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TiVo HD XL (TCD658000) will not boot, green power light flashing

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  • #1

    TiVo HD XL (TCD658000) will not boot, green power light flashing

    I have a 2 year old TiVo HD XL (TCD658000) with a lifetime subscription. Cable service is Verizon Fios, and the TiVo is powered through an AV surge protector. I was watching a recorded program on the TiVo when the power in the house went out for about 2 minutes due to a wind storm.

    When the power came back (and ever since), attempting to power on the TiVo has the following results:
    1) the front panel lights on the TiVo all flash once, and go out.
    2) the green power light starts flashing quickly (about 2.5x per second).
    3) the fan spins, the HDD spins up, and the Ethernet LEDs are lit.
    4) no video appears, just a black screen. no welcome, powering up screen, no almost there screen, no display at all.

    On advice from TiVo the expander drive, Ethernet cable, and HDMI cables were disconnected. When testing, the only cables connected were the composite cable and the power. No change.

    I have checked the video through the HDMI connection that was working, as well as through a composite cable with HDMI cable disconnected. No change.

    Based on WK troubleshooting guide, I purchased a WK power supply. Installed this evening. Re-ran above tests. No change.

    I have attempted to see if the box boots to a welcome screen with the power cable to the hard drive disconnected, and with the SATA cable disconnected (but with the power cable to the hard drive connected). Even with new PS, no change.

    I found almost no references to the flashing green power light through Google, so either it's really rare, or the solution is so obvious that no one posts questions or answers.

    I've done pretty much everything that I've been able to find in tivocommunity, WK, tivopedia, fixmytivo, and other forums. What's left now is to check other possibilities.

    Before I start down the path of HD diagnostics, purchasing a replacement disk,attempting to resurrect data from the existing disk, and the joys of MFS, is there anything I'm missing?

    Since the old PS did not have any bulging caps and the situation is unchanged, I may look to return the PS...but not until I get a solid green light and a working TiVo.

    Thanks in advance for any advice/help you can offer!
    Last edited by Acquacorrente; 01-12-2012, 12:43 AM. Reason: Cut and paste issues
    Tags: None
  • #2
    I have the same problem with the blinking green light. It started tonight. I wasn't getting any video signal for any channels (but recorded shows would play). I decided to power down and power up the Tivo. On power up, I had nothing but the blinking green light.

    Have you found any resolution?

    Regards,
    Brian

    Comment

    • #3
      We've seen this problem, and we really don't know how to fix it. In our experience, it's not a hard drive or a power supply or a CableCARD or a peripheral, so it's some sort of motherboard issue that we haven't been able to trace.

      EDIT: We can now fix this problem! Please see this blog post:

      TiVoHD with Flashing Green Light
      Last edited by WK-Michael; 11-15-2013, 10:36 AM.
      Been here a long time . . .

      Comment

      • #4
        Well, the update for now is:
        1) I have run the full set of Western Digital diagnostics on both the internal WD10-EVVS hard drive and the WD expander drive (same disk). Both quick and extended tests show that the disks are fine.
        2) As I said earlier, I already tried swapping a WK power suply for the existing power supply. That did not change the situation, so I believe that the power supply is not the issue.
        3) Having exhausted other solutions, I have a substitution unit coming from TiVo through their $150 within 3 years policy.
        4) Once it arrives, I'll swap my hard drive into the new unit to test it out. Hopefully it will show that my recordings have been preserved.

        I'll write back afterwards to confirm the outcome.

        Comment

        • #5
          You cannot save recordings if you move a drive from one TiVo to another. Sorry.

          Comment

          • #6
            So, for those that come across this post and want to know how my green flashing light on a TiVo HD XL story ended...

            I basically wasted a bunch of time trying every possible alternative, when I should have just accepted the offer from TiVo to swap out the unit for $150.

