my symptoms - suggest overheating PSU?
My symptoms were:
- Tivo lasted about 1-2 hours the first time (while in GSetup).
- Then, while going down long IR codes list started hanging,
- But would get a response once every ~2mins.
- If I didn't use it for e.g. ~10 minutes, then I could make ~5 button presses before hanging again.
- Unplugged power. Wait 1 minute. Plugged back in. RC Hang in about 1 min.
- Unplugged power. Plugged power back in. RC Hangs immediately.
- Unplugged power. Unplugged serial, LAN, IR. Plugged power back in. RC Hangs immediately.
- Tried connection by serial and rebooting. Still hangs immediately
- I felt around on the components. CPU was hot while functional but cooled down quick. But PSU transformer and heatsink stayed hot for quite a while.
So seems both "IR frequency of use" and "overheating - probably PSU" related.
or not... who knows.
More evidence for overheating
This is my second experience:
- Running GS for 1-2 hours again (I was having trouble modem connecting to server). Being very careful to press a button only once every 2 seconds.
- Becomes "Slow Remote" at "Channels you Receive".
- Again, CPU quite hot but PSU heatsink even hotter.
- I rebooted (into GS mode). Only got in about 3 button presses before became "Slow Remote" again.
- I rebooted (into GS mode). Became "Slow Remote" immediately.
So this time, I was not overusing the remote, but I got exactly the same symptoms...
Third "Slow Remote" experience in a few hours
Ok, now my third experience:
- Unplugged and let it completely cool down for about 4 hours.
- Running GS for under 10 minutes. Being very careful to press a button only once every 2 seconds.
- Becomes a "Slow Remote" at around the "SetTopBox Brand" screen (a long list of brands).
- Again, CPU quite hot but PSU heatsink even hotter. Maybe not as hot as last time, but my finger is pretty subjective.
- I rebooted (into GS mode). Became "Slow Remote" immediately.
- I tried uninstalling the TurboWeb card and turning off TivoWebPlus as soon as terminal became available, but still became "Slow Remote" immediately.
Three things I conclude from this:
1) Time seems to be less of a factor than I thought. Maybe because a component can just as easily overheat in 10 min as 2 hours. Or maybe because it is actually a software problem after all. But then why would it begin to "slow" immediately.
2) It always seems to happen when a long list is displayed. Maybe because that loads the CPU more...
It must be a hardware-software interaction. Maybe higher CPU load overheats a component faster. And maybe with an unstable overheated component, another bit of software is more likely to "slow". But that is a whole lot of maybe's.
3) Maybe I don't have the same problem the rest of you have - maybe I have a more seriously faulty peice of hardware.
I mean, I should be able to make it through more than 10 minutes!
Then again, maybe it is the same problem, just amplified, which makes it easier for me to replicate and experiment with.
So any ideas anyone has would be great. I am willing to be a lab rat, but bear in mind I have no broadband at home, and I am currently having trouble telnetting in (I can only connect as tivo boots, and then connection is lost in under a minute!). Terminal works fine.
If a fellow Cantabrian would be interested in a meetup, then maybe we could try swapping out components (like the PSU) and hopefully identify the offending peice.
Summary of Experiments so far
Ok, you can probably tell I have a science background. I figure, the more data you can collect on a problem, the more likely you can find a pattern, identify the problem and fix it. Well, thank goodness I can repeat my conditions quickly :).
So the conclusions to date seem to revolve around these obervations:
- Cumulation Effect: Initially, "Slow Remote" is triggered after maybe 10-20 button presses within 10 minutes. When I reboot, it slows after 2-5 button presses, When I reboot it slows immediately. This indicates a "cumulation" effect - e.g. possibly heat, that builds up over time.
- Dissipation effect: If I leave it for 1-minutes, then I can make one more button press. This dissipation is cumulative: If I leave it for about 20 minutes, then I can make about 12 button presses. This even seems to hold true if power is off!: If I unplug the power for a few minutes, I get a few more button presses (I have not tested this quantitatively). And it seems to be dissipating even before the remote slows: over 2 huors of use with more frequent use near end, I think I got more button presses in before it slowed.
- Stepwise function: The remote does not get progressively slower. It goes from completely responsive to completely slow, with the threshold being determined by a cumulation/diispation effect of button presses.
- Directly connected to remote use: If I spread those 10-20 initial button presses out, then it can take a couple of hours before it slows. Also, I think if I keep hitting buttons while slowed, it takes longer before I can actually get a functional button press.
- Only effects remote: Terminal connection does not seem to be affected/slow down (I have not tested this quantitatively).
This is based on the following conditions:
- All other sources of IR have been eliminated.
- No difference between Guided Setup and Normal Operation
- Chips do not seem to be overheating
- Presence of TurboNet, Serial connection and IR blaster do not seem to make a difference.
Things yet to test:
- Trying a different: remote, PSU, HDD, motherboard. I could also try pushing lots of buttons on the remote without letting the TIVO see them - might isolate whether it is a TIVO or remote control problem.
It would still be good to know if anyone else out there has the same symptoms as me. E.g: if you leave the TIVO for a while and come back, can you make a single button press?
I found the cause of the problems
Ok, I can barely make my fingers type this message, but I found the cause of the problems...
The batteries in the remote control were very nearly dead. So after a few button pushes they would die, then after a while gather up a few electrons for another short sput of life.
And yes, I do feel rediculously stupid.
Thought in a slight whimper of defense, I have not had any other remote controls do this - when the die they stay dead.
Curse of the undead remote...