# Does DTV *ever* repair and return a DVR?



## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

At 11:59 last night, my HR23 converted itself from a DVR into a paperweight. No lights, no sound, nothing. Seems pretty likely a case of a power supply dying. (Happy birthday!)

When I call for service, they will presumably offer to replace it, at which point a couple hundred hours of movies, TV shows, and football games on external drives become relics from the past never to be seen again.

Given the likely simplicity of the repair, I'm wondering if anyone has ever known of DTV repairing a DVR and returning it to the customer.

Thanks for any input here.

ETA - The DTV CSR is sending me out a replacement power cord. (See below.) That raises the question - is there any reason for me not to get a cord at the local electronics store rather than wait until Tuesday or Wednesday? Or is there something special and mystically magic about the cords that come with the DVRs? Thanks.


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## Davenlr (Sep 16, 2006)

I have never heard of anyone having that done. I would suggest taking it to a local electronics repair shop. Personally, I offload anything I want to keep permanently onto my server computer.


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## joed32 (Jul 27, 2006)

Weaknees might do it for you but they can be pricey. Google them and check. They do repair DVRs.


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

Customer service is sending me out a replacement power cord. If she can be believed, more often than not the symptoms I described are due to a faulty cord.

Sounds odd, but what do I know? If she's right, I'll still have my football games.

Naturally, I mentioned not wanting to lose recordings if possible, and she replied that the official company policy is that DVRs are not intended for long-term storage. (It was said almost with a wink, knowing that the company has to say that to keep the content-providers satisfied.) She also said in part that's why they don't return individual units to the customer.

I try to save off stuff to DVD, but the editing process takes a while, and I'm pretty far behind now. (Haven't even done last November's Breeders Cup yet.)


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Do you have another DVR that you can swap cords with? Unless you move that cord around aloy, I find it hard to believe that the cord is the reason. 


You did check to make sure the current cord is fully plugged in and that your wall outlet still has power?


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

Checked the power connection, and so on - everything else on that circuit is fine. (No other DVR to check with.)

I do pull out the power cord each time I reboot to switch external drives (after doing a standard shutdown), so it's conceivable that it could be worn. Just seems odd that it died at a time when it wasn't being manipulated or even touched.


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## billsharpe (Jan 25, 2007)

I've been a member of this forum for over five years. One thing I learned early on was not to rely on either the DVR or an attached hard drive for storing programs long-term.

I had a defective OTA tuner on my first HR20-700 and had to replace it after about three months.


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

I highly doubt the issue is the power cord. Most likely, with how you describe it, the power supply itself is dead.

- Merg


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

The Merg said:


> I highly doubt the issue is the power cord. Most likely, with how you describe it, the power supply itself is dead.
> 
> - Merg


Got any idea where a new power supply can be bought? I've searched and searched and I can't find any, except for one on eBay and that's not the one I'm looking for.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> At 11:59 last night, my HR23 converted itself from a DVR into a paperweight. No lights, no sound, nothing. Seems pretty likely a case of a power supply dying. (Happy birthday!)
> 
> When I call for service, they will presumably offer to replace it, at which point a couple hundred hours of movies, TV shows, and football games on external drives become relics from the past never to be seen again.
> 
> ...


You don't have a voltmeter? If you do, just plug the cord in and stick the probes in the female end. You should, hell, you will read ~ 120VAC. She was just pacifying you. Sounds like a dead power supply to me. Or, it might be as simple as the fuse being blown. You should be able to see the fuse near the power port. Gotta pop the top to see it.

Rich


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## Doug Brott (Jul 12, 2006)

You'll likely need to get the DVR replaced. No point in waiting for a new power cord to find that out.


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## wallfishman (Dec 31, 2008)

That cord for the HR23 is pretty common for electronics. If you look around your electronics in your house currently I guarantee you have one already in your house that you could unplug to test out. example i have a small tv thats uses that same cord, the charger for my meter, an all in one stereo, I bet i have 5 or 6 of them in different things around here. I too doubt its just the cord, but who knows .......


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

wallfishman said:


> That cord for the HR23 is pretty common for electronics. If you look around your electronics in your house currently I guarantee you have one already in your house that you could unplug to test out. example i have a small tv thats uses that same cord, the charger for my meter, an all in one stereo, I bet i have 5 or 6 of them in different things around here. I too doubt its just the cord, but who knows .......


That's the data I needed - and, turns out the "bad" cord seems to work just fine for charging my camcorder. A bad sign.

