# Woke up this morning and tivo dead!!



## bpier962 (Nov 4, 2003)

I went to sleep last night and my directivo, RCA DVR39, was working fine. This morning when I turned on the TV I had nothing. I noticed that the tivo was not making any noise at all, no fan, or drive noise, I checked the power connector and it was still in. I unglugged it and plugged it back in and still nothing. No sound at all. Any ideas what to look for? Is there a fuse it could be? Or is it dead?  Thanks.


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

If fan is not working it is probably power supply. There is a fuse someware but I do not know where. Send an Email to Jim Spence, he probably knows. Good Luck


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## JimSpence (Sep 19, 2001)

I concur that it is probably the power supply. Does the green light come on? Do you have a voltmeter to check the power supply? To the best of my knowledge, there are no fuses inside the box. (It's been quite awhile since I had my T60 open.)


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## bpier962 (Nov 4, 2003)

The green light does not come on. I do have a volt meter if you could tell me what to check. If that is the problem is there somewhere I can order a new power supply? I would hate to lose the directivo and have to get a directv dvr.


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## Murdock (Feb 22, 2003)

It would probably be cheaper to buy a used receiver than just a power supply. I bought a pair of used HDVR2's on ebay for $60 shipped just in case I ever need them for parts.


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## chuckg (Sep 1, 2007)

Ideally, the power supply should be "unloaded" before checking the voltages. Load short may drive power supply output to zero (fold-back current limiting). In the old days a 5 volt source was sourced from a 12 volt source so if the 12 volt source were held at zero there would be no 5 volt.

The below link will take you to explicit instructions on opening the box and disconnecting the cables. Probably only need to measure the voltages on the hard drive power cable.
$69 for a new supply.
http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-power-supply.php

http://www.pccables.com/cabtech.htm#power
Power supply plug 3.5-inch

Pin#	Color Function
1	Yellow	+12V DC
2	Black Ground
3	Black Ground
4	Red +5V DC


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## DanT (Aug 28, 2000)

One other thing to check. Some may consider it stupid, but since we don't know your setup, it's possible. Is the outlet OK? Any chance the circuit breaker tripped? Is it plugged into a power strip? (If so, bypass it or try other known working jacks, etc.)


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

DanT said:


> One other thing to check. Some may consider it stupid, but since we don't know your setup, it's possible. Is the outlet OK? Any chance the circuit breaker tripped? Is it plugged into a power strip? (If so, bypass it or try other known working jacks, etc.)


Or just plug a lamp into the outlet the TiVo was plugged into.

You beat me to it. It's what I was thinking from the first post on.

It certainly needs to be checked first, just in case it hasn't been.


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## OLdDog (Dec 15, 2001)

JimSpence said:


> I concur that it is probably the power supply. Does the green light come on? Do you have a voltmeter to check the power supply? To the best of my knowledge, there are no fuses inside the box. (It's been quite awhile since I had my T60 open.)


Actually there is a fuse. It is on the back part of the board and it is covered with a black plastic tube and soldered in place. Back in the day we called that type of fuse a pigtail fuse.

I do not know where, currently, to find one and I do not remember the value but I think it is 125V 1.5A AGC type. Also, back in the day, there was a clip that you placed on a pigtail fuse and it held a second fuse in parallel. I had one and used it to replace the fuse in my box after using a razor blade to remove the plastic cover.

Radio Shack sells several solder in fuse holders that could be used in place of the current fuse.

Of course the problem very well might not be the fuse but it can't hurt to try.


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## bpier962 (Nov 4, 2003)

I removed the white ribbon cable from the power supply to the mother board and found that I now have power at the hard drive connector. I did not have power there before. I then plugged the white ribbon cable back in, reapplied power and again no power at the hard drive power connector. I also noticed that there is a clicking sound comming from the power supply when the ribbon cable is connected, and not there when the ribbon cable is unplugged.


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## dtremain (Jan 5, 2004)

bpier962 said:


> I removed the white ribbon cable from the power supply to the mother board and found that I now have power at the hard drive connector. I did not have power there before. I then plugged the white ribbon cable back in, reapplied power and again no power at the hard drive power connector. I also noticed that there is a clicking sound comming from the power supply when the ribbon cable is connected, and not there when the ribbon cable is unplugged.


I'm no electrician, but could it be a short in the cable?


