Is my Series 3 toast?

[bobcnn]

I came home today to find my Series 3 Tivo stuck on the welcome screen. I have unplugged it for 30 minutes, and plugged it back in, and it still goes back to the welcome screen. It does do a little clicking when it is trying to come on. Thanks in advance for the help!

[dcstager]

What did you do? Looks like a hard drive failure. Is your unit modified? Upgraded hard disc?

[bobcnn]

No, just how I got it in October 2007. I have talked to Tivo, they can send me a replacement for $150.

[txporter]

It does sound like you most likely have a hard drive failure. Since you are already out of warranty, you are probably better off upgrading the internal drive to something larger. You can get a drive from some of the online stores (Newegg, Amazon, etc) for less than $150 and have much more storage (1TB drives can be had for just a bit over $100 now - like the WD10EVCS (http://www.buy.com/prod/western-digital-av-gp-wd10evcs-hard-drive-1tb-serial-ata-300-serial/q/loc/101/206827123.html) [most recommended 1TB upgrade]).

Check out this thread for more information on how to do this yourself. It is really very easy if you have done any work on computers. Official eSATA Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=370784)

Main things you will need are T10/T15 torx wrenches, a new drive, a SATA connection or USB/SATA connector (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812232002) and an InstantCake (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm).

If having to start from scratch using InstantCake and a bare drive seems too daunting, you can also buy drives pre-loaded with the tivo software from DVRupgrade (http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/category.cfm?Category_ID=2&Product_ID=0&ModelID=229&type=Model&page=cat&CFID=1353525&CFTOKEN=10346052), Weakness (http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-hd-tcd652160.php), and even Ebay (example1 (http://cgi.ebay.com/New-TiVo-HD-Series-3-1000GB-1TB-Upgrade-FREE-SHIPPING_W0QQitemZ200291971146QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultD omain_0?hash=item200291971146&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1| 293%3A1|294%3A50)+ example2 (http://cgi.ebay.com/TiVo-HD-Series-3-1TB-Hard-Drive-Upgrade-Kit-NEW_W0QQitemZ280298384312QQcmdZViewItemQQptZLH_DefaultDomain _0?hash=item280298384312&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=72%3A570|66%3A2|65%3A12|39%3A1|240%3A1318|301%3A1| 293%3A1|294%3A50)). Those will still require you to open up your tivo to install the drive, but you can skip the InstantCake route and the necessity to hook it up to your computer.

I believe that both DVRupgrade and Weaknees also have services where you can ship your Tivo to them (for a price, of course) and they will actually install the drive for you.

Good luck!

Jason

ADD: I just noticed that you said Series 3. I am not sure if you have an original Series 3 or a TivoHD. There is a difference in the software so if you order an InstantCake or a pre-configured drive you will need to note which you have.

[barbeedoll]

What are you symptoms? If you see little colored rectangles in the picture, that is hard drive failure. Another symptom of approaching hard drive failure is that the screen where you see the most recent update may stick on Pending Restart.

I didn't see you saying that. I saw it was frozen. This happened to me and it was a failure of the unit itself, not the hard drive. You will need to get the replacement unit, in my opinion.

Out of eleven TiVos I have up and running, I have replaced four hard drives over the years and had to switch out one Series 3. The frozen symptom says it's the unit.

Barbeedoll

[dcstager]

Isn't there a panic check code he can enter from the remote during startup to get the Tivo to try and repair itself? Kickstart 57?

[ciper]

I suggest taking the hard drive out, hooking it to you computer and run diagnostics against it. For less than 150$ you could replace the drive yourself with a 1tb unit.

At worst case you can't figure it out yourself so you put it back together and send it back to Tivo for 150$ anyways. Worth a shot right?

[bobcnn]

I have the welcome screen frozen until I get tired of looking at it and I unplug the tivo. The two record red lights are lit, along with the smiling Tivo man, and the two lights just to the right of smiling Tivo man.