External Storage Missing

I think it's time for Pony or Jerry to step in.

 

The same thing just happened to me. I tried restarting a couple times, but kept getting the "External Storage Missing" error. Note this is on a S2.

This is a unit that I've upgraded previously as well with a kit. On the second drive there is a power delay device inline with the power cable to the drive. The purpose of this is so that both drives don't spin up at the same time during bootup and overwhelm the power supply on the motherboard.

I disconnected the power delay device and had the power cable going directly into both drives. When I did this the Tivo booted up fine and took me to the main menu. All of my shows appear to be there.

I'm thinking that either:

1. The power failure managed to burn out the power delay device so that it no longer functions.

2. The latest Tivo firmware is less forgiving if the second drive is started up after a delay, and needs both of them to be available immediately in order to be detected.

I don't know which one of those is correct, but if you have one of those delay things, try taking it out and see if the Tivo sill start. I'm guessing that on a Tivo that has had a second drive added, if the new version of firmware can't see it for some reason it will default to giving you the external storage error.

 

I have the same problem. I have an S2 TiVo with two 160GB hard drives (thanks to Weaknees!). My TiVo was stuck on the "Service Update" screen all day long.

I don't want to hit "clear," but am tempted to do so.

Help!
~Chris

 

So I've been unplugging my TiVo and plugging it back in MANY, many times. I keep getting that "External Storage Missing" error message. I haven't tried the KS 57, but from what you've said, it hasn't helped.

I am PISSED that this service update is causing so many problems! I've looked at other threads, and there seems to be lots of people with problems.

Will I ever have my TiVo back? Right now, I fear not.

 

I am having the same problem. I have a TCD540040 with two 120GB drives. I have the power delay device mentioned by Shagg and will try disconnecting it tonight.

 

Called TiVo, who said they did not provide support for this kind of problem. Thank you, TiVo.

So I did the only thing I thought I could do, which was to hit "clear," and pray that all of my recordings would not be deleted. (fyi: I have two internal 160 GB drives, both nearly full of shows.)

All but four shows were deleted. And now my TiVo only recognizes the one hard drive.

WeaKnees has been kind enough to offer to help me get that other drive recognized by my TiVo; I can't say enough good things about this company and the people who work there! Fast, courteous, knowledgable, and always willing to help you out.

~Chris

 

It is either a Tivo problem or a weaknees problem. Lets hope we can get a reply from both parties.

 

Well, as rare as the problem is, it doesn't seem to occur only with our units. As far as I can tell, only one of these is ours. And we should get a look at that unit on Monday and know more.

Are any other units here from us?

 

Thanks for reporting back. I assume the SmartStart must have died, but that's strange that it would coincide with the OS upgrade.

What drive was that connected to - the master or the slave?

 

I have to wonder if it's not that the smartstarts are dying, but the new rev has made the OS more picky to having both HD's up at the same time, and it's already looking for the 2nd drive before it's had a chance to spin up. By removing the smartstart, the 2nd HD is up and spun when the OS is looking for it.

Just my 2 bytes..

 

That definitely could be the case - that's why I'm curious which drive it was attached to in Wandering_Burr's TiVo. With our PowerTrips, we always specify that it be installed on the master drive so that this can't be a problem.

 

ahh.. I did my S2 so amazingly long ago with the 9th tee delay unit, that I'm pretty sure I have it on the slave. (ok.. we all had to start somewhere!) I'll be paying attention, however I don't have this happening to me.

Diane

 

I was going to just remove my PowerTrip until I read Weaknees post. Putting the PowerTrip on the master makes perfect sense and I should have thought of it before. All is well again with my Tivo
R

 

Just to add some additional data... I have a Series 2 (TCD240080) 80gb with a 120gb disk I added. Last week I started hearing occasional clicking which coincided with a glitchy video image. I determined that one of the disks must be headed south, and started right away refamiliarizing myself with all the advances in the art since I was last really involved (circa the Hinsdale How-To ). Today, presumably after the update everyone else had, I also got the "External Storage Missing" screen. I'm hoping this just means it's the 120gb slave disk that died and the factory 80gb is fine. It's worth noting that I don't have any power delay device installed, and mine is likely due to the dead/dying disk.

EDIT: After a power cycle with crossed fingers, I booted up normally on the first try. But the message is clear, I need to address the shaky disk. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm off to get myself a MFSLive or InstantCake ISO...

 

I am having the same problem with my Series 2. I do not have a drive startup delay installed but I do have two hard drives installed in my unit.

Has Tivo come up with any kind of response to this yet?