Can anyone help with a hardware issue

A couple of months ago my US Series 1 Phillips Tivo that has been serving me perfectly for a number of years now suddenly lost the sound on new recordings and live TV. (No problem with old recordings and the blips from the menu interface).

I have read and tried everything - even re-imaged my disk.

I am now stuck in the Guided Setup towards the end where it gives the option to confirm the input configuration - the machine spontaneosly reboots at that point.

I am now of the opinion that there may be a hardware problem with the power supply or motherboard.

Is there a Tivo hardware guru in Auckland who can help me? Or does anyone have any ideas about my problem?

Or do I need to pack the whole lot up and send it over the Ditch to Darren King?

thanks

My first step would be to grab a spare drive and put a new image on it and complete setup. Then we can work out if it is a software or hardware issue you are having.

Peter.

Pete,

I have taken your advice and re-imaged an old disk I had lying around.
Used OzTivo Image ver 3 release 1.6.2
At the first screen of the GS I telnetted in and edited /etc/tclient.conf

comment out dennis' emulator and the emuProxy2 (the minnie one is already commented out)
added the nz emulator by inserting this line at the end of the file
127::210.48.107.133:8000:::
reboot

Go through the GS using
Post code 02112
area code 002

(as per the NZ instructions)

When I get to the part where the Tivo is checking video status of the input cables the system reboots. Exactly as before with my other HDD.

The tverr log has the following clues:
Feb 18 21:38:01 (none) TmkTransform::Trace[239]: Have a buffer (0) with zero segmentsDid someone zero memory?
Feb 18 21:38:01 (none) TmkTransform::Trace[239]: leaking buffers = pt->theBuf = 0x30301000. Trying to recover.
Feb 18 21:38:36 (none) last message repeated 18 times
Feb 18 21:38:36 (none) last message repeated 18 times
Feb 18 21:39:41 (none) last message repeated 33 times
...
...
and ...
...
Feb 18 22:04:49 (none) last message repeated 33 times
Feb 18 22:06:33 (none) TmkMediaswitch::Trace[185]: Failed to reset input hardware.
Feb 18 22:06:37 (none) TmkTransform::Trace[218]: Have a buffer (0) with zero segmentsDid someone zero memory?
Feb 18 22:06:37 (none) TmkTransform::Trace[218]: leaking buffers = pt->theBuf = 0x30301000. Trying to recover.
Feb 18 22:07:12 (none) last message repeated 18 times
...
...
Feb 18 22:22:29 (none) Mediaswitch0[220]: Tmk Fatal Error: Thread died due to signal 11
Feb 18 22:22:29 (none) Mediaswitch0[220]: Invoking rule 834: rebooting system


It is the "Failed to reset input hardware" message that makes me think it is a hardware problem.

Any other ideas or advice would be most welcome.

many thanks
Charlie

You can ignore the zero segments error, but I'm not familiar with the failed to reset input hardware msg.

Not that anything you have changed is likely to have caused this issue, you may want to start the disc again from scratch but pretend you are in Australia.

Then we are running from a known position. Don't do any editing, just run though the installer and do guided setup like you are in Sydney, phone code 002 and post code 2000.

And see if you have the same result.

If you do, you may want to PM darren and ask his advice.

Peter.

Hi Peter & Charlie. I did say to Charlie via email that I have usually known this to be hardware related, and to be more specific usually the Sony MPEG encoder chip.

Charlie: Does the kernel log show a line that says something like "Could not CXD boot"?

Yes - a couple of times in the log it goes like this:
....
....
Feb 18 22:22:19 (none) kernel: mediaswitch: Encoder in IBP-Frame mode
Feb 18 22:22:24 (none) kernel: cxd: Could not CxdBoot
Feb 18 22:22:24 (none) kernel: mediaswitch: Couldn't po_reset the encoder
Feb 18 22:22:24 (none) kernel: mediaswitch: returning -1 from standin tune after tuning to ch -1 with adjust 0
Feb 18 22:22:24 (none) kernel: mediaswitch: Encoder in IBP-Frame mode
Feb 18 22:22:29 (none) kernel: cxd: Could not CxdBoot
Feb 18 22:22:29 (none) kernel: mediaswitch: Couldn't po_reset the encoder
Feb 18 22:22:29 (none) kernel: mediaswitch: returning -1 from standin tune after tuning to ch -1 with adjust 0
Feb 18 22:22:29 (none) kernel: tuning:lock 1
Feb 18 22:22:29 (none) kernel: Tmk Fatal Error: Thread Mediaswitch0 <220> died due to signal 11
....
....
Does this mean it is the hardware and (more importantly) does it mean you would be able fix it?

cheers
Charlie

Just as I thought. The MPEG encoder has failed. The line directly under the "Could not CxdBoot" confirms it.

Yes it is repairable. Contact me via email and I'll be able to help you out.

Darren

I am pleased to say that I am now back to happily using my Tivo. Thanks to Darren who I can unreservedly recommend if you have hardware problems. Also thanks to the NZ team who keep providing the guide data to make our lives better!

A thanks is also due to the OzTivo community for the work put into the images and all the information on the forums to help in getting this amazing hardware functioning the way it does.

FYI, I rebuilt my series 1 Phillips Tivo with the latest OzTivo image which has options for the NZ emulator in the setup menu. (I wanted to get the latest TWP and other hacks). So far no problems going this route.

Keep up the good work and if anyone needs more information about setting up, I am happy to help while it is still fresh in my brain....

cheers
Charlie