Cant remove tivo extender. Any help?

[moxyman]

Hey guys,

Ok, so my TivoHd has been a NIGHTMARE the last two weeks. Its constantly rebooting and if it is recording two shows at once it often only records 4 or 5minutes of one of them.

After reading the forum I see my 2 year old tivo extender could be the problem. So i am trying to remove it and see if that helps. I have unplugged it from the wall, and eSATA port then rebooted. I get the screens "am i sure i want to reboot, then thumbs down 3 times to accept". It says its removing it, and will reboot. Then it reboots, and starts the process all over again.

Ive tried it many times. Anybody have any ideas?

Thanks.

[richsadams]

From the "official" instructions:

http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/howto/getconnected/howto_add_recording_capacity.html

- Power off the compatible TiVo DVR by disconnecting the AC power cord.
- Disconnect the AC adapter cord and eSATA cable from the My DVR Expander.
- Plug in the DVR power cord and follow the onscreen instructions.
- This screen should appear:

http://i33.tinypic.com/2z4yclv.jpg

It doesn't sound like you're seeing that screen. Are you following those steps? They need to be followed exactly and in that order or more serious problems can arise.

But if you're doing all of that and you're seeing that screen and it's still not working it's possible that your internal drive is causing the problem. See my post about a similar issue here for more info:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=7529055#post7529055

Hope that helps and best of luck!

[moxyman]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that is the screen I got. After you press clear, the next screen has more info asking if you are sure, and if you are to press thumbs down 3 times and enter. I did that, and then it starts the process, reboots, and goes back to the screen above. I just kept circling those options, and would never remove it.

So then it reattached the extender (as per the directions), and when I rebooted I got the green screen of "hard drive error, will take 3 hours to fix etc". It has been showing that green screen error, then a blank screen with various colors, rebooting to the "Welcome and Almost There" screens, then back to the green hard drive error screen for the last 8 hours. So I take it that means both my Tivo and Extender are corrupted?

I am under warranty on them from my credit card, so I can have them replaced. But what i would LOVE to know is if there is anyway to find out what my Seasons Passes were. I had over 50 of them, and will never be able to remember them all. Is there any way to access this info now that my Tivo seems to be corrupted?

[dlfl]

Don't mean to be provocative -- just curious:

Are you saying your credit card will cover any failure under warranty even if operator error caused the failure? How do they ascertain they're not being scammed?

If you don't mind saying: What credit card and what is the annual fee?

[richsadams]

Thanks for the reply. Yes, that is the screen I got. After you press clear, the next screen has more info asking if you are sure, and if you are to press thumbs down 3 times and enter. I did that, and then it starts the process, reboots, and goes back to the screen above. I just kept circling those options, and would never remove it.

So then it reattached the extender (as per the directions), and when I rebooted I got the green screen of "hard drive error, will take 3 hours to fix etc". It has been showing that green screen error, then a blank screen with various colors, rebooting to the "Welcome and Almost There" screens, then back to the green hard drive error screen for the last 8 hours. So I take it that means both my Tivo and Extender are corrupted?

I am under warranty on them from my credit card, so I can have them replaced. But what i would LOVE to know is if there is anyway to find out what my Seasons Passes were. I had over 50 of them, and will never be able to remember them all. Is there any way to access this info now that my Tivo seems to be corrupted?Hmmmm...doesn't sound good. It still could be either drive, but if you can't get it to boot up fully it's hard to say which one. So it would be hard to determine which (if either) needs replacing because it may just be that one or the other is corrupted but not actually failing. My guess is that it's the internal drive.

Just to see what happens, you might try disconnecting the eSATA drive and running Kickstart 57 and/or Kickstart 58:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5643823#post5643823

If nothing else works I'd call TiVo and have them take a look at their logs. They may opt to just replace your TiVo but they also might be able to rectify the eSATA drive issue and get you back to square one at least.

AFAIK unless you set up Kid Zone (I think), there isn't any way to recover your Season Passes.

Best of luck and keep us posted!

[moxyman]

Its a Starwood Amex, and the annual fee is 24.99. They match whatever the original warranty was up to 1 year. You have to also provide proff that the item was purchased with your amex, along with some sort of diagnostic testing (which they pay for) and a copy of the originally warranty. It pretty simple, and I'm grateful to have it in this situation. Ive used the service once before, and had my money back in 1 week (after the diagnosis). You also gets points for every dollar you spend, and we usually get a one week vacation (air and hotel) a year with our points. I think its a great card!

