scott47
01-24-2009, 12:24 PM
Hello,
I recently purchased a Tivo S3 unit (TCD648250B) that has problems I can't seem to figure out. Here's what has happened:
Originally it came the stock 250GB drive. When this drive was installed the TIVO would not get past the Powering up screen. I could never get it to fully boot with this drive.
I used winmfs to copy the information from the stock drive and installed it to a new 500GB drive. If I remember correctly the software version that was copied was 9.2 or possibly 9.3. With this drive the Tivo was able to boot but had the problems described below.
Since I couldn't get the 500GB drive to work I pulled a working 1TB drive from my computer. I installed a completely clean version of the system files using the InstantCake software. If I remember correctly this installs software version 9.2 but has the same problems as the 500GB drive (described below).
When the TIVO was able to fully boot up it would never last long. Usually the unit would reboot by itself when it did not appear to be doing anything. If I tried to do anything with the TIVO it would almost immediately reboot itself. This happened if I tried to turn channels, download a program from my other TIVO and usually when I tried to connect to TIVO. After countless attempts and using a telephone connection instead of a broadband connection I was able to update the software version from TIVO at one point. I don't remember the version number but I know it was the version that allows Netflix files to be downloaded. I remember this because I thought that might be the problem but unfortunately it was not.
So long story short, I can't get this unit to remain usable. I've tried 3 different hard drives (one of which I know works perfectly) and the software that originally came with the unit as well as the InstantCake version. I've tried starting with everything hooked up and removing each item individually (network connection, cable, HDMI, phone line) but nothing helped. I've used every version of the software that I can find between 9.2 and 11.3 and nothing helped.
While the power supply appears to be perfect I'm hoping there is a way to test this since it appears the unit reboots whenever it tries do something new (possibly pulling more power). I suppose this could also be the hard drive but after using 3 different units I really hope not.
Since I bought this unit used it cannot be returned for warranty repairs.
I have read every single thread I can find that I thought might be related to this type of issue or provide some sort of solution. If I missed an answer to this I apologize.
Any and all help anyone can offer will be GREATLY appreciated! If you have any suggestions or questions please let me know and I'll respond as soon as I possibly can.
Thank you in advance,
Scott
I recently purchased a Tivo S3 unit (TCD648250B) that has problems I can't seem to figure out. Here's what has happened:
Originally it came the stock 250GB drive. When this drive was installed the TIVO would not get past the Powering up screen. I could never get it to fully boot with this drive.
I used winmfs to copy the information from the stock drive and installed it to a new 500GB drive. If I remember correctly the software version that was copied was 9.2 or possibly 9.3. With this drive the Tivo was able to boot but had the problems described below.
Since I couldn't get the 500GB drive to work I pulled a working 1TB drive from my computer. I installed a completely clean version of the system files using the InstantCake software. If I remember correctly this installs software version 9.2 but has the same problems as the 500GB drive (described below).
When the TIVO was able to fully boot up it would never last long. Usually the unit would reboot by itself when it did not appear to be doing anything. If I tried to do anything with the TIVO it would almost immediately reboot itself. This happened if I tried to turn channels, download a program from my other TIVO and usually when I tried to connect to TIVO. After countless attempts and using a telephone connection instead of a broadband connection I was able to update the software version from TIVO at one point. I don't remember the version number but I know it was the version that allows Netflix files to be downloaded. I remember this because I thought that might be the problem but unfortunately it was not.
So long story short, I can't get this unit to remain usable. I've tried 3 different hard drives (one of which I know works perfectly) and the software that originally came with the unit as well as the InstantCake version. I've tried starting with everything hooked up and removing each item individually (network connection, cable, HDMI, phone line) but nothing helped. I've used every version of the software that I can find between 9.2 and 11.3 and nothing helped.
While the power supply appears to be perfect I'm hoping there is a way to test this since it appears the unit reboots whenever it tries do something new (possibly pulling more power). I suppose this could also be the hard drive but after using 3 different units I really hope not.
Since I bought this unit used it cannot be returned for warranty repairs.
I have read every single thread I can find that I thought might be related to this type of issue or provide some sort of solution. If I missed an answer to this I apologize.
Any and all help anyone can offer will be GREATLY appreciated! If you have any suggestions or questions please let me know and I'll respond as soon as I possibly can.
Thank you in advance,
Scott