# A92 and A93 minis can no longer be activated?



## Hickoryw (Dec 6, 2008)

Just noticed that A92 and A93 minis have been added to the list of tivos that can no longer be activated (which includes series 4 and older). Was wondering what this actually means as I thought they come pre-activated with lifetime and even the older tivo dvrs with lifetime are essentially unaffected by this.


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## Hickoryw (Dec 6, 2008)

Copied from tivo:

TiVo Service Plans and Policies: Essentials

*Important: *The following devices are no longer eligible for activation or reactivation. If you cancel the existing service plan on these devices, you will not be able to reactivate them. 


TiVo Series 1
TiVo Series 2
TiVo Series 3
TiVo Series 4 (TiVo Premiere Series)
TiVo Mini and TiVo Mini 2 (_TSN Prefix A92 and A93 only; not applicable to TiVo Mini VOX/LUX_)

Series 2, Series 3/HD and Series 4 (TiVo Premiere) DVRs with Product Lifetime Service will continue to receive service for the life of the DVR.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Wow. Yep, it’s there



> Per TiVo's >published policy<…


One thing more annoying than TiVo cutting off support like this is their doing it so quietly, without warning. (Though, I suppose the warning is the tilt of the boat.)


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Hickoryw said:


> Copied from tivo:
> 
> TiVo Service Plans and Policies: Essentials
> 
> ...


Well that is interesting. When the Mini first came out (the A92), it did not come with lifetime. So any one of those would fall into this new policy, if it has monthly (don't know why anyone would pay monthly on an A92 as can buy used with lifetime for $40 or so), then can no longer activate if let subs expire. Later lifetime was included on the A92. So those unaffected. As far as I know the A93s all came with lifetime, So should be unaffected.

One more possibility, some cable companies etc did issue minis. A92s and perhaps A93s? So anyone buying one of those would not be able to activate. But again, with A92s selling for $40 and A93s maybe $50-60 who would WANT to activate one on a monthly or yearly plan?


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Hey, this new TC format, how do you edit a post? I meant to say LIFETIME A92s and A93s selling for $40-60, left out lifetime. But see no way to edit, am I missing something?


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## tommage1 (Nov 6, 2008)

Oh never mind, I see the 3 "dots" over to the right. Once again, like most phone apps and even webpages, symbols/pictures replace words, can anyone read anymore?


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## Hickoryw (Dec 6, 2008)

Curious that the last sentence from what I copied before says that series 2,3, and 4 with lifetime will continue to receive service, but doesn't include minis.


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## lhvetinari (Jun 24, 2019)

Hickoryw said:


> Curious that the last sentence from what I copied before says that series 2,3, and 4 with lifetime will continue to receive service, but doesn't include minis.


Mini's don't really receive "Service" outside of small downloads (which only serve to update their sharegroups, which govern what hosts you can connect them to) - they are entirely dependent on the host for guide data. Only thing they can do independently is access apps.


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## lhvetinari (Jun 24, 2019)

Curious as to what this means, since aside from very early A92s, all 92 and 93 Minis come with PLS by default. Maybe they are conflating this with the "you can no longer get phone-based tech support", which would make more sense.


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## cwerdna (Feb 22, 2001)

I also have similar questions about PLS A92 and A93 (A93 I also thought came w/lifetime). Hmmm... maybe once we get clarification, if they actually can still be shifted to another account, maybe I should buy some spare PLS A92 and A93 now, and move them to my account in case my A93 dies.

Seems like the Mini Lux is way overpriced. And, my Bolt+ is still on TE3.


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## TivoJD (Feb 8, 2005)

Interesting, I just bought a brand new never opened A93 from ebay about 10 days ago. Glad I didn't wait to activate it.


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## untfan (Jul 11, 2005)

See Here: Tivo Customer Support Community

It looks to have gone into effect in November 2021 based on the date at the top, which is interesting as *TivoJD* was able to activate one a few days ago.