So, looks like I have probably seen USC-Oregon 2011 and the season finale of Hawaii-5-0 for the last time. And looks like my wife will never get to see the last two hours of last night's opening ceremony. (If this is the worst thing that happens to me, my life has been far too easy.)


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

Just did a search for a repeat of the opening ceremonies. On multiple times on 103, the 3D channel. Maybe it will be online?


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## TomCat (Aug 31, 2002)

Rich said:


> ...She was just pacifying you...


There might be more to the story. The odds of a power cord going bad are about 20 million to one, give or take, so odds are about 50/50 they may have actually had one customer who experienced this.

The problem here is how a power cord goes bad. It either opens up, or shorts. Neither is likely, but a shorted power cord can cause a fire, loss of life, etc., so it becomes a liability.

If you call and say you have no power to the unit, there is a chance, however small, that the cord has worn or has been chewed on by a puppy, or whatever. But that cord is then a looming potential lawsuit should you have a fire and tech support did not think to replace it.

So maybe this is simply a policy that covers their butts when a customer reports this.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

TomCat said:


> There might be more to the story. The odds of a power cord going bad are about 20 million to one, give or take, so odds are about 50/50 they may have actually had one customer who experienced this.
> 
> The problem here is how a power cord goes bad. It either opens up, or shorts. Neither is likely, but a shorted power cord can cause a fire, loss of life, etc., so it becomes a liability.
> 
> ...


Or, maybe he was being pacified.

Rich


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

Rich said:


> Or, maybe he was being pacified.
> 
> Rich


I certainly hope she wouldn't do that intentionally, because it wouldn't be any benefit towards actually solving my problem.

In any case, a new unit will be headed my way tomorrow after a second call to Customer Service. I just hope it isn't so old that it's incompatible with my external drives. (My impression is that the 23 was quite a bit less fussy than were its predecessors.)


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## dpeters11 (May 30, 2007)

Can't think of a reason, they added 4k support but that was in software throughout the models. But, it is considered an unsupported so certainly possible.


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

The only time to order a power cord is if it's lost, missing, or damaged visibly. The power cords are standard 2 prong so if you have another device that has one you could test it.


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

OK, after my experiments, we're all in agreement that the (generic) power cord is not the issue. (At the time of my original question, I didn't know if the units had something special in their power cords that required replacement from DTV.)

But now I wonder if the power supply may not be the whole issue either. If I look in through the grate, I can see that about once per second, the fan makes a small pulse, like it's trying to turn. This stops when I unplug the cord. 

So the unit is getting *some* power. The PS may indeed be fatally wounded, but it isn't dead. (For those of you who were fans of '24', this may bring to memory the famous line "You're either dead, or you're not dead. there's no such thing as 'sorta dead'."

But one thing remains true - it seems extremely unlikely that I'm ever going to watch anything recorded on this unit again.


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## trh (Nov 3, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> But one thing remains true - it seems extremely unlikely that I'm ever going to watch anything recorded on this unit again.


Probably a very accurate statement. Sorry.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> OK, after my experiments, we're all in agreement that the (generic) power cord is not the issue. (At the time of my original question, I didn't know if the units had something special in their power cords that required replacement from DTV.)
> 
> *But now I wonder if the power supply may not be the whole issue either. If I look in through the grate, I can see that about once per second, the fan makes a small pulse, like it's trying to turn. This stops when I unplug the cord. *
> 
> ...


That would tell me the power supply is shot.

Rich


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## The Merg (Jun 24, 2007)

Rich said:


> That would tell me the power supply is shot.
> 
> Rich


+1

- Merg


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

The Merg said:


> +1
> 
> - Merg


If he wanted to fix it, where would he get the proper power supply? I can't find them anywhere. Weaknees has them for TiVos, but not HRs.

Rich


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

Since it's a leased unit, there's no fixing the PS - regrettably.


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## davring (Jan 13, 2007)

Swap the parts you need from the replacement they send


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## RAD (Aug 5, 2002)

davring said:


> Swap the parts you need from the replacement they send


Don't know how closely they look at that little silver taper tape to see if someone has opened the case when they get STB's back. That might be a problem.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> Since it's a leased unit, there's no fixing the PS - regrettably.


Yeah, that's true, but I've got a friend with what I think is a bad power supply in his 24-500 and he owns it and likes it and has a bunch of content he doesn't want to lose, so he'd like to fix it and we just can't find any 24-500 power supplies anywhere.

