you can’t, if it’s lifetime it’s locked to the tsn on the original machine, if you pay monthly or yearly you can add the new one to your account and remove the old one.

 

1) Is my service number embedded in the hard drive of my old Roamio? After I add the new Roamio to my account & remove the old one, can I swap the drive out into the new one and just go, or will I need to do a guided setup?

2) Will the mother ship try to raise my current monthly $6.95 service fee, or will I be grandfathered-in?

 

1) Is my service number embedded in the hard drive of my old Roamio?

The TSN which is associated with the device and shown on your TiVo account is in embedded in the hardware motherboard. The hard drive is not relevant to the TSN. New motherboard, new TSN, and a new device (as far as TiVo is concerned) when you add it to your account.

2) Will the mother ship try to raise my current monthly $6.95 service fee, or will I be grandfathered-in?

You can always try to work with TiVo support to see if you can make a deal, but usually new TiVos on the account are going to be charged at the then current service fees.


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As for HDMI port repair, at least one reputable repair company says roamio HDMI ports can't (normally) be repaired, but they also almost never fail (it is something else that is wrong; the cables, the AVR, the TV, sometimes even the external power supply, etc.). Of course, pins can be bent if you work hard enough, and if you regularly plug/unplug the cables look for pet hair.

 

https://www.tivocommunity.com/threads/tivo-roamio-ota-series-5-hdmi-port-repair-for-real.594206/

If you are going to get a replacement, get one with lifetime service.

 

My $45 replacement from eBay is cheaper than the $89 charged in your link.

Lifetime units on eBay are over $300!

Do you know the answers to my two questions?

 

The service number is probably on the motherboard and if they are going to raise your monthly fee for the replacement unit, it would be cheaper to fix the old one. 4 years is your break even point for a $300 ish replacement.

 

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for a straight answer to a straight question!

 

you can’t, if it’s lifetime it’s locked to the tsn on the original machine, if you pay monthly or yearly you can add the new one to your account and remove the old one.

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for a straight answer to a straight question!

For reference, how was my answer not straight up and simple? I'm curious.

 

Oh, it was, as was Community Member's. Thanks, and a tip o' the hat!

I guess I'm gonna need to call TiVo instead of doing the transfer on-line, to try to keep my $6.95 monthly service fee, 'cause if they won't, I'm jumping ship and getting a Tablo.

 

Wait… lots of questions here.

It‘s very rare for an HDMI to go bad, the problem is almost always a cable, or some setting/communication issue between the TiVo and the device it’s outputting to.

Lifetime Roamio can be found for well under $300. I sold mine on eBay a few months ago for around $90.

Why do you plan to put your current HD into the replacement unit? It wont retain your recordings or settings, the new TiVo will automatically erase and reformat the HD as soon as you install it.

 

If I remember correctly you sold a cable only roamio. They are looking for a roamio that can do OTA. That explains the 300 dollar price.

 

Oohhh, I didn't know it gets erased. Oh, drat!

 

If you get a new Roamio, and keep the old Roamio (at least for a time), both on the same account, you can typically request that they transfer copy-freely recordings (and some other settings) from one to the other via TiVo DVR website (although it is sometimes slow, it can (and has) been seen to work).

 

If HDMI is the only issue, try using the component video. My HDMI failed and the component video still provides excellent HD video.

 

The Roamio OTA only has Composite Video out & is not HD but at most 480p which is ok depending on what you are watching, a friend‘s HDMI got damaged and I gave him the needed combo audio video cable so he could continue using it on his 32” tv and it looks ok but def not HD

 

It looks like your questions have been answered... but... you could also use a TiVo mini to play content through the Roamio. A 4K TiVo mini VOX/LUX would also speed things up compared to the slower Roamio.

You may also want to try different HDMI cables to see if one makes a better connection than another.

I've noticed the HDMI port on my Roamio is a little flaky/loose... but if I can get it working and then not move or jiggle the Roamio and cable, it usually holds.

 

It looks like your questions have been answered... but... you could also use a TiVo mini to play content through the Roamio. A 4K TiVo mini VOX/LUX would also speed things up compared to the slower Roamio.

I have a working roamio, it's an OTA only. Been going probably near 10 years now. I've been expecting it to die one of these days. I got it to replace a roamio whose hdmi sound had died, likely from a hot plug in of the cable. I try to avoid that at all costs now. But I still have that roamio, although i've not powered it up in 8 or 9 years.

I too have been thinking that if my current ota roamio does die, the one with the bad hdmi could be connected to a mini and I could play it that way. But you say 4k, wouldn't that depend on the roamio, or did they come out with 4k roamio's. And how would it speed things up, woudn't it just be sending it's content over a lan cable to the mini?

I've been paying $15/mon for years and I know I could get a better deal if I called in, but I don't mind paying if it helps them to stay in business.

 

@Schmye Bubbula you might find this useful TiVo Account State Tool

 

The Mini’s 4k only applies to the streaming apps, it would not impact the shows streaming from your Roamio.

He’s implying the menus speeds would be snappier on a Mini compared to a Roamio, is all.