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## wolflord11 (Jan 17, 2007)

Sounds like the Power Supply and Wall Outlet are fine, but it is the White Ribbon Cable.

The older Series 1 Directv/Tivo units had this problem. I know I had a similar thing in my DSR6000.

Replace the White Ribbon.


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## bigbadbevo (Jul 9, 2007)

I think I have a similar issue w/ my RCA DVR-40. I never thought to check the white ribbon cable... I am having similar probs as the OP. 

I bought a replacement power supply and that did NOT correct my problem so I would encourage the OP to exhaust all avenues before buying a power supply. It was not cheap ~$70. 

I'll check my ribbon cable tonight by hopefully borrowing one from a friend's working unit.


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## bpier962 (Nov 4, 2003)

bigbadbevo said:


> I'll check my ribbon cable tonight by hopefully borrowing one from a friend's working unit.


Please let me know if that fixes the problem. I don't have another tivo I can steal a cable from so I have been looking into buying a broken unit off ebay to see if I could make one good one.


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## dprovan (Apr 8, 2007)

If you plugged the white cable in and the clicking started that usually means the cable is carrying the power. The clicking is the power supply trying to compensate for a short somewhere. (also known as crowbarring or over-voltage protection). My bet is the main board is shorted to ground somewhere. If you didn't play around with anything look around the main board for anything that looks burnt.
Dan


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## dageekkid (Aug 23, 2004)

hey I am having the same issue... I tested the white cable and all connections seem to be ok... When I remove the cable I do see power to the HDDs... Also, since this is the second time I am wondering do I have to let it sit there for a week before it comes back by itslef?

Is there a reset button? I have the RCA DVR40 with 2 500GB drives....

On another note I have noticed the screen kept freezing and pixelated and thought I should turn it off and on.... I think that maybe the trouble is with the second drive... i.e. the data is on the second drive and the OS is on the first drive... Live action programming freezes as well which is a BIT%H!!!


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

dageekkid said:


> hey I am having the same issue... I tested the white cable and all connections seem to be ok... When I remove the cable I do see power to the HDDs... Also, since this is the second time I am wondering do I have to let it sit there for a week before it comes back by itslef?
> 
> Is there a reset button? I have the RCA DVR40 with 2 500GB drives....
> 
> On another note I have noticed the screen kept freezing and pixelated and thought I should turn it off and on.... I think that maybe the trouble is with the second drive... i.e. the data is on the second drive and the OS is on the first drive... Live action programming freezes as well which is a BIT%H!!!


Have you seen this:

http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/accessory_nomodel.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=375

It may help with your power problem. It is what I use for my dual drives.


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

rbtravis said:


> Have you seen this:
> 
> http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/accessory_nomodel.cfm?SID=1&Product_ID=375
> 
> It may help with your power problem. It is what I use for my dual drives.


Further Info.
http://www.9thtee.com/SmartStart-DS.pdf
Good luck.


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## dageekkid (Aug 23, 2004)

thanks for the info... however, the system won't start with original drive in it... what's that have to do with the smart start?


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

dageekkid said:


> thanks for the info... however, the system won't start with original drive in it... what's that have to do with the smart start?


 Did you read the PDF from 9tee it limits the amount of power used. I thought you said the drive was using to much power. Maybe I misunderstood what you said. 
http://www.9thtee.com/SmartStart-DS.pdf


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## dthreet (Jan 18, 2006)

I had this happen on a phillips dsr704. got a power supply on ebay for $12.00, still working great.


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## rbtravis (Aug 9, 2005)

From PSatori in Cleveland? Thats where I got my spares. Those were the good old days. Now that he is out of business Weaknees has raised the price to $69.00 plus. Be glad you got a bargain.


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## dageekkid (Aug 23, 2004)

ok but it still looks like that stupid white cable is the culprit... when I disconnect that cable the hard drive(s) come up... ( I used both the old original drive, and the new 2 drive upgrades both with the same outcome...) The cable looks roughed up but I ran a test on the cable and it seems it can pass Voltage... So what's the beef?


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## classicsat (Feb 18, 2004)

As said, it could be the mainboard shorted.


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## abzarod (Nov 8, 2007)

I had a similar problem on my DSR704. A new (actually used) power supply I got on eBay fixed the problem (approx. $40).


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