# 264 Days New - Bolt+ dead



## Heinrich (Feb 28, 2002)

So disappointing. Series 3 still runs, Premiere XL still works, but my $799 (with lifetime service) Bolt+ dies in 264 days. Worse, the $799 doesn't include any sort of "extended" warranty (for $799 you get 90 days) and they want $50 for a swap which has been initiated as of yesterday morning.

I want to pull the hard drive out, and grab some recordings. 

1) Will TiVo know and somehow charge me more than the $50?
2) If I pull the drive, put it into an external housing and plug it in as an external drive to the replacement Bolt+, will it be automatically recognized and can I get the shows? Or am I going to have to do some fancier process?


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

At least you were still under the first year warranty.
After a year, if the Bolt dies you're on your own for repairs.
(That's the risk with the "lifetime")


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## rdrrepair (Nov 24, 2006)

How did it die? Have you tried plugging in another power supply first? Unplug Ethernet cable if it's constantly rebooting.


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Heinrich said:


> So disappointing. Series 3 still runs, Premiere XL still works, but my $799 (with lifetime service) Bolt+ dies in 264 days. Worse, the $799 doesn't include any sort of "extended" warranty (for $799 you get 90 days) and they want $50 for a swap which has been initiated as of yesterday morning.
> 
> I want to pull the hard drive out, and grab some recordings.
> 
> ...


The easiest (and safest) answer: simply transfer any shows you want to save to your PC--and then they later can be transferred back as well (note: not with a TiVo box with the latest TiVo UI on it, Hydra (Gen 4)--the Gen 3 UI or earlier is needed, to transfer shows back; if your replacement TiVo box comes with Hydra on it, you can "roll back" to the Gen 3 UI (but will lose recordings on the box in the process, and so best to do this right away)--there are threads here on the easy process, which TiVo fully supports as an option).

Easy to install and use software to complete the task (works both directions): pyTivo Desktop.

pyTivo Desktop

Discussed here: Easier to use pyTivo.

(Background info.: TiVo shows on a TiVo hard drive generally will not work if the drive is removed from the TiVo box--the shows are "keyed" to the box.)


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

And, yes, TiVo could refuse warranty coverage if you've opened the box--best not to do that here, where you know you need the coverage and there's no absolute need to open the box (see the prior post). (Having said that, TiVo has been known to "look the other way" when mods have been done to a box--most particularly, where a box was opened and a larger-capacity hard drive put inside. But typically (or often), the box owner will remove the replacement hard drive and re-install the original hard drive before contacting TiVo for warranty service and returning the box--no need to tempt fate (and sometimes, warranty coverage has been denied in that circumstance--it has seemed to have happened where the drive replacement was brought up by the user or there was some other issue).)


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Heinrich said:


> 2) If I pull the drive, put it into an external housing and plug it in as an external drive to the replacement Bolt+, will it be automatically recognized and can I get the shows? Or am I going to have to do some fancier process?


If the Bolt is really non-functional, there isn't any way to get the shows off of the drive either by pulling the drive or putting it in another TiVo. As asked above, what is the failure mode and could it be as simple as the power supply?

Scott


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## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

Oops, my bad above: I overlooked that the original Bolt is totally dead (if that's the case), precluding transferring shows off of it. Sorry-- 

(Rather than deleting my above post as to transferring shows, I've left it there, in case the info. might be of some use somehow.)


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## Heinrich (Feb 28, 2002)

I don't know how it died. It waited until I went on vacation and died the first day I was out for a week. I couldn't connect from several states and timezones away but thought it was a network issue. I have no lights on the front, no HDMI signal ... just the fan runs.

I guess maybe I could put the old hard drive into the new Bolt+, grab the recordings, then swap. This Bolt+ is on Hydra. I'm currently back on my old XL4 on non-Hydra. I thought I was fine on Hydra until using old-style again.


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## SullyND (Dec 30, 2004)

You won’t be able to watch any recordings on the old hard drive in the new Bolt.


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## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

Heinrich said:


> I guess maybe I could put the old hard drive into the new Bolt+, grab the recordings, then swap. This Bolt+ is on Hydra. I'm currently back on my old XL4 on non-Hydra. I thought I was fine on Hydra until using old-style again.


As already mentioned, this will not work.



Heinrich said:


> I don't know how it died. It waited until I went on vacation and died the first day I was out for a week. I couldn't connect from several states and timezones away but thought it was a network issue. I have no lights on the front, no HDMI signal ... just the fan runs.


It might be worth trying a power supply.

Scott


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Tony_T said:


> At least you were still under the first year warranty.
> After a year, if the Bolt dies you're on your own for repairs.
> (That's the risk with the "lifetime")


Which why they also have two and three year extended warranty options.


