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Progressive file system failure?

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  • #1

    Progressive file system failure?

    I have a DirecTV HR10-250. The unit started pixellating a lot and freezing up (non-responsive to remote or front panel controls). The image problems varied, and after a reboot they would disappear from recordings that were unwatchable before the reboot. I replaced the existing drive with a Maxtor 500GB drive and used the DVRUpgrade software to generate a new Tivo image on the drive (with 6.4a firmware). After install, the thing worked great except for some occasional pixelation which I think I've traced to an overgrown tree that is blocking my antennas (both satellite and off-air) when it gets windy. The freeze ups stopped, at first.

    After a week, the thing froze again; I rebooted it and it worked for another week then froze again. The freezes got more frequent and eventually I got into a cycle where I would reboot and it would get through power up, play TV for a minute, then hang again.

    I yanked the new drive and the diagnostics showed that it was fine. I reinstalled Tivo and the thing runs great again except for the pixellation on some channels (which is in the same place when played back).

    It looks to me like the file system is getting trashed as the thing runs. Could it be that the pixellation from the tuner/tree is causing degradation of the file system? Or might it be that the new drive just doesn't work well and fails over time.

    I can't stand the thought of converting to a new DirecTV non-Tivo unit. I'm hoping to keep this baby running until the Tivos show up late next year.

    Any ideas?
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  • #2
    The bloody thing has done it again. Now it won't run for more than three minutes before it reboots. Before the reboot, it pixellates extremely heavily for about 30 seconds, then either the screen goes black or it reboots itself. In one case, it put up the "Searching for signal on satellite 1" message about 10 seconds before it rebooted.

    Not sure what to do at this point; it has a new hard drive in it. I guess I could try a different drive .....

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    • #3
      I think you might have a bad satellite tuner. You might try going through satellite setup again and tell the TiVo you have only one tuner. See if it solves your problem (which means you have a bad sat2).

      Or, if you see pixellation, try pausing and switching tuners. See if you get pixellation on the other tuner as well.

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      • #4
        Thanks for the tips!

        I managed to get the thing working again without reinstalling Tivo; basically I just rebooted it a bunch of times and suddenly it was working flawlessly.

        Today, however, I noticed it pixellating very badly on one satellite channel. So, I took your advice and switched tuners. The pixellation was not immediately obvious on the second tuner which was set to an off-air HD channel; the HD pixture was gorgeous. After a minute or so, however, I noticed some very minor pixellation on the second tuner but nothing like on the first tuner. I switched back to the first tuner and it was completely unwatchable with heavy pixellation and the "searching for signal on sat 2 in" message popping up.

        I then switched channels on the first tuner (the one with heavy pixellation) and it came up fine on a different channel with no pixellation whatsoever.

        Hmnnnnn!!!!!!!

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        • #5
          Then it sounds like you have two bad tuners, sorry to say. See this page:

          DirecTV TiVo satellite tuner repair
          Been here a long time . . .

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          • #6
            On the exact same day I read this diagnosis and was deciding whether to get the tuners replaced or ash-can the thing, I got an email from DirecTV. I was informed by them that the Tivo HD systems would "soon" no longer work with DirecTV. In fact, they told me that I needed to call them to get a new compatible system for free. I did this and they are coming out in a week to install the new system (non-Tivo of course).

            The rather amazing, or maybe not so amazing, coincidence is that the day I got the email telling me my Tivo was obsoleted was the day it started working flawlessly again. The thing has not pixelated, rebooted, froze, or otherwise done anything strange since I agreed to replace it with the DirecTV blessed version.

            Rather suspicious, IMHO. Not of course that DirecTV would intentionally hose Tivos to get people to convert .... probably.

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            • #7
              Well, if you can limp along for about a year, there will be new hardware made jointly by DirecTV and TiVo again . . .
              Been here a long time . . .

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