# Tivo Mini stuck in reboot loop



## chad73 (Jul 14, 2004)

One of my Tivo mini's is constantly rebooting.. It is running Hydra. Have there been any recent updates that might have caused this? Anyone know a fix? Unplugging it didn't help.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

I had this happen once. The Mini never recovered. It just shows the logo for a minute, goes blank for a minute, then resets and does it again.


----------



## jrtroo (Feb 4, 2008)

Try moving it to the other location, could bethe power cord. May help, may not.


----------



## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

If you try a good power adapter and boot loops, you have one from a bad batch of mini 2's. If you call support and it's out of warranty, they will replace it for a discontinued price.


----------



## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Running into the same issue with my Mini (TCDA93000). It's three years old this month. It’s connected to a Bolt Plus and a Premiere XL via MoCA. Until a few weeks ago it’s been flawless.

A few weeks ago when I'd FF it would suddenly reboot now and then. Recently I'd turn the TV on and it would reboot then work normally.

Today I turned the TV on and it displayed the “Welcome!” guided setup screen. I ran it through the setup process and it ends with the network connection screen, going through each step and at the “Verifying” stage it displays a caution icon and “Could not verify info”. Pressing select for more information takes it to the “Connection Problem” screen with the message “Your TiVo box can’t complete guided setup. (S308). I clicked on “Try connecting again now” and it went back through the “Getting Setup Info” once more.

On very the last reboot it temporarily flashed the “The TiVo Box has detected a serious problem and is now attempting to fix it“ green screen. That only lasted about a minute and it went back to the Guided Setup again resulting in the same “Could not verify info” on the last step of the Getting Setup Info. In my two-decades of TiVo experience the green screen (of death/kickstart) generally meant a failing HDD. Of course in the Mini's case, there's no HDD.

I’ve checked the connections, replaced the COAX and replaced the HDMI cable. Rebooted the Actiontec MoCA. Rebooted both TiVos.

Finally I substituted it for the Premiere which has an Ethernet connection and that resulted in the same “Verifying” error OR it never finishes that stage, reboots and goes back to the Guided Setup Screen.

Nothing’s changed with respect to my ISP, network, etc. I haven't called TiVo yet.

Time for a new Mini? Will TiVo swap it for a price? Thoughts?

TIA!


----------



## foghorn2 (May 4, 2004)

richsadams said:


> Running into the same issue with my Mini (TCDA93000). It's three years old this month. It's connected to a Bolt Plus and a Premiere XL via MoCA. Until a few weeks ago it's been flawless.
> 
> A few weeks ago when I'd FF it would suddenly reboot now and then. Recently I'd turn the TV on and it would reboot then work normally.
> 
> ...


Yours seems to get the the network screen so maybe its not dead. If the premier does the same thing, try a factory reset of your gateway/router or try another one.

Also see if you got the new firmware where it asks you what moca channel you want to use. Try "automatic" and reboot, if it fails use the first default channel, I think its 12.


----------



## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Hey foghorn, thanks for that. Should have been more clear...just "substituted" the Mini for the Premiere to connect it directly via Ethernet to see if it was a network thing or if the Mini itself was the real issue. (The Premiere works fine). Turns out it was the Mini. It was in a continual reboot loop...no way to get to the network settings, etc.

Just got off of the phone with TiVo and after they understood that the Mini had experienced the GSOD (2x) they offered to exchange it.

A very nice CSR named Shelia put me on hold for a couple of minutes and when she came back she said that normally it would be $79 but since we had had a TiVo account since 2002 they would exchange it for $39. Woo hoo!

I'll post back with an update regarding the "new" Mini should there be any issues. If it lasts another three years, money well-spent I guess.

Cheers!


----------



## HerronScott (Jan 1, 2002)

richsadams said:


> Just got off of the phone with TiVo and after they understood that the Mini had experienced the GSOD (2x) they offered to exchange it.


So probably a flash memory failure?

Scott


----------



## sfhub (Jan 6, 2007)

HerronScott said:


> So probably a flash memory failure?


With TiVo it is always a disk or power supply  Even if there is no disk.


----------



## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

HerronScott said:


> So probably a flash memory failure? Scott


Initially it was just the odd reboot, sometimes in the middle of a show, sometimes during FF or switching menus. Then it got progressively worse and worse until the reboot loop and a couple of GSOD. Guess we'll never know.


----------



## Dan203 (Apr 17, 2000)

Heat related probably. They're not very well designed to dissipate heat.


----------



## richsadams (Jan 4, 2003)

Dan203 said:


> Heat related probably. They're not very well designed to dissipate heat.


Hi Dan...long time no see!

That's possible. Although it was sitting out on an open wooden shelf with nothing around it, it always felt warm to the touch.

Cheers!

Rich


----------



## MitchV (May 26, 2009)

I had the same issue... I did some trouble-shooting and swapped connections with a second Tivo-Mini. I thought my unit was done.

I noticed a little reset looking button on the bottom and held it down as I inserted the power connector... I held it down for a good 30 seconds and voila!! It began booting without cycling.

