SA2 Reboots at startup continuously

[schwa13]

I have an SA2 that I upgraded the hard drive on about 1.5 years ago. I had the unit unplugged for almost 2 months while trying a new HD DVR. I set the unit back up in a different room and plugged wired Linksys USB adapter in as well. The unit goes to "Powering Up", then to "Just a few minutes more". After 1-2 minutes the screen goes away and it starts over.

I thought perhaps it picked up a bad upgrade, but I called Tivo and the last activity coincides with when I unplugged the unit 2 months ago.

Any suggestions or troubleshooting steps?

Thanks

[schwa13]

FYI, there are no other software hacks installed on the unit.

I know, boring...

I just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

[darrin75]

since you did nothing to it while it was sitting? Hard Drive failure perhaps?

[Narf54321]

If it is getting to "Just a few minutes more" then it is finding the hard drive, meaning some sort of software problem (or hard drive problem). On my own Tivo(s), this type of rebooting usually means a corrupt or missing tivoapp file.

If its a bad spot developing on the hard drive, then you'll eventually need a new HDD. Since there aren't any hacks, you can try to force a kickstart 5 2 to emergency_install the OS onto the alternate linux partition, and see if it finishes booting up.

You probably at some point should pull the drive and run the manufacturer's drive diagnostics on it to check for failing spots. If bad, buy a new drive and dig up your old original Tivo drive to copy the image (or buy one of those Instant Cake CDs).

[schwa13]

Thanks for the tips, I tried the startup remote code 52, and it said "installing service update" then it rebooted and went into the same restart cycle after the almost there... I also tried the 57 MFS check.

Looks like it's time to pull the drive and check it out... If I need to use the image from the original drive (sitting on my shelf for a year or so) in order to reimage to a replacement drive, is that a problem? I guess once the Tivo connects it will just run the updates that it needs?

Thanks again

[Narf54321]

If I need to use the image from the original drive (sitting on my shelf for a year or so) in order to reimage to a replacement drive, is that a problem?

Nope, not a problem. That's how the rest of us do it.

I guess once the Tivo connects it will just run the updates that it needs?

Exactly. Of course, it won't help recover your recordings, but you said this unit was mostly unattended anyway.

[schwa13]

I pulled the HD out of the Tivo, it's a Seagate, and ran a complete SeaTools diagnostic. Came back clean, no problems found. Strange I thought, then it must be a software issue.

Then I took my original Tivo drive and reimaged to the same HD. Popped it all back into the Tivo and turned her on. Came up clean, no problem. Plugged the USB dongle back in, picked up an IP and forced a connection. It downloaded software and status page said pending restart. So I restarted the box, I could tell that it installed an update since the "Just a few minutes more" screen has the orange background and tivo logo. The old version displays text only.

Same problem, Tivo goes into a continuous reboot cycle!!

I guess I could try with a totally new HD? Or could it be the Linksys dongle?

Thanks