New Life for Tivo S3

Forums › TiVo › New Life for Tivo S3

1 | ... | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | ... | 56

48 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1915676 9-Dec-2017 14:46

Skolink:
...As for the HDMI socket, be careful. I have had two go exactly the same way after trying to fix them with a soldering iron - a short between pin/pads 18 and 17 on the board resulting in smoke/red glowing pin/crackling. One I recovered using a hot air gun, the other is a bit of a mess that I'm still trying to repair with bits of wire. If only I'd waited to get my hot air gun back.

That said, I had previously successfully repaired two others by touching up the soldering by applying flux and gently pressing down on each pin with the soldering iron.

Wow! Thanks for the heads up. HDMI pin 17 is designated data ground, pin 18 +5V (50mA max). It sounds like the TiVo S3 designers may built in a tad more headroom than really necessary there.

Anyone reading this who has a damaged, frayed or otherwise poor condition HDMI lead on their TiVo, replace it now!

sweet308

48 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1915780 9-Dec-2017 20:16

Maxcat:
Tonight the second of my three Tivos on the HNP has failed as well.

Name has changed to DVR-EA45 and now does not see programmes on other Tvios.

I think this will now be endemic throughout all Tivos, rendering the Home Network connection between Tivos as obsolete.

This has just happened to me right before my eyes...
I downloaded and ran KMTTG for the very first time this afternoon. It discovered my TiVo OK and a tab with it's given name appeared in KMTTG. Part way through downloading the Now Playing list, the download froze then timed out, and KMTTG stopped talking to my TiVo at all. A minute later a new tab appeared for a newly discovered Tivo, DVR-xxxx. Selecting this one the Now Playing List downloaded OK and I could transfer media files and do whatever other S3 TiVo compatible functions I tried.

Fortunately in my case I just have the one TiVo, so TiVo to TiVo transfers aren't important to me. TiVo to PC transfers are still working fine.

By the way, KMTTG rocks!

rphenix

990 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 127

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1916408 11-Dec-2017 09:58

Skolink:

That said, I had previously successfully repaired two others by touching up the soldering by applying flux and gently pressing down on each pin with the soldering iron.

I don't like doing it -but luckily its worked every time I've tried it by tinning the tip wiping as much of it back off the iron leaving just enough residue for that wet look on the tip then using flux and only touching the pins that need fixing. It takes me 3x the effort to do this repair compared to a PROM replacement.

rphenix

990 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 127

ID Verified

Lifetime subscriber

#1916422 11-Dec-2017 10:03

Skolink:

You can't swap HDDs between TiVos without doing a Clear & Delete All because it complains about a 'hardware error' which just means the serial number on the motherboard and on the HDD don't match. Unless it is encrypted it must be possible to change it. I need to look into this myself as my wife's main TiVo didn't survive a RAM replacement, and I have just bought a replacement TiVo.

I notice there is a small chip on the board that has a painted dot on it similar to the red dot that is on half the original TiVo PROM's which hints its flashed with something I'm hoping the serial number that is tied to the drive image might be stored on this chip and simply desoldering this and moving it to a donor TiVo along with the drive will make it work when things get a little quieter I might give this a go and report back.

Skolink

1081 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 32

#1916671 11-Dec-2017 13:18

rphenix:

Skolink:

You can't swap HDDs between TiVos without doing a Clear & Delete All because it complains about a 'hardware error' which just means the serial number on the motherboard and on the HDD don't match. Unless it is encrypted it must be possible to change it. I need to look into this myself as my wife's main TiVo didn't survive a RAM replacement, and I have just bought a replacement TiVo.

I notice there is a small chip on the board that has a painted dot on it similar to the red dot that is on half the original TiVo PROM's which hints its flashed with something I'm hoping the serial number that is tied to the drive image might be stored on this chip and simply desoldering this and moving it to a donor TiVo along with the drive will make it work when things get a little quieter I might give this a go and report back.

Interesting. I'd been thinking about where it might be stored. Obviously not in the PROM since they all get flashed with the same identical hacked image. There must be some good QA at the factory to ge tthe sticker on the back to match what is flashed to the motherboard. What is the chip labelled as (on the chip itself and on the silkscreen?

I tried a procedure on the weekend to get the TSN stored on the HDD to match the motherboard (to get rid of the 'hardware fault' message #51). It got rid of the message, but also resulted in all the recordings disappearing - so I might as well have done a C&D All (which I then did anyway). So we are part way there in being able to swap drives between TiVos (without a risky hardware mod).

Islander

8 posts

Wannabe Geek

#1917060 11-Dec-2017 23:09

The chip with the dot is an Atmel 45DB041D 4Meg flash chip. This sort of chip is common on PC motherboards and contains the BIOS. It may be able to reprogrammed via the TiVo cpu. I'l have a go at removing one when I next do a PROM upgrade. I'll post the results on the OzTiVo forums.

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

sweet308

48 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 9

#1917070 12-Dec-2017 01:30

There is also a 24AA256 flash chip U18 almost right beside the PROM we pull out for the upgrade. This one has no spots painted on it.

