Need help troubleshooting Series 2 TiVo

Hello,

I have an 80 hour (originally a single drive) Series 2 TiVo, which, due to
the addition 120 GB (WeakKnees) drive kit, is now a dual drive unit.

Recently, the unit shut down due to overheating, as indicated by the
onscreen message. Rebooting it brought it back to life. I then made sure
that the fan was working and that there was adequate room for air flow
around the unit, even though it just sits out in the open on top of the TV
that it is connected to. I didn't think much about it until I found it that
way again a week or so later and discovered that rebooting won't fix it this
time around. It's stuck on the "Powering Up" screen.

Upon searching for a solution to the problem, I discovered that it's either
a bad power supply or that one or both of the drives has failed. What I
would like to find out is how to determine which is the case.

I also learned that it would have been better had I just removed the
original drive and set it aside for an occasion like this and only installed
a single larger capacity drive.

In order to prove the trouble, I would like to try to test the drives, but I
haven't found a definitive way of doing so. I am aware that by no means
should I connect them to a PC that is running Windows for fear or bricking
them. Does anyone here have an pointers on how to prove or fix this problem?
Any chance of salvaging the recordings that were on the drives?

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply here.

Peter.

Go to http://www.mfslive.org/
Download the CD image and burn it to a disk.
In your computer, disconnect the existing drives and connect the TiVo
drives.
Boot from the MFSLive CD.
Run the command to check the file system on these drives.

Dave S.

Peter Bogiatzidis wrote:
Hello,

I have an 80 hour (originally a single drive) Series 2 TiVo, which, due to
the addition 120 GB (WeakKnees) drive kit, is now a dual drive unit.

Recently, the unit shut down due to overheating, as indicated by the
onscreen message. Rebooting it brought it back to life. I then made sure
that the fan was working and that there was adequate room for air flow
around the unit, even though it just sits out in the open on top of the TV
that it is connected to. I didn't think much about it until I found it that
way again a week or so later and discovered that rebooting won't fix it this
time around. It's stuck on the "Powering Up" screen.

Upon searching for a solution to the problem, I discovered that it's either
a bad power supply or that one or both of the drives has failed. What I
would like to find out is how to determine which is the case.

I also learned that it would have been better had I just removed the
original drive and set it aside for an occasion like this and only installed
a single larger capacity drive.

In order to prove the trouble, I would like to try to test the drives, but I
haven't found a definitive way of doing so. I am aware that by no means
should I connect them to a PC that is running Windows for fear or bricking
them. Does anyone here have an pointers on how to prove or fix this problem?
Any chance of salvaging the recordings that were on the drives?

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply here.

Peter.

"Peter Bogiatzidis" wrote in message
...
snip
around the unit, even though it just sits out in the open on top of the TV
that it is connected to. I didn't think much about it until I found it
that
snip

Peter,

I'm going to suggest that you find someplace else to put the unit
other than on top of the TV that it is connected to. When the
TV is off, it will not generate much heat, but when it's on, it
will probably generate quite a lot. Particularly for a two drive
model.

Larry Hazel

Peter Bogiatzidis wrote:
Hello,

I have an 80 hour (originally a single drive) Series 2 TiVo, which, due to
the addition 120 GB (WeakKnees) drive kit, is now a dual drive unit.

Recently, the unit shut down due to overheating, as indicated by the
onscreen message.

I have just upgraded my computer, NOT Tivo, with two WD 500 GIG Caviar
SE16 drives. At the moment the case is not closed but they have been
running 3 days non stop and are so cool to touch, about 105F, that it's
amazing. If they did and IDE version would probably be great for Tivo.

Ian Singer
--


================================================== =======================
See my homepage at http://www.iansinger.com
hosted on http://www.1and1.com/?k_id=10623894
All genealogy is stored in TMG from http://www.whollygenes.com
Charts and searching using TNG from http://www.tngsitebuilding.com
I am near Toronto Canada, can I tell where you are from your reply?
================================================== =======================

I also learned that it would have been better had I just removed the
original drive and set it aside for an occasion like this and only
installed a single larger capacity drive.

Or just spend $20 to buy an 'instantcake' CD from dvrupgrades (or a
pre-loaded drive). This will erase anything already on there. All
recordings and all season passes.

In order to prove the trouble, I would like to try to test the drives, but
I haven't found a definitive way of doing so

Check the vendor of the drive(s) in question. Go to that vendor's website
and obtain their bootable floppy or CD iso image. Make yourself that floppy
or CD and boot from it. DO NOT boot into XP when there are any Tivo drives
attached. Your safest bet is to remove the cable from the XP drive. Then
use the vendor utility to run their diagnostic tests. Be sure to use the
non-destructive ones, that is, unless you're planning on reloading the
drives from an instantcake CD.

Any chance of salvaging the recordings that were on the drives?

Very unlikely.

