Reboot when accessing Video on Demand

[copwriter]

Three times in the last week, my TiVo Series 3 has spontaneously rebooted when I was trying to access Netflix from the Video on Demand screen. Everything works once the reboot is complete, but this is new behavior and getting to be annoying. Has anyone experienced a similar problem, and is there a fix?

[unitron]

Originally Posted by copwriter

Three times in the last week, my TiVo Series 3 has spontaneously rebooted when I was trying to access Netflix from the Video on Demand screen. Everything works once the reboot is complete, but this is new behavior and getting to be annoying. Has anyone experienced a similar problem, and is there a fix?

It is not entirely impossible that something which involves a little more CPU than normal means a little more current demand than normal, and that a power supply that's beginning to go bad can't provide it, leading to a crash of some sort.

And S2s and S3s are known for having power supply problems due to the capacitor plague or capacitor disease issue.

[hillyard]

Had a similar thing happen when streaming from elite to premier. When the wife was watching something in the main room with the elite and I was watching a show being streamed to the bedroom premier, when she finished her show and deleateted it it rebooted and stopped the streaming. Did this again just to check and trouble shoot and it rebooted again. Premier is a year old and the elite is 4 months old

[copwriter]

This Series 3 is about five years old. I'd hate to think the PSU is going bad on it, but if it is, I suppose I'll bite the bullet and upgrade if the problem continues. That will likely be cheaper than trying to repair/replace the power supply. Thanks for the replies.

[unitron]

Originally Posted by copwriter

This Series 3 is about five years old. I'd hate to think the PSU is going bad on it, but if it is, I suppose I'll bite the bullet and upgrade if the problem continues. That will likely be cheaper than trying to repair/replace the power supply. Thanks for the replies.

If the power supply is going bad, it's most likely due to bogus capacitors--see wikipedia's article on "capacitor plague"-- and once you solder in about $10 worth of replacements it'll be better than new.

[proudx]

my series 3 does the same thing when accessing netflix via the video on demand menu and reboots. It works just fine when accessing it via the now playing list. I think its a sw bug, not a power supply issue.

[unitron]

Originally Posted by proudx

my series 3 does the same thing when accessing netflix via the video on demand menu and reboots. It works just fine when accessing it via the now playing list. I think its a sw bug, not a power supply issue.

A software problem is more likely, but if the one method results in the CPU drawing more power than the other way, and the power supply is marginal, it's not absolutely impossible.

Flaky power supplies cause strange symptoms.

It was failure of one, but not both, tuners in a one of the DirecTiVos that first revealed the bad caps in the power supply problem back in the S2 days.

[copwriter]

Originally Posted by proudx

my series 3 does the same thing when accessing netflix via the video on demand menu and reboots. It works just fine when accessing it via the now playing list. I think its a sw bug, not a power supply issue.

The problem with mine is intermittent. A few nights ago I brought up the Netflix queue and played some movies with no reboot. I'm inclined to believe it's a power supply issue, with the surge triggering the reboot at some times and not at others. I just hate to scrap an otherwise good machine for the sake of a couple of relatively cheap components. I'm not handy enough with a soldering iron to consider attempting to repair this myself.

[unitron]

Originally Posted by copwriter

The problem with mine is intermittent. A few nights ago I brought up the Netflix queue and played some movies with no reboot. I'm inclined to believe it's a power supply issue, with the surge triggering the reboot at some times and not at others. I just hate to scrap an otherwise good machine for the sake of a couple of relatively cheap components. I'm not handy enough with a soldering iron to consider attempting to repair this myself.

You don't need a soldering iron yet, just a #10 Torx driver to take the cover off (after unplugging the power cord from first the wall socket and then the back of the TiVo) so that you can eyeball the capacitors on the power supply.

If you see any that are bulging even slightly, then you know it needs fixing and you can start asking around friends, neighbors, relatives, and co-workers to see if anybody knows of a good repair shop.

Should be able to get the job done for less than half the cost of a replacement.

Is that thing lifetimed?

[davidb4775]

If you havent fixed the issue, see this link