[bigbadbevo]

A few months ago my RCA DVR40 Series2 unit died- would not power-up. Ordered a new power supply, replaced it and still no dice. I've been using this crappy DirecTV DVR for the past few months and just cannot take it anymore...

I am pretty sure the problem is with the the mainboard (what else is left...). I want to attempt to buy a used unit on FleaBay and swap the the main board of my original dead unit.

Here's my question: Will I encounter any problems? After swapping out the board, I will contact DirecTV to reactivate my old unit with my original access card and HDD. My concerns is that there's something on the mainboard that marries it with the HDD preventing me doing what I have stated.

Any one ever done this before? Am I putting too much thought into this seemingly simple swap?

Thanks in advance.

 

[classicsat]

Yes, there is a chip(s) on the mainboard to that lock the card and the HDD to it.

You would be just as well off putting your old HDD (if it is something special) in the "new" DirecTV TiVo (And C&DE, if it is other than an R10 or an S1), and call DirecTV to move your card to the replacement DVR.

 

[rbtravis]

If the unit has the Please Wait - Powering up screen it usually means the hard disk has died. It prints that screen from rom while waiting for the Drive to spin up. Unless you are getting a blue and black directv screen your drive probably needs to be replaced. I recommend Instantcake for putting the Image on the new harddisk.

 

[bigbadbevo]

Yes, there is a chip(s) on the mainboard to that lock the card and the HDD to it.

You would be just as well off putting your old HDD (if it is something special) in the "new" DirecTV TiVo (And C&DE, if it is other than an R10 or an S1), and call DirecTV to move your card to the replacement DVR.

I appreciate the info. What is "C&DE"? I would like to preserve the contents of the HDD since I have around 200GB of recordings.

 

[bigbadbevo]

If the unit has the Please Wait - Powering up screen it usually means the hard disk has died. It prints that screen from rom while waiting for the Drive to spin up. Unless you are getting a blue and black directv screen your drive probably needs to be replaced. I recommend Instantcake for putting the Image on the new harddisk.

I wish the unit got that far... as stated above, it literally doesn't power up. The HDD never even spins up, nor does the fan start which led to me think it was a bad power supply at first. It makes an odd clicking sound (not the HDD) and causes some strange interferance patterns on the television but no image ever appears on the tv.

 

[rbtravis]

If the fan does not spin it could be the power supply. Buy a broken or hard drive missing Tivo on Ebay ( usually under $5.00) that way you will have a replacement power supply and maybe even a replacement motherboard. Remember the motherboard is tied to the Directv account so attempt to make sure the access card is turned off and the account is paid off. If you need try to move the card from your old receiver. You may feel the joys of playing CSR roulette. Make sure all flat cables are securely plugged in prior to applying power for the first time. Good Luck

 

[chuckg]

See my post here: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=366694

The clicking noise indicates the power supply is not dead.
An excessive load generated by a defective HD or mother board may pull one or both power supply voltages down to a point where the unit collectively does not function properly.

So check the unloaded power supply first. If ok, connect the motherboard and recheck the power supply voltages. If ok disconnect the motherboard and connect the HD. Recheck the voltages. If still OK then either the power supply is weak or one or both the HD and motherboard is drawing too much current and life gets more difficult. But not for me. I am a retired electronic technician and spent too many years troubleshooting simple problems for me, of course like this.

 

[bigbadbevo]

See my post here: http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=366694

The clicking noise indicates the power supply is not dead.
An excessive load generated by a defective HD or mother board may pull one or both power supply voltages down to a point where the unit collectively does not function properly.

So check the unloaded power supply first. If ok, connect the motherboard and recheck the power supply voltages. If ok disconnect the motherboard and connect the HD. Recheck the voltages. If still OK then either the power supply is weak or one or both the HD and motherboard is drawing too much current and life gets more difficult. But not for me. I am a retired electronic technician and spent too many years troubleshooting simple problems for me, of course like this.

Thanks. I just saw your other post. I will check these tonight.