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View Full Version : Have you seen this b4? Tivo acting weird since power outage...


BBQ-AllStar
11-11-2002, 04:31 PM
Hey all Tivo enthusiasts...

We had a gnarly storm a few days ago and our power went out a couple of times. I have my Tivo (and other equipment) plugged into an APC Back-UPS...but our power was out for 8 hours the other night, so the APC ran out of juice (only lasts about 30 mins on battery backup). Well, since the power outages, I've noticed that my tivo (I think only on one tuner) with freeze and do ghosting for a few seconds then fast forward to "real time". When it fast forwards, the audio is also playing at fast speed. There is no pattern to when this happens...could be every few minutes...could be 20 mins...could a few times in 1 minute.

I've reset my Tivo a few times, but it still does it...has anyone seen this before?

I'm just looking for some suggestions before I attempt to do a "total" re-initialization of both harddrives and re-image of Xtreme.

Also, after the freezing and speed up happens, when I rewind and watch to see if it was recorded or not, sometimes it is and other times it isn't...in other words, i still see the freezes when I am watching a delayed feed (a few minutes behind live tv) and when I rewind the delayed feed it works fine most of the time. So it's like a "random" glitch when the Tivo is processing the video stream...could this be a harddrive problem?

TIA,

BBQ

Perplexer
11-11-2002, 06:58 PM
Sounds like a hard drive issue (not really a "problem"). My dtivo had the same behaviour in the past, and I attributed it to a combination of 5400rpm drive, and acoustic management set to "quiet." I think these settings made the drive a tad too slow, and I got the "catch-up" problem you describe.

I turned acoustic management off, and haven't had the problem since.

Hope this helps.
Plex

BBQ-AllStar
11-11-2002, 07:16 PM
Originally posted by Perplexer

I turned acoustic management off, and haven't had the problem since.

Hope this helps.
Plex

Where's this option?

Do I need to re-do my satellite set-up?

Perplexer
11-11-2002, 07:50 PM
Oops, should have clarified.

Some drive manufacturers have utilities that let you change the drive's performance.

Mine is a Maxtor, so I grabbed AMSET.EXE (http://www.maxtor.com/softwaredownload/main/setacm.exe) .

Tool for IBM HDDs (http://service.boulder.ibm.com/storage/hddtech/ibmftool-install.exe)

Other drives have these utilities, or you could try a generic tool (search the web for "hard drive AAM" and you're bound to find a few programs, like this one (http://www.zdnet.com.au/downloads/pc/swinfo/0,2000036746,6759089,00.htm).

Good luck.
Plex

BBQ-AllStar
11-11-2002, 08:21 PM
thanks...

I'll check out some of the utilities...

PS, your first link doesn't work....

BBQ

polysemous
11-18-2002, 02:34 AM
i also had power run out on my tivo once...

Following the power outage, I had the annoying problem of getting stuck on the "Welcome . . ." screen.

Only way I could fix it was by replacing the hard drive.

Wooly
11-18-2002, 08:48 AM
Unfortunately, Maxtor (in their esteemed wisdom) has removed both the AMSET and the WriteVerify utilities from their website. Rat Bastards.

I've attached the AMSET utility, but like a moron I went and deleted the Write Verification util. Can someone send that up?

Gracias


Originally posted by BBQ-AllStar
thanks...

I'll check out some of the utilities...

PS, your first link doesn't work....

BBQ