Dave S,

I downloaded the mfslive image and burnt it to CD as you suggested. Next, I
disconnected any existing Windows XP drives from the PC that I am using for
this. Then I connected the TiVo drives to the secondary ide interface, as
per the instructions, with the CD drive connected to the primary.

When I boot the PC, I get the MFSLive boot menu where you choose which TiVo
you have. I then select item 1 for a Series 2 TiVo GUI and it proceeds to
load, however, after it successfully goes through quite a few of its tasks,
it hangs and I never get to a menu where I can choose to check the file
system as you indicated. By the way, in the PC's boot process, I can see
that the drives are being recognized.

Thinking that I did something wrong, I started from scratch and burned a 2nd
CD only to have the same results.

Am I doing something wrong? Any other pointers?

Thanks again to you and the others who responded to my post.

Peter.

"Dave S" wrote in message
...
Go to http://www.mfslive.org/
Download the CD image and burn it to a disk.
In your computer, disconnect the existing drives and connect the TiVo
drives.
Boot from the MFSLive CD.
Run the command to check the file system on these drives.

Dave S.

Peter Bogiatzidis wrote:
Hello,

I have an 80 hour (originally a single drive) Series 2 TiVo, which, due
to the addition 120 GB (WeakKnees) drive kit, is now a dual drive unit.

Recently, the unit shut down due to overheating, as indicated by the
onscreen message. Rebooting it brought it back to life. I then made sure
that the fan was working and that there was adequate room for air flow
around the unit, even though it just sits out in the open on top of the
TV that it is connected to. I didn't think much about it until I found it
that way again a week or so later and discovered that rebooting won't fix
it this time around. It's stuck on the "Powering Up" screen.

Upon searching for a solution to the problem, I discovered that it's
either a bad power supply or that one or both of the drives has failed.
What I would like to find out is how to determine which is the case.

I also learned that it would have been better had I just removed the
original drive and set it aside for an occasion like this and only
installed a single larger capacity drive.

In order to prove the trouble, I would like to try to test the drives,
but I haven't found a definitive way of doing so. I am aware that by no
means should I connect them to a PC that is running Windows for fear or
bricking them. Does anyone here have an pointers on how to prove or fix
this problem? Any chance of salvaging the recordings that were on the
drives?

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply here.

Peter.

Sorry, I should have been specific.
I've only done this once, in one way, so I am not familiar with the
other ways.

What I downloaded was the linux boot cd and at the choice, I took text
mode. I haven't used the GUI, and can't check it now because my TiVo
drive is back in the TiVo.

On the command line, the command to check the file system is:

mfsinfo /dev/hdc

where 'c' is used if your drive is master on secondary IDE, 'a' if
master on primary, etc.

Dave S.

Peter Bogiatzidis wrote:
Dave S,

I downloaded the mfslive image and burnt it to CD as you suggested. Next, I
disconnected any existing Windows XP drives from the PC that I am using for
this. Then I connected the TiVo drives to the secondary ide interface, as
per the instructions, with the CD drive connected to the primary.

When I boot the PC, I get the MFSLive boot menu where you choose which TiVo
you have. I then select item 1 for a Series 2 TiVo GUI and it proceeds to
load, however, after it successfully goes through quite a few of its tasks,
it hangs and I never get to a menu where I can choose to check the file
system as you indicated. By the way, in the PC's boot process, I can see
that the drives are being recognized.

Thinking that I did something wrong, I started from scratch and burned a 2nd
CD only to have the same results.

Am I doing something wrong? Any other pointers?

Thanks again to you and the others who responded to my post.

Peter.

"Dave S" wrote in message
...
Go to http://www.mfslive.org/
Download the CD image and burn it to a disk.
In your computer, disconnect the existing drives and connect the TiVo
drives.
Boot from the MFSLive CD.
Run the command to check the file system on these drives.

Dave S.

Peter Bogiatzidis wrote:
Hello,

I have an 80 hour (originally a single drive) Series 2 TiVo, which, due
to the addition 120 GB (WeakKnees) drive kit, is now a dual drive unit.

Recently, the unit shut down due to overheating, as indicated by the
onscreen message. Rebooting it brought it back to life. I then made sure
that the fan was working and that there was adequate room for air flow
around the unit, even though it just sits out in the open on top of the
TV that it is connected to. I didn't think much about it until I found it
that way again a week or so later and discovered that rebooting won't fix
it this time around. It's stuck on the "Powering Up" screen.

Upon searching for a solution to the problem, I discovered that it's
either a bad power supply or that one or both of the drives has failed.
What I would like to find out is how to determine which is the case.

I also learned that it would have been better had I just removed the
original drive and set it aside for an occasion like this and only
installed a single larger capacity drive.

In order to prove the trouble, I would like to try to test the drives,
but I haven't found a definitive way of doing so. I am aware that by no
means should I connect them to a PC that is running Windows for fear or
bricking them. Does anyone here have an pointers on how to prove or fix
this problem? Any chance of salvaging the recordings that were on the
drives?

Thanks in advance to those who post a reply here.

