# I killed the TiVo - what next?



## wearydba (Oct 23, 2007)

Hi all.

After having a perfectly working TiVo with lifetime sub for almost 5 years, I bit the bullet and bought a cachecard and fitted a 250GB Seagate disk that I removed from a PC (so I know it was OK). The old one was getting a bit whiney.

So, having fitted it all, I now just get a small click from the power supply and an LED on the cache card. And nothing else, no disk spins up, no chassis fan turns.

If I remove the cache card, still nothing. If I unplug the IDE cable from the board, the disk spins up. Tried another IDE cable, tried another PSU. Nada.

So, I killed it good and proper then. I knew I shoulda left it alone.

So, is my lifetime sub transferrable to another TiVo, or have I just spent 180 quid on a quick exit from the world of TiVo ?

What would *you* do next?

Chris.

p.s. I have to say, the TiVo is a horrible, cheap nasty piece of hardware running a great OS. And horrible to work on... who the hell thought that twisty bits of metal would be better than screws?


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

The only thing to try now would be a different drive. Seagate drives can be a bit odd in TiVos - two 7200.9 series as a pair just won't work at all for instance, something to do with the firmware according to Seagate!

Any drive >= 30gb can be configured with Hooch, so if you have another drive lying around it might be worth a try. That's what I'd try next anyway.

If the motherboard is shot then if you can acquire another unsubbed TiVo - eg. from eBay - and give TiVo CS a call they *may* let you transfer the sub from your broken TiVo to your "spare", but I can't guarantee it.


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## 6022tivo (Oct 29, 2002)

Ide cable the incorrect way round will stop it from spinning?? Just worth a punt.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

You can't put an IDE cable on the wrong way round


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## wearydba (Oct 23, 2007)

Thanks both for your suggestions.

The drive is actually a Seagate 7200.9. How spooky.

Oh, and I did try the IDE cable the other way round too!

Will have a go at hooking the original drive back in, although it still bothers me that the chassis fan doesn't spin up ever, even with no disk attached. (But then this *is* the first time I took the lid off one of these things, so what do I know?)

But not tonight....


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## wearydba (Oct 23, 2007)

cwaring said:


> You can't put an IDE cable on the wrong way round


You can on these.... the blanked off cables don't fit at all 'cos there's no missing pin, so you have to use the type with all 40 holes.

Which fit both ways round. 

C.


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## 6022tivo (Oct 29, 2002)

cwaring said:


> You can't put an IDE cable on the wrong way round


Of course you can, some cables are not keyed, have seen many a time in a PC that is not detecting the drive and the drive not spinning.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Oh, okay  I tried to on mine (just for fun) and couldn't do it so I assumed they were all the same


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## bigwold (Jun 4, 2003)

cwaring said:


> Oh, okay  I tried to on mine (just for fun)


Strange idea of fun. I suggest you stay away from mains cables.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Last time I had the lid off I meant


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## wearydba (Oct 23, 2007)

Well, the original disk still produces the same (lack of) activity, so I guess I'll just have to get a Sky+ box.






Kidding!
(About the Sky+ box, not the dead TiVo.)


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## AMc (Mar 22, 2002)

I can't think of much else that you haven't already tried other than removing the cachecard and using the original drive + PSU?


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## BrianHughes (Jan 21, 2001)

Possibly the PSU has failed - at least partly. Perhaps it couldn't handle the load. I'd guess that the 12V line is dead. It's a fairly simple thing to replace. I seem to remember that tivoheaven.co.uk have them


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Have you tried a different drive yet?


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## wearydba (Oct 23, 2007)

blindlemon said:


> Have you tried a different drive yet?


Hi... yes, I have tried the original drive, which was fully working when pulled. Thus I have returned the Tivo back to its original config (with exception of leaving the new PSU fitted), and the thing is dead. That and the 250GB Seagate were the only IDE drives I had available to try out.

I've obviously borked something on the board... well, there's no a lot else left to blame, is there? I must admit that it got subjected to a couple of things that had me sucking air through my teeth, especially trying to get that freakin' cachecard on.

I should have left it alone, really, and just bought a second TiVo to experiment on.

The telly sits idle waiting for a replacement TiVo... can't face "oridinary" telly.


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## Olly (Sep 29, 2001)

To facilitate the cachecard installation you need to temporarily remove the adjacent plastic foot from the bottom of the case. Too late now but it may help others.

It sounds like the power supply has died or maybe you have trapped or shorted a wire somewhere. They usually leave the spare molex power connector wedged under the motherboard.


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## Heedyheed (Jan 17, 2004)

And it's as well to adopt good anti-static precautions while working on the box. Bit of a pain, but an awful lot cheaper than having to fork out for a repair or a new box.


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## Heedyheed (Jan 17, 2004)

Another thing...

If it's possible that you had cables the wrong way round at some point, maybe both the psus are now faulty.

It's worth getting a cheap multimeter (if you don't already have one) and checking their output before writing the whole lot off.

Mike


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

Yes. If your Seagate drive is in fact faulty then it could potentially have damaged both PSUs. 

I'd try another drive and another PSU - preferably borrowed rather than purchased though


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## Pete77 (Aug 1, 2006)

cwaring said:


> You can't put an IDE cable on the wrong way round


You can attach the IDE cable to the Tivo motherboard the wrong way round. Its only the hard drive that won't let you connect it the wrong way.

I know because I have done it and had symptoms similar to those mentioned above.


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## cwaring (Feb 12, 2002)

Hokey-dokey


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## wearydba (Oct 23, 2007)

I did spot the spare molex wedged under the board... like I already mentioned, this is a really badly engineered / put together piece of kit! You don't think the Molex was actually keeping the board clear from touching part of the chassis underneath do you?

Thanks to all for your comments... I have another TiVo now which I will try and get set-up as quick as poss, plus a second spare for having another bash at upgrading. Fortunately there seems to be a flood of TiVo's on the secondhand market at the moment, though I've yet to work out how I get my lifetime sub off the old unit.

Since the old unit won't boot, how would I identify it to TiVo Customer Services?

The Seagate disk was happily churning away in my PC for several months, and there were no problems whatsoever with the _Hooch_ install. It will probably make its way back into the PC anyway now, and I'll perhaps get another drive for the TiVo... the 400GB Samsungs seem to be popular, although the last Samsung I bought sounded like a bag of spanners from new and died after 2 days. Any recommendations for a trouble-free TiVo disk ?

Thanks.


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## blindlemon (May 12, 2002)

wearydba said:


> IYou don't think the Molex was actually keeping the board clear from touching part of the chassis underneath do you?


Unlikely as earlier TiVos in the production run had two drives and hence used both connectors.



wearydba said:


> I've yet to work out how I get my lifetime sub off the old unit.


Call TiVo CS and ask them if they can transfer the sub to your 'spare' TiVo. Ask them first if they can repair it, and when they say no, mention your 'spare' and ask about transferring the sub.



wearydba said:


> Since the old unit won't boot, how would I identify it to TiVo Customer Services?


Quote the TiVo Service Number from the back panel - eg. 023-0000-601F-1234 or your account number if you have it.



wearydba said:


> the 400GB Samsungs seem to be popular, although the last Samsung I bought sounded like a bag of spanners from new and died after 2 days. Any recommendations for a trouble-free TiVo disk ?


I would still strongly recommend the Samsung HD400LD. The drive you had was probably damaged by somebody dropping it before you received it.


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