Rich


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Rich said:


> If he wanted to fix it, where would he get the proper power supply? I can't find them anywhere. Weaknees has them for TiVos, but not HRs.
> 
> Rich


Since you own receivers I can give you some ideas. To the OP though since it's leased you would violate the lease agreement and could be subject to fees.

A good place to get replacement parts are leased receivers that people abandon or sell to pawn shops that don't know any better. If you can find one that should be returned but the people clearly indicate they never will then you can use those for parts.

I have a friend who cleans out houses that are foreclosed and he probably gets at least 2 houses a month with TV providers equipment in it. So if you know anyone who does things like that you might be able to find some that way as well.

I know you're partial to the HR20 -700 and since they're no longer recoverable these will be good parts machines after people are done with them as they are not required to be returned.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Shades228 said:


> Since you own receivers I can give you some ideas. To the OP though since it's leased you would violate the lease agreement and could be subject to fees.
> 
> A good place to get replacement parts are leased receivers that people abandon or sell to pawn shops that don't know any better. If you can find one that should be returned but the people clearly indicate they never will then you can use those for parts.


I guess I'll tell him to keep an eye on his local Craigslist. I'll do the same here. We don't have any pawn shops in our area. At least none such as I've seen in other states. I just Googled it and came up with a bunch of thrift stores and another bunch of gold buyers. Shame, I really like browsing in a good pawn shop. Maybe I'll take a ride to the City.



> I have a friend who cleans out houses that are foreclosed and he probably gets at least 2 houses a month with TV providers equipment in it. So if you know anyone who does things like that you might be able to find some that way as well.


Don't know anyone who does that, but I'll look for someone.



> I know you're partial to the HR20 -700 and since they're no longer recoverable these will be good parts machines after people are done with them as they are not required to be returned.


Good point, doesn't help my friend, tho. I kinda doubt a PS for a 20-700 would work in a 24. Don't really know, just an assumption.

Rich


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## Shades228 (Mar 18, 2008)

Rich said:


> I guess I'll tell him to keep an eye on his local Craigslist. I'll do the same here. We don't have any pawn shops in our area. At least none such as I've seen in other states. I just Googled it and came up with a bunch of thrift stores and another bunch of gold buyers. Shame, I really like browsing in a good pawn shop. Maybe I'll take a ride to the City.
> 
> Don't know anyone who does that, but I'll look for someone.
> 
> ...


It wouldn't but it was more of a side comment for you since I know they hold a special place in your entertainment center.


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

While we're out of rescue mode and recovery mode and now into replace mode, I'll just add that they've confirmed that a 23-700 is headed my way. At least it's the exact model I'm used to.

And the frustrating thing is that I would have within my grasp the very power supply I need to get my old machine operational again.

Some of you might remember that last summer I had a lengthy thread that led to my discovery of how to transfer individual recordings between a pair of HDDs. When the new machine arrives, I may do a couple of experiments to see about transferring recordings from the old drive to the new drive. (Both external)

While I realize that everything we know says this is not possible because recordings are tied to the individual unit, I'll see if it's possible that the encoding is part of the meta-data rather than the recorded data itself. If that were the case, I might be able to make a recording of Oprah at 2pm on a Monday afternoon, then replace the underlying recording data with the same data from USC-Oregon 2011. If my long-shot hypothesis were true, that day's Oprah show would look a lot like a 38-35 football game decided on a game-ending missed field goal.

And I also realize it's more likely that it will look a lot like an error message.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

Shades228 said:


> It wouldn't but it was more of a side comment for you since I know they hold a special place in your entertainment center.


Figures. He has a lot of content that was recorded on that one HR and it's gonna be lost if he can't fix the PS, which we just think is the problem. Sometimes I wonder how I get involved in these things. I told him a year ago that he needed a couple more HRs instead of putting it all on one HR, but he was convinced the 24s would last forever.

Yes, I do like and trust the 20-700s, but I use them mostly as servers now. They seem to do that very dependably. After buying six of them to use as replacements, I've only had to replace a couple HRs and got new 24s. My plans and D*'s plans never seem to work in my favor. As soon as I bought the six 20-700s, D* finally got them stabilized and I spent all that money (including 2TB HDDs for each one) and I could have saved a good portion of that money.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> While we're out of rescue mode and recovery mode and now into replace mode, I'll just add that they've confirmed that a 23-700 is headed my way. At least it's the exact model I'm used to.
> 
> And the frustrating thing is that I would have within my grasp the very power supply I need to get my old machine operational again.
> 
> ...


