[LoopTJ]

Here goes, sorry if this is posted somewhere already. I did some searching and couldn't find anything.
I think my original HDD failed (WD Green 320GB, running great since new), yesterday the TiVo had all of the front lights on and did not respond. I got a new image from ggieske (thanks!) and using DvrBARS I restored this image to a spare drive I had, the restore said it was successful however the TiVo continues to reboot after showing the "Welcome. Getting Started" screen. I tried running Kickstart 57 but I never get a solid Green light with a flashing amber. It goes from a solid blue for a while then solid blue and solid amber then all lights on, solid green "Welcome" on screen then reboot.

I don't mind ordering a brand new HDD but which one? We never filled up the 320GB and they don't make them that small anymore.

I looked into MFS Tools to try and check my old drive and my newly imaged drive but not that familiar with linux.

Any one have thoughts or suggestions?

 

[kpeters59]

Try a KickStart 57.

TiVo Kickstart Codes and Information

-KP

 

[LoopTJ]

My TiVo doesn't make it to a point where the amber light is flashing. Not sure how to get the KickStart 57 to work.

 

[Rowan]

I had something similar happen to one of my Premiere's last week. It will show the "Welcome Powering Up" screen. I can see it access the hard drive for about 5 seconds with orange flashes, then screen goes blank and then about 30 seconds later it reboots again and starts over. Have checked the hard drive (it works in another Premiere) also created a new one with an image from ggieske (Thanks), have checked the power supply with no changes. I guess there is a problem with the motherboard.

 

[LoopTJ]

Thanks Rowan, that sounds like what mine is doing except I don't see the amber light flashing. If it is the motherboard, I take it my "lifetime" subscription just ended? I guess a 10 year life is pretty good (for large dogs).

 

[lhvetinari]

What type of hard drive (mainly the spin rate) - most TiVos need 5.4k for internal drives, 7.2 normal desktop drives put too much heat into the chassis (and can strain the power supply) leading to erratic behaviour.

If you never filled the original 320gb the cheapest and safest option is a 1TB EFRX drive AmazonSmile: Western Digital 1TB WD Red Plus NAS Internal Hard Drive - 5400 RPM Class, SATA 6 Gb/s, CMR, 64 MB Cache, 3.5" - WD10EFRX: Industrial & Scientific - it's 5.4k, CMR so it'll work OK, and it's less than 60 bucks.

 

[LoopTJ]

I had a spare WD Green 5400RPM 500GB drive from an old desktop (WD5000AVDS). Formatted it and installed a fresh image. The TiVo tries to start, all the lights come on and I get the "Welcome. Getting Started..." but then it reboots and presents the same screen, doing this loop for about 10 minutes or so then the TV goes black and the amber, blue, and one red light stay on solid with the green and second red light off. Not sure I want to spend money on a 10yo series 4.

 

[lhvetinari]

I had a spare WD Green 5400RPM 500GB drive from an old desktop (WD5000AVDS). Formatted it and installed a fresh image. The TiVo tries to start, all the lights come on and I get the "Welcome. Getting Started..." but then it reboots and presents the same screen, doing this loop for about 10 minutes or so then the TV goes black and the amber, blue, and one red light stay on solid with the green and second red light off. Not sure I want to spend money on a 10yo series 4.

WD Greens of a certain age have a known problem with the aggressive power-saver settings causing the heads to park and the drive to sleep - by the time the TiVo requests data off the HD, it needs to "wake up" - but this takes too long, so the TiVo assumes the drive's gone out to pasture and it reboots itself. The drive goes back to sleep, rinse, repeat.

You'll need to pull the drive and run WDIDLE to extend the spindown timer (most here recommend 300 seconds or more). How to Stop Excessive Load Cycles on the Western Digital 2TB Caviar Green (WD20EARS) with WDIDLE3 | StorageReview.com

 

[LoopTJ]

I found WDIDLE and booted into FreeDOS to run it, the timer was disabled. I set it to 300 (max time), reinstalled it in the TiVo and the Welcome screen came up for a few seconds than TV screen turned green for several minutes. I can hear the hard drive spinning with the case cover off. Now the green screen turned off and it appears to be in the Welcome screen boot loop again. I appreciate the help, any tricks to get the Kickstart 57 to run?

 

[lhvetinari]

I found WDIDLE and booted into FreeDOS to run it, the timer was disabled. I set it to 300 (max time), reinstalled it in the TiVo and the Welcome screen came up for a few seconds than TV screen turned green for several minutes. I can hear the hard drive spinning with the case cover off. Now the green screen turned off and it appears to be in the Welcome screen boot loop again. I appreciate the help, any tricks to get the Kickstart 57 to run?

After touching it with a non-TiVo system, you may want to try re-imaging it? Or the drive itself could be going south, I really have no idea.