            I say this for the following reasons:

            1) At the end of the day, it was the motherboard that was hosed. Power supply, internal disk, external disk, and CableCARD all checked out.
            2) The TiVo Service Number from the motherboard is stamped on the hard drive, and on every recording, to prevent unauthorized sharing of disks or recordings between TiVo units. The disk(s) are mated to that unit.
            3) There does not appear to be a way to replicate the TiVo Service Number across units, even when TiVo replaces the unit.
            4) Motherboard fault therefore means that the disk(s) and any recordings with that Service Number can no longer be resurrected or viewed. This is because the only TiVo unit that is authorized to access them is the one with the stir-fried motherboard.
            5) I worked for 2 1/2 weeks researching and testing components to avoid losing my recordings, and in the end nothing that I did matters. The recordings are still gone, as well as 2 weeks of live tv that I missed since the TiVo is my only cable box.

            I'm sure that there are folks in the various TiVo communities that could suggest preventive hardware (WK UPS unit) or software (TiVo hack) measures, or possible soldering iron and chip-swap trickery, to save this situation. Others would send vicious emails to TiVo to complain about the frequency with which this fault occurs (as it is apparently not so rare). There may also be people that have a green flashing light, but really do have a power supply issue.

            But IMHO, the time, effort, aggravation, anxiety, and drama of my experience was just not worth it. I hate to say it, but you may just have to accept that the recordings are toast, and move on.

            I hope that this helps anyone that read this far. And to the WK staff, please feel free to chime in if I'm incorrect in anything I wrote above.

            Good luck!

            Comment

            • #7
              That looks basically correct to me. We are still working to see if we can isolate and repair that problem since we've seen it a handful of times at this point, but we just haven't gotten it yet.
              Been here a long time . . .

              Comment

              • #8
                Thanks for the follow up!

                Comment

                • #9
                  Thanks!

                  I have the same problem and a new Tivo unit is on its way. Thanks for saving me the wasted time, and sorry for the time you wasted.

                  I used to (and will now restart the practice ) -- I set my Tivo2Go software to auto-archive my season pass shows so I had a copy.

                  I've worked in the storage industry for years and we always remember the golden rule:

                  "Disks come in two types: those that have failed and those that are about to..."

                  Cheers!

                  Comment

                  • #10
                    I just wanted to say thank you Acquacorrente. I have the same problem and went through the steps of preparing and installing a new drive and trying it out but to no avail. I will now request a replacement from TiVo.

                    Comment

                    • #11
                      OK I now have the flashing green power LED.

                      Did I make a mistake?... Tivo was working fine, then I out it in standby.. waited a few mins, then unplugged the power. When I powered it back up... flashing green power light... No response of tivo to any TiVo controls.

                      Comment

                      • #12
                        I don't think you made any mistakes, but unfortunately I think your TiVo is broken and is likely not repairable.

                        Comment

                        • #13
                          After limping along for a while rebooting when we got stuck in the Welcome loop, TiVo has died a slow death. All I get now is a fast flashing blue (not green) light and a message on the tv that it's not receiving any signal.

                          I wish I had put all my saved shows on my computer when I had the chance.

                          Comment

                          • #14
                            Originally posted by DeniseAck View Post
                            After limping along for a while rebooting when we got stuck in the Welcome loop, TiVo has died a slow death. All I get now is a fast flashing blue (not green) light and a message on the tv that it's not receiving any signal.

                            I wish I had put all my saved shows on my computer when I had the chance.
                            That doesn't sound as dire as the flashing green light problem. If you have Lifetime Service on the unit, you should either try a new power supply:

                            http://www.weaknees.com/ps

                            or our repair service:

                            http://www.weaknees.com/s3s4
                            Been here a long time . . .

                            Comment

                            • #15
                              Any Update on this issue?

                              Originally posted by WK-Michael View Post
                              That looks basically correct to me. We are still working to see if we can isolate and repair that problem since we've seen it a handful of times at this point, but we just haven't gotten it yet.
                              I know this thread is almost 2 years old, but my TiVo HD had this EXACT same experience last week following a brief power outage. (surge protector protected). Since HD, Power Supply, etc. all are still OK, was a fix to the motherboard ever found? Has there been a way to save recordings on HD? In the event all is lost, can the HD be repurposed (reformated) to be used as a second drive in another TiVo? (Was a Weaknees upgrade).
                              Thanks for all your help. This forum is great!

                              Dale

                              Comment

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