[Darrell Patton]

If I replace a power supply or hard drive of a unit with lifetime service, the unit is still the same unit with lifetime. Which piece of the Roamio/Bolt/Edge defines the unit?
If I fix a broken unit that has lifetime service, which piece is it that if replaced, I lose the lifetime service?

 

[dianebrat]

The TSN burned into the motherboard is the defining data of a machine with a "lifetime" or "all in" status and it is not something you can change in anything newer than a series 3, even that required specialized tools.

Always has been, and will not change.

 

[mattack]

...and if you get a device repaired or replaced BY TIVO THEMSELVES.. the lifetime should transfer.

What you *can't* do is just go buy a new device and transfer your existing lifetime from one device to another, willy nilly. (Outside of a couple of promos Tivo has done over the years, sometimes with cost, sometimes not.)

 

[CommunityMember]

The TSN burned into the motherboard is the defining data of a machine with a "lifetime" or "all in" status and it is not something you can change in anything newer than a series 3, even that required specialized tools.

I would not be surprised that if you had access to the appropriate electronic reflow station (and the expertice to know how to use it) you probably could transfer the crypto chip (where the TSN is stored) from one device to another of the same model. However, the usefulness is somewhat limited.

 

[dianebrat]

I would not be surprised that if you had access to the appropriate electronic reflow station (and the expertice to know how to use it) you probably could transfer the crypto chip (where the TSN is stored) from one device to another of the same model. However, the usefulness is somewhat limited.

That's the S3 reference, it was the last one that had it's cypto chip in a package.

 

[CommunityMember]

That's the S3 reference, it was the last one that had it's cypto chip in a package.

The S3 was relatively simple SMT that could be swapped by someone with a fine soldering iron and good eyes and steady hands. Moving the processor (which now contains the fused value) with newer devices is BGA reflow rework, which can also be done, although last I checked contract pricing for BGA rework it started at a few hundred dollars just for the work itself (and, as always, depends on the details). Again, the usefulness is limited.

 

[mattack]

heh, I had my OLED S3 die, along with the hard drive.. kept meaning to try to get someone to move the crypto chip to another one and try to recover the drive by replacing the controller card (the drive would spin up but a computer wouldn't even see any device connected at all)..
Though the one series I remember having a lot of on that drive, the last season or so of Cold Case, I notice IS on HBO Max now.. (though I wonder if the music is intact, that is a very music-centric show)

 

[Series3Sub]

"Lifetime of the device."

But as others have stated, the identity of each unique "device" is determined by the TSN burned on the motherboard of the TiVo DVR. So, that motherboard is the life and death of your Lifetime/All-in subscription. Of course, TiVo can allow transfers of your Lifetime/All-in in special/circumstances and you still retain Lifetime/All-in if TiVo authorizes a different unit to replace a malfunctioning one, so the replacement unit holds your original Lifetime/All-in. Notice this was all about the device and NOT the owner . That means that one can sell their Lifetime/All-in TiVo DVR to a different person and that Lifetime/All-in subscription stays with the device sold to that different person.

 

[MikeLobby]

Swapping the TSN chip on a Series 1-3 is fairly easy. Using ChipQuik solder makes it easy to remove an SMD chip from the board without damaging the chip or the board using a regular soldering iron.

 

[dianebrat]

Swapping the TSN chip on a Series 1-3 is fairly easy. Using ChipQuik solder makes it easy to remove an SMD chip from the board without damaging the chip or the board using a regular soldering iron.

Yes, and has been noted, the OP referring to a Bolt/Roamio/Edge era of devices.