[spicolte]

I am a newbie to your site. I have done much searching concerning my Sony Sat T60 box, but have been unable to find specific information to my problem. Here is my background with my receiver box:

I own a Sony Sat-T60 manufactured in July 2002. My original Sat T60 was purchased in late 1999 or early 2000 with my Direct TV service, however I had numerous problems with that unit, and it was eventually replaced under warranty. The next unit followed the same path, until it was replaced with this current unit. Each time, the unit stopped functioning. Basically, it died. It started by not letting me access recorded shows, and then not letting me view channels on Direct TV. Eventually, it did nothing, and showed nothing.

This particular unit has now gone dead. The "green light" turns on when I hit the power button, but that is the extent of what it does. The TV screen is black, and no input can be given to the box.

I just discoved the Tivo community page, and the link to the Hinsdale page. It appears from what I read on this site and the Hinsdale page that replacing the hard drive is all I need to bring this receiver back to life. From what I have described, would
folks here concur? I sent an e-mai lto the Hinsdale folks, but based on what I wrote to them, they cannot confirm that replacing my hard drive will correct my problem. I figure you all are the experts, so I figured I'd better return to you and ask for help.

Going forward, given the lowest upgrade possible from the Hinsdale site (80gb), at a price of $99, (I really don't want to spend the money on this box, as I could purchase a newer model on ebay for less money), should I sink the money into this Sat T60? Basically, I'm looking for confirmation that my hard drive is the cause of my receiver's failure. If so, then I would like to replace the hard drive, but truly don't need to upgrade it, as that seems to be cost prohibitive. Is it possible to simply replace it with the same size drive?

I would appreciate some input and feedback concerning my receiver's trouble, and suggestions for how I should proceed. I am not a computer genius, but I can follow instructions. It appears that Hinsdale has those specific instructions.

I read the Hinsdale page detailing instructions for all the TIVO boxes in existence, and I believe I have a 40gb single drive TIVO. My Bar Code number is 8102523, which is above the 802XXXX number Hinsdale listed on their info page. I also need to confirm which SAT T60 unit I have before I proceed.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

 

[litzdog911]

No, this sounds like a dead power supply problem, or possible a problem on the motherboard. A dead hard drive should still yield the "Welcome, starting up ..." disply on your TV.

You can certainly try replacing the drive first. But you should go with a larger drive, at least 80GB. Not all 40GB drives are created equal, so a new 40GB drive might be slightly smaller than the original 40GB drive, and that can cause you problems. Buying a pre-imaged replacement drive would be the easiest way to go, or using DVRUpgrade's InstantCake utility.

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=25

http://www.weaknees.com/index.html

http://tivo.upgrade-instructions.com/

http://www.newreleasesvideo.com/hinsdale-how-to/

http://www.dvrupgrade.com/dvr/stores/1/instantcake.cfm

http://www.9thtee.com/

 

[GrondramB]

I've got 4 of those boxes )not all in service and while I'm not sure, I would bet there is more wrong than you will be able to fix with a hard drive given that failure to view DirecTV channels started at a different time than failure to record. Good Luck
Paul

 

[spicolte]

litzdog,

Thanks for all the help and links. I'm not very computer savy, so if it isn't a simple hard drive replacement, I don't think I want to tackle a mother board problem. I wouldn't know where to begin.

Given the four Sat T60 boxes I have had, and all their catastrophic failures, I don't have much faith in resurrecting this box. I think I should glean something from the fact Sony no longer makes these boxes. From my experience, it seems like they were nothing but junk. I need to search more to see what folks on this site feel about the Sat T60.

In the case of this particular failure, I don't know what happened that led to its' demise. I was away on vacation, and when I returned, it wasn't working. Like I said, power light turns on, but nothing else happens. I have seen some colors in the screen, but mainly, it's just black.

Can you suggest a place I could get it serviced? I truly don't want to spend more than its' worth.

Thanks.

 

[Edmund]

Have tried hooking up via the RF out instead of the RCA's or SVHS?

 

[litzdog911]

... Can you suggest a place I could get it serviced? I truly don't want to spend more than its' worth.

Thanks.

These guys get good reviews here for repairing Tivos and DirecTV/Tivos ....
http://www.ccscorporation.net/

 

[spicolte]

Thanks for the link to CCS Corporation. I have sent them an e-mail inquiry.

I haven't tried changing the source of my output. If the output proved bad, I would still be confirming that I need someone else to repair the unit for me.

I did search for more info on the Sat T60 box, and found a post suggesting that the white ribbon cable between the power supply and mainboard may need to be removed and cleaned. I will give that a shot.

 

[spicolte]

Well...I took the unit apart. Full of dust, which was carefully blown out of the inside area. I then cleaned and reconnected the white ribbon cable several times. I also flipped it around a few times too. I also used the unused pin connector (which I assume goes to the B drive in some units...which I don't have) as a power supply to the hard drive along with the ribbon cable with no luck.

The fan was working well, but had a separate a/c plug (if you can call it that). When the unit is plugged in, the fan starts right up. However, when I remove the fan power supply, I feel no vibration from inside the hard drive. Shouldn't I feel some movement?

I also tried all the quarter inch RCA outputs, and the coaxial output...still no picture or "welcome" screen.

At this point, do any of you have any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[litzdog911]

Well...I took the unit apart. Full of dust, which was carefully blown out of the inside area. I then cleaned and reconnected the white ribbon cable several times. I also flipped it around a few times too. I also used the unused pin connector (which I assume goes to the B drive in some units...which I don't have) as a power supply to the hard drive along with the ribbon cable with no luck.

The fan was working well, but had a separate a/c plug (if you can call it that). When the unit is plugged in, the fan starts right up. However, when I remove the fan power supply, I feel no vibration from inside the hard drive. Shouldn't I feel some movement?

I also tried all the quarter inch RCA outputs, and the coaxial output...still no picture or "welcome" screen.

At this point, do any of you have any suggestions?

Thanks.

Still sounds like a Power Supply or Motherboard problem to me. The hard drive is probably not getting any power. If it were just a hard drive problem, you would still see the "Welcome, starting up ...." message on your TV. There's really not much more troubleshooting you can do.

 

[JimSpence]

...
Given the four Sat T60 boxes I have had, and all their catastrophic failures, I don't have much faith in resurrecting this box. I think I should glean something from the fact Sony no longer makes these boxes. From my experience, it seems like they were nothing but junk. I need to search more to see what folks on this site feel about the Sat T60.
...

Not to make you feel bad, but my T60 is almost 6 years old iand is working very well. I added a 120 GB drive about 5 years ago.

 

[GrondramB]

Not to make you feel bad, but my T60 is almost 6 years old iand is working very well. I added a 120 GB drive about 5 years ago.

My oldest T60 is only 5 years old but its been but its totally unmodified and has been working 1256 days without a daily call or reboot for problems.

 

[uspatentideas]

I have such problem before, I just contact my local repareman to deal with it.

 

[spicolte]

I gave the box to my wife's IT guy, who has fiddled with TIVO boxes in the past. He confirmed the hard drive was fine, but the power supply was shot.

Can anyone tell me where I can get a new power supply for this Sony SAT T60? (litzdog...you were right on the money...thanks!)

Thank you.

 

[litzdog911]

I gave the box to my wife's IT guy, who has fiddled with TIVO boxes in the past. He confirmed the hard drive was fine, but the power supply was shot.

Can anyone tell me where I can get a new power supply for this Sony SAT T60? (litzdog...you were right on the money...thanks!)

Thank you.

Check out http://www.weaknees.com