# I thought spontaneous reboots were a thing of the past?



## Dr_J (Apr 15, 2007)

After the 6.2e disaster of two years ago, I thought spontaneous reboots were a thing of the past. I was watching my old Phillips Series2 TiVo today when it spontaneously rebooted. It's running 6.4a. Anyone else having spontaneous reboots?


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## litzdog911 (Jun 23, 2004)

Rarely. Probably nothing to worry about, unless it happens more often. The usual suspects include overheating, poor ac power, and dying hard drive.


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

litzdog911 said:


> Rarely. Probably nothing to worry about, unless it happens more often. The usual suspects include overheating, poor ac power, and *dying hard drive*.


I think that's what I was experiencing with my HR10-250 with almost daily reboots. I could have replaced the hard drive, but given the fact that it only receives 2 or 3 HD channels via DIRECTV, I couldn't justify the cost.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

litzdog911 said:


> Rarely. Probably nothing to worry about, unless it happens more often. The usual suspects include overheating, poor ac power, and dying hard drive.


You might want to add that it could be a failing power supply unit or intermittent power interruption.


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## Dr_J (Apr 15, 2007)

Thanks for the input. I rarely watch this old TiVo anymore, and this is the first time I've had a spontaneous reboot in awhile. I use it mainly to back up recordings of important shows on the main HR20. It's connected to a UPS unit that's about 2 1/2 years old--I don't know if that's getting too old or if it were related to that. I had a backup recording freeze up the TiVo box and didn't discover it until the next morning a few months back, requiring disconnection from the UPS to reboot. Again, an isolated occurrence so far. The TiVo is about 4 1/2 years old.


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

Dr_J said:


> The TiVo is about 4 1/2 years old.


Original hard drive still in it?


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## Dr_J (Apr 15, 2007)

bidger said:


> Original hard drive still in it?


Yup.


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## bidger (Nov 19, 2005)

bidger said:


> Original hard drive still in it?





Dr_J said:


> Yup.


Then I'd have to say it's probably not power issues, but since you're getting close to the 5 yr. point with a drive that's in constant use, it comes down to replacing that drive. The PATA large capacity drives are getting pretty scarce, but if you still use it as a backup, I'd leave it up to you as whether it's worth it.


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## Dr_J (Apr 15, 2007)

bidger said:


> Then I'd have to say it's probably not power issues, but since you're getting close to the 5 yr. point with a drive that's in constant use, it comes down to replacing that drive. The PATA large capacity drives are getting pretty scarce, but if you still use it as a backup, I'd leave it up to you as whether it's worth it.


It's possible. The last time I had hard drive failure on my original TiVo, the recordings literally froze. I'd have to skip to the end of the recording and then back up to beyond the freeze point. That one was only 2 years old. Been luckier with this one. We'll see what happens. Thanks.


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## Dr_J (Apr 15, 2007)

I also have the protection plan, so if it becomes a serious issue, I'll just swap it out for a new box.


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## Richierich (Jan 10, 2008)

Whether it is the hard drive failing or a power supply unit not supplying enough power for the hard drive to fully spin at it's intended rate of speed you need to either replace the offending device or replace the entire unit.

It is possible to replace the power supply unit and save your recordings if that is the offending piece.


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