Tivo Series 2 Died Need Help Please..

2806 Views 16 Replies 8 Participants Last post by unitron, May 4, 2011

ekoast

Discussion Starter · Mar 9, 2011

I have read a number of posts and I cannot yet pinpoint my issue but I suspect the power supply and or hard drive. Here are the symptoms of my unit:

Model TCD24008a with lifetime subscription:

1. Fan runs, but lights on front no longer light up (green, amber or red).
2. No picture on TV and no start up / welcome screen..black screen
3. I opened the unit ( everything was covered in a thick layer of dust which has been carefully removed) and have voltage to the hard drive. (tested the pin connector from the power supply, read 5v and 10v DC)
4. Hard drive does not appear to be running. However, when I disconnect the ribbon connection between the power supply and the mother board, I can then hear the hard drive powering up. When I reconnect the ribbon connector between the power supply and the mother board, the hard drive again does not power up. (yes, I unplug the unit everytime a disconnect or connect components

)
5. Before it went completely "dark", my wife said that it would sometimes go into the welcome / start up mode and then be fine. The last time before it went dead, it never came out of the start up mode and stayed at "please stand by" indefinitely. Next time the unit went down.

Again, fan works, lights do not. Because we are on the lifetime subscription, I was thinking that I would get a doner unit off ebay and start by replacing the power supply and then the hard drive. I assume I cannot replace the motherboard as that is what identifies the unit to the lifetime subscription. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Any suggestions / help is appreciated. I figure for a $20 donor unit, it's a cheap way to rule out the power supply and the hard drive.

Thanks in advance,
Eric

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

gastrof

· #2 · Mar 9, 2011

My first thought was "power supply", just from the symptoms.

If you can afford it, YES, get a power supply and try it, especially with a LIFETIME unit.

emp

· #3 · Mar 9, 2011

My first thought is also power supply. I doubt its the HD because I think you would have more than a black screen when powering up... I replaced my power supply in my Series 2 about 2 years ago for about $15 from ebay.

ekoast

Discussion Starter · #4 · Mar 9, 2011

Thanks everyone, that's what I suspected too. I will give it a try and post the results...

Eric

replaytv

· #5 · Mar 9, 2011

might be cheaper to get a power supply off of craigslist. If U live in metro denver message me.

unitron

· #6 · Mar 10, 2011

ekoast said:
I have read a number of posts and I cannot yet pinpoint my issue but I suspect the power supply and or hard drive. Here are the symptoms of my unit:

Model TCD24008a with lifetime subscription:

1. Fan runs, but lights on front no longer light up (green, amber or red).
2. No picture on TV and no start up / welcome screen..black screen
3. I opened the unit ( everything was covered in a thick layer of dust which has been carefully removed) and have voltage to the hard drive. (tested the pin connector from the power supply, read 5v and 10v DC)
4. Hard drive does not appear to be running. However, when I disconnect the ribbon connection between the power supply and the mother board, I can then hear the hard drive powering up. When I reconnect the ribbon connector between the power supply and the mother board, the hard drive again does not power up. (yes, I unplug the unit everytime a disconnect or connect components)
5. Before it went completely "dark", my wife said that it would sometimes go into the welcome / start up mode and then be fine. The last time before it went dead, it never came out of the start up mode and stayed at "please stand by" indefinitely. Next time the unit went down.

Again, fan works, lights do not. Because we are on the lifetime subscription, I was thinking that I would get a doner unit off ebay and start by replacing the power supply and then the hard drive. I assume I cannot replace the motherboard as that is what identifies the unit to the lifetime subscription. Correct me if I'm wrong on that.

Any suggestions / help is appreciated. I figure for a $20 donor unit, it's a cheap way to rule out the power supply and the hard drive.

Thanks in advance,
Eric

You should be reading +5 and +12 (not 10) on the hard drive power plug, even when it's plugged into the hard drive.

Do you have a way to power the hard drive from a computer power supply or the power supply from some sort of external hard drive enclosure or an IDE to USB converter?

If so, do that, then apply power to the TiVo, and check the voltages on the hard drive plug from the TiVo power supply.

If the power supply is going bad, then maybe with the load of the hard drive removed it'll be able to power the motherboard and boot up (since the hard drive will be running off of the other supply).

If so, then the motherboard is probably still good and the power supply is failing.

Take a good close look at the electrolytic capacitors.

Check badcaps.net and LCDalternatives for pictures and info on how to spot bad electrolytics.

Always remember that the power supply has lots of places that can zap you badly.

Before you get in a bidding hassle on eBay, check Craigslist.

See less See more

ekoast

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 10, 2011

unitron said:
You should be reading +5 and +12 (not 10) on the hard drive power plug, even when it's plugged into the hard drive.

Do you have a way to power the hard drive from a computer power supply or the power supply from some sort of external hard drive enclosure or an IDE to USB converter?

If so, do that, then apply power to the TiVo, and check the voltages on the hard drive plug from the TiVo power supply.

If the power supply is going bad, then maybe with the load of the hard drive removed it'll be able to power the motherboard and boot up (since the hard drive will be running off of the other supply).

If so, then the motherboard is probably still good and the power supply is failing.

Take a good close look at the electrolytic capacitors.