I had heard that the TSN was derived from the electronic serial number of the main processor, but I don't know how authoritative that information is. I hope not, I don't have the capability to pull off big BGA packages let alone put them back on again...

need2noy

43 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 16

#1917178 12-Dec-2017 09:53

I have 5 tivos with the MAK. Just found out today there is a problem with the HNP. Checked my tivos and some of them have retained their assigned names as well as reverted back to the media device names. Some of my tivos still see each other and some don't. Some may see the recordings from a particular tivo but that particular tivo can't see them and vice versa. At the moment I have a stack of tivos as some are doubling up with both their assigned names as well as their media device names. I hope this problem can be fixed as I will be totally devastated, as that is one of the main reasons why I wanted to keep my tivos as the multi-room viewing feature is fantastic, without it tivo is just a standard set-top box that can only record. Does anybody know if the people who helped us save our tivos have any idea what is causing this problem. I have faith in them finding a solution, I don't think they will let this problem go without finding a fix as this feature is what sets tivo apart from anything else that is on the market here in New Zealand and Australia. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Maxcat

273 posts

Ultimate Geek
+1 received by user: 74

#1917314 12-Dec-2017 12:07

I have accepted the loss of the Home Network package function as the price paid for Tivo abandoning the product.

Like you, I too have several Tivos working together on the HNP and my wife has found the transferring of programmes a real bonus for easy viewing and easy recording (solely for transfer upstairs for other room viewing).

This now will change the way we use Tivo and I too am saddened at the loss of this great function.

The loss of the HNP is reported in the OzTivo forum as it is here.

My last Tivo (3 others have all gone down) has now named itself twice with number code and original name rendering it now as non-functioning on the HNP.

Hell of a loss.

If the volunteers can help, it will be a great save.

But I really have given up any hope that the HNP will function again.

Symondo

42 posts

Geek
+1 received by user: 11

#1917332 12-Dec-2017 12:33

I lost ours straight off the bat after having to revive our main Tivo stuck on 11.3b6-xxxx (Drive re-image). Sorely missing the feature. We used to record movies on the living / dining room tivo, Then transfer to home theater when required. Now we have to drop the screen and power up the projector to set movies to record. I'd be happy to help / donate to restore this feature. Wish I had some programming knowledge to help.

Spong

1016 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 341

Trusted

#1917397 12-Dec-2017 13:15

Symondo:

I lost ours straight off the bat after having to revive our main Tivo stuck on 11.3b6-xxxx (Drive re-image). Sorely missing the feature. We used to record movies on the living / dining room tivo, Then transfer to home theater when required. Now we have to drop the screen and power up the projector to set movies to record. I'd be happy to help / donate to restore this feature. Wish I had some programming knowledge to help.

I believe that work will start towards recovering this, more likely in the new year after all the mad rush of Christmas is over. Patience grasshoppers.....

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

Samsung

Shop now on Samsung phones, tablets, TVs and more (affiliate link).

Spong

1016 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 341

Trusted

#1920129 15-Dec-2017 12:06

Latest OzTivo Tivo connection stats. As we edge closer and closer to the Aussies.

*1118 units seen (+19 since yesterday), 959 active in the last 7 days*
> AU 559 TSN's seen (+1.5% in 24hrs), 487 active (+2.1%) in the last 7 days
> NZ 554 TSN's seen (+2.0% in 24hrs), 469 active (+1.7%) in the last 7 days

Tivo upgrades to operate with the new OzTivo EPG, support and service. Over 400 performed here so far. See: www.hillcrest.net.nz

graemeh

2080 posts

Uber Geek
+1 received by user: 226

#1920178 15-Dec-2017 13:24

Spong:

Latest OzTivo Tivo connection stats. As we edge closer and closer to the Aussies.

*1118 units seen (+19 since yesterday), 959 active in the last 7 days*
> AU 559 TSN's seen (+1.5% in 24hrs), 487 active (+2.1%) in the last 7 days
> NZ 554 TSN's seen (+2.0% in 24hrs), 469 active (+1.7%) in the last 7 days

I have six Tivos I'm updating that will be active this weekend, I know of another eight in Wellington so we may pass the Aussies this weekend.

TonyS071

57 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 8
Inactive user

#1920329 15-Dec-2017 18:38

sweet308: There is also a 24AA256 flash chip U18 almost right beside the PROM we pull out for the upgrade. This one has no spots painted on it.

I had heard that the TSN was derived from the electronic serial number of the main processor, but I don't know how authoritative that information is. I hope not, I don't have the capability to pull off big BGA packages let alone put them back on again...

The other possibility is that TiVo uses the MAC address of its Ethernet port to somehow identify the motherboard - that value will be globally unique and it wouldn't have to be stored anywhere on the moth rboard itself. I could see some function working that clones the MAC to the HDD (possibly via some obscuration) when the TiVo is first fired up in the factory.

I have never seen this error message myself, the tivos I played with swapping drives just refused to boot.

TonyS071

57 posts

Master Geek
+1 received by user: 8
Inactive user

#1920334 15-Dec-2017 18:45

Latest OzTivo Tivo connection stats. As we edge closer and closer to the Aussies.

*1118 units seen (+19 since yesterday), 959 active in the last 7 days*
> AU 559 TSN's seen (+1.5% in 24hrs), 487 active (+2.1%) in the last 7 days
> NZ 554 TSN's seen (+2.0% in 24hrs), 469 active (+1.7%) in the last 7 days

Obvious at that rate that we will pull into the lead eh?

Is the number of TiVo owners greater in nz than oz , or are we as a nation just more passionate about the recovery program?

1 | ... | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | ... | 56