# Is my SD-DVR40 dying?



## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

I've had DirecTV + a Hughes SD-DVR40 DirecTivo for a few years now. Lately, whenever I try to access menus via the Tivo button, it takes a several seconds before the menu appears, and then any actions (up,down,enter,etc.) either take several minutes each, or it will just perform one action, then freeze for 5 minutes and then reboot. Sometimes my Now Playing List will take a long time to register navigation commands too, but it hasn't yet frozen up completely and rebooted. So, luckily, recording and watching recorded programs isn't a problem (other than extremely slow menu navigation once in a while). I've already cleared Thumb options, so not sure what to do next. Get a new unit? Get a new hard drive?


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## sylvanir (Sep 14, 2007)

Patrick G. said:


> I've had DirecTV + a Hughes SD-DVR40 DirecTivo for a few years now. Lately, whenever I try to access menus via the Tivo button, it takes a several seconds before the menu appears, and then any actions (up,down,enter,etc.) either take several minutes each, or it will just perform one action, then freeze for 5 minutes and then reboot. Sometimes my Now Playing List will take a long time to register navigation commands too, but it hasn't yet frozen up completely and rebooted. So, luckily, recording and watching recorded programs isn't a problem (other than extremely slow menu navigation once in a while). I've already cleared Thumb options, so not sure what to do next. Get a new unit? Get a new hard drive?


It may be as simple as your hard drive getting full - I know that Tivo's tend to run slow once they hit around 80% full. Also, may need to do the dreaded Clear & Delete everything...


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## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

I usually keep less than 2 pages of 1 hour shows, total, so I doubt it's getting full.


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## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

And now, I can't get to that option anyway. I hit the Tivo button, the menu appears, I try to arrow down, but nothing happens. It just sits there for 5 minutes and then reboots.


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## BillyBob_jcv (Feb 12, 2006)

The typical suspects are the same as for a PC - hard drive and power supply. You might want to try the Tivo Community forum for Tivo-specific help - including how to replace your hard drive...

Or, it's time to discover the non-Tivo HD world of the HR20...


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## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

Can someone point me to a walk-thru on how to replace the hard drive in this thing? I'd need to know what kind of drive to get, and exactly how to do it. Thanks!


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## oldfantom (Mar 13, 2006)

The previous mentioned TIVO forums will get you there. The tech forums will point you to the documents. You may be able to get what you need from weaknees

http://www.weaknees.com/index.php?gclid=CObdrJKl144CFQhtFQod9UnbAw


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## Stuart Sweet (Jun 19, 2006)

Patrick, just out of curiosity, what's keeping you from jumping on the bandwagon with an R15?


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## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

Stuart Sweet said:


> Patrick, just out of curiosity, what's keeping you from jumping on the bandwagon with an R15?


Well, you tell me. Someone said I wouldn't like the new non-Tivo units compared to my current Tivo DVR. Does this SD-DVR40 hold some advantages over the R15?


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## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

Well, I just found this, and it appears to have resolved my issues:

_*1. Unplug your Tivo and then plug it back in

2. While it is powering up press and hold the pause button on your remote keeping the remote pointed at your Tivo. The front panel lights will turn off and then the orange light will turn on. Now you can release the pause button

3. Enter 57 on your remote

This should bring up what is called the Green Screen of Death, which says that your Tivo has discovered problems with it's file system and is attempting to fix them. It checks all the sectors on your hard disk and marks any bad ones so they will not be used anymore.*_


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## dmurphy (Sep 28, 2006)

Patrick G. said:


> Well, you tell me. Someone said I wouldn't like the new non-Tivo units compared to my current Tivo DVR. Does this SD-DVR40 hold some advantages over the R15?


The R15 is different from the TiVo units.

That doesn't make it bad, just different.

Me, personally, I prefer the R15 these days. It's a whole lot faster than any of my TiVo's, it has interactivity (which is GREAT on the YES network during Yankee games!), it's easier to use in some respects (press record once on a show in the guide, and it's recorded. Press it twice, and you have a Season Pass.)

There are a few things that the TiVo has that you may or may not miss.

#1 - Dual Live Buffers (DLB). Some people can't seem to live without 'em. Me, I prefer the 90 minute single buffer in the R15, since I tend to walk away from the TV on pause more than I flip between channels. But again, that's how I use it.

#2 - Multiple Season Passes with the same name (i.e. Las Vegas on TNT and Las Vegas on NBC). The HR20 receivers have this, so I hope it'll hit the R15 soon.

There is a promotion with DirecTV where existing customers can get an R15 unit for free. I'd give it a try, and worst case, if you don't like it, send it back and fix up your TiVo unit. What do you have to lose?


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## chuckg (Sep 15, 2007)

Patrick G. said:


> Well, I just found this, and it appears to have resolved my issues:
> 
> _*1. Unplug your Tivo and then plug it back in
> 
> ...


Do you have a link for this? I may pop one of my Seagate drives back in an see what happens with this procedure. They are worthless as is.


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## jake14mw (Oct 5, 2007)

Patrick G. said:


> Well, I just found this, and it appears to have resolved my issues:
> 
> _*1. Unplug your Tivo and then plug it back in
> 
> ...


Yes, where did you get this information? In all my years on the Tivocommunity forums, I have never seen or heard of this.


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## Patrick G. (Sep 10, 2002)

I found the information HERE by Google searching. It worked for a while, but I eventually replaced my hard drive because the problems persisted.


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