broken tivo

[milenko]

I have a chance to buy a Sony dsr6000 for cheap, but I'd like to get some input from everyone cause there's something wrong with it (that's why it's cheap ).

The guy said that one of the tuners died and wouldn't lock onto sat signal. He had "someone" put in a new tuner and when he got it back it starts up to the welcome screen to where it says "almost there" and then just locks up.

Kinda sounds to me like the software got fried when "someone" was monkying around with it. I imagine it's easily fixable if one had a backup of the image, but obviously I don't since it's not my TIVO.

Is there any known problem that would halt a TIVO at this point in the startup? Is there any way to fix such a problem?

TIA

[scarabus]

You can download a new image, but be careful. There's no such thing as a Sony DSR6000

There's a Sony SAT-T60 or a Philips DSR6000 - I don't know whether they take the same software or not.

But why would you put a new "tuner" in a Satellite decoder? Or am I just being too literal?

Either way, if it really is cheap (say $50) I'd buy it just to play with it. They ain't making any more, and the new ones will be unhackable for a while.

If he wants more than $50 for it I'd point out that they had brand new units in Wal-Mart recently for $50.

[captain_video]

Check the FAQ for possible fixes for the boot-up problem. There have been many reports, but not overwhelming by any means, of DTivo tuners going bad. It is possible to replace them. If you can get the DTivo cheap then I'd go for it. Even if you can't fix it yourself you can always put it up on ebay and get your money back with interest. Truett Electronics has been recdommended as a reputable service center for DTivos but I have no personal experience with them myself. Check them out at www.truettelectronics.com. You can always e-mail them for an estimate.

Check the How Tos sticky thread for links to backup DTivo images for download.

[BubbleLamp]

Originally posted by scarabus
If he wants more than $50 for it I'd point out that they had brand new units in Wal-Mart recently for $50.

Which WalMart, I'm up near SF?

[milenko]

Thanks for all the replies. The Sony was my mistake, I knew it was a Philips. Too little sleep and too many brews!!!

He wants more like $100 for it, but I can't find a TIVO anywhere for less than $300 around here. I've hit Wal-Marts, Circuit City, Best Buy, freaking everywhere and I can't seem to find a deal.

[BubbleLamp]

Tell him you'll give him $100 only after you confirm you can get it working. He isn't selling it because he knows it's fine!:eek:

[scarabus]

Originally posted by BubbleLamp

If he wants more than $50 for it I'd point out that they had brand new units in Wal-Mart recently for $50.

Which WalMart, I'm up near SF?

Sadly the keyword in that sentence was "had".

[TheGoldenDroid]

milenko, I just personally used truettelectronics and I spent $93 for it to be fixed. Sure beats any price that I could fine for a new one. Unfortunetly, it wasn't a tuner problem but I'd assume it's within the same price to fix anything dtivo related. I haven't received the unit back yet (being shipped back tomorrow) so don't know if they are 100% but so far so good (knock on wood)

[milenko]

Thanks for all the responses. I think I'm gonna buy it from the guy. Worst case is I'll have to send it to truettelectronics or some place like that to get it fixed the right way.

I'll most likely still be ahead of the game even if I have to pay them $100 to fix it.