Author: Jeff

Categories
Troubleshooting Help WeaKnees News

weaKnees TiVo Power Supply Inventory Grows

For years, we have had the largest inventory of replacement TiVo power supplies around. We can now add another notch to the bedpost (and believe me, we TiVo geeks do notch our bedposts over this stuff).

After years of searching, we finally have power supplies for the Toshiba SD-H400 TiVo DVR with DVD player. This short-lived TiVo seems to be prized among TiVo owners, since it has TiVo Basic service and consolidates a DVR and DVD player into a nice compact box. Although the cost of the power supply is unfortunately nothing to sneeze at ($149), they are brand new authorized parts.

With this addition, we now have replacement power supplies for every TiVo made, with the exception of the latest TiVoHD models. Those power supplies should be coming soon.

As TiVos age, repair has become increasingly important to TiVo owners. Whether it’s a TiVo hard drive, TiVo power supply or TiVo motherboard, we can repair most problems. TiVo repairs will preserve lifetime service and in many situations (failed power supplies, motherboards and some drive problems), we can also preserve recordings! As always, help is just an email away.

Categories
TiVo News TiVo Upgrade Troubleshooting Help

TiVo Unveils Plans for Digital Transition, 2009

We have previously written about the transition from off-air analog signals to off-air digital signals, set to occur in February, 2009. Remember that this change really impacts those who get television signal from an off-air antenna (rabbit ears). If you subscribe to cable or satellite service, those providers are generally unaffected by the transition.

For those that DO rely on off-air antenna signals and have a Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo (basically any TiVo other than the TCD648250, TCD652160 and TiVos with DIRECTV built-in), the transition to all-digital signals will absolutely impact your TiVo and its ability to record.

Those in this situation have several choices:

IF YOU HAVE A SERIES 2 TiVo (TiVo-brand starting with TCD1XXXX, TCD2XXXXX and TCD540XXX, any Humax-branded TiVo, Sony SVR3000 or any Toshiba-branded TiVo):

1) Continue using the Series 2 Tivo and get a compatible converter box.

2) Get an HD TiVo that can handle and convert the digital broadcasts.

3) Get cable or satellite.

Option #1: TiVo has released a list of compatible converter boxes (see the “Converter Boxes” tab after clicking link, or see the list below). These boxes will take a digital signal from an off-air antenna and convert it into an analog signal. The converter box contains a tuner. It will map the digital signal into an analog station and sent it out to your TiVo in a format that the TiVo can read. In order to change channels, the TiVo will have to communicate and control the converter box using an IR Blaster Cable. To cut the cost of the converter box, you can apply for a $40 coupon (limited supplies) from the Federal Government to help pay for the cost of the box. Remember that as of this date, the converter boxes will not work with your TiVo–you will need to wait for a software update before the TiVo can control the converter box.

Compatible Converter Boxes

Option #2: Get a TivoHD. These boxes are truly outstanding, are fully ready for the digital world, and can output high definition. The HD part may not be important if you don’t have an HD television, but you’ll be ready if and when you do change out your TV. The catch is that if you have lifetime service on your old Series 1 or Series 2, TiVo is not currently offering any transfer options. You would have to get new service on the TiVoHD and then sell or give away the Series 1 or Series 2.

Option #3: If you decide to abandon your antenna and go with satellite or cable, your Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo will work with just about any cable box and satellite (from DIRECTV, DISH Network and providers in Canada) set top boxes.

*Here is a list of the supported boxes:

Supported Models

  • Insignia NS-DXA1
  • Venturer STB7766G
  • Magnavox TB100MW9
  • RCA DTA 800A
  • GE 22729
  • Zenith DTT900
  • Channel Master CM-7000
  • Lasonic LTA-260
  • Philco TB100HH9
  • Samsonic FT300A
  • Tivax STB-T9
  • Artec T3Apro
Not Supported

  • Digtial Stream DTX9000
IF YOU HAVE A SERIES 1 TiVo (HDR-series or SVR2000):
It’s a bit murkier for you, but as of now, TiVo is suggesting that it is not releasing a software version to make these units compatible with digital converter boxes. Series 1 owners using antenna signals are being told that Option 2 or Option 3 are the only options. For a limited time, Series1 owners (presumably, only those using antenna signals) can get a refurbished HD DVR for $100 and TiVo will move lifetime service for an additional $300. Not a bad deal at all.
Series1 Digital Transition
Categories
DirecTV WeaKnees News

DIRECTV HR21-PRO is *finally* back in stock…for now

Back in early March, we wrote about our first shipment of the HR21 Pro and its bells and whistles. Those boxes flew out the door.