Never hurts to try something no one else thinks will work. You sound like you know what you're doing, I wish you luck. Not that I really understood a word of your penultimate (damn, I've been waiting for years to use that word) paragraph..... :lol:

Rich


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

Rich, your next goal should be to work in the word "ante-penultimate".

(The rest of my post had to be removed - it had drifted into unallowed territory.)

Oh, forgot to add - DTV offered me three free months of HBO for my trouble. No doubt they're hoping I'll forget to cancel when my free time runs out.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> Rich, your next goal should be to work in the word "ante-penultimate".
> 
> (The rest of my post had to be removed - it had drifted into unallowed territory.)
> 
> Oh, forgot to add - DTV offered me three free months of HBO for my trouble. No doubt they're hoping I'll forget to cancel when my free time runs out.


Can't find a definition of that. Now I'm curious. Found it, "second to last". Didn't know that, thanx.

Rich


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## loveshockey (Feb 25, 2008)

cigar95 said:


> But now I wonder if the power supply may not be the whole issue either. If I look in through the grate, I can see that about once per second, the fan makes a small pulse, like it's trying to turn. This stops when I unplug the cord.
> 
> So the unit is getting *some* power. The PS may indeed be fatally wounded, but it isn't dead. (For those of you who were fans of '24', this may bring to memory the famous line "You're either dead, or you're not dead. there's no such thing as 'sorta dead'."


My HR23-700 is doing the same thing now...no lights, no HD noise, but the fan stutters every so slightly...

When I called for a replacement, they told me I don't have to send the broken one back, so I might try to repair it

Did you ever "fix" yours?


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

loveshockey said:


> My HR23-700 is doing the same thing now...no lights, no HD noise, but the fan stutters every so slightly...
> 
> When I called for a replacement, they told me I don't have to send the broken one back, so I might try to repair it
> 
> Did you ever "fix" yours?


Wow, zombie thread!

Nope, my unit had to be returned, so there was no way to try going Frankenstein on it. Maybe your replacement will be my old unit with a new power supply - wouldn't THAT be a weird one.

I still have a bunch of content on my HDDs that can't play, but I can't bear to delete. I hang on to this vague fantasy that somehow I'll figure out a way to get it to play, even though everything we know says that's not possible.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

loveshockey said:


> My HR23-700 is doing the same thing now...no lights, no HD noise, but the fan stutters every so slightly...
> 
> When I called for a replacement, they told me I don't have to send the broken one back, so I might try to repair it
> 
> Did you ever "fix" yours?


I've actually replaced several power supply boards in 24s. I think the 23s have the same setup as the 24s in regard to the power supplies and they can be replaced. But why bother? I'd get rid of that dreadful 23 and step up to a 24 or a Genie.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> Wow, zombie thread!
> 
> Nope, my unit had to be returned, so there was no way to try going Frankenstein on it. Maybe your replacement will be my old unit with a new power supply - wouldn't THAT be a weird one.
> 
> I still have a bunch of content on my HDDs that can't play, but I can't bear to delete. I hang on to this vague fantasy that somehow I'll figure out a way to get it to play, even though everything we know says that's not possible.


A lot of us have been hanging on to the idea that someday D* will allow us to use any HDD on any HR within an account. Seems so simple, yet we've been ignored for years. Meanwhile, we've suffered thru some terrible periods because people wanted changes made for other reasons. For instance, the DLB issue was discussed for a very long time in a sticky thread and all the people that wanted them got them. And the rest of us suffered. I can't begin to imagine what kind of problems the HDD issue would cause or how long it would take D* to get that working correctly. We really have to be careful what we wish for.

Rich


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

Rich said:


> A lot of us have been hanging on to the idea that someday D* will allow us to use any HDD on any HR within an account. Seems so simple, yet we've been ignored for years. Meanwhile, we've suffered thru some terrible periods because people wanted changes made for other reasons. For instance, the DLB issue was discussed for a very long time in a sticky thread and all the people that wanted them got them. And the rest of us suffered. I can't begin to imagine what kind of problems the HDD issue would cause or how long it would take D* to get that working correctly. We really have to be careful what we wish for.
> 
> Rich


Rich, I wasn't part of that detailed discussion, although I remember the longing for DLB.

Are you saying that the implementation of DLB messed up other things that already worked, or that the time and effort that went into that feature took away from work that could have been done on other aspects of the system that were of more interest to other customers?

It seems odd that DTV has left the external HDD hanging as a working-but-unsupported feature for so many years without doing anything about it.