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

So what does this mean for when I want to eventually sell my a93s (with a lifetime bolt)? They become paperweights to anyone except my current account? I’m not clear.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

Hickoryw said:


> Curious that the last sentence from what I copied before says that series 2,3, and 4 with lifetime will continue to receive service, but doesn't include minis.


I suspect it’s just sloppiness. They added the Mini’s to the bulleted list in an existing “no new service” support page, but didn’t bother with the rest of the text. (And vet’s guess that it may be a misfire on “no new service” vs “no support” is plausible.)



blacknoi said:


> So what does this mean for when I want to eventually sell my a93s (with a lifetime bolt)? They become paperweights to anyone except my current account? I’m not clear.


No way for anyone to authoritatively answer w/o any detail on your Mini’s current service plan(s). What is reported for each Mini within your TiVo account?

edit: see: TiVo: Devices and Services



lhvetinari said:


> Mini's don't really receive "Service" outside of small downloads (which only serve to update their sharegroups, which govern what hosts you can connect them to) - they are entirely dependent on the host for guide data. Only thing they can do independently is access apps.


Well, “service” is what tags a Mini as active on a given TiVo account, without which the Mini is little more than a paperweight. Can’t even stream sans service, IIRC, since the Mini looks to the host DVR for its apps listing.


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## untfan (Jul 11, 2005)

As another point of reference - my brother was able to activate a previously purchased new in box A92 Mini earlier tonight.


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

untfan said:


> As another point of reference - my brother was able to activate a previously purchased new in box A92 Mini earlier tonight.


But had it been purchased w Lifetime/All-In service included?


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## untfan (Jul 11, 2005)

krkaufman said:


> But had it been purchased w Lifetime/All-In service included?


I believe so, it was the green box and not the orange box of the A92 - it was never put into the TiVo account until last night though.

I seem to recall when the A92 went from subscription to Lifetime they changed the color of the boxes around that time. As I remember buying a handful of minis at the subscription price ($99) after TiVo announced the change but retailers were slow to change to the higher ($149) price with service included. I got a mix of green and orange, but a majority of orange. All activated with lifetime with no issues back in 2014/15.

The A93 boxes were always green.


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## blacknoi (Jan 23, 2006)

krkaufman said:


> No way for anyone to authoritatively answer w/o any detail on your Mini’s current service plan(s). What is reported for each Mini within your TiVo account?
> 
> edit: see: TiVo: Devices and Services


My mini's all say "5 : Product Lifetime Service".... so I'm assuming then I'd be OK when i go to sell, as its not a new activation, but a migration from my account to the potential buyer's account (and I'm used to that process from prior hardware I've sold over the years).


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## krkaufman (Nov 25, 2003)

blacknoi said:


> My mini's all say Product Lifetime Service.... so I'm assuming then I'd be OK when i go to sell, as its not a new activation, but a migration from my account to the potential buyer's account (and I'm used to that process from prior hardware I've sold over the years).


Yes, that’s a reasonable take and my assumption, as well, as it would be the same treatment as all other devices with Lifetime/All-In plans, including Premieres.


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## dougtv (May 20, 2015)

You cannot technically activate a new A92 or A93 if it never has been used before. That's not to say it's impossible if you find the right rep.

You CAN however STILL transfer service still just like you still can with Premieres as long as they (if A92/A93) already have active services on them. I.e. if you sell a TiVo Mini on eBay that worked for you already, you/they can transfer it someone who buys it from you.

As with before, if the mini was from a cable company, it cannot be transferred or activated as a new mini/service.

All already activated minis are lifetime service...there is no "new service" to activate, unless it's been sealed in a box for several years never once turned on...but again, even then it still may be possible with the right tivo rep, but I would stick to buying used minis (A92/A93) that have proof of service on them with a seller that knows how to transfer. 

Again, they are still activating brand new VOX/LUX model minis.


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