[unixadm]

Ok...

I know a lot of people have been bitten by the failed or deteriorated picture on the HDMI output.

I just got hit with it this morning (less than 2 weeks after getting it)

I am curious to see how many people had problems.

Since we probably represent a very good majority of the people who have purchased these over the past couple of months, I think the poll will be pretty accurate as far as percentage of failures (assuming that everyone answers)

Please post where yours was made and what date.

Mine:

Mexico
June 9th 2004

PLEASE DO NOT ANSWER IF YOU HAVE HAD YOUR HD TIVO FOR LESS THAN 2 WEEKS AND DON'T SEE A PROBLEM. WAIT UNTIL YOU HAVE HAD IT IN SERVICE FOR MORE THAN 2 WEEKS!

 

[unixadm]

If it is over 30 days old (which is sounds like it is), then most retailers will defer you over to the manufacturer to go through warranty service. Check in your manual. I believe that the warranty is 1 year. If you are going through manufacturer's warranty, you will have to send it out and they will repair it, or send you a refurbished one (or if you are lucky, a new one).

Mine died less than 30 days from getting it from Circuit City, so I just returned it and got my money back. They don't have any in stock, and don't know when they will have them.....but I've decided (mainly because of the number of failures) that I don't want a replacement until we hear definititively what the issue with the HDMI output is and that it is permanantly fixed.

Based off of this poll, there is a 27.8% failure rate not including those that have not tested their HDMI port. My guess is that about 1/4 of those are bad as well (or will go bad if put in use). This is just WAY too much.

I'll take the money and take my family to Disney World next month

Guess it is standard Definition TiVo for me for a while.

 

[unixadm]

Originally posted by zamboni_dog
Uh oh. I've had my HR10-250 just over two weeks. I appear to have a HDMI failure. I haven't read many descriptions of failures like mine though. I still get an image put it is "posterized" or "solarized" where there are only a few different colors that make up the whole image. Anyone else have this? My component video is alive and kicking though.

Rather than going through CC, I was thinking of calling D*. I want them to know the kind of failure rates here are unacceptable. (I also have audio popping that is very annoying. Anyone have that go away when they got a replacement unit?)

That is the exact symptoms of mine at failure. Colors looked funny and looked almost like a negative. I went into menus and they were "solarized"....looked like when I put my digital video camera on one of the special effects modes.

I rebooted, and it never came back......NOTHING on the screen even during beginning boot stages. All other outputs worked fine, but nothing on HDMI no matter what I did.

Definitely a hardware issue, not a configuration issue, from what I saw on mine.

 

[unixadm]

Originally posted by bandomir_m
I'm a first time poster so please be gentle.

I also have just acquired the new HD TIVO, and am having DVI/HDMI issues. I'm experiencing the same issues as unixadm and zamboni_dog.

I'd like to know the best way to resolve this as my 30 day window to return the unit to CC is going quick.

Thanks, Martin

My resolution was to return it to CC and get a refund. I figure I will wait until I hear that there is a definite resolution to the problem before getting a replacement.

 

[unixadm]

Great to hear pbolya....now if SOMEONE at DirecTV, Hughes or TiVo would admit that they are aware of such an issue and know that all new boxes have this resolved, then I will spend my money on buying a replacement!

 

[unixadm]

Originally posted by pbolya
After only 4 month my HR10-250's original WD 250 hard drive started to fail! After some consideration I decided that I am not going to start the replace game and even though I have no logos, HDMI failure and now a bad hard drive I will take matters into my own hand.

- I bought 2 more maxtor 250GB for $129 a piece at Fry's (there where WD250's for 109!!! but with $55 rebate and only 1 per family).

- After a long long weekend I am now back with a perfect unit with a lot of extra functionality.

- Since I needed to see the logs and I wanted to back up my season passes and other info I set up telnet access to the box with TiVoWebPlus(since the drive had failures the normal backup would not work and a DD resulted in an unbootable image). I used the Backup tivoweb module (thanks boygenious) to save my season passes and wish lists. I had to change the code a little bit as it died trying to process ota local channel numbers (my first ever TCL script change but surly will not be the last).

- After restoring my backup 2 month ago (before I upgraded to 63 hours) I got telnet/tivowebplus working again and I restored the settings backed up previously. It restored 41 of the 43 season passes that I backed up. Since I do not know TCL yet I was just happy that I could make it work this much and I added the last 2 season pass in 30 seconds.

- Now for the kicker: I poked around a little bit and I found a script called dbload30 (I do not know who created it) and a slice file called logo-67.slice (logo image file). Even though it was not made for the HD Tivo the script worked and I NOW HAVE LOGOS !!!! It is an older version of the logos but it associated about 95% of the logos to the right channels. The missing ones where some of the HD D* channels like Bravo and Showtime, and some others like VH1 and a couple of others I do not use. I used tiwoveb to associate these couple of channels to the correct logo and now I have logos for all channels I use.