[moxyman]

Hi Rich,

I called Tivo. They tried the kickstart, and it would work. They said its dead and needs to be replaced. I will have to make sure I set up the Kid Zone on my new unit, and will go look into that now.

Thanks

[richsadams]

I called Tivo. They tried the kickstart, and it would work. They said its dead and needs to be replaced. I will have to make sure I set up the Kid Zone on my new unit, and will go look into that now.
Did they say it "would" or "wouldn't" work? Just curious.

I keep meaning to set things up so that my SP's are remembered as well...have to get around to that...soon. ;)

[moxyman]

Sorry they said it WOULDNT work, and I needed to replace the Tivo HD.

I have another questions on the topic. Since I now have one working TivoHD and one with a corrupt hard drive. Is it possible (if i upgrade my harddrive on the working TivoHD with a new hard drive) to then take that old hard drive from the working TivoHD and put it into the TivoHD with the corrupt hard drive?

[richsadams]

I have another questions on the topic. Since I now have one working TivoHD and one with a corrupt hard drive. Is it possible (if i upgrade my harddrive on the working TivoHD with a new hard drive) to then take that old hard drive from the working TivoHD and put it into the TivoHD with the corrupt hard drive?You could do that, the OS is the same of course, but the cable card pairing would be wrong (unless you have FIOS). You'd have to have your cable cards re-paired by your cablco. Some will let you call the info in but a majority still insist on a truck roll. AFAIK everything else should work though.

[moxyman]

Yes I have FIOS, so thats good. Ok then, Ill go reseach just how to do this process.

Thanks.

[chazas]

Its a Starwood Amex, and the annual fee is 24.99. They match whatever the original warranty was up to 1 year. You have to also provide proff that the item was purchased with your amex, along with some sort of diagnostic testing (which they pay for) and a copy of the originally warranty. It pretty simple, and I'm grateful to have it in this situation. Ive used the service once before, and had my money back in 1 week (after the diagnosis).

I have had an Amex for over 20 years and the couple of times I've used this service they have not even required the diagnostic testing, they've just trusted me. It's a great benefit.

[richsadams]

Yes I have FIOS, so thats good. Ok then, Ill go reseach just how to do this process.

Thanks.FIOS doesn't pair their cable cards, so you may be good to go. The Drive Expansion and Drive Upgrade FAQ (http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5616160#post5616160) discusses how to R&R a TiVo hard drive. There's a video on YouTube as well (Series3 but the mechanics are the same):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ca5EUGZsqvU

[NYHeel]

I have had an Amex for over 20 years and the couple of times I've used this service they have not even required the diagnostic testing, they've just trusted me. It's a great benefit.

Almost all major credit cards double the manufacturar's warranty up to a year.

[moxyman]

Thanks for all the great info. One last question. I looked up "kid zones" but i don't see how that would protect my season passes. I know I'm out of luck now, but is there any way i can backup my season pass list so in the future i have it if something like this happens again? I don't want it to transfer over, just a simple list showing me the programs.

[richsadams]

If you sign up for Guru Guides or Kidzone TiVo indexes your Season Passes and Wishlists. When/if you replace your hard drive and TiVo connects to the Mother Ship for the first time it determines that something is missing and rebuilds your SP's and WL's automagically.

More here from Stephen:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=4121063#post4121063

Or you could enter your season passes on the TiVo web site. Then you can change the priority list on your TiVo itself. (Of course the show has to be in the current schedule to create an SP.)

[moxyman]

Hmm interesting. I just realized that I had the CNET GuruGuide already on the corrupt Tivo. Since talking last I went to Best Buy and got a new Tivo (HEROS was tonight). I have set it all up, but it didnt automatically update anything. Is there some option i need to turn on?

[richsadams]

Hmm interesting. I just realized that I had the CNET GuruGuide already on the corrupt Tivo. Since talking last I went to Best Buy and got a new Tivo (HEROS was tonight). I have set it all up, but it didnt automatically update anything. Is there some option i need to turn on?Per TiVoPony's post...

Note that it's all tied to your TSN...so if you RMA a box, this likely won't have any benefit for you (the replacement would have a different TSN).

The same would apply for any new box. :(