# No video on Premiere after HD swap! Help



## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

So I just posted this in the Help Center then I thought maybe I should post it here since it is related to a HD upgrade. Mods, feel free to delete one of the posts (whichever one doesn't belong). Thanks!

Hello all,

I have a Tivo Premiere with lifetime service. I purchased a 2Tb hard drive off Ebay that had the Tivo Premiere SW preinstalled. I installed the drive and it worked perfectly all day the first day I installed it. Then when I tried it the next day I found that the Tivo was in a loop "starting up". Every 3-4 minutes it would reboot instead of moving on with the start up process. After letting it do this for about an hour I power cycled the Tivo. It started up normally doing the "starting up" screen for about 3 minutes then the entire screen became green. I left it sit there for about 15 minutes and it never changed. I then power cycled it again...but it would not give me any video at all. I tried a different HDMI cable, different HDMI port, leaving it unplugged for 24 hours, unplugging the hard drive for 10 minutes then plugging it back in. Still no video.

I then decided to put the original hard drive back in thinking it was a bad hard drive or bad software (maybe a bad software update)....but I get no video with the original hard drive either now. I even tried another TV and component video cables. The Tivo doesn't show any lights when I press buttons on the remote and nothing lights up when I press the format button on the box either.

I did a chat with Tivo and they said they could see the hard drive was changed. At that time I stopped responding because I wasn't sure if I should tell them or not. The TIvo is out of warranty but it still has lifetime service.

Is there anything I can do to fix it? What are my options if it isn't fixable? Should I admit to Tivo that I swapped the hard drive? Please help, my wife is going to kill me if I don't get this working after all the money we spent on it!

Thanks in advance.

Patrick


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

I can only suggest that you try to find another (working)Premiere hard drive.

You would not be lying that the Tivo stopped working with the 2 TB hard drive that you purchased. Surely there's a warranty on the 2 TB. You don't necessarily have to offer that the original does not work either(Assume the original was fine before?).

Outside of that(if it still doesn't work with even another drive), I can only suggest to maybe suspect the power supply, and all that entails.

Good luck.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

I tried the 2TB drive that worked on Day 1 but not after being on over night and the original drive which always worked (and in theory still does).

The only light that lights up is the green light showing that it is powered on. I can hear the fan (or something) on as well.

I'd greatly appreciate any advice!


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

preilly44 said:


> I tried the 2TB drive that worked on Day 1 but not after being on over night and the original drive which always worked (and in theory still does).
> 
> The only light that lights up is the green light showing that it is powered on. I can hear the fan (or something) on as well.
> 
> I'd greatly appreciate any advice!


Again. Get another 2 TB drive from where you bought it. Surely it(the image) has a warranty.

If another drive doesn't work, then suspect ps(power supply) or mb(motherboard) issues. You can replace the power supply. Maybe you can find one cheap.

I just read a post here, where the guy said he threw his Premiere in the garbage. Maybe you can talk him into mailing you the ps.

Good luck.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

I'm confused how trying another drive will help. I already tried the 2tb drive and the original 320Gb drive (which never had any issues...I just upgraded it for a bigger drive). The 320Gb drive should work fine if anything is going to work since it is the stock drive.

If it was the power supply would the fan and green light turn on? I'm an IT guy but not a Tivo guy (yet) but I'm just trying to rule things out.

How does the lifetime service transfer work with Tivo for bad units?

Thanks again!


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

preilly44 said:


> I'm confused how trying another drive will help. I already tried the 2tb drive and the original 320Gb drive (which never had any issues...I just upgraded it for a bigger drive). The 320Gb drive should work fine if anything is going to work since it is the stock drive.
> 
> If it was the power supply would the fan and green light turn on? I'm an IT guy but not a Tivo guy (yet) but I'm just trying to rule things out.
> 
> ...


First of all, take HDMI out of the equation until you solve your problem.

Now, have you put the original drive back in and tried that yet?

If so, what happened.

If not, do so, and report back.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

Hello, Thanks for the response. I currently have the stock/factory 320GB drive in the unit and I connected it to the TV (directly) via component cables. The green light lights up on the front of the Tivo and I can hear the fan (or something) start but there is no video still. 

Ideas?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

preilly44 said:


> Hello, Thanks for the response. I currently have the stock/factory 320GB drive in the unit and I connected it to the TV (directly) via component cables. The green light lights up on the front of the Tivo and I can hear the fan (or something) start but there is no video still.
> 
> Ideas?


My first idea is that something other than the hard drive decided to go bad at the same time.

Double check all of the internal connections, SATA data, both ends, SATA power, both ends, power supply to motherboard, both ends, front panel to motherboard, both ends, to make sure you didn't accidentally partially dislodge something.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

Yeah, I'm hoping that's not the case but it appears that it might be. I will double check all the connections tonight.