Check badcaps.net and LCDalternatives for pictures and info on how to spot bad electrolytics.

Always remember that the power supply has lots of places that can zap you badly.

Before you get in a bidding hassle on eBay, check Craigslist.

It might have been 12v, I glanced at the voltmeter at the time. I'll re-check it. I found a model TDC240080 for a good price. My model is TDC24008a, I assume they would use the same power supply.

thanks for the warning on the power supply. I understand that it can zap you even if unplugged. Anyway to completely discharge it to be safe?

Thanks.

unitron

· #8 · Mar 10, 2011

ekoast said:
It might have been 12v, I glanced at the voltmeter at the time. I'll re-check it. I found a model TDC240080 for a good price. My model is TDC24008a, I assume they would use the same power supply.

thanks for the warning on the power supply. I understand that it can zap you even if unplugged. Anyway to completely discharge it to be safe?

Thanks.

The way a power supply zaps you despite being unplugged is the big capacitors still being charged up. Having a load (the motherboard and/or hard drive) attached when you unplug it should drain that off. Check with your voltmeter after unplugging to make sure the 5 and 12 lines are down to zero. If only the motherboard is attached, plugging in the hard drive should drain it off.

Now if we were talking about the older Cathode Ray Tube TVs and computer monitors, you'd need to worry about the picture tube itself 'cause it's a big high-voltage capacitor on its own (and can hold a low amperage but in the tens of thousands of volts charge for months after unplugging), but that's not a problem here.

classicsat

· #9 · Mar 11, 2011

The PSU for a non "a" and "a" revision is the same.

The only hardware difference I can see, in my bunch of TiVos, is that an "a" revision uses the AT90SC6464 cryptochip on top of the motherboard, and the fan outlet grill extends beyond the plane of the case rear, and a knotch in the lid to account for the protruberance. In a non "a", the crypto chip is an AT90SC3232 fixed to the bottom of the board, and a flat fan grill.

ekoast

Discussion Starter · #10 · Mar 11, 2011

classicsat said:
The PSU for a non "a" and "a" revision is the same.

The only hardware difference I can see, in my bunch of TiVos, is that an "a" revision uses the AT90SC6464 cryptochip on top of the motherboard, and the fan outlet grill extends beyond the plane of the case rear, and a knotch in the lid to account for the protruberance. In a non "a", the crypto chip is an AT90SC3232 fixed to the bottom of the board, and a flat fan grill.

That's good news, I suspected the changes were minor. I was more concerned that there would be a software difference. Would it be safe to say that I could do a straight hard drive swap from the 240080 to the 24008a if mine went down? Would I have to run the kick start method?

classicsat

· #11 · Mar 12, 2011

The software is directly compatible. In fact, starting with at least 7.1 software, 140 and 240 units used the same software release.

All you need to do, to muve drives, is a C&DE.

To add about PSUs, the 540 PSUs are different, but are still drop in compatible.

A 140 supply can even run a 240, however there is no safe way to make one fit a 240 case, or a 240/540 supply in a 140 case.

ekoast

Discussion Starter · #12 · Mar 24, 2011

Update:

I replaced the power supply from another 2400 series TIVO and viola! it is back up and running. Thanks to everyone for all the input.:up:

After further inspection on my original unit's powersupply, I noticed one bulging capacitor. Going to replace it and see if that does the trick to get the donor TIVO working again.

Thanks again,
Eric

unitron

· #13 · Mar 24, 2011

ekoast said:
Update:

I replaced the power supply from another 2400 series TIVO and viola! it is back up and running. Thanks to everyone for all the input.:up:

After further inspection on my original unit's powersupply, I noticed one bulging capacitor. Going to replace it and see if that does the trick to get the donor TIVO working again.

Thanks again,
Eric

Make sure you get the kind of Low ESR, high temperature rated capacitor needed for switch mode power supplies, and not just whatever general purpose type Radio Shack has in the drawer.

DPF

· #14 · May 3, 2011

Just dropping a line that I had another dead 140060 power supply, brought back to glorious life by replacement of a bulged 2200uF, 16V, low ESR capacitor which was apparently killing the 12V rail. I had been dead at a Welcome, powering up... screen so the HD was obviously not spinning up.

My 10 year old lifetime unit runs again thanks to the many threads here and elsewhere on the topic.

-Thanks,
-DPF

replaytv

· #15 · May 3, 2011

May I ask where you purchased the capacitor? If online, at what internet site, and how much did they charge you? The reason that I ask it I suppose that sooner or later I will need to get one.

[email protected]

· #16 · May 4, 2011

replaytv said:
May I ask where you purchased the capacitor? If online, at what internet site, and how much did they charge you? The reason that I ask it I suppose that sooner or later I will need to get one.

For a small number of parts or light parts digikey.com is best. They offer inexpensive USPS shipping unlike mouser and some other part suppliers which use UPS and FedEx. For a capacitor or two Mouser will charge $6-7 to ship while digikey is like $3-4.

unitron

· #17 · May 4, 2011

replaytv said:
May I ask where you purchased the capacitor? If online, at what internet site, and how much did they charge you? The reason that I ask it I suppose that sooner or later I will need to get one.

For further capacitor education and possible parts source, check badcaps.net and lcdalternatives.

1 - 17 of 17 Posts

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