I WILL PAYPAL YOU $40 IF YOU CAN HELP ME!!! (frozen svr3000)

[MYTIVOISFROZEN]

my sony svr-3000 is frozen on the information clearing / reset screen - " this may take up to an hour " for over a week. i have already tried unplugging / disconnecting everything and reconnecting. that stupid blinking red button is going to make me put a bullet in my head. SAVE MY LIFE, and i'll give you $40. no questions asked. if your tip saves my lifetime tivo, i will email you and send you $40. THANK YOU!!

[ZikZak]

Your hard drive is probably dead. You can replace it with a drive from Weaknees (see forum advertisers). The lifetime subscription is attached to the motherboard, not the drive, so it will stay.

[litzdog911]

This could be the classic symptom of hard disk failure, or soon-to-be failure. Can you still get it to restart when you disconnect/reconnect AC power? If so, and you value the recordings on your Tivo, you may want to act fast to replace or upgrade that hard drive. But try these tips first:

*** Note that problems like this can also be caused by AC power spikes or fluctuations. Your Tivo is essentially a computer inside, so you should seriously consider powering it with an uninterruptable power supply (UPS). Good quality 350VA UPS's are available for well below $50 and will power your Tivo for nearly an hour, plus they provide much better powerline isolation and protection than a surge protector.

http://www.staples.com/Catalog/Browse/Sku.asp?PageType=1&Sku=474045


*** Check your Tivo's internal temperature. If it's running too hot you'll sometimes see problems like this. Look in "Messages & Setup" -> "System Information" and scroll down a couple of pages to see the internal temperature. Anything under 50-deg C is usually OK. If it's higher than that, make sure you have good airflow under and around your Tivo. It's a good idea to raise your Tivo up an inch or so for better airflow. Some folks use pop bottle caps under each corner.


*** If your Tivo is a combination DirecTV+Tivo receiver, you should try re-seating your access card. Remove power, remove the access card, wait a few minutes, re-insert the access card, and reconnect power.

*** If you have a Series2 Tivo with v7.2.2 software and a network adapter, try unplugging the network adapter from the back of the Tivo. There have been reports with v7.2.2 where the network adapter causes the Tivo to hang at bootup. If it boots without the network adapter, then reconnect it and make sure it is still supported and works with v7.2.2 software.


*** If you're comfortable opening up your Tivo (which will void your warranty if you still have one), then disconnect and reconnect all the cables leading to the hard drive(s). Sometimes connections can work loose, or tarnish, and re-seating them will help.


*** If these steps don't help, then it's likely a hard drive problem. You can try a "Clear and Delete Everything" (in the Tivo's "Messages & Setup" menu). That might help the drive repair itself, but you will lose your recordings, Season Passes, and other settings.

*** Finally, if all else fails, then you might want to try connecting your Tivo drive(s) to your PC and run the disk manufacturer's DOS-based diagnostic utilities. These are usually available for download from their web site. Unfortunately they don't always detect all of the failures that can disrupt your Tivo. Some folks have reported success using the SpinRite disk repair utility available from Gibson Research at http://www.grc.com/sr/spinrite.htm or HDD Regenerator at http://www.dposoft.net/#b_hddhid

Also check out these sources of information, much of which you'll find in the Tivo Upgrade Center forum:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25

http://www.weaknees.com/index.html

http://tivo.upgrade-instructions.com/

http://www.newreleasesvideo.com/hinsdale-how-to/

http://www.ptvupgrade.com/products/instantcake/

http://www.9thtee.com/

[shanew1289]

Man, Valiant attempt for $40 :)




(Yea I know, its not for the money :up: )

[MYTIVOISFROZEN]

even after unplugging and disconnecting the hd, upon plugging the unit back in it automatically powers up. basically, with or without the hd it starts up automatically. i cannot turn the unit off while it is plugged in. i thought it might be the hd also, so i tried powering off the unit without the hd installed, but it didnt work. and the last thing i want to do is buy a new drive that i cant use. i will wait for a few more suggestions - and if that doesnt work, i will give the new hd a try. before it crashed i did have my eye on a maxtor 300gb... please keep the suggestions coming and i am very "comfortable opening my tivo". thats how i took it out the first time, litzdog :) and no, i dont give a turd about whats on it... i just want to come home from work and watch something other than crap sitcoms for 3 hours.

[Mrx]

remover the controller board from the harddrive and replace with one from a working drive.

[wscannell]

Probably hard drive. Time for Instantcake from ptvupgrade.com

[ZikZak]

i cannot turn the unit off while it is plugged in. i thought it might be the hd also, so i tried powering off the unit without the hd installed, but it didnt work.

What are you talking about? Tivo's don't "turn off," ever. The only way to turn them off is to unplug them. If you tried "powering off" (i.e. unplugging) and that didn't turn off the unit, I'll pay you $40 for your perpetual motion machine.

Basically, nothing you've said eliminates the hard drive as the primary suspect.