Assuming something else went bad on it, what is the next step? Can I swap it out with Tivo for a refurb? The warranty expired about 6 months ago of course.



unitron said:


> My first idea is that something other than the hard drive decided to go bad at the same time.
> 
> Double check all of the internal connections, SATA data, both ends, SATA power, both ends, power supply to motherboard, both ends, front panel to motherboard, both ends, to make sure you didn't accidentally partially dislodge something.


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

preilly44 said:


> Yeah, I'm hoping that's not the case but it appears that it might be. I will double check all the connections tonight.
> 
> Assuming something else went bad on it, what is the next step? Can I swap it out with Tivo for a refurb? The warranty expired about 6 months ago of course.


Sorry, I only do hardware. Corporate policy is the next guy over.

Maybe jfh3 can speak for them.


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## dwit (May 5, 2004)

preilly44 said:


> Yeah, I'm hoping that's not the case but it appears that it might be. I will double check all the connections tonight.
> 
> Assuming something else went bad on it, what is the next step? Can I swap it out with Tivo for a refurb? The warranty expired about 6 months ago of course.


Under similar *ordinary circumstances*, I routinely read of Tivo CS offering a refurb replacement for $150.

With the hard drive tampering, can't say. May not matter to Tivo one way or another since there is no warranty now anyway. Won't hurt to give it a shot.

Let us know what happens.


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## parzec (Jun 21, 2002)

Use composite output and avoid all HDMI or component HD signals. Also let the Tivo sit overnight on GSOD and don't repeatedly power up/power down the system. A similar problem existed with the HD DirecTivo, and one solution was to pull the HDMI daughter card. Not sure about your unit and if the HDMI is built into the mother board, but look for this as a possibility. Also, you could try purchasing a working $99 Tivo without lifetime (or even less on ebay/cragislist) and swapping mother boards -- that could rule out power supply and some connection issues. If it is the motherboard, you will have to beg Tivo to repair/replace the unit for a fee. Just be straightforward with them about what happened.


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## parzec (Jun 21, 2002)

In the event Tivo won't repair the unit, I wonder if there is a way to transfer the Tivo chip that contains the TSN to a working unit, or if there is a way to use an Eprom burner to change the TSN ?


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

parzec said:


> In the event Tivo won't repair the unit, I wonder if there is a way to transfer the Tivo chip that contains the TSN to a working unit, or if there is a way to use an Eprom burner to change the TSN ?


Being able to swap the crypto chip ended after the original Series 3, I'm told, when TiVo stopped using a separate Atmel chip and had the TSN built into the main chipset or something else equally difficult to replace.

Not that swapping the separate chips was exactly a piece of cake.


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## parzec (Jun 21, 2002)

unitron said:


> Being able to swap the crypto chip ended after the original Series 3, I'm told, when TiVo stopped using a separate Atmel chip and had the TSN built into the main chipset or something else equally difficult to replace.
> 
> Not that swapping the separate chips was exactly a piece of cake.


Yeah, i was reading that even after replacing the prom (time consuming), the unit would still hang because of some additional ID checking with console logs. Bummer.....but even more glad I never traded in my TivoHD's for a Premier.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

So I took it apart today again then connected it directly with component cable with the original hard drive and I get the same thing. No video with just the fan running and the green light on. I guess it's time to call Tivo. If they won't do it cheap I'll try buying a Premiere on Ebay and swapping out the motherboard.

Thanks for all your thoughts and ideas....please keep them coming...I'm really in the dog house for this one!

Patrick


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## unitron (Apr 28, 2006)

preilly44 said:


> So I took it apart today again then connected it directly with component cable with the original hard drive and I get the same thing. No video with just the fan running and the green light on. I guess it's time to call Tivo. If they won't do it cheap I'll try buying a Premiere on Ebay and swapping out the motherboard.
> 
> Thanks for all your thoughts and ideas....please keep them coming...I'm really in the dog house for this one!
> 
> Patrick


One thing you can try is to provide the hard drive with power from some other source, like a computer, to see if relieving the TiVo's power supply from having to run it will let it properly and sufficiently power the motherboard.

Have it spun up before plugging in the TiVo's power supply.

(I suggest having the TiVo plugged into one of those outlet strips with a switch so that you don't risk accidentally moving anything plugging and unplugging a cord)

Power supplies can be in a gray area between perfect and dead.

If that does the trick, look at repairing or replacing the power supply.

If it doesn't, the power supply could still be at fault.


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## preilly44 (May 31, 2011)

So I called Tivo and the rep said she couldn't swap it out or do anything. I then asked if a supervisor could do anything so she put me on hold for five minutes then said no. I then asked to speak to a supervisor and they agreed to swap it out for $150 plus tax. Not a bad deal at all. I was honest and upfront about the hard drive swap.

Thanks everybody and Tivo!


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