[JonMu]

I bought a used TCD652160 TiVo (with an upgraded 1TB drive) earlier today. The owner showed me that its working. Also showed me that it had lifetime subscription by going to his TiVo account on his computer. He proceeded to do a reset to erase his recording.

We waited for 30 minutes and it never completed so we just unplugged the DVR. Since then, I plugged the unit to my house and its been stuck in the "Clearing and Deleting Everything" Screen.

My goal is to used this box and taking advantage of the lifetime subscription.

I've already tried to contact the original owner for the original drive.

I also read that I might need to just create a drive for the TCD652160 using the image, which I don't know where to find.

Am I screwed? Can I still use this Tivo to my account and have a lifetime subscription that the previous owner paid after I find a way to start it up?

Thanks in advance.

 

[ThAbtO]

The Clear & Delete Everything could take longer than the 30 minutes, you could leave it plugged in overnight (or 2) to complete. There would be alot of stuff to delete for a 1TB vs the OEM 160GB.

 

[JonMu]

The Clear & Delete Everything could take longer than the 30 minutes, you could leave it plugged in overnight (or 2) to complete. There would be alot of stuff to delete for a 1TB vs the OEM 160GB.

Thanks for this information. I'll update the post and report what happens.

Anyway, in case, this CDE works what is the steps involve in transferring ownership of the box from the previous owner to me?

Thanks again.

 

[ThAbtO]

Previous owner has to call Tivo CS (M-S), get case #. Then you call and give them case #.

Its a good thing you got the unit with lifetime service as Series 3 is old, Tivo will no longer activate units without service.

If you are going to use it to record cable shows, SDV channels will be MPEG4 and cannot transfer to anything, Tivo or PC.

 

[JonMu]

The Clear & Delete Everything could take longer than the 30 minutes, you could leave it plugged in overnight (or 2) to complete. There would be alot of stuff to delete for a 1TB vs the OEM 160GB.

I woke up to a "Welcome Screen".

All I have to do is to get lucky and get a great agent from my Provider to pair this. I have no luck from 2 agents. Both didn't even ask for any of the information like cablecard ID, Host ID or Data. they just told me that its activated already and kept telling they sent a "signal" and asked me to reboot.

Also, it possible to move from 1TB to a 512GB SSD? I just want this series 3 to last me for years to come.

 

[V7Goose]

I am glad your old S3 is finally working. In my opinion, a SSD should NEVER be used in any TiVo. For your S3, you should stick with a WD Red or Purple drive (either 1TB or 2 TB).

Now on to a more negative subject: If you want to use that S3 for a long time, you need to make sure the power supply has had all the electrolytic capacitors replaced. This is a major problems for virtually all series 3 boxes, and since it is well documented in many older threads here I will not reiterate all the details. Suffice it to say that your power supply could have easily been the real problem behind your original issue. The caps are cheap and easy to replace for anyone with basic skills in PCB soldering.

 

[JonMu]

I am glad your old S3 is finally working. In my opinion, a SSD should NEVER be used in any TiVo. For your S3, you should stick with a WD Red or Purple drive (either 1TB or 2 TB).

Now on to a more negative subject: If you want to use that S3 for a long time, you need to make sure the power supply has had all the electrolytic capacitors replaced. This is a major problems for virtually all series 3 boxes, and since it is well documented in many older threads here I will not reiterate all the details. Suffice it to say that your power supply could have easily been the real problem behind your original issue. The caps are cheap and easy to replace for anyone with basic skills in PCB soldering.

Thanks, I will look into servicing it. Replace it with japanese made caps and an enterprise quality spinning drive.

Too bad there are no radioshacks in my area and most of the stores are close. Is there a lost of the common caps that i can just order from mouser or digikey since most of them have a minimum cart order?

Sent from my Mi MIX 2S using Tapatalk

 

[HerronScott]

There are pinned threads in this forum and I think the Help Center with lists of capacitors depending on which power supply you have.

Scott

 

[V7Goose]

There are few S3 boxes still working today that have not already had the capacitors replaced, so check it out first before you buy anything. Start by reading the threads on bad capacitors and look at the pictures; the most common visual indicator is any bulge at all on top of an electrolytic can (ANY bulge, no matter how slight). And if you just examine the bottom of the board, it is generally pretty obvious if anyone has been in there with a soldering iron.

Just as an additional comment - this problem was an electronics industry-wide mess back in the early through mid 2000s, not just a TiVo problem. It was caused by the market being flooded with cheap garbage Chinese capacitors. Who knows how many millions of electronic devices were thrown away prematurely just because a 1 cent Chinese part would not last more than 3-4 years?

 

[lhvetinari]

There are few S3 boxes still working today that have not already had the capacitors replaced, so check it out first before you buy anything. Start by reading the threads on bad capacitors and look at the pictures; the most common visual indicator is any bulge at all on top of an electrolytic can (ANY bulge, no matter how slight). And if you just examine the bottom of the board, it is generally pretty obvious if anyone has been in there with a soldering iron.

Just as an additional comment - this problem was an electronics industry-wide mess back in the early through mid 2000s, not just a TiVo problem. It was caused by the market being flooded with cheap garbage Chinese capacitors. Who knows how many millions of electronic devices were thrown away prematurely just because a 1 cent Chinese part would not last more than 3-4 years?

Yeah, the extent of the great capacitor plague was massive - hell, in one year alone Dell spent 420 million bucks replacing dead motherboards.