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## loveshockey (Feb 25, 2008)

Rich said:


> I've actually replaced several power supply boards in 24s. I think the 23s have the same setup as the 24s in regard to the power supplies and they can be replaced. But why bother? I'd get rid of that dreadful 23 and step up to a 24 or a Genie.
> 
> Rich


cause I cant remember what series links i have on it or what shows are on it

hoping to repair and get access to all of it as long as it doesn't reformat once I repair


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

cigar95 said:


> Rich, I wasn't part of that detailed discussion, although I remember the longing for DLB.
> 
> Are you saying that the implementation of DLB messed up other things that already worked, or that the time and effort that went into that feature took away from work that could have been done on other aspects of the system that were of more interest to other customers?
> 
> It seems odd that DTV has left the external HDD hanging as a working-but-unsupported feature for so many years without doing anything about it.


The implementation of DLBs really screwed things up, much as the HD Guide did.

I think we are better off with the eSATA feature being unsupported. We know what works now and I don't think we want D* telling us or suggesting what we have to use. They've already made suggestions that I disagree with.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

loveshockey said:


> cause I cant remember what series links i have on it or what shows are on it
> 
> hoping to repair and get access to all of it as long as it doesn't reformat once I repair


If you change out power supplies the 23 shouldn't reformat. Check out 23s on eBay and find one that's for parts and if the price is right and the seller says it works or at least the front panel comes on, you should find a working PS inside it. Swapping out a 24's is actually quite simple, never tried it with a 23. I should also comment on the 24-100s: I don't see how to easily swap out PSs on them. The 24-500s are quite simple to fix. I've had a couple 24-200s open and it looks like an easy swap there too. Even putting a 2TB drive in a 24-100 is hard.

Rich


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## loveshockey (Feb 25, 2008)

Rich said:


> If you change out power supplies the 23 shouldn't reformat. Check out 23s on eBay and find one that's for parts and if the price is right and the seller says it works or at least the front panel comes on, you should find a working PS inside it. Swapping out a 24's is actually quite simple, never tried it with a 23. I should also comment on the 24-100s: I don't see how to easily swap out PSs on them. The 24-500s are quite simple to fix. I've had a couple 24-200s open and it looks like an easy swap there too. Even putting a 2TB drive in a 24-100 is hard.
> 
> Rich


located one, but the guy says the fan works, but thats about it...

what's your opinion on the viability of the PS?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

loveshockey said:


> located one, but the guy says the fan works, but thats about it...
> 
> what's your opinion on the viability of the PS?


Ask him if the front panel lights come on when it's powered up. If not, don't buy it. The fan gets it's power from a connection on the motherboard, not the PS.

Rich


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## harperhometheater (Aug 31, 2012)

Ask him if the front panel lights come on when it's powered up. If not, don't buy it. The fan gets it's power from a connection on the motherboard, not the PS.

Rich
Right, but that only indicates the motherboard is bad, not the power supply. The fan still has to get the power from the PS, it just goes though the MB. Otherwise the fan wouldn't work either.


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## gov (Jan 11, 2013)

LOL, just occurred to me in regards to the OP, that if a (if they still did it) Plutonium level customer wanted an HDDDVR fixed instead of replaced, DirecTV might find a way to do it, especially if they are already doing it for the top officers and stockholders of the company.


RHIP


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## ThomasM (Jul 20, 2007)

I have "repaired" several DirecTV receivers with just such symptoms. As it turned out, there was nothing wrong with the power supply BUT the plastic connector that the power cord plugs into came loose from the circuit board due to poor soldering and also poor anchoring of the connector. A few solder tracks on a circuit board are no match for someone forcefully shoving in a power cord or yanking it out. Both of these scenarios were with "reconditioned" receivers I got from DirecTV. That was probably the reason they were returned. On the test bench for just a few minutes the connector probably made contact so out the door they went.

If you are handy with a soldering iron and working with circuit boards it's possible your problem can be fixed. To see if this is the issue, wiggle the power cord with the unit on and see if it fails. If it does and you do not want to tackle it yourself a local fixit shop can probably patch it up.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

harperhometheater said:


> Right, but that only indicates the motherboard is bad, not the power supply. The fan still has to get the power from the PS, it just goes though the MB. Otherwise the fan wouldn't work either.


You'd think so, but I've seen things differently. The HDDs will also spin with a bad PS. I don't pretend to know why, I just know what I've seen and I've seen both the fan spin (they won't come fully up to speed, but they do spin a bit) and the HDD spin and the front panel lights were out. Replacing the PS made the HR work properly again. In other words, there was nothing wrong with the motherboard.