Perhaps that was the trick or maybe I just got lucky. In any event, my TiVo mini is no longer cycling. Good luck to anyone else who finds this!


----------



## rgura (Feb 21, 2005)

One of my TCDA93000's just suffered the same fate. Naturally, and seemingly as always, it happened while I was traveling out of town and I have to listen to my better half about something not working...ugh.

PS: The button on the bottom, seems to be for cycling through the various output resolutions.


----------



## rgura (Feb 21, 2005)

Called TIVo support, I ended up getting the same $39 deal on a swap. I also took advantage of the $99 TiVo Mini deal from Weaknees.


----------



## Saturn (Apr 10, 2001)

I was offered $39 for a swap, but only after saying $79 was too much. I declined and asked about the TiVo Mini Vox instead - transferred to sales and the best they could do was $160 for a refurb. Give the preroll crap, and how slow the mini 2s are...I'll pass. I'd rather put that money towards a Roku.


----------



## Nick Link (Dec 2, 2019)

Adding in another recent update: 
I had the same rebooting issue, and the green screen of death, called Tivo and they tried to sell the replacement Mini for $79, but eventually offered $39. (btw, I bought the Mini in March 2015, it died in November 2019)


----------



## Saturn (Apr 10, 2001)

I'm guessing these failures are the result of the soldered-on flash chips going bad, but that's just speculation. Has anyone bothered to try to troubleshoot these?


----------



## elkyss (Mar 28, 2002)

Documenting I just had the same issue, 2nd generation Mini in a boot loop showing the logo for about 5 seconds before constantly restarting. The mini was purchased in April of 2015.

Today it was replaced by a call to support for that same $39.


----------



## macwhizROC (Mar 14, 2007)

Same problem, same resolution. Only had to say "That seems steep, I know others have paid less" and I was offered the $39 price. The failed unit was a TCDA92000 activated in 2014.

It had been a bit flakey for some time. Sometimes, there'd be no sound when playing a recorded program. Sometimes that would be fixed by pausing for a second, or by a 30-second rewind, or by fast-forwarding a little. Usually it would be fixed by backing out to the menu and navigating back to the program. But otherwise it worked fine, up until I went to use it one day and it was nonresponsive. The power-cycle resulted in the boot loop.


----------



## Mikeguy (Jul 28, 2005)

macwhizROC said:


> Same problem, same resolution. *Only had to say "That seems steep, I know others have paid less" and I was offered the $39 price.* The failed unit was a TCDA92000 activated in 2014.
> 
> It had been a bit flakey for some time. Sometimes, there'd be no sound when playing a recorded program. Sometimes that would be fixed by pausing for a second, or by a 30-second rewind, or by fast-forwarding a little. Usually it would be fixed by backing out to the menu and navigating back to the program. But otherwise it worked fine, up until I went to use it one day and it was nonresponsive. The power-cycle resulted in the boot loop.


:clapping:


----------



## el-such-n-such (Oct 18, 2005)

macwhizROC said:


> Same problem, same resolution. Only had to say "That seems steep, I know others have paid less" and I was offered the $39 price. The failed unit was a TCDA92000 activated in 2014.


Thank you all for posting your experiences. It greatly helps others.

Earlier this week, an 5 year old Mini (w/ lifetime) boot-looped itself to death. So this might be a fairly common thing that Tivo Support is dealing with, the customer support person that dealt with me was very helpful and complete.

I'd tried to get a support call in at the end of the support hours, and after getting connected to a rep, support hours expired (which just cuts the phone call regardless of what is happening...), so I had to call back the next morning. I explained my situation to the rep, and I had answered the required questions and trouble shooting scenarios, I was offered a replacement Mini for $79, but before I could respond, the offered replacement cost was offered to $39. The rep also went out of their way to explain and reexplain to recycle the old Mini, instead of returning it, because all the the canned communication is focused on returns...

I got confirmation that the replacement had shipped, and expected it to be received in 4-6 business days. That was Friday, on Sunday the replacement arrived (just a Mini VOX, no remote, no power supply, repeat just a Mini VOX) and after guided setup and a firmware upgrade and a few restarts, we are back in business! I had to turn my DVR off, to get the old remote to pair via RF to the new Mini, but that was the only snag to a painless support event.

Well done Tivo Support! This isn't the only good experience I've had with support, but it is a bright spot.


----------



## slowbiscuit (Sep 19, 2006)

For anyone else searching here, this person found a fix to reset the Mini:

Mini start up screen and then shuts off


----------



## skibum80906 (Aug 3, 2019)

After reading a more recent post from Feb 11, 2020, I found if you really push, they will lower the price on a replacement to $29. I copy/pasted that info to the TiVo folks, the initial offer was brought down from $79 to $39. When I asked them to show the post from this community, they came down to $29, free shipment and no requirement to return the broken mini!


----------



## sutojl (Oct 17, 2008)

Same fate for my Tivo Mini. I just got off with support and paid the $39.00 to get the replacement.


----------



## fjwtdo (Sep 12, 2020)

I had the same experience with my TiVo Mini A93. I spoke with customer service today and they will no longer are willing to replace mini at $39. Instead they offer a discount of $30 off off the full price of a mini vox. This is unacceptable. I am a customer since 2004, have purchased many TiVo products and this is how I am treated. It is a slap in the face. This is exactly how a company will lose its customers.


