Third Hard Drive Failure

[robwatersou]

I have a Hughes Direct TV Tivo and have replaced two hard drives due to failures. The most recent replacement was only 3 months ago. My unit was again stuck at the gray "Powering Up" screen...but now it won't power up at all. Even the lights on the front won't come on. (Bad power supply?)

I love my unit, but I am wondering about the root cause of the hd failures. Is it heat? (The unit is in a cabinet...but the cabinet has no back.) Is it power? (The unit is NOT connected to a UPS.) Could something else be causing these failures? (Power supply, motherboard, etc.)

I'd rather not replace another hard drive, just to have it fail again quickly. Have people had success buying refurbished units?

Thanks in advance.

[John T Smith]

>Is it heat?

Well... when you go to the system information screen... what IS the heat?

How Hot is Too Hot
http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=333836

[stevel]

Power glitches could be an issue. A UPS is the nicest thing you can do for a TiVo. The lights not coming on are probably a dead power supply.

[goony]

Not much comfort, but an interesting article on hard drive reliability: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=342944

[robwatersou]

I don't know the heat level. Unfortunately, the unit is completely dead. I have no way to access the diagnostics now.

So what would you recommend? Replace the power supply and pick up a UPS?

Thanks

[painkiller]

Actually, yes.

As a suggestion, why not - replace the power supply, get yourself a UPS from Circuit City or Best Buy (anywhere from $40 to $100, depending on how long you'd think it should work when AC power is lost), and also - get yourself a laptop cooler of some type. This could be around $20 or more.

Slip the cooler under the TIVO, most of these type of coolers these days actually plug into a USB port and get the power through that.


Couldn't hurt.

The UPS actually has surge & spike protection on the same socket(s) providing the battery backup. SO it could be smoothing out power issues that could adversely affect electronics.

[Dkerr24]

In addition to purchasing a UPS, I'd rethink where you have the unit mounted. An enclosed cabinet would with no air circulation would shorten the life of any electronic component inside.

[Stanley Rohner]

My experience has been - Never had a UPS, never had a problem. A UPS isn't the universal answer to every problem like some people claim it is.

It's pretty easy to jump in and say -
You better get a UPS !
after someone mentions a problem.

[stevel]

A UPS is not a universal solution but the lack of one has caused many people distress. Consider yourself lucky if you've dodged the bullet this long.

[robwatersou]

Well, I've just ordered a new power supply, so hopefully that gets the unit up and running again. I just hope that the hard drive is still good...it's only been about 4 months since I last replaced the hard drive.

Once the new power supply is in, I think I'll invest in a UPS and carefully monitor the unit's temp. If the temp is too high (I read the other post about "how high is too high") I'll move it outside the cabinet.

[jjackson]

I had similar problems with hard drives going out pretty regularly. I have tivo units in 2 locations -- one was in a case with an open back, the other sitting out in the open. I went through about 3 hard drives in 3 years on the unit that was in the case. I moved that tivo so that it sat on top of the case about 3 years ago -- and it hasn't had a problem since. The unit sitting in the open has never had a problem, and it has been there for about 5 years. Who knows -- could be coincidence. But I do know that heat is not a hard drive's friend, so the cooler you can keep it, the better.