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Series2 remote control and front panel failure

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  • Series2 remote control and front panel failure

    Our Hughes Tivo DVR when in standby mode after some random period of time goes into "limbo" where it fails to respond to the remote control and the front panel buttons. I have to remove the power cord which forces it to reboot. After the reboot it works while it is in the active mode. When placed in standby, some unknown time later it does not respond. Any reason for this failure? Any suggestions for a solution?

  • #2
    Standby is really just 'no video output.' If you leave it on, does it eventually freeze?
    Been here a long time . . .

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    • #3
      Sounds to me like your hard drive is locking up, and if the TiVo happens to be in Standby mode at the time, that's where it locks up. Drive replacements are here:

      https://www.weaknees.com/tivo-upgrade.php
      That's all there is to it!

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by WK-Michael View Post
        Standby is really just 'no video output.' If you leave it on, does it eventually freeze?
        I have been testing the DVR for several days now by not leaving it in standby and it continues to be operational. If this works, will keeping the DVR in this mode be a sensible way to avoid this problem or will this increase the wear and cause the unit to go "castors up" sooner?

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        • #5
          Putting the unit in standby really just halts the output of video & audio, but the unit TiVo is still recording in the background. Unlikely that going to standby will have any effect, but it's a good habit to get into, to keep the unit from suddenly outputting sound through a stereo system when the television is off.
          That's all there is to it!

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          • #6
            Originally posted by WK-Jason View Post
            Sounds to me like your hard drive is locking up, and if the TiVo happens to be in Standby mode at the time, that's where it locks up.[/url]
            Since the Linux OS is still active in memory, why does the hard drive being locked up have anything to do with not responding to the remote control or the front panel buttons?

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            • #7
              I'm not sure what you mean by "still active in memory" but if the unit is locked up, it's locked up, regardless of what screen it's parked on. Responsiveness to remote commands or the front panel is directly related to the hard drive.
              That's all there is to it!

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by WK-Jason View Post
                I'm not sure what you mean by "still active in memory" but if the unit is locked up, it's locked up, regardless of what screen it's parked on. Responsiveness to remote commands or the front panel is directly related to the hard drive.
                By "active in memory", I mean the Linux kernel is loaded into memory and can respond to hardware interrupts from the remote control. I have no idea how primitive the OS is for the Tivo but it should be able to execute requests from the remote control even if the hard drive is off line. The hard drive should not be required since all the essential modules should have been loaded into memory. If the main or secondary hard drive has failed it should report an error code on the screen and instruct the user that the drive has failed and needs to be replaced. Of course I am assuming that the Tivo OS was architected by with some intelligence.

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                • #9
                  That's just not the way that these work at all, sorry to say. The hard drive is constantly used in a TiVo and if it loses access to write it's current buffer, it dies.
                  Been here a long time . . .

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by WK-Michael View Post
                    That's just not the way that these work at all, sorry to say. The hard drive is constantly used in a TiVo and if it loses access to write it's current buffer, it dies.
                    My DVR has two drives. Is this failure attributable to the main drive only? If not, I how do I know which drive is failing?

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                    • #11
                      In a dual drive config, either drive could be causing the failure so if you want to test and format them yourself, you'll need to a) run diagnostics on both drives:

                      http://www.wkforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9

                      then b) replace and/or reformat whatever you wish to put back into the TiVo:

                      http://tivo.upgrade-instructions.com/index.php
                      That's all there is to it!

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