Rich


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

gov said:


> LOL, just occurred to me in regards to the OP, that if a (if they still did it) Plutonium level customer wanted an HDDDVR fixed instead of replaced, DirecTV might find a way to do it, especially if they are already doing it for the top officers and stockholders of the company.
> 
> RHIP


Dream on.

Rich


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## gov (Jan 11, 2013)

If I was CFO of DirecTV and my HR24 croaked, methinks somebody in the tech division might be motivated to resurrect my hard drive with all those episodes of My Mother the Car I haven't watched yet.

And if I am CFO, wouldn't that be a great perk to pass out to my (deserving) golfing buddies ??


!rolling


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

gov said:


> If I was CFO of DirecTV and my HR24 croaked, methinks somebody in the tech division might be motivated to resurrect my hard drive with all those episodes of My Mother the Car I haven't watched yet.
> 
> And if I am CFO, wouldn't that be a great perk to pass out to my (deserving) golfing buddies ??
> 
> !rolling


It's also a great way for an executive to get in a lot of trouble. The part about giving his friends perks would be an act of stupidity.

Rich


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## gov (Jan 11, 2013)

But Ann Southern voiced the car !!!


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## loveshockey (Feb 25, 2008)

harperhometheater said:


> Right, but that only indicates the motherboard is bad, not the power supply. The fan still has to get the power from the PS, it just goes though the MB. Otherwise the fan wouldn't work either.


I managed to move a confirmed working PS from one HR23-700 to the bad HR23-700, but no lights come on and the fan still just twitches ever so slightly...

Am I right in thinking that something on the motherboard is broken?


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## harperhometheater (Aug 31, 2012)

Yes that would certainly be my guess.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

loveshockey said:


> I managed to move a confirmed working PS from one HR23-700 to the bad HR23-700, but no lights come on and the fan still just twitches ever so slightly...
> 
> Am I right in thinking that something on the motherboard is broken?


How was it confirmed? Still shows the symptoms of a bad PS.

Rich


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## loveshockey (Feb 25, 2008)

Rich said:


> How was it confirmed? Still shows the symptoms of a bad PS.
> 
> Rich


I took it out of a working HR23-700


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## harperhometheater (Aug 31, 2012)

The motherboard gets the power from the power supply and has the processor/logic that controls the fan, lights, HDD, etc.


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

loveshockey said:


> I took it out of a working HR23-700


Guess it is the motherboard. Too bad.

Rich


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## cigar95 (May 23, 2008)

As the original poster, these last few posts actually make me feel a *little bit* better about what happened (almost exactly) a year ago. It sounds like my problem was not something as trivial as a bad power supply, but on the motherboard itself. Still a problem that was, in principle, fixable, but would have taken more work.

It does sound like I ought to make sure and be gentle when pulling the powercord to switch HDDs, or my new unit could suffer the same fate eventually.


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## loveshockey (Feb 25, 2008)

now when i put the power supply back into the working HR23-700 it is doing the same thing as my broken HR23-700, doesn't power up and the fan just twitches...

I thought I removed the power supply and reinserted correctly...

On the working one, i did a menu reset and pulled the plug when everything shut down...
or was this wrong to do?


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

loveshockey said:


> now when i put the power supply back into the working HR23-700 it is doing the same thing as my broken HR23-700, doesn't power up and the fan just twitches...
> 
> I thought I removed the power supply and reinserted correctly...
> 
> ...


I had a feeling that would happen. Did you put the PS you thought was good back in its HR? If it works in that one and doesn't in the other one, the trouble must be on the motherboard. But, what you're posting is exactly what the symptoms of a bad PS are. The fan just twitching is a typical symptom.

You did nothing wrong when you shut down the HR.

Rich


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## loveshockey (Feb 25, 2008)

OMG!! After a day of being plugged in, the "working" HR23-700 is back to life by itself!!!

I can't believe it!!! I noticed 4 Directv media servers through my Playstation 3, and went to check on it, and I've got live tv...

Maybe I will try the transplant again and just leave it plugged in for a while!!!


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## Rich (Feb 22, 2007)

loveshockey said:


> OMG!! After a day of being plugged in, the "working" HR23-700 is back to life by itself!!!
> 
> I can't believe it!!! I noticed 4 Directv media servers through my Playstation 3, and went to check on it, and I've got live tv...
> 
> Maybe I will try the transplant again and just leave it plugged in for a while!!!


Well, at least you sound like you're enjoying yourself.

Rich


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