----------



## JoeKustra (Dec 7, 2012)

fjwtdo said:


> I had the same experience with my TiVo Mini A93. I spoke with customer service today and they will no longer are willing to replace mini at $39. Instead they offer a discount of $30 off off the full price of a mini vox. This is unacceptable. I am a customer since 2004, have purchased many TiVo products and this is how I am treated. It is a slap in the face. This is exactly how a company will lose its customers.


It has been posted that during the boot process a repeated pressing of the TiVo button will break your Mini out of the loop.


----------



## fjwtdo (Sep 12, 2020)

Thank you. I will try that.


----------



## gps help please (Oct 17, 2007)

Same experience with my Mini A93, which is less than 3 years old. The tech support guy was quite candid, that the refurbished mini for $39 just isn't likely to be reliable. I decided to spend the $175 for a new Mini VOX A95, although the customer service guy told me they would sell me a refurbished mini A93 for $39 if I insisted (after I expressed disappointment with my options); he also emphasized that the refurbished A93 just isn't a good product likely to last very long. The rebooting tricks mentioned here didn't work for me. It is frustrating that my older Tivo units (starting in about 2004) all worked very well, forever, and my newest unit turned to junk in under 3 years.


----------



## pfiagra (Oct 13, 2014)

gps help please said:


> Same experience with my Mini A93, which is less than 3 years old. The tech support guy was quite candid, that the refurbished mini for $39 just isn't likely to be reliable. I decided to spend the $175 for a new Mini VOX A95, although the customer service guy told me they would sell me a refurbished mini A93 for $39 if I insisted (after I expressed disappointment with my options); he also emphasized that the refurbished A93 just isn't a good product likely to last very long. The rebooting tricks mentioned here didn't work for me. It is frustrating that my older Tivo units (starting in about 2004) all worked very well, forever, and my newest unit turned to junk in under 3 years.


you might have been able to get a better price on the Vox if you had pointed the CSR to TiVo's continual care program, which looks like it got an update as of Sep 1st.

Continual Care Program | TiVo

https://vault.pactsafe.io/s/23140eac-7498-4f19-be3f-1f9c88ca59a7/legal.html#tivo-continual-care

though it's not as generous as TiVo had been in the past with their replacement deals, it is nice to see a policy in writing instead of needing to play CSR roulette


----------



## fjwtdo (Sep 12, 2020)

There seems to be a major disconnect with how TiVo is handling the TiVo Mini failures. Theses products are defective! Tivo realized that these are defective and gave customers reasonable recourse. As of September 2020, TiVo has not been standing behind their flawed product and leaving the customer with limited viable options. At this point it seems the only way to get management’s attention, to this problem, is a class action lawsuit.


----------



## serial_port_me05 (Nov 15, 2005)

Just an update. That Continual Care program is nowhere near the $39 for me - and...its not valid on refurbs (which they sent as original replacements) I suppose I got 6 years out of it and its ok, but hate to now spend $170 for a Luxe. Oh well.


----------



## shaggy314 (Feb 18, 2007)

Yup, only offered $25 off and free shipping.


----------



## exm (Nov 4, 2021)

I'm staring a 2 TCDA93000 in front of me which both broke with the infinite reboot within 6 months of each other. Purchased in May 2015, so about 6 years old. They were both located in a well-ventilated area. Question: with my Roamio Plus DVR as my 'main' unit, is it possible to use another Roamio or even a Bolt Vox as an extender? I see plenty of those units on sale for less than mini's and I assume they last longer.


----------



## enyce9 (Sep 21, 2006)

My mini A93 Just started boot looping today. Activation date 2015


----------



## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

I bought a new A93 TiVo mini back in April 2017, probably activated around late that month. 

It fortunately still works but I power it off via surge protector when I'm away from home. I also moved it to a UPS due to fear of power blips causing problems for it. Due to reports of A93 failing in 3 to ~5 years, awhile ago, I started shopping for spares, either A92 or A93. I now also have two working A92 as backups, just in case.

Since we don't know the cause, as a precaution, I have a 120 mm fan now on top of my Minis that are in use. They blow upwards and suck air thru the unit. For my A93, I got what I listed at TiVo mini cooling.


----------



## LoadStar (Jul 24, 2001)

Mine started boot looping several months ago. Didn't really try to recover it because I figured nothing would work, and I've mostly moved on from TiVo.


----------



## SprintDrive (10 mo ago)

exm said:


> I'm staring a 2 TCDA93000 in front of me which both broke with the infinite reboot within 6 months of each other. Purchased in May 2015, so about 6 years old. They were both located in a well-ventilated area. Question: with my Roamio Plus DVR as my 'main' unit, is it possible to use another Roamio or even a Bolt Vox as an extender? I see plenty of those units on sale for less than mini's and I assume they last longer.


You could use a dual tuner premiere, which might be the cheapest option. Then you could also set up the premiere to do OTA if you are within range and have an antenna.


----------

