The shows are encrypted, and the decryption key is embedded in the motherboard of the unit on which the shows were recorded.

There's really no way to get those shows back other than to get the original unit working again. But if the drive failed and was part of the problem on the original unit, then you really can't get these shows back.

Thanks. I was imagining that the encryption you undo with the Media Access Key was the only one. I didn't understand how thoroughly the disk is tied to the original unit. This means my only way forward is to figure out what's dead in the TiVo HD. I'll hope it's the power supply because (a) that's diagnosable with a multimeter and (b) it hasn't got an encryption key. Visual inspection doesn't show any obviously blown capacitors, just a couple I wonder about.

In case this gives a hint, here's the progression of symptoms. Early last week, maybe Tuesday, we noticed some pixelation on one channel. The next evening there was major pixelation and choppy audio on all channels. Playback of shows recorded before Tuesday was unaffected. Symptoms continued unabated into the weekend despite swapping in new cable cards, which convinced me it was the TiVo and not the cards. Playback of old shows was still OK through Sunday afternoon when I swapped in the new TiVo Bolt. Sometime between then and Wednesday evening the old TiVo went into hard failure. No lights, no TV signal, nothing. Could this all be a failing power supply? I'd like to think so.

Well, it's at least a power supply failure. If you get no lights at all, that's a bad power supply. But it may not be all of it.

You can start with a replacement and see what you get.

TiVo power supplies are here:

http://www.weaknees.com/ps

Looking closely at the power supply I see five possibly "domed" capacitors, including two that might show a little leakage. Power supply replacement looks like a good bet.

OK - feel free to post a pic here and we might be able to confirm.

Thanks, I really appreciate the risk reduction. Here are the two groups of suspect capacitors:

FullSizeRender-1.jpg

FullSizeRender-2.jpg

Definitely, those are bad caps. Not just domed, but leaking.

New power supply revived the TiVo. Alas, I might have sabotaged the recovery. It booted up and complained the guide had run out. I started a guide update and went away for a bit. There was no video signal when I came back and a red LED was flashing on the front panel, so I cycled power to try again. Now it just does the "powering up" screen again and again and I wonder if I interrupted a system update. I'm off to search the forums for this topic.

Update: Found the kickstart codes page. I'll try kickstart code 57 (mfs check), maybe 52 (emergency reinstall) if 57 doesn't do it.

My guess is, the bad power supply fried the drive.

I didn't think so because it booted the first time but it sure looks like it now. Won't boot, won't even go into diagnostic mode. Since my main interest was to retrieve recorded content, I think I'm done with this project.

Do you buy troubled TiVos for refurb? It's a TiVo HD XL with lifetime service, a just-replaced power supply, and (probably) a dead disk.

Sometimes we do - see this page:

http://www.weaknees.com/trp