help needed with ebay TiVo

[pheitman]

I just bought a used HDR312 from someone on ebay. When I plugged it in I wasn't surprised to find that it didn't boot. I bought it guessing that it wouldn't - but I assumed that swapping the harddrive(s) would likely fix it. Unfortunately it doesn't - it still doesn't boot. I've tried using the drives from a working TiVo (HDR112) and I've even tried the IDE cable with those drives from the good TiVo, but it still doesn't boot. It gets to the 'starting up' screen, waits for a couple of seconds and then reboots.

Where do I start with diagnosing this? Any help? Instructions? Exixsting FAQ?

TIA, Peter

[eastwind]

Why not ask the person that sold it to you?
ew

[pheitman]

It was sold with an explicit "this is untested - don't ask me to test it" so I'm assuming that they aren't interested in helping...

[JJBliss]

It was sold with an explicit "this is untested - don't ask me to test it" so I'm assuming that they aren't interested in helping...

Oh.. Well in that case, neither are we.

Seriously..... When folks use terms like "untested" it usually means that it doesn't work for some reason. You took a risk buying a tivo under those circumstances, and it seems not to have paid off.

[StanSimmons]

It was sold with an explicit "this is untested - don't ask me to test it" so I'm assuming that they aren't interested in helping...
You will get more help over at www.tivocommunity.com on stuff like this.

Many of the developers on this board have been burned by people who take their software and hacks and sell them on ebay... hence the attitude about ebay... don't take it personally.

[alldeadhomiez]

Many of the developers on this board have been burned by people who take their software and hacks and sell them on ebay... hence the attitude about ebay... don't take it personally.

True, but that's not the case here. As JJ said, it's generally not a wise idea to buy "untested" items that you don't know how to fix, especially from eBay.

[cojonesdetoro]

I once bought a pair of 'as is', driveless HDRx12s from a guy on Ebay ad got lucky ($70 for both!). I did ask the guy if he knew if the Tivos did work at all once and he said they did work but the drives were taken for use somewhere else. since he had no way to test them ''now' they were sold with no guarantee. I took a chance and got lucky.

As it is, there's an Ebay vendor name d'poweron' that will sell a driveless Tivo for $80+ship. He sells them with all accessories (cables, remote, etc.). That would probably be a cheaper option than a repair. Unless you're really good with electronics, I doubt you will be able to repair this unit yourself.

[captain_video]

Anytime you see an item that's listed as "untested" on ebay it should raise a big red flag. It usually means that the seller is trying to unload a dog that won't bark and is just setting himself up for plausible deniability. If you can't get confirmation from the seller prior to the close of the auction that the unit is functional, walk away - quickly!

[bkavs]

Sorry Man,,, Probably bad news,,, Caveat Emptor

[newbie]

There is a difference between untested and not working. Newegg was selling untested stuff a few years ago. People were asumming they were customer returns that weren't tested but you had a good chance they were OK. The items were shipped with quality control reports showing they didn't work. People (rightly) said they were buying untested items not known defective items. Newegg processed refunds.

I agree with E-Bay untested may very well mean defective, tough to prove otherwise.

[captain_video]

Newegg is a retailer/internet seller and should not be confused with your average ebay seller. Newegg has a reputation to uphold and can back up what it sells. Ebay sellers don't adhere to the same set of rules and basically you get what you pay for. Unless the seller expressly guarantees an item to be in working condition you are buying a pig-in-a-poke. As bkavs said, a BIG caveat emptor.

I had a bad experience going through the For Sale section here at DDB just a couple of weeks ago. I bought a DSR6000 that the seller said was in working condition but when it arrived the video output was completely hosed up. He swore it was in working condition when he shipped it and said he'd file a claim with FedEx. The problem was that there was no outward signs of damage to the shipping carton and the item was packaged fairly well. I told him it would be a long shot to get FedEx to payoff on a problem that couldn't be proven to be attributable to mishandling. I'm guessing it was something that was about to go bad on the mainboard and the vibrations due to shipping sent it over the edge. I had to replace the mainboard to get it working again. The seller has refused to take any responsibility for the item even though he guaranteed it to be in working condition. What I received was anything but what I paid for and so far I've been left holding the bag with little or no hope of receiving any compensation from the seller.

[pheitman]

Thanks for the replies - I'll try over at tivocommunity. Note that I'm not surprised that it doesn't work - and I wasn't trying to solicit sympathy from you'all on this board. I was just looking for pointers on steps I can take to diagnose the problem since a simple hard drive swap didn't work. As was said, I took a gamble that looks like it may not pay off. Oh, well...

Peter

[newbie]

Newegg is a retailer/internet seller and should not be confused with your average ebay seller. Newegg has a reputation to uphold and can back up what it sells. Ebay sellers don't adhere to the same set of rules and basically you get what you pay for. Unless the seller expressly guarantees an item to be in working condition you are buying a pig-in-a-poke. As bkavs said, a BIG caveat emptor.

I had a bad experience going through the For Sale section here at DDB just a couple of weeks ago. I bought a DSR6000 that the seller said was in working condition but when it arrived the video output was completely hosed up. He swore it was in working condition when he shipped it and said he'd file a claim with FedEx. The problem was that there was no outward signs of damage to the shipping carton and the item was packaged fairly well. I told him it would be a long shot to get FedEx to payoff on a problem that couldn't be proven to be attributable to mishandling. I'm guessing it was something that was about to go bad on the mainboard and the vibrations due to shipping sent it over the edge. I had to replace the mainboard to get it working again. The seller has refused to take any responsibility for the item even though he guaranteed it to be in working condition. What I received was anything but what I paid for and so far I've been left holding the bag with little or no hope of receiving any compensation from the seller.

I agree with you regarding E-Bay.

I don't expect the seller to pay for a new motherboard, I would have returned it as being DOA unless the sale price was low enough not to matter. Not sure how you paid but I'd go with a cc or paypal dispute.

[captain_video]

I filed a buyer complaint with PayPal but I doubt that they can do much about it. I guess I'll just have to wait and see. FYI, I paid $200 for the unit about 3 weeks ago. I hadn't followed the current price drops on ebay for similar units so I paid way too much for the item. By contrast, I just picked up a (hopefully) working GXCEBOT on ebay for only $81.00.

[kevinallein]

Sorry for the late reply, but I had not seen this earlier. I have repaired a couple of Tivos with similar problems. If you have a working Tivo hard drive with a correct image for your tivo, go to Google and search for lba48. One of those kernels have kernel messages routed to the serial port. Apply that kernel to your drive (instructions on the lba48 site), connect a serial port to your tivo and power up the tivo. You will get a ton of messages and see, where things go bad. No guarantee, that it is fixable, but you will get a good indication. If you do not get any messages,something is seriously broken.
Can you get into the Bios screen with a serial connection and hitting return at powerup ?

Hope this helps
Kevin