Series 1 killing hard drives

[Mojomanny]

MY Series 1 Tivo is eating hard drives. After a drive dies I am able to replace it with a new one and have it work fine (after using MFS and the original drive of course).

The new drive will work fine. Over time I will get all the updates. I can rebuild my wish list and preferences. Everything moves along just fine.

At some point (usually about a month or more after installation) I will come in and the tivo will be frozen and non-responsive. after powering down it will not reboot. I replace it with a new drive and begin the cycle again.

The drive that is dead to tivo works fine in Linux and does not appear to have any errors (very strange, I know). I can set them up again using MFS, I just do not want to install it back in the tivo until I get an idea what's going on.

I am hoping someone out there will have some idea what is going on. What is causing the drives to die.

I have replaced three drives and do not think its a drive problem, the circumstances and length of operation are too similar. Two drives were WD and the other Seagate.

I thought heat might be a problem so I ran the latest drive without a cover and am positive heat is not an issue.

Any thoughts before I set up yet another drive? I would really like to put an end to this silly cycle.

Thanks in advance!

[mr.unnatural]

My guess would be a power supply problem. The fact that the drives appear live and well in Linux indicates that it's not actually killing the drives. It is odd that the drives work initially and then stop working after a while. Check all of your internal connections amd make sure all wiring harnesses are tight and that all connector pins are fully seated in their connectors. Molex pins sometimes get pushed out the back of the housing and make intermittent connections.

If you have a DirecTivo then check the flat white cable between the power supply and mainboard. Pull the cable free and clean the contacts using a pencil eraser. If you have any boot issues after doing this then repeat the process. It sometimes takes several attempts to get the cable cleaned and reseated properly before it works again.

It could also be a heat issue even though you said it wasn't. S1 DTivos are notorious for overheating. Make sure the fan is running and that it's not clogged with dust. Make sure the bottom of the unit is not obstructed to allow proper airflow. Try and avoid putting a Tivo inside of a cabinet and keep it out in the open for proper ventilation.

[kb7oeb]

I had a similar problem with a computer, same thing, drive would work fine for a month or two and start locking up. I replaced the power supply in the computer and the problem went away.