# Hibernate Mode



## rgura (Feb 21, 2005)

A super-low power mode that can spin the disk drive down. The Tivo in my bedroom keeps me up some nights. It would be nice if there was a RC key combination (menu option) that would suspend everything until I hit the Tivo button. 

This would be nice for vacation time as well. 

Right now attaching "The Clapper" to my TiVo just does not cut it.  

If anyone has a hack for this, please advise.


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## mrmike (May 2, 2001)

I've mailed in a suggestion that the live 30 minute buffer be a user-selectable option a couple of times. Since it's that or suggestions which keeps the drive running, it could legitimately be spun down if the software was written to be more green (i.e. managed cron-type tasks like dialing in and scheduled shows out of RAM processes).


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## rgura (Feb 21, 2005)

There you go, have TiVo go after the EnergyStar certification!


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## mrmike (May 2, 2001)

rgura said:


> There you go, have TiVo go after the EnergyStar certification!


Actually, it was part of my brilliant "TiVo on iPod size hardware" scheme back in the day, but it would be nice if they used less juice on general principle.


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

Apart from the HDD, I don't know if/ what parts can be significantly turned off, at the register level. 

Otherwise, itis designed to be left on.

As for 30-second skip, they'd sooner it not be an "up-front" feature, 
for legal reasons.


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## e1000sn (Feb 2, 2006)

I am new here but it is this exact issue that has brought me snooping around forums anyways.

Why cant the 30 minute buffer be a user selectable option? It seems like such a simple thing. Or a hard drive sleep feature that temporarily turns off the drive if no programs are scheduled to be recorded for a few hours.

The only feasible answer I can see is that the unnecessary wear from the constant writing to the buffer forces users to replace their units slightly more often (ahem, *product* lifetime service, instead of *account* lifetime). I would love for somebody to prove me wrong but its not like this is a new issue, there are posts all over the internet complaining about the constantly spinning (and constantly writing) hard drive.

Is there any hidden way to make the drive sleep? Or am I out of luck until the Tivo people renew their business strategy?


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## megazone (Mar 3, 2002)

e1000sn said:


> The only feasible answer I can see is that the unnecessary wear from the constant writing to the buffer forces users to replace their units slightly more often (ahem, *product* lifetime service, instead of *account* lifetime).


Modern drives get more wear spinning up and down than they do while spinning. They also draw peak power while being spun up. Since the TiVo is regularly doing more than just recording - indexing, processing the ToDo list, etc - and it makes regularly drive accesses for these, the drives would spin up and down quite a bit if they were halted when not recording.

And even with constant read/write activity, modern drives have an average of many years of use. Many of the original TiVos are still running, 6 years later. There is no rational justification to believe that there is some nefarious purpose. TiVo's official expected utilization is 4 years, and the average TiVo will last well past that. Failures are more likely to come from heat, impact, power spikes, etc.


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