Peter.

Hello again,

As I indicated in a reply to my original post, I tried using the mfslive CD,
but it would hang after a point. Giving up on that, I purchased a copy of
InstantCake and "baked" a new drive.

When I attempted to start the TiVo with the new drive installed, I saw the
"Powering Up" screen followed by the TiVo "a few minutes more" screen. With
that I thought that success was at hand. Wrong! The next screen that I saw
was the "overheating" screen. A subsequent reboot went to the same screen.

That's where all of this started with the original TiVo drives. Searches
pointed to either failed hard drives or a bad power supply. One suggestion
was to power up the unit without any drives in it and see if the "Powering
up" screen stayed on for more than 15 minutes, which it did, and supposedly
meant that the power supply was good. With that I started pursuing mfslive
and then InstantCake, as I mentioned above.

So, where do I go from here? Is it actually a bad power supply or a blown
motherboard? How can I test for this? I read somewhere about the possibility
of a defective temperature sensor. Is that a repairable item? I'm not even
sure where it is located.

Any ideas on how to proceed with troubleshooting this problem? The upside is
that I suspect that my original drives may still be good and, if I can get
the unit working again, I may be able to salvage the recordings from them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again to all who posted and
those who respond to this post.

Peter.

"Bill Kearney" wrote in message
t...
I also learned that it would have been better had I just removed the
original drive and set it aside for an occasion like this and only
installed a single larger capacity drive.

Or just spend $20 to buy an 'instantcake' CD from dvrupgrades (or a
pre-loaded drive). This will erase anything already on there. All
recordings and all season passes.

In order to prove the trouble, I would like to try to test the drives,
but I haven't found a definitive way of doing so

Check the vendor of the drive(s) in question. Go to that vendor's website
and obtain their bootable floppy or CD iso image. Make yourself that
floppy or CD and boot from it. DO NOT boot into XP when there are any
Tivo drives attached. Your safest bet is to remove the cable from the XP
drive. Then use the vendor utility to run their diagnostic tests. Be
sure to use the non-destructive ones, that is, unless you're planning on
reloading the drives from an instantcake CD.

Any chance of salvaging the recordings that were on the drives?

Very unlikely.

In article , "Peter Bogiatzidis" wrote:
Hello again,

As I indicated in a reply to my original post, I tried using the mfslive CD,
but it would hang after a point. Giving up on that, I purchased a copy of
InstantCake and "baked" a new drive.

When I attempted to start the TiVo with the new drive installed, I saw the
"Powering Up" screen followed by the TiVo "a few minutes more" screen. With
that I thought that success was at hand. Wrong! The next screen that I saw
was the "overheating" screen. A subsequent reboot went to the same screen.

That's where all of this started with the original TiVo drives. Searches
pointed to either failed hard drives or a bad power supply. One suggestion
was to power up the unit without any drives in it and see if the "Powering
up" screen stayed on for more than 15 minutes, which it did, and supposedly
meant that the power supply was good. With that I started pursuing mfslive
and then InstantCake, as I mentioned above.

So, where do I go from here? Is it actually a bad power supply or a blown
motherboard? How can I test for this? I read somewhere about the possibility
of a defective temperature sensor. Is that a repairable item? I'm not even
sure where it is located.

Any ideas on how to proceed with troubleshooting this problem? The upside is
that I suspect that my original drives may still be good and, if I can get
the unit working again, I may be able to salvage the recordings from them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again to all who posted and
those who respond to this post.

Peter.



Is the fan functional in the Tivo?

GMAN,

Yes, the fan is working.

Peter.

"GMAN" wrote in message
...
In article , "Peter
Bogiatzidis" wrote:
Hello again,

As I indicated in a reply to my original post, I tried using the mfslive
CD,
but it would hang after a point. Giving up on that, I purchased a copy of
InstantCake and "baked" a new drive.

When I attempted to start the TiVo with the new drive installed, I saw the
"Powering Up" screen followed by the TiVo "a few minutes more" screen.
With
that I thought that success was at hand. Wrong! The next screen that I saw
was the "overheating" screen. A subsequent reboot went to the same screen.

That's where all of this started with the original TiVo drives. Searches
pointed to either failed hard drives or a bad power supply. One suggestion
was to power up the unit without any drives in it and see if the "Powering
up" screen stayed on for more than 15 minutes, which it did, and
supposedly
meant that the power supply was good. With that I started pursuing mfslive
and then InstantCake, as I mentioned above.

So, where do I go from here? Is it actually a bad power supply or a blown
motherboard? How can I test for this? I read somewhere about the
possibility
of a defective temperature sensor. Is that a repairable item? I'm not even
sure where it is located.

Any ideas on how to proceed with troubleshooting this problem? The upside
is
that I suspect that my original drives may still be good and, if I can get
the unit working again, I may be able to salvage the recordings from them.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks again to all who posted and
those who respond to this post.

Peter.



Is the fan functional in the Tivo?