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

HerronScott said:


> As already mentioned, this will not work.
> 
> It might be worth trying a power supply.
> 
> Scott


That was my thought. Since when there is an issue it's typically going to be the hard drive or the power supply


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## Tony_T (Nov 2, 2017)

aaronwt said:


> Which why they also have two and three year extended warranty options.


I didn't know that. Can it be purchased on-line, or do I need to call Tivo?


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## aaronwt (Jan 31, 2002)

Tony_T said:


> I didn't know that. Can it be purchased on-line, or do I need to call Tivo?


You have to call TiVo. And I think you only have 60 or 90 days to do it. But they offer two years for around $30 and three years for around $40.

Not sure of the exact time and prices though. The last extended warranty I got was in 2016 when I picked up a refurb Roamio OTA. I never got them on the two Bolts I got last year.


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## CIR-Engineering (Sep 24, 2017)

aaronwt said:


> You have to call TiVo. And I think you only have 60 or 90 days to do it. But they offer two years for around $30 and three years for around $40.
> 
> Not sure of the exact time and prices though. The last extended warranty I got was in 2016 when I picked up a refurb Roamio OTA. I never got them on the two Bolts I got last year.


HOLD THE PHONE!!! I had no idea an extended warranty from TiVo would also cover lifetime service! Darn it, I bought my BOLT five months ago and would have certainly paid $40 for three years. I'm calling TiVo tomorrow to see if maybe I can sweet talk them into letting me buy it now. I really really really hope they let me. Nothing at all wrong with my BOLT, but it seems the BOLT's are generally not as reliable as earlier models. My Premiere two tuner from 2010 is still going strong and my series 3 was still cooking when I sold it a couple years back.

Thanks for the info, I only wish I knew it earlier.

Best,
craigr


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## UCLABB (May 29, 2012)

CIR-Engineering said:


> HOLD THE PHONE!!! I had no idea an extended warranty from TiVo would also cover lifetime service! Darn it, I bought my BOLT five months ago and would have certainly paid $40 for three years. I'm calling TiVo tomorrow to see if maybe I can sweet talk them into letting me buy it now. I really really really hope they let me. Nothing at all wrong with my BOLT, but it seems the BOLT's are generally not as reliable as earlier models. My Premiere two tuner from 2010 is still going strong and my series 3 was still cooking when I sold it a couple years back.
> 
> Thanks for the info, I only wish I knew it earlier.
> 
> ...


Don't waste your money on a warranty, with that low temp you've achieved your Bolt will last a hundred years.


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## CIR-Engineering (Sep 24, 2017)

UCLABB said:


> Don't waste your money on a warranty, with that low temp you've achieved your Bolt will last a hundred years.


LOL Probably, but I am still nervous  A BOLT with lifetime is a lot of money on the line... and I never buy extended warranties.


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## Sportsnut (Apr 11, 2014)

CIR-Engineering said:


> LOL Probably, but I am still nervous  A BOLT with lifetime is a lot of money on the line... and I never buy extended warranties.


When my just under 4 year old Roamio basic with lifetime stopped working last month I called Tivo support and they offered me a refurb unit for $150. Hopefully they would offer at least that if your Bolt died after a year but there's no guarantee. I know the most common problems are the the power supply or hard drive that would go but in my case it wasn't either of those. I had an extended warranty from BestBuy so ended up exchanging my Roamio for a Bolt, hoping it lasts a long time as I think I'll be out of luck if this one dies.


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## shwru980r (Jun 22, 2008)

CIR-Engineering said:


> HOLD THE PHONE!!! I had no idea an extended warranty from TiVo would also cover lifetime service! Darn it, I bought my BOLT five months ago and would have certainly paid $40 for three years. I'm calling TiVo tomorrow to see if maybe I can sweet talk them into letting me buy it now. I really really really hope they let me. Nothing at all wrong with my BOLT, but it seems the BOLT's are generally not as reliable as earlier models. My Premiere two tuner from 2010 is still going strong and my series 3 was still cooking when I sold it a couple years back.
> 
> Thanks for the info, I only wish I knew it earlier.
> 
> ...


I think they might deny your claim because of all the modifications you have made to the bolt.


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## CIR-Engineering (Sep 24, 2017)

shwru980r said:


> I think they might deny your claim because of all the modifications you have made to the bolt.


How on earth would they know what modifications were done? I did everything so that I can return the BOLT to stock easily. I handle electronics repair on a daily basis and I am certainly not going to break the thing. But if something fails, without schematics I may not be able to fix it!

craigr


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