RoyGBiv
04-14-2007, 08:53 AM
I'd like some help from the experts with problems with my HR10-250. I know there have been some other posts about these kinds of things, but there is some information I would appreciate.
For the past few weeks it has started having the following problem anywhere from 0 to 6 times in a 60-minute show. The video will suddenly freeze, and then it will step forward for the next few seconds with obvious loss of some frames. During this time the audio will intermittently cut out, and then return. Usually minimal if any actual audio or video loss occurs, but it is not a smooth continuous playing of the recording and gets to be quite annoying. After 5 to 20 seconds things will then start to work normally again, and this may not happen again at all, or it may occur again within the next few minutes. It has happened on every different channel I've recorded. Interestingly, I don't ever remember it occurring while I was watching something "live." I do understand that there really is no "live" with the TiVo as everything gets recorded to the hard drive first.
So here are my questions. I understand that some of them are opinions/value judgments, but I usually value the opinions expressed here.
1) Do these symptoms mean the hard drive is going? or could there be some other explanation. I wouldn't want to replace the hard drive and find out it was really the CPU or something else that couldn't be fixed.
2) I know that by the fall I am going to have to switch to the HR20-700 DVR to receive all the HD programming that will be available in my area. Should I just switch now?
3) If I decide to switch, what will D* do for me? I own the HR10-250 (it was the first one sold at a B&M store in RI!), but I don't have any kind of protection plan. Will D* still switch it out, and if they do will it be for another HR10-250 or for the HR20? I understand that anything D* does for me will result in the equipment being leased and will require a 2-year commitment. I don't really care about either issue.
4) If I decide to try to replace the hard drive, should I try copying the current programs to the new drive? I don't have anything there that I "have to have," but there are things there I would like to watch. If the drive is damaged, does it make sense to try copying it? Will it just have unrecoverable read errors which will make the copying process even lengthier if not impossible?
5) When I first got the TiVo, I was thinking about either adding another drive or increasing the size of the drive, so downloaded "Hinsdale's" guides. Are they still accurate today? If I decide I just want to replace the drive, what is the easiest way to get software ver 6.3C onto the new drive and get it working? Can someone point me in the right direction for this.
Thanks for the help. It is greatly appreciated.
SMK
For the past few weeks it has started having the following problem anywhere from 0 to 6 times in a 60-minute show. The video will suddenly freeze, and then it will step forward for the next few seconds with obvious loss of some frames. During this time the audio will intermittently cut out, and then return. Usually minimal if any actual audio or video loss occurs, but it is not a smooth continuous playing of the recording and gets to be quite annoying. After 5 to 20 seconds things will then start to work normally again, and this may not happen again at all, or it may occur again within the next few minutes. It has happened on every different channel I've recorded. Interestingly, I don't ever remember it occurring while I was watching something "live." I do understand that there really is no "live" with the TiVo as everything gets recorded to the hard drive first.
So here are my questions. I understand that some of them are opinions/value judgments, but I usually value the opinions expressed here.
1) Do these symptoms mean the hard drive is going? or could there be some other explanation. I wouldn't want to replace the hard drive and find out it was really the CPU or something else that couldn't be fixed.
2) I know that by the fall I am going to have to switch to the HR20-700 DVR to receive all the HD programming that will be available in my area. Should I just switch now?
3) If I decide to switch, what will D* do for me? I own the HR10-250 (it was the first one sold at a B&M store in RI!), but I don't have any kind of protection plan. Will D* still switch it out, and if they do will it be for another HR10-250 or for the HR20? I understand that anything D* does for me will result in the equipment being leased and will require a 2-year commitment. I don't really care about either issue.
4) If I decide to try to replace the hard drive, should I try copying the current programs to the new drive? I don't have anything there that I "have to have," but there are things there I would like to watch. If the drive is damaged, does it make sense to try copying it? Will it just have unrecoverable read errors which will make the copying process even lengthier if not impossible?
5) When I first got the TiVo, I was thinking about either adding another drive or increasing the size of the drive, so downloaded "Hinsdale's" guides. Are they still accurate today? If I decide I just want to replace the drive, what is the easiest way to get software ver 6.3C onto the new drive and get it working? Can someone point me in the right direction for this.
Thanks for the help. It is greatly appreciated.
SMK