Access card or disk problem?

[FrogGremlin]

We have a pile of SA TiVos, but this is the first DirecTiVo we've ever had. It came from elsewhere in the family, where it was used for a while and then spent a couple of years in a box.

The DirecTiVo has an old access card in it. When I boot the machine, I get a grey screen with white lettering: "Cannot load kernel."

A call to DirecTV got a "You need to buy a new access card ($20)" response. I'm happy to do that, but not if the error message is really signalling something worse (e.g., a bad hard drive).

Any reassurance that this error message is indeed linked to the old access card would be VERY welcome. :)

[JimSpence]

My guess is that the OS on the hard drive is corrupt and needs to be reimaged. However, even after doing that you may still need a new card.

[FrogGremlin]

Thanks for the reply. In follow-up: If one attempts to boot a Sony Sat T-60 without any access card in the slot, what should one see (i.e., how far should the boot process get)?

[rock_doctor]

It will boot completely but will give you a message at the bottom of the screen to insert your card and you will receive no channels. In short, it will completely boot without the access card. You need a new drive and a OS image. The drive will cost $75 for a 250 gig and about $20 for a CD of the OS image.

good luck,
mark

P.S. I just confirmed this post by rebooting my series 1 w/o the card.

[FrogGremlin]

Thanks for running the experiment!

That seals it: InstantCake + a recycled drive (just pulled two 160s from an old Series 1), and then (if needed) a new access card.

[mr.unnatural]

Note that the stock kernels for series 1 DTivos do not have LBA48 support, meaning that you won't get full use out of any hard drive greater than 137GB. You'd have to replace the stock kernel with one that's been modified to support large drives > 137GB. Unless you know how to do this and have access to a modified LBA48 kernel you'd be better off using a pair of 120GB drives instead of the 160's.

[wscannell]

Or just use the MFStools 2 boot disk that does not support LBA48. Then Linux just sees 137GB and only uses that portion of the drive.