Tivo boot up problem

[mazer77]

Does anyone know what causes a "Cannot boot kernel" error when booting the tivo (DSR 6000). The tivo has 2 drives and 25xtreme. What do I do to correct this error?

[keith721]

connect to the serial port, remove power from the TiVo, plug back in, and hit ENTER several times immediately after applying the power. you should get the Password: prompt, where you type FACTORY Then, enter the option for the extended menu, and select the option for defining the boot parameters.

this should show you what the current boot params are, which indicates the partition where it's looking for a kernel. either you've corrupted the kernel in that partition, or the boot params are pointing to an invalid partition.

use the search option of this board to search for my earlier post (many weeks back) showing the text of the diagnostic menu...

hope this helps you!!

keith721

[BubbleLamp]

Originally posted by keith721
connect to the serial port, remove power from the TiVo, plug back in, and hit ENTER several times immediately after applying the power. you should get the Password: prompt, where you type FACTORY Then, enter the option for the extended menu, and select the option for defining the boot parameters.

this should show you what the current boot params are, which indicates the partition where it's looking for a kernel. either you've corrupted the kernel in that partition, or the boot params are pointing to an invalid partition.

use the search option of this board to search for my earlier post (many weeks back) showing the text of the diagnostic menu...

hope this helps you!!

keith721

That's for an SA TiVo Keith, he's got a DSR6K.

[keith721]

Sometimes, I just forget which particular forum I'm reading. Thank you, BubbleLamp.

<Emily_Litella>
Oh!! That's different.
Never mind.
</Emily_Litella>

[1.3g]

This happened to me once, it was just the jumpers on the drives. Had them both as master. Fixed that and it booted right up.

[mazer77]

Both jumpers are set at cs "cable select" what should they be?

[1.3g]

You need to jumper your "A" drive (the one you overwrote with the Xtreme image) to master. The "B" drive needs to be jumpered as slave.

1.3g

[mazer77]

OK, did the master/slave thing. Now, I hooked the tivo to the satelite and booted up. . . but the screen says something like "almost there. . . wait a few more seconds", this message is on the screen for 30 minutes. What should happen, if anything?

[1.3g]

Hanging on " A few more seconds please..." usually indicates a harware problem, often a fried modem. Pop the cover off and look at the motherboard between the phone jack and the nearest tuner, do you see any black/scorched spots?

1.3g

[mazer77]

I don't have the modem hooked up, I'm emulating.

[1.3g]

Doesn't matter if you don't have it hooked up. The TiVo's OS looks for a good modem when it boots up. If the modem doesn't pass the boot up check, the TiVo will hang. This is only one possibility of course, but this is what was wrong with mine. Did you look at the MB yet? The burnt area was very apparent on mine.

1.3g

[mazer77]

No, checked out the board there is no physical damage. Any other suggestions?

[1.3g]

You could reload the original image, hook up the phone line, and do a test call. I would assume that if you get a dial tone, you could eliminate the modem as the source of your problem. You would also be able to see if the unit boots with the original image while you're at it. Seems like this would be a logical next step.

1.3g