I wouldn't call it a hack

[roxysol]

I have two Series 2 Tivos, both of which *were* working. I unplugged one to move it and when powering it up again it didn't come up - no power led in front - only the fan is running. I opened it to see what I could see, and it appeared the disk drive was not spinning. I tried unplugging the "data" cable on the disk drive, plugging power in again and this time the drive spun up. So, something with the motherboard?

Anyway, I thought what I could do is take the disk out of this failing box and swap it with the disk in my other Series 2, which is working fine.

Can I do this without doing anything special? I suspect I can but wanted to run it by you folks.

Thanks

[stevel]

It depends on whether the two "Series 2 TiVos" are of the same immediate family. For example, swapping a disk between an older "240" model and a newer "nightlight" model won't work.

At the very best, you'll have to do a "Clear and Delete Everything" to get rid of Error #51. At the worst it won't boot or will keep trying to download the "correct" software.

[PlainBill]

I have two Series 2 Tivos, both of which *were* working. I unplugged one to move it and when powering it up again it didn't come up - no power led in front - only the fan is running. I opened it to see what I could see, and it appeared the disk drive was not spinning. I tried unplugging the "data" cable on the disk drive, plugging power in again and this time the drive spun up. So, something with the motherboard?

Anyway, I thought what I could do is take the disk out of this failing box and swap it with the disk in my other Series 2, which is working fine.

Can I do this without doing anything special? I suspect I can but wanted to run it by you folks.

Thanks
A number of people have had this problem, it is usually caused by a bad power supply. Look at the caps on the power supply. If any have a bulging top, it's bad. For more information, check the threads in the 'Broken TiVos' section.

PlainBill

[Roland Deschain]

I unplugged one to move it and when powering it up again it didn't come up - no power led in front - only the fan is running. I opened it to see what I could see, and it appeared the disk drive was not spinning.

I had the same thing happen with my RCA DVR-40 a few weeks back...it had been "stuttering" when viewing TV broadcasts (but not when playing back recorded shows). The DTV support folks had me pull the power cord, and when I plugged it back in...nothing but the cooling fan came on.

I didn't see any obviously busted caps when I opened it up...but then again, I'm not an EE by trade, so I doubt I'd recognize a damaged cap from a good one.

[PlainBill]

I had the same thing happen with my RCA DVR-40 a few weeks back...it had been "stuttering" when viewing TV broadcasts (but not when playing back recorded shows). The DTV support folks had me pull the power cord, and when I plugged it back in...nothing but the cooling fan came on.

I didn't see any obviously busted caps when I opened it up...but then again, I'm not an EE by trade, so I doubt I'd recognize a damaged cap from a good one.

Check the caps in the power supply, in particular those hiding under the heat sink. If the top is bulging, you've found the culprit. More information can be found in the 'Broken TiVos' forum.

PlainBill

[m2pc]

I just had the same symptom after working on my S2 DTivo... Replaced 2 caps and it works! :)