xl4 not showing 4 red lights when all tuners are in use

alyssa · 07-21-2012, 06:44 PM

i've recently added a xl4 to my line up of tivos.

I just had an opportunity to test all 4 tuners. While they all record, one of the lights on the front doesn't indicate the tivo is recording on a tuner. i've set up 4 recordings & there is a red light missing.

When i restarted the tivo, that missing red light flashes on during the power down process.

anyone experience a similar problem?

tivo wants me to send it in for an exchange...I am reluctant to do so since i've got an external paired & the cable card is paired. After explaining tivo suggested weaknees

bshrock · 07-23-2012, 08:05 AM

You could try resetting them goto "Messages & Settings" > "Settings" > "Displays" > "Displays on the Front of DVR" > LED lights. and toggle them off/on.

Are you sure all 4 tuners are recording on different channels? If two of the tuners are on the same channel only one light will be on.

aaronwt · 07-23-2012, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bshrock

You could try resetting them goto "Messages & Settings" > "Settings" > "Displays" > "Displays on the Front of DVR" > LED lights. and toggle them off/on.

Are you sure all 4 tuners are recording on different channels? If two of the tuners are on the same channel only one light will be on.

Is that supposed to be the case? I've had two recordings overlap before on the same channel and each recording will use a separate red light on the front even though they are on the same channel.

EDIT: Definitely not the case. I just setup four concurrent recordings on the same channel and all four red recordings lights were active.

compnurd · 07-23-2012, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronwt

Is that supposed to be the case? I've had two recordings overlap before on the same channel and each recording will use a separate red light on the front even though they are on the same channel.

EDIT: Definitely not the case. I just setup four concurrent recordings on the same channel and all four red recordings lights were active.

yeh same here.. i have Hells Kitchen and masterchef(back to back) and i have them overun by 5 min and both lights are on during that period

alyssa · 07-23-2012, 10:21 AM

i just turned off the front lights, set up 4 recordings on different channels, turned the lights back on & it still is not working
<sigh>
turned off the front lights, restarted the box (the 4th light did not go on during the restart process), set up 4 recordings on different channels, turned on the display lights on the front. No joy, that same light (3rd one) is not working.

I think if i want to preserve the pairing to the external I will give Weaknees a call & see what they can offer me for a repair. otherwise, if i want it fixed, i will have to send it back to tivo for a replacement and repair the external & cable card

bikegeek · 07-23-2012, 11:29 AM

My unit did the same, it was a bad LED and I needed to have the unit replaced.

bshrock · 07-23-2012, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by aaronwt

Definitely not the case. I just setup four concurrent recordings on the same channel and all four red recordings lights were active.

I have problem getting 2 channels to record the same channel at the same time without changing the recording options.

aaronwt · 07-23-2012, 02:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bshrock

I have problem getting 2 channels to record the same channel at the same time without changing the recording options.

The four concurrent recordings I set on the same channel had different end times.

alyssa · 07-23-2012, 08:24 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bikegeek

My unit did the same, it was a bad LED and I needed to have the unit replaced.

thx- yeah that is my thought too.

alyssa · 07-24-2012, 07:19 AM

i gotta say, i'm not liking the 'cable card only' feature of this unit.

it can't be tested until the cable card is installed..so if there's a hardware problem with the unit it won't be discovered until after either a truck roll or a horrendously long phone call with the cable company.

moyekj · 07-24-2012, 08:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

i gotta say, i'm not liking the 'cable card only' feature of this unit.

it can't be tested until the cable card is installed..so if there's a hardware problem with the unit it won't be discovered until after either a truck roll or a horrendously long phone call with the cable company.

Yes it does blow that you can't simply tune to analog channels to test out the unit. However without CC you can do a channel scan and should be able to tune clear QAM channels found. If nothing else the local channels (ABC, CBS, etc) should be available to tune following a scan, albeit without guide listings of course. That is painful way to test things out though especially since channel scan takes a long time and then you have to re-run guided setup once CC is installed.

alyssa · 07-25-2012, 10:30 AM

so i called weaknees

they had me take the cover off while all 4 tuners were recording and check to see if the led on the motherboard was working or if the light transfer thingy had come dislodged.
the led on the MOBO was not working. After checking with the repair dept, they can do the repair for $99 with free return shipping.

or send it to Tivo for a swap out, i would loose the cable card pairing, recordings and have to send the hdd's back to DVR_Dude for re-pairing. UNLESS....
I have them send me a replacement box(and put a hold on my cc), then move the hdd from my old (non-light working xl-4) into the New box along with the cable card. Put the new hdd into the old non-lite working unit & send that back to tivo. This would preserve the hdd's pairing with each other which is the biggest concern to me.

the question I have is,
are hdd's swapable between boxes? I seem to recall them not being swapable. anyone know?

bshrock · 07-25-2012, 11:41 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

so i called weaknees
or send it to Tivo for a swap out, i would loose the cable card pairing, recordings and have to send the hdd's back to DVR_Dude for re-pairing. UNLESS....
I have them send me a replacement box(and put a hold on my cc), then move the hdd from my old (non-light working xl-4) into the New box along with the cable card. Put the new hdd into the old non-lite working unit & send that back to tivo. This would preserve the hdd's pairing with each other which is the biggest concern to me.

the question I have is,
are hdd's swapable between boxes? I seem to recall them not being swapable. anyone know?

