[Mandark]

I too am having the well-posted issues after updating my Hughes DVR40 Tivo to 6.3e (i.e., freezing, reboots, etc.). There have been posts stating that the reason for this is because the update may have installed on a sector that was damaged.

So I was curious...

Has anyone replaced their hard drive after receiving the upgrade? If so, did it get rid of the problem?

Thanks in advance for your responses!

 

[ST1100A]

Both of my DSR-708's started having problems after the 6.3e update - reboots, color loss, go to live TV and have a black screen, some recordings listed as Partial with a record time of 0:00.

Read on the forum about the update going to a new sector and having a bad hard drive. OK, the units are three years old or so. So I ordered two replacement drives from Weaknees.com (300 GB each, one for each unit as a total replacement).

Get the drives and put them in. They were preloaded with 6.2, and I had no issues with either unit - Cool, I fixed it!! Then the 6.3e download was loaded back onto the units (should have yanked the phone cord, but I thought the issue was the drives). :down:

They now reboot at least once a day. Lose color (press pause - colors back!). Get black screens when you go to live TV - sometimes. I think the 0:00 recordings are from the black screens, we set both tuners to unused stations at night so the unit has to change channels to record - seems to be working so far.

So for the people saying it's bad drives - sorry, it's bad software, at least for my units!!! Oh, and except for the upgrade in drives and the extra fan kit Weaknees sells (only in one, the one in the entertainment center - I thought the drive was going bad due to heat) my units are stock and unhacked.

 

[Mandark]

Thanks for your input ST1100A. It definitely sounds like software now.

I'm wondering if you would be able to load 6.2 again using Instant Cake software then disconnecting your phone cord to prevent the update from happening.

It's definitely a thought....

 

[ST1100A]

I have been told that there is no way to "downgrade" a Tivo unit without losing all of your recordings.

And since it is season premiere time - that's just not an option. If I had only known, I would have "pulled the plug" before the "upgrade".

Such is life...

 

[KF9WM]

I also did the Weaknees upgrade to my DSR708 but with the 80gb drive. It came preloaded with 6.2 and it works like a charm. Channel change speed is faster, color does not drop out and no more freezes or black screens. I used the phone line for guided setup and local numbers then I disconnected it. I'll put up with the nag screens to keep from getting 6.3e again.

 

[Dkerr24]

I also did the Weaknees upgrade to my DSR708 but with the 80gb drive. It came preloaded with 6.2 and it works like a charm. Channel change speed is faster, color does not drop out and no more freezes or black screens. I used the phone line for guided setup and local numbers then I disconnected it. I'll put up with the nag screens to keep from getting 6.3e again.

You could always run the zipper script which will trick the unit into thinking it made a regular call and you'll never see a nag screen again.

 

[chrishicks]

I believe it is a software issue. my parents 2nd DTivo started having the same issues as everyone else after receiving 6.3e(their first unit we chalked up to an old drive). they had the new drive in for a week or so, got 6.3e and displayed the same issues as before.

 

[cramer]

In some cases the software can be reverted. However, it's a completely untested process. There shouldn't be any issue between point releases (a, b, c, etc.)

These sorts of problem can come from a variety of sources... bad drive, bad power supply, random garbage in the database, etc., etc. A "Clear and Delete Everything" will often fix such issues, but it does erase everything. (and take 1hr to 1day to complete.)

The "bad hard drive" theory is almost always wrong. If it boots at all, it is very unlikely to have bad sectors in the rootfs partition -- the initrd checks everything in the partition... if it doesn't verify, it reboots.

My HR10 has been wiped twice and now has a new power supply. (It couldn't read the smart card.) I don't know why, but the HR10's appear to be extremely unstable critters. (if it were a bridge, there'd be a lot of dead people.)