Is my Directv Tivo Fried?

[cowmommy]

I'm so sad, I had issues with my Tivo (RCA series 2 Tivo) kind of cutting out. Not really pixelating but enough that I figured it was a sending of the signal issue so I called DirecTv to try and get things fixed up from their end. I had already restarted before I called but they wanted me to unplug it and restart it that way. When I unplugged it and then plugged it back up a minute later, the only thing that will kick on is the fan :confused:no lights flash, no hard drive spinning, nothing :( I was hoping it was just a power supply issue but after reading this (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/archive/index.php/t-278432.html)thread it looks bleak. I have another perfectly functioning directivo here that I can probably use for some parts if I know what to replace, but I can't just turn it on because it's from a collection account :rolleyes:

Question 2, if I end up getting a new box can I put my hard drive in it from this one and still have access to all my recorded stuff?

[rbtravis]

You probably have a bad hard drive. Buy a new hard drive from the vender or yoour choice. You can get 500GB for 89.00. Buy a copy of instantcake from dvrupgrade to replace the Operating System. The answer to question 2 is NO with instantcake.

[cowmommy]

You probably have a bad hard drive. Buy a new hard drive from the vender or yoour choice. You can get 500GB for 89.00. Buy a copy of instantcake from dvrupgrade to replace the Operating System. The answer to question 2 is NO with instantcake.

it's a new hard drive. I replaced it at the end of last year. this isn't the same thing it was doing then, then it would somewhat boot up, no lights or anything is coming on now.
If it helps, when I unhook the IDE cable, leaving the power supply hooked up to the hard drive, it spins:confused:

[stevel]

Uh oh. That's a bad sign and one I see with increasing frequency in reports from users.

Try #1 - replace the IDE cable.
Try #2 - replace or repair the power supply

[cowmommy]

Uh oh. That's a bad sign and one I see with increasing frequency in reports from users.

Try #1 - replace the IDE cable.
Try #2 - replace or repair the power supply

OK I will replace both and PRAY

[stevel]

You may decide that it's not cost-effective to replace the power supply, though I have read that it is often a particular capacitor that fails and that this can be replaced by a someone familiar with desoldering/soldering circuit board components.

[Dkerr24]

Like Stevel said, it might end up being cheaper buying a used DTivo unit off eBay, then pulling the power supply from it to swap out on your unit.

[cowmommy]

We have another fully functioning unit here to swap out parts from and swapped out the IDE cable and power supply and it is now working! I'm so excited! I'm not sure which one fixed it but we changed them out and it now is perfectly functioning. is there a way to test the old power supply to see if it is good or not? Just out of curiosity

[stevel]

Swap the IDE cable back is the easiest test.