- And now the reason for telling this story in this thread: When I put the TiVo back together played with the HDMI card a little bit more as now I started to see discoloration (which according to previous notes a sure sign of the card failing). After investigating a little bit this is what I found: The reason why my method of wedging a piece of plastic between the pin and the card was working because it pushed the card slightly toward the back and prevented it from pushing it down a little bit. When the plastic separator was not there the pin actually hooks on the card and pushes is downward (I assume so it is tight with the mother board). Unfortunately the connector to the mother board does not like that. So I reseated the plastic piece so that the presurepoint on the connector side of the card is as high as possible but at least in the middle. The higher the pressure point the better the result. This will prevent the card from being pushed down so easily (by just touching the top of the TiVo for instance or pressure caused by the card's own weight). I tried pushing the top of the tivo or wiggle the HDMI cable a little bit and no problem!

Now I have a working Tivo with the following:
- 64h recording capacity.
- logos (and more like tivowebplus etc)
- much less noise than the stock tivo (thanks to maxtors supper quiet drive - 2 of them makes less noise than 1 WD)
- cooler temperature inside the box (thanks to weeknees superb bracket with extra fan).
- a working HDMI card (for the moment - although there is no guarantee that your working card does not go out faster than my fixed one unfortunately).

Regards,
Peter

Peter,

Thanks for the great info.

You took the bull by the horns and resolved your problems....I commend you on that.

I, on the other hand, felt that I shouldn't be beta testing a $1000 dollar piece of equipment on my dollar. I considered opening it up when the HDMI failed, but felt it just wasn't worth it. I took mine back, got my money back and haven't purchased another yet. I will wait until there is some sort of official admission to the problem and solution to the problem before I get another. I do miss having TiVo functionality on HD content, but I can't justify the cost for something that has obvious issues.

 

[unixadm]

If you look a few pages back (17, 18, 19), there are some posts that indicate that this is a hardware problem with the way the HDMI card sits in the slot of the motherboard.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?postid=2234485#post2234485

DirectTV's only solution at this time has been to swap the entire unit out with a replacement, which then may also have the same problem.

A page or 2 back, someone posted that DirectTV told them they are aware of the problem and ARE NOT swapping out any more until they resolve the issue.

 

[unixadm]

Originally posted by AbMagFab
I would love to see a poll that correlated HDMI failures with people who modify their boxes on their own. Since people won't be honest, it's pointless, but I have to believe a large percentage of the HDMI failures come from people who added a drive on their own, and either knowlingly or unintentionally banged/touched the HDMI card.

Yes it's an indication it's too fragile, but maybe not as fragile if you don't modify the box at all.

I never even opened the case......neither did most people here when I started this thread. These failures were happening pretty early in the process....before most people even thought about opening up the case. Many are coming out of the box either dead or not working properly. I am sure there are a few due to a case being open, but that wouldn't explain failures out of the box.

I know many people noticed a failure or the start of failure if they unplugged and plugged in the HDMI cable for some reason (move it in the cabinet, re-route the cable, etc. I think it is just so fragile of a connection that the pressure of pushing in on plugging the cable in or a little rough handling in shipping is enough to cause it to lose connection.

 

[unixadm]

Originally posted by rockytopps
Man I am so ticked. I spent $175 for a 40ft. Hdmi to Hdmi cable and can't even use it. Before anyone says it, yes I tried two different Hdmi cables, so it isn't the cables. Component works but the longest comp. cable I have is about 6ft. I guess I am going to have to order a 40 ft. component cable which runs another $140 if I want to be able to use my BRAND SPANKIN' NEW projector that I just bought.

$140 for 40 foot Component???

Try Pacific Cable:

$56 for 50 feet
$69 for 75 Feet
$85 for 100 Feet

http://www.pacificcable.com/VideoAndAudio.htm#Python_Component_Cables

10 Meter HDMI to HDMI for $85
15 Meter HDMI to HDMI for $110
http://www.pacificcable.com/HDMI_Cables.html

I picked up a 5 Meter HDMI to DVI cable there for $42

 

[unixadm]

From THIS THREAD:

Originally posted by DTV TiVo Dealer
HR10-250s manufactured after November 22, 2004 should not have any HDMI problems.

Engineering found a weak solder joint on the HDMI board. The problem is solved on all new production HR10-250!!!

-Robert

 

[unixadm]

I picked up an HR10-250 on Thursday. Manufacturer date Nov 2, 2004.

HDMI port worked out of the box, but failed yesterday (Sunday)

I guess I will be waiting until CC gets new ones in with dates later than Nov 22nd.