# Sony SVR-3000 Series 2 - error 51?



## technomutt (Jun 14, 2004)

I've been a huge fan of the Series 1 Sony units (have 3, one's a lifetime, all have upgraded drives, ethernet, etc...) and recently decided to get a Series 2 SVR-3000 to "play" with. (gotta have that Sony remote) Bought a like-new unit on Fleabay with software 4.01 on it. Upgraded to a Western Digital 120 GB drive I had laying around, backed up the image and set the original drive aside. Transferred one of my subscriptions, re-ran the guided setup, seems like it's working fine. Knowing it will get software updates, I forced a daily call several times until I received the software update to version 7.2.2. That's when the problem started... on restart i got this error: 

"A hardware problem has been detected which needs your attention. Until this problem is fixed, you will not be able to record programs or watch recordings. Please restart the recorder." 

Naturally, restarting doesn't fix it. The unit's system ID now shows up as all zeros. (it really isn't, as I popped in the original drive to confirm it's still there) It also says to call Sony and report an "error 51". Yeah, right... I've searched the forums here, and I've found references to this error but only on DirecTV Tivo's which have had "the Zipper" run on them... and also some references to a fix called "51killer.tcl". Is this the next step I need to take? I still haven't installed telnet or any other hacks... just upgraded the drive. 

I'm not quite up to speed yet on Series 2 units... seems like they're more easily "disturbed" when upgraded. I'm sure this is by design? I've also noticed that the hard drive is now identified by serial number in the system info window. Is Tivo trying to lock down "upgrades"? 

If someone could explain to me in layman's terms what this "error 51" is and how to deal with it, I would greatly appreciate it. If I have to start over, that's fine... as I said, I still have the original drive and an image backup.


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## technomutt (Jun 14, 2004)

Hmm.. may have found my own answer. Finally found a thread on error 51's related to IDE cables... and read the bit about the unit's serial number being stored in the image. I used a different SVR-3000 image on the current WD drive than my original backup (different serial number) just 'cause it was quicker... so I guess I need to do a "clear&delete everything" on this drive, or start over. 

I suppose I need to "un-learn" my Series 1 programming. Series 2 units sure are different... wonder why the version 4.01 image didn't care about the serial number?

I know about "Series 2.5" units... can I still hack my SVR-3000 after it gets version 7.2.2 software?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

That copy of 4.01b is likely the original one for that unit. All Series 2s and DirecTV DVRs care about encrpytion, so will encounter "error 51" when an image form another DVR is installed on it.

The SVR3000 is an older series 2, so no PROM hack is needed, just the killhdinitrd et al.


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