Transferring the Hard Drives will not work the drives are encoded to a key on the Mother Board to transfer the drives you would have to do a Clear and Delete everything loosing the recordings and cable paring anyway.

Have you considered off-loading the recordings to a PC using TiVo Desktop or PyTiVo?

alyssa · 07-25-2012, 02:33 PM

it's not the recordings, it's pairing between the internal Hdd & the external hdd. <grin> DVD_Dude (from ebay) is able to do it for XL4's, he charges $60 ($50+ship). It still might be worth the additional $40 just to send it to Weaknees- everything is preserved(Cablecard, recordings, hdd pairing & season passes)-

yeah, i thought the hdd swap wouldn't work but couldn't quite remember why. Thx!

mattack · 07-25-2012, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

I have them send me a replacement box(and put a hold on my cc), then move the hdd from my old (non-light working xl-4) into the New box along with the cable card. Put the new hdd into the old non-lite working unit & send that back to tivo. This would preserve the hdd's pairing with each other which is the biggest concern to me.

Besides it not working, that would be unethical.

Why don't you just activate both Tivos, and copy the shows between them that way,
or copy them to a computer drive as an interim?

alyssa · 07-25-2012, 10:00 PM

It is not the show's, it is the pairing between the Internal HDD and the External HDD

HomeUser · 07-25-2012, 10:53 PM

If it is a TiVo certified "Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander" changing the drive would be no problem just plug it into the new DVR and follow the instructions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

or send it to Tivo for a swap out, i would loose the cable card pairing, recordings and have to send the hdd's back to DVR_Dude for re-pairing. UNLESS....

I don't know how or what DVR_Dude is doing to marry the 2 drives. If "System Information" identifies the second drive as "External Storage" there is a good chance you can use it with the replacement DVR if not the drives will have to be used in pairs. If the "Marriage" will survive the CADE Only DVR_Dude would have the answers.

lpwcomp · 07-25-2012, 11:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

it's not the recordings, it's pairing between the internal Hdd & the external hdd. <grin> DVD_Dude (from ebay) is able to do it for XL4's, he charges $60 ($50+ship). It still might be worth the additional $40 just to send it to Weaknees- everything is preserved(Cablecard, recordings, hdd pairing & season passes)

Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure that TiVo will still agree to replace this box now that they know that it has been modified, thus voiding the warranty? Sending it to weaKnees for repair might be your only option anyway.

lpwcomp · 07-25-2012, 11:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by alyssa

it's not the recordings, it's pairing between the internal Hdd & the external hdd. <grin> DVD_Dude (from ebay) is able to do it for XL4's, he charges $60 ($50+ship). It still might be worth the additional $40 just to send it to Weaknees- everything is preserved(Cablecard, recordings, hdd pairing & season passes)

Don't take this the wrong way, but are you sure that TiVo will still agree to replace this box now that they know that it has been modified, thus voiding the warranty? Sending it to weaKnees for repair might be your only option anyway.

alyssa · 07-26-2012, 07:29 AM

Well, they seemed to be agreeable to it when i spoke to they yesterday-
Not taken the wrong way at all.
And just to be clear. I bought this unit 15-20 days ago so i'm within the 30 day return window.

Quote:

Originally Posted by HomeUser

If it is a TiVo certified "Western Digital My Book AV DVR Expander" changing the drive would be no problem just plug it into the new DVR and follow the instructions.

I don't know how or what DVR_Dude is doing to marry the 2 drives. If "System Information" identifies the second drive as "External Storage" there is a good chance you can use it with the replacement DVR if not the drives will have to be used in pairs. If the "Marriage" will survive the CADE Only DVR_Dude would have the answers.

the external isn't a WD my book, i'm not impressed with their quality...

it is my understanding, that the marrying procedure is very much like the process for the regular premieres with a non-sanctioned external. In other words a matter of hooking both Hdd's up to a MoBo & running a JMFS or Win like program. I'm going off of the procedure i used to my S3. Like the S3's I assumed (yeah i know) once the user says to unmarry then the pairing is gone until it's re-paired.