[All-In]

I had a Series 3 with Lifetime. I switched to a Bolt with "All-In" three years ago.

I just plugged the S3 back in last night to check it out. It has the old firmware with the "marquee" style lightbulbs in the background. If I let the Series 3 connect to the internet now, will it force a new firmware download on me? Is there any advantage to keeping the old one? Is there a way to get guide data without accepting a new software version at the same time?

thanks

 

[HerronScott]

I had a Series 3 with Lifetime. I switched to a Bolt with "All-In" three years ago.

I just plugged the S3 back in last night to check it out. It has the old firmware with the "marquee" style lightbulbs in the background. If I let the Series 3 connect to the internet now, will it force a new firmware download on me? Is there any advantage to keeping the old one? Is there a way to get guide data without accepting a new software version at the same time?

There hasn't been an update for the S3/HD series in a long time. 11.0n.K1 was the last update (and no UI changes).

Do you still have lifetime or was your Bolt purchased with a lifetime transfer? If you still have lifetime service, there should be no change letting it connect and get guide data.

Scott

 

[All-In]

Thanks Scott!! Well that was going to be my next question. At the time I believed I was transferring my lifetime to the Bolt but when I log in, the Active TiVo Devices tab shows both the Bolt with All-In and also says:

Device Act.date Pymt. Plan Plan end date Device options
(Old Tivo S3) (over 10 years ago) TiVo Lifetime Service N/A No other service plans are available for this device.

Could this mean the old girl still has Lifetime service??

 

[Teeps]

Thanks Scott!! Well that was going to be my next question. At the time I believed I was transferring my lifetime to the Bolt but when I log in, the Active TiVo Devices tab shows both the Bolt with All-In and also says:

Device Act.date Pymt. Plan Plan end date Device options
(Old Tivo S3) (over 10 years ago) TiVo Lifetime Service N/A No other service plans are available for this device.

Could this mean the old girl still has Lifetime service??

You have nothing to lose by connecting the tivo to power, internet and a tv to see what happens.

 

[All-In]

I'm gonna try! I disconnected it while I was on the phone with TiVo in 2017 setting up the new Bolt. I thought for sure if I exposed the S3 to the data stream it would be turned off or I would get some new software which would make it run really slowly....

Thanks for the tips. I will try it out and report back.

 

[All-In]

WOWZA! I connected it to the internet and it worked! I have live program data (at least for today- it says it will have 2 weeks' worth of data in a few days). I am really amazed. For now, I haven't 'synced' the CableCard back to the old Tivo so my cable company only seems to allow watching channels 2-14. But I suspect that if I do that (or get another CableCard), all my channels will come back. I am really surprised- I thought that when I paid the $99 All-In transfer fee, I was basically shifting my "lifetime" from the S3 to the Bolt. But I guess they allowed the old one to remain active AND gave me All-In on the new Bolt. I hope that doesn't go away!

 

[V7Goose]

Back in 2017 Tivo had multiple sales where they offered a discounted transfer of lifetime subscriptions from S3 boxes to new Bolts. At least during the first one of those sales, there were a LOT of S3 boxes that were never deactivated on the expected dates, and to the best of my knowledge, all of those boxes continue to operate fine with Lifetime subscriptions to this date. I do not think we ever figured out why some boxes were deactivated, but others were not.

 

[All-In]

I guess I got lucky! But my Bolt just got zapped by lightning after only 3 years. I wonder if they'd let me transfer the Lifetime on my S3 to a new Bolt (again! But I won't mention it was done once before)

 

[HerronScott]

I guess I got lucky! But my Bolt just got zapped by lightning after only 3 years. I wonder if they'd let me transfer the Lifetime on my S3 to a new Bolt (again! But I won't mention it was done once before)

Unlikely, unless they were having a promotion (assuming their records don't show it). Are you sure the Bolt's issue is not just the power supply?

Scott

 

[lhvetinari]

I guess I got lucky! But my Bolt just got zapped by lightning after only 3 years. I wonder if they'd let me transfer the Lifetime on my S3 to a new Bolt (again! But I won't mention it was done once before)

Try a new power supply first, they're easy to find. 12V/3A. If that doesn't work, it may be worth buttering up some CSR - don't tell them about the lightning, just say it stopped working one morning.

Also, if you've got an outdoor antenna, get a lightning arrestor.

 

[All-In]

Unlikely, unless they were having a promotion (assuming their records don't show it). Are you sure the Bolt's issue is not just the power supply?

Scott

Well, I guess that's what I meant - upgrade at the next promotion ability (hoping that the fact that I already took advantage of their $99 upgrade to move lifetime from the S3 to the Bolt...)

I haven't tried a new power supply to be honest, even though I have a good bench variable power supply here. I don't have whatever oddball DC barrel jack they use, and I don't want to cut apart the existing wire to the wall wart (lazy). I ordered a cheap used Bolt on ebay which the seller assures me works, so I'll try that one.

I have had lightning problems at this house twice in 20 years. So far, the problem seems to have not propagated through the AC power lines- only devices connected to long, ungrounded wires (cable TV boxes, telephone equipment, a thermostat, etc) have been affected. I doubt it is the power supply because the box powers up and seems fine (front panel LEDs, HDD sound), except for (almost) no HDMI output. It does flicker in once with the TiVo splash screen for a second, but it looks like that screen is covered in digital 'snow'. I can try to grab a picture if anyone is interested. I'm assuming if some filter element in the power supply was blown, the noise from the switching supply would be mucking up much more than just the HDMI output.

 

[All-In]

Try a new power supply first, they're easy to find. 12V/3A. If that doesn't work, it may be worth buttering up some CSR - don't tell them about the lightning, just say it stopped working one morning.

Also, if you've got an outdoor antenna, get a lightning arrestor.

Thanks for the tips!

I have a new power supply now, and will try it, but I am not hopeful (see above). I'm interested in your reasoning behind not telling them about the lightning damage. I was actually scripting the conversation in my head and was thinking of asking why an act of G0d means that my TiVo Lifetime subscription has to end (clearly I have no control over it).

I don't have an outdoor antenna but I think I need to add some protection to my cable TV line... this is the 2nd time something like this happened. The first time was many years ago and I had analog cable at the time.

I get the feeling there are a lot of crappy 'lightning arrestors' out there. Yet expensive ones (Polyphasers) seem like they're probably just cheap gas discharge tubes in an expensive case.

Is there a manufacturer I should look into that is known to have good, high-quality (commercial?) lightning mitigation hardware?

I figure I'll never get around to installing it correctly with a big fat low-impedance path to driven earth rods, so I might as well buy the best (mostly kidding)

 

[oldirtr]

ask a satilite installer next time you see one for a inline barrell cut off sur-gender , they do work but yes there is a but they will burn out at any thing over 18-35 amps i believe and because of that they stopped doing that for everday installs got too expensive..

 

[All-In]

Thanks! I'd be OK with that, if it'll save my a/v equipment.

 

[oldirtr]

should its like a inline fuse recommended them to custom racks when insurance call ed me back in the day for best practice that actually works to protect their policy holders for their custom home theaters , when those 1st took off and still recommended along with ups back up systems and voltage regulators for brown outs-over spikes and full on no power outages to safely turn off your equipment, cause that is a lot of money you spent for your home theater system...