to your ground rod). So your house has no lightning protection.


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## Fant (Sep 1, 2016)

Yes pretty sure all those $100,000 protection claims by UPS and surge protectors are just marketing. They all have provisions that they do not cover against direct lightning strikes within certain area of your house. So basically it sounds like after you are out of the warranty period, and you have lifetime, and you get a direct lightning strike, and you fry your TiVo, we are screwed?


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## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

Lightning wasn't that close. I said super close because it was one of those lightning and thunder all at once type strikes, not a near direct hit on the house. Nothing else seemed to surge. Just a power flicker. My box rebooted even though it was attached to the UPS which was odd.
Now have a new issue.
After waiting on hold for 1:45 for a Tivo rep because I thought chat would not be able to handle this, I was told there is a major issue with 20.7.1 and numerous folks have called in stating that some time after the update when the Bolt reboots, they lose HDMI. Some lose it entirely, some lose sound, some have a very poor picture/sound afterwards. They will not replace my box until the software fix to see if that is the issue. No ETA on the fix.....

Sigh....


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## Fant (Sep 1, 2016)

So it's not a hardware issue? That's actually really good news. Why is it they are not testing these updates on several different machines?


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Fant said:


> So it's not a hardware issue? That's actually really good news. Why is it they are not testing these updates on several different machines?


And, he asks innocently, why are things that are settled constantly getting broken?


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## rahnbo (Sep 12, 2010)

If it is hardware, does your credit card offer any sort of extended protection? I know AMEX is pretty good in that area but I don't think I'd mention the strike.


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## jcthorne (Jan 28, 2002)

Tivo will do the $50 exchange on lifetime units for the first 3 years. I have had them do it on units older than that as a courtesy as well. They transfer the lifetime service to the new unit. They will NOT upgrade you to a better or newer unit.


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## rsday75 (Oct 8, 2015)

The bad part is it could be hardware, but Tivo will not replace the unit even for the $50 until they verify it isn't this new HDMI bug. But now, I may push for a free unit if their "fix" doesn't fix it. How will I know for sure it is hardware?


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## lessd (Jan 23, 2005)

rsday75 said:


> The bad part is it could be hardware, but Tivo will not replace the unit even for the $50 until they verify it isn't this new HDMI bug. But now, I may push for a free unit if their "fix" doesn't fix it. How will I know for sure it is hardware?


A friend had this problem, first I used a Mini that was working in my home to feed the TV using the HDMI input and the TiVos cable, had another HDMI cable if that did not work, then I feed the TiVo into the TV using two difference HDMI cables. if necessary I would connect the TiVo into another HDMI TV. In my friends case the HDMI in the TV was the problem, so I used the TiVo component cables to get him going, turned out both the TV and the TiVo (series 3) HDMI ports were shot. He purchased a new HDTV, Mini and Bolt + cost about $1340, homeowners insurance paid him back $840, and he sold his Series 4 and HDMI crippled Series 3 on E-Bay and got about $450 for both after all expenses (the Series 3 was listed as having a non working HDMI port).


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

rsday75 said:


> Lightning wasn't that close. I said super close because it was one of those lightning and thunder all at once type strikes, not a near direct hit on the house. Nothing else seemed to surge. Just a power flicker. My box rebooted even though it was attached to the UPS which was odd.
> Now have a new issue.
> After waiting on hold for 1:45 for a Tivo rep because I thought chat would not be able to handle this, I was told there is a major issue with 20.7.1 and numerous folks have called in stating that some time after the update when the Bolt reboots, they lose HDMI. Some lose it entirely, some lose sound, some have a very poor picture/sound afterwards. They will not replace my box until the software fix to see if that is the issue. No ETA on the fix.....
> 
> Sigh....


I have not run across this issue with 20.7.1. But then there has been no reason for my Bolts to reboot since they updated to 20.7.1 a couple of weeks ago(uptime is over 1.1 million seconds right now).. It has been much better than the previous version. Since it has never reverted to pcm output like the previous software version did.


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## lethcoeb (Apr 19, 2002)

rsday75 said:


> Looking for ideas on where to go from here.
> Last night my Bolt seemed to suffer from a lightning strike. The Bolt is powered through an APC UPS. Cable feed is protected there as well, but a super close strike caused the Bolt to reboot, and my AVR and TV to shut off and come back on. Afterwards, no display from the Bolt. I moved the HDMI from the Bolt to be direct to the TV, and I get display but no sound. Tried a different HDMI port on the AVR, and same thing, display but no sound. The original HDMI port on the AVR is fried as I get no input if I move my BlueRay or PS4 to that input. All other HDMI inputs work fine on the AVR. Tried the Bolt to another TV and same thing, display but no sound. Also, the HDMI handshake takes 15-20 seconds before I get the display with no sound. I am going to try the optical out today to see if I can get sound that way.
> 
> So, all that said, what is the best/easiest way to move to a new Bolt assuming this one is fried? With the HDMI handshake taking so long, I figure it won't be long before HDMI goes out completely. My wife has several recording on the Bolt she would like to not lose. Can I move them to a new Bolt? I assume I can't just swap the drive into the new Bolt once it arrives. this is a 2TB drive I put in the Bolt when I first got it.
> ...


Last summer I had a very close lightning strike which killed my driveway gate controller and a bunch of small electronics around the house, primarily those connected via ethernet and/or coax.
I had 2 Tivo Mini's which had the connection to their TV's fried, but interesting, since one was connected HDMI and the other one connected component, I was able to swap them between TV's and used the working connections to get back up and running again. Very happy not to have to purchase new kit!


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## Fant (Sep 1, 2016)

Your bolt didn't get fried just your minis? Was your bolt hooked up to a regular surge protector or ups?


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## BobCamp1 (May 15, 2002)

rsday75 said:


> Lightning wasn't that close. I said super close because it was one of those lightning and thunder all at once type strikes, not a near direct hit on the house. Nothing else seemed to surge. Just a power flicker. My box rebooted even though it was attached to the UPS which was odd.
> Now have a new issue.
> After waiting on hold for 1:45 for a Tivo rep because I thought chat would not be able to handle this, I was told there is a major issue with 20.7.1 and numerous folks have called in stating that some time after the update when the Bolt reboots, they lose HDMI. Some lose it entirely, some lose sound, some have a very poor picture/sound afterwards. They will not replace my box until the software fix to see if that is the issue. No ETA on the fix.....
> 
> Sigh....


Sounds like a nearby hit and a surge to me. The UPS didn't handle the surge, not surprising at all, about half of them are not wired correctly or are missing necessary components to handle a surge. The UPS's job is to keep the power on assuming the devices attached to it survived.

Anyway, HDMI involves a handshake, so if the Tivo doesn't work on several other TVs or monitors than the problem is with the hardware on the Bolt.

Especially because of the timing of it all. If the Bolt failed immediately after the lightning strike, then it's the lightning strike that caused the problem. If it happened immediately after the software update, then the update is causing the problem.

I'd speak to a manager and tell him this isn't rocket science.


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