S2 tries to power up, shuts off, reboots, repeats..

1052 Views 4 Replies 2 Participants Last post by UncleKG, Oct 17, 2007

UncleKG

Discussion Starter · Oct 15, 2007

I've been reading a lot of the posts, but haven't seen this exact scenario. (My Tivo Series 2 with lifetime service plan is connected via phone line).

The other morning (10/13/07, around 2 a.m. ET), I'm watching a recorded show on Tivo and it just shuts off.

I unplug it and replug it in, and the "Welcome! Powering up..." screen comes up for about a minute, then the screen goes black and there are no lights lit on the front of the box for a few seconds, then the process repeats. "Welcome! Powering up...," for a minute, box shuts down, etc.

I called Customer Service and went through the "unplug both the Tivo and the phone line from it for three minutes, plug it back in," reboot. When that didn't work, I was told to unplug it for 10 minutes, and to do that one more time after that.

I'm still having the same problem.

I tried the Kickstart 57 reboot, but the yellow/orange light never came on when I was pressing the pause button.

I see my problem started around the time of the upgrade everyone's been complaining about. Am I screwed?

I was offered two scenarios by customer support.

1. Exchange my S2 for $149, or
2. Buy an HD box from Tivo, and for an additional $199, they will not only exchange my S2, but also transfer the lifetime service plan from my S2 to the new HD box, and give me one year's "free" service on the new S2 I receive.

I asked if this would also be the case if I bought a factory reconditioned HD box that's advertised as a "Web Only" offer on the Tivo site (saving me a couple hundred bucks), but the rep. said she didn't know.

Sorry for all the info, but my questions are:

1. Any suggestions on how to fix the S2 I have, and if not
2. Does the second offer sound like a decent deal, or is there a cheaper way for me to go?

Thank you for your time.

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UncleKG

Discussion Starter · #2 · Oct 15, 2007

One thing I forgot to mention is: I seem to remember the lady said I would have to purchase a Series 3 as opposed to the HD (which, as you know, means several hundred $$$ difference).

Again, is it worth it, do you think?

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dwit

· #3 · Oct 15, 2007

Either your drive crapped out or the update, if you received it, probably caused problems like the many similarly described throughout the forums.

I had similar scenario with my S2 but mine is modified with 2 drives which may or not have been a factor.

I removed these 2 large drives and installed the original drive which then operated properly even after the update.

I then used programs to check the integrity of the 2 large drives. They checked out fine so I re-imaged them with the "Instant Cake" program and put them back in the Tivo and now all is well. I lost all my recordings however.

So if you really want to keep your unit and don't think it will eventually boot up for you, and you are up for it, you can use your drive manufacturers utilities to scan the drive to check if it is good. Then you could try copying the drives info over onto another drive(much larger if desired). I think progams like winmfs or mfslive(mfslive.org) can guide you through this.

If you can't get the image data off the old drive, you could download the "Instant Cake" cd from dvrupgrade.com for $20. Then you can prepare any drive to put back in your Tivo. You will lose any recordings as your old drive is not involved in the instant cake method. This is the easiest dyi method of all.

As far as the TivoHD transfer, many would love to have that option. I'm thinking about calling in and telling them mine died(well, it did) to get the offer but they probably wouldn't offer as my Lifetime Subscription was activated after 10/01/03.

When was you Lifetime sub activated?

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dwit

· #4 · Oct 15, 2007

UncleKG said:
One thing I forgot to mention is: I seem to remember the lady said I would have to purchase a Series 3 as opposed to the HD (which, as you know, means several hundred $$$ difference).

Again, is it worth it, do you think?

If your lifetime started before 10/1/03, you qualify to transfer to the less expensive Tivo HD.

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UncleKG

Discussion Starter · #5 · Oct 17, 2007

Unfortunately, it was 12/04, so they want me to buy the Series 3 (I believe. I'll have to double check with Customer Service).

Thank you for the info!

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