After a month-long wait, we have finally received our next large shipment of the DIRECTV HR21 Pro from DIRECTV. All but a handful are going out the door today, so if you want one, get your order in now.

We will be getting another large order in less than a week, we hope, so watch the website for stock information.

Categories
DirecTV Troubleshooting Help

DIRECTV TiVo Tuner Problems

As DIRECTV TiVos age, we are seeing more problems with satellite tuners. I thought it would be helpful to summarize some of the more frequent symptoms of a bad DirecTiVo satellite tuner. (Also see our TiVo troubleshooting page.) Here are some of the more common symptoms associated with a defective satellite tuner (you need not have all of these symptoms to have a bad tuner):

  1. “Searching for Signal on Satellite 1” or “Searching for Signal on Satellite 2” message appears on your screen. Sometimes, this message appears constantly; other times it appears and disappears.
  2. Some of your recordings record; others don’t, especially when you have two programs set to record at the same time.
  3. If you conduct a satellite test, you see one or both of your satellites without any signal strength on all transponders. (To conduct a test, go to Messages and Settings > Settings > Satellite > Test Satellite Signal Strength > Ok; then cycle through the various transponders and satellites. Note that even fully functional units do not get a signal on every transponder, but your SAT 1 and SAT 2 signal strengths should be the same.)
  4. If you conduct a satellite test, you see the satellite signal strength on one of your tuners jump up and down, or you see one of the satellites significantly lower than the other. (To conduct a test, go to Messages and Settings > Settings > Satellite > Test Satellite Signal Strength > Ok; then cycle through the various transponders and satellites. Note that you won’t necessarily get signal on every transponder.)
  5. You see heavy and significant pixellation (blocky picture) on one or both of your satellite tuners. This could be a drive or a bad tuner, and we previously wrote about ways to diagnose the source of a pixellating DIRECTV TiVo. If you rewind, the pixellation is in the same place repeatedly.
  6. You see consistent, heavy pixellation on certain satellite channels, but not all of them.

If you are unsure whether you have a bad tuner, here are some tests you can conduct to help troubleshoot:

  1. If you are running two tuners and only one of your tuners is bad, try swapping cables in the back. Put the SAT 1 cable in the SAT 2 port, and vice versa. If the problem follows the cable (i.e., if the bad tuner was SAT 1 but after swapping cables is SAT 2), then you know you have a dish problem and not a satellite problem.
  2. If you are running two tuners and the bad tuner seems to be SAT 2, then you should be able to repeat satellite setup (Messages and Settings > Settings > Satellite > Repeat Satellite Setup) and specify that you have only one tuner. After doing that, your unit should work fine, but with only one tuner. If it does, then you know you have a bad SAT 2 tuner.
  3. If you have heavy pixellation on one tuner, then you can pause a pixellating channel and switch tuners (down on the circular directional arrow pad) and confirm that the pixellation disappears. If it does, then you have a bad tuner.

If you have determined that you do indeed have a defective tuner, then you have a few options: (1) You can abandon the TiVo and upgrade to high definition using one of DIRECTV’s non-TiVo DVRs. (2) You can send in your TiVo for a TiVo tuner repair. (3) If you have a bad SAT 2 only, then you can run with only SAT 1. (4) You can get a replacement DIRECTV TiVo (while supplies last).

Categories
DirecTV TiVo News

TiVo and DIRECTV: The “Cleaner, Clearer” Future

TiVo’s stock was up over 10% today, supposedly as a result of a Q&A session that TiVo’s CEO, Tom Rogers, had with Bear Stearns.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Rogers spoke at length about TiVo’s big win in the Echostar trial, expressing surprise that the impact of the legal win wasn’t being respected on Wall Street.

Rogers also supposedly spoke briefly about the meaning of Rupert Murdoch’s sale of a large stake in DIRECTV to Liberty Media. As we reported last year, this ownership change is a positive for TiVo, but no one at TiVo is really saying much.

In this latest Rogers interview, he said there is a “cleaner, clearer path” to a renewed relationship between TiVo and DIRECTV, but evidently didn’t clarify what exactly that meant.

I cannot tell you how many calls we get daily from DIRECTV customers wanting a viable HD solution for DIRECTV. Not sure if there is more hope now that the Liberty deal is through, but it surely isn’t a bad thing for TiVo that Murdoch, for the most part, is out of the picture. We all have our fingers crossed.