[Rkkeller]

I have had some slight pixilation in some recordings the last couple weeks, then last night I got this message and my Bolt stopped working. It DID come back to life after sometime, but not sure if I should panic and get a new HD or this should have fixed what was wrong?

Anyone?



Rich

 

[Rkkeller]

This is the HD in it right now.

 

[Rkkeller]

I just got off the phone with TiVo support and doing some troubleshooting. My signal strength is fine, but my SNR was 36/37 and they say it should not be above 35 so they can't help me any further until I lower it. They said to call my cable company, but I really doubt being "1" over their max would cause this issue. They said I could not go any further with troubleshooting and to call back when I lowered it.

 

[UCLABB]

I just got off the phone with TiVo support and doing some troubleshooting. My signal strength is fine, but my SNR was 36/37 and they say it should not be above 35 so they can't help me any further until I lower it. They said to call my cable company, but I really doubt being "1" over their max would cause this issue. They said I could not go any further with troubleshooting and to call back when I lowered it.

Disregard what they told you. There is nothing wrong with that SNR. It's been in their script for ages and is flat BS. I typically run a 40 SNR. Higher SNR is generally better, it's just that a high SNR might be indicative of a signal strength that is too high. If your signal strength is between 90 and 100 you are fine.

 

[keithg1964]

I just got off the phone with TiVo support and doing some troubleshooting. My signal strength is fine, but my SNR was 36/37 and they say it should not be above 35 so they can't help me any further until I lower it. They said to call my cable company, but I really doubt being "1" over their max would cause this issue. They said I could not go any further with troubleshooting and to call back when I lowered it.

And still Tivo wants you to increase the noise in the signal and introduce an degraded signal into the device.

 

[lhvetinari]

SNR will not cause that error, that's just rote script-reading BS.

That's the new version of the Green Screen of Death - a TiVo will display that when it's encountered corruption in the MFS file system while it attempts to repair it. This is generally indicative of a failing drive in Bolt units, especially the 3TB ones.

 

[jlb]

At least with Bolts it's "easy" enough to pop in a new hard drive, have it self format, and be on your way (minus any recordings you will have lost).

 

[the_Skywise]

At least with Bolts it's "easy" enough to pop in a new hard drive, have it self format, and be on your way (minus any recordings you will have lost).

The problem is getting non-shingled drives if you're using the old TE3 interface.

 

[jlb]

Ahhhh true

 

[Rkkeller]

Any suggestions? I went through all their troubleshooting steps, even forced me to lower the SNR with a splitter, but they say I’m not eligible for warranty and there are no more Bolts.

So I have to upgrade to the Edga and lose lifetime, they won’t transfer it. They did offer discounts and stuff but it would still be $600.

The hard disks are hard to find for the good ones, I could get something cheap for $80. Should I just get anything and put in there and try it or should I just give up on TiVo and figure out something else, go back to cable DVRs?????

 

[Rkkeller]

I know this is not the exact right kind, but should work with Hydra a few said. Open box only $80.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWPEVPL

 

[the_Skywise]

I know this is not the exact right kind, but should work with Hydra a few said. Open box only $80.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LWPEVPL

According to this, that's a SMR (shingled) drive which might be problematic
List of known SMR drives

you could try weakness for a replacement - TiVo Bolt, Bolt Plus, Bolt VOX, and Bolt OTA TiVo Upgrade Kits and Hard Drives

Also see:
What is the favorite replacement hard drive in 2020?
and
List of drives that don't boot under TE4 21.x on Bolt

Good Luck!

 

[dianebrat]

FWIW I just had my 3TB Toshiba MQ drive die this week, but with other units in the house to take up the slack I just grabbed a Toshiba MQ03ABB200 2TB for $54 from Amazon and it will be here next week, it's a quick fix with a known good drive.

 

[the_Skywise]

FWIW I just had my 3TB Toshiba MQ drive die this week, but with other units in the house to take up the slack I just grabbed a Toshiba MQ03ABB200 2TB for $54 from Amazon and it will be here next week, it's a quick fix with a known good drive.

How old was the drive?

 

[dianebrat]

How old was the drive?

4 years old, I'm still running some tests on it outside the Bolt to see how bad it is before attempting a KS on it in the unit.
So far I have one diagnostic all that flags it as failed with SMART issues, but a 2nd different tool has passed all the SMART tests and I have it running a full scan on the drive, it's about 20 hours in to a 24 hour test.

 

[Rkkeller]

I gave up on TiVo and ordered this on Black Friday Sale. Figured worth a try. 3 tuner cable card DVR.

Hardware - SiliconDust SHOP

 

[Rkkeller]

Order #XXXX was placed on November 26, 2020 and is currently Processing.

Order details
Product Total
HDHomeRun PRIME (P/N: HDHR3-CC) × 1 $199.99
Subtotal: $199.99
Discount: -$50.00
Shipping: Free shipping
Payment method: Credit Card
Total: $149.99

 

[dianebrat]

4 years old, I'm still running some tests on it outside the Bolt to see how bad it is before attempting a KS on it in the unit.
So far I have one diagnostic all that flags it as failed with SMART issues, but a 2nd different tool has passed all the SMART tests and I have it running a full scan on the drive, it's about 20 hours in to a 24 hour test.

The drive ended up testing ok with extended tests, it's a dead motherboard and I was able to get an exchange on the Bolt for $249, and I have a spare 2TB 2.5" toshiba on the way as a spare.