[blindlemon]

It sounds like a dead drive.

If another drive spins up then it's unlikely to be a PSU problem. A quick check of the drive in your PC with PowerMax or Hitachi's DFT should confirm the diagnosis - although if it's a Quantum or Maxtor drive you will need to unlock it with DiskUtil (assuming it spins up in your PC) before you can properly test it.

 

[blindlemon]

The welcome message is displayed by the TiVo's rudimentary BIOS if it detects a hard drive it can spin up. You should have seen the message when you tried your non-TiVo drive.

 

[blindlemon]

Sounds like good news.

However, the 90 second test doesn't do that much, so while you have the drive out you might as well run the advanced test to check the integrity of the whole drive.

 

[blindlemon]

Hmmm,

I've seen a Quantum drive get in a similar state to this. Don't know what caused it, but the drive would only spin up if a broken "B" drive was connected to the same power rail. I wasn't able to fix it.

I would suggest that if you can make a backup of it in a PC, now is the time to do it.

 

[blindlemon]

If it's a Quantum then it will be locked. Use DiskUtil to unlock it.

Blessing is a bit old hat these days. MFSTools 2.0 is the tool of choice and usage is fully described in the Hinsdale guide. If you are configuring a drive > 120GB the use the LBA48 version of the MFSTools CD rather than the one linked to by Hinsdale, specify a swapsize the same in mb as your drive is in GB (for future expansion) and run copykern choosing kernel option 1 afterwards to copy the LBA48 kernel and initialise the big swap.

 

[blindlemon]

I browsed the web and downloaded mfstool2

Full marks for initiative - but I provided a link to the recommended CD in the very post you have quoted!

I can see clearly from this, as I know a little Linux, there is obviosuly a problem with the Tivo hard drive and partitions, as I would expect there to be three partitions (I think!).

TiVo drives are byteswapped, so to see the partitions listed at startup you need to boot in byteswapped mode.

if I try mfstools to backup the drive, a get a screen full of garbage and it hangs!

Try the CD I linked to.

Edit: Doh! I knew I shouldn't have gone to make a cuppa in the middle of writing a post!

 

[blindlemon]

Sorry for staying up late...

That CD should be OK for a 40GB drive - and, no, you don't need to boot in byteswapped mode to make a backup, only if you want to view the partitions.

You do need to use -l32 though, and I would leave off the 6 if you have around 1.4GB free on your FAT drive, as the compression in MFSTools is buggy (and you can always zip the backup if you need to).

However, assuming the CD you're using is OK, then I would suspect that the problem may be caused by the problems you're experiencing with the drive. Can you get mfsinfo to give you any sensible output?

mfsinfo /dev/hdc

 

[blindlemon]

I found a company called "Pacelink" online but they are based in Co Fermanagh

Pacelink are the only company that do board-level repairs to UK TiVos AFAIK - but they can be very expensive so should be viewed as a last resort.

What is this "emergency reboot code 58" I read about on another thread? Might that help me?

The kickstart 58 is a way of getting the TiVo to check (and try to fix) the MFS filesystem under which the data is stored. The operation is similar to ScanDisk under Windows.

Kickstart 52 is more drastic as it forces the TiVo to reinstall the system software from the backup on the unused system partitions. This can sometimes fix more serious problems where system files have become corrupted - but if it goes wrong then you will need to re-image the drive.

The problem you describe could be caused by corruption in the system files, or it could be a motherboard isssue. I would try to eliminate all other options before sending the TiVo away for a m/b repair though as bills of £200+ are not uncommon.

 

[blindlemon]

As I have loads of drives here I'd try replacing the drive first

However, as you don't have a spare drive to hand, try kickstart 57, 58 and 52 in that order. If none of them work then consider configuring or buying a replacement drive before sending the TiVo away to Pacelink.

At least if you configure a drive yourself (or buy a preconfigured drive from the right supplier) you can use it for something else or send it back for a refund if it doesn't fix your problem. If you send the TiVo to Pacelink you're looking at £35 + VAT + postage before you start - and it might still turn out to be just a drive problem.

 

[blindlemon]

Wait...

Normally the GSOD will complete in less than an hour. If it takes longer then that can be an indication that something more serious is wrong. However, it's not unknown for it to take many hours and then complete successfully - just don't unplug the TiVo while you're waiting.

 

[blindlemon]

I have sent you a PM about replacement drives

However, I wouldn't want you to spend money on a new drive until you have tried a few more things. If you can see the input signal when you press "aux" then, as you say, it must be reaching the TiVo.

What options have you selected in Guided Setup? Have you selected the appropriate channels in "channels I receive"?

While watching "Live TV" (the blue screen) try typing the channel number - eg. 101 - and then typing it again. This should force the TiVo to switch from the RF (aerial) input to the AUX scart or vice-versa.

To test that the MPEG encoder is working, if you have an analogue TV aerial (even if the picture through a TV is crap) try, plugging that into the RF-In socket on the TiVo and then go through Guided Setup again choosing Aerial Only. If you can then see and pause a picture on "Live TV" the encoder is OK.

 

[blindlemon]

Yes, this is one of those unusual cases where an error message from software actually means what it says

You might as well just get a big drive now and be done with it. I would think the chance of it being anything other than a drive problem after all you've described is almost nil.

 

[blindlemon]

Normally if you put a working (but non-TiVo) drive into the TiVo then you will see the "Powering up..." message but it won't go any further than that. You do need to connect the IDE cable though - otherwise the drive will spin up but the screen will remain blank as the TiVo's BIOS can't detect anything connected.

 

[blindlemon]

In that case the best thing to do, IMHO, would be to restore your image to a drive and see what happens.

And as a backup option, it might also be an idea to order a replacement PSU. They're so cheap it's worth having one around as a spare anyway.

No point worrying about busted motherboards until you have tried a working TiVo drive + new PSU in the machine....