[tbeckner]

What are you talking about? Tivo's don't "turn off," ever. The only way to turn them off is to unplug them. If you tried "powering off" (i.e. unplugging) and that didn't turn off the unit, I'll pay you $40 for your perpetual motion machine.A Sony SVR-3000 or 2000, has a power (actually standby) button on the remote control, so most Sony users believe it turns off their units. It is understandable that he believed the unit was powering off when he pressed the power button on the remote. :)

Althought, it is likely that the hard drive is failing.

Based upon his last post, it appears that he cracked the machine and actually pulled the hard drive, which for most users I do not recommend, because touching the hard drive electronics on the bottom of the drive and discharging a static charge will at the very least weaken the electronics, if it doesn't cause an immediate failure.

[MYTIVOISFROZEN]

let me try explaining again, for those, ahem, not equipped with a SONY svr tivo. when it is ON, there is a blue light in the front. when i UESD TO press the power button, the blue light would turn off, a gray screen would briefly display "press power button to turn tivo on" and my video input screen would then go blank. (hence, silly me, i considered it to be "off") now, i am not able to plug in the unit without the blue light automatically coming on, and the tivo diverting back to the frozen screen. i hope that clears things up. if anyone who has experience with a SONY svr-3000 that can help, the $40 is yours. as for zak, if the new hd solves the prob, i will pay you with my mpeg footage of my tivo "turning off", and we'll call it even :) why must all replies end up with some ego-maniac m.i.t. dropout giving me bs about technicalities? as for me, i am not a complete retard... i have replaced hd's on cpus, i have just never had trouble with a tivo - SO: all those who suggest replacing the hard drive -- just say so, and i will be on my way.

[Dan203]

The "power" button on the Sony unit is nothing more then a simple Stand By mode. It turns off the LEDs, blanks the video output and passes through the cable single sinilar to the TV/VCR switch on an old VCR. It never actually powers down the TiVo. As ZikZak says the only way to truly power it down is to unplug it. Also not that when a TiVo is missing it's hard drive, or the hard drive has failed, it will still display a basic TiVo welcome screen. This is built into the firware of the motherboard. It doesn't actually kick over to the hard drive until it gets to the "almost there" screen. If you never see that screen then your hard drive is toast, and the only way to fix the TiVo is to replace the drive.

This is a very common failure for a TiVo, and in fact given the age of your unit kind of an expected one. Hard drives only last so long, expecially when they're being used 24/7. If you want to save the lifetimje subscription then replacing the hard drive is your best option. If you don't care about it and simply want to move on, then you should take alook at the new S2DT units or the upcoming Series 3 units. They're both vastly superior to the unit you have and have some really cool features which you might enjoy.

Dan

[mick66]

18 minutes after your initial post, the solution to the problem was given.
You didn't know what was wrong with your Tivo so you came here to ask the people who do know about these things, only to say that they're wrong. What sense does that make? You could have downloaded Instant Cake and installed it on a hard drive to get your Tivo functioning again in the time that's been wasted doubting the diagnosis.

[David Platt]

why must all replies end up with some ego-maniac m.i.t. dropout giving me bs about technicalities? as for me, i am not a complete retard...

I've never understood people that come here looking for help, then when people offer it, they get mad and insult them.

[AZ_Tivo]

He is just trying to save his $40 :).

I've never understood people that come here looking for help, then when people offer it, they get mad and insult them.

[classicsat]

He is just trying to save his $40 :).
IMO, he's jsut being overly optomistic the drive is good, hoping the problem is somewhere else.


FWIW, the OS/software has to be fully booted for the remote to have any effect.

[ZikZak]

as for zak, if the new hd solves the prob, i will pay you with my mpeg footage of my tivo "turning off", and we'll call it even :) why must all replies end up with some ego-maniac m.i.t. dropout giving me bs about technicalities?

No thanks, I've seen the standby screen before.

And I am an egomaniac Caltech graduate, if you please. I eat MIT dropouts for breakfast.

[MYTIVOISFROZEN]

the tivo lifetime service isnt activated - they say its because the system # was deleted. any ideas? apparently, the tivo has to be able to read it. they say its only with sony units. i think im gonna try putting the old hd back in. good idea?

[buddhawood]

Don't forget to do a "clear and delete" to update your replacement drive to your unit.

[ldc3000]

Had the same thing happen to my SVR3000. Sent it to Sony and it was the hard drive.

[MYTIVOISFROZEN]

after the clear and delete, my tivo seems to be up and running with my new 300gb maxtor hd. if it continues to hold up through the weekend, i am going to split my "reward" between the two of you. send me a private massage with your email address and i will gladly send a paypal for $20 each. thank you to all for your assistance, my life can now go on. :D :up: :up: :up:

[greg_burns]

$20 if I give you a private massage? PASS!!!

[ldc3000]

$20 if I give you a private massage? PASS!!!

XD!