[captapd]

I am having a problem with my Replay TV 4504 . We disconnected power and cable coax to the unit to move our Stereo/TV cabinet from one side of the room to the other on Sunday, December 28th. We left the unit connected to the VCR and TV, but everything was powered down for about an hour. Once I reconnected power it was unresponsive to remote or front panel commands. The POWER light on the front panel blinks like it is starting up, but there is nothing on screen. I checked the phone line and it has a dial tone. I can see from myreplaytv.com that the unit hasn't recorded a show since December 26th. I tried disconnecting the coax output from the replaytv and using the audio/video 1 output. When I changed the input on my TV to receive audio/video 1 output from the replaytv. All I got was a "ReplayTV please wait" screen that blinked every minute or so. The unit worked fine from Sept 2002 on the coaxial, so I don't think this is the problem. I've called replaytv support four times getting their people in the US and India. But all they tell me to do is turn the power off and on or move cables around. They can't even begin to give me an idea what the basic problem is. Since the unit is out of warranty. They want me to send it in for exchange at $199 a pop, which will get me a non-commercial advance unit.


Does anyone have any suggestions? is it a drive or a power supply problem. Can you suggest a repair or drive upgrade shop. What should iI look for if I open the unit up? I'm not very technical, but know enough to talk to a forum before blindly sending it off the repalytv.


Thanks for your help, Andrew


Model # RTV4504 S/N 12AA7000050

 

[joesc1]

This problem happens often. Usually this indicates a hard drive problem, most likely the system partition was corrupted. Resetting the power and letting it sit for a while is the only solution. That starts the system recovery process. If you've done that and it still doesn't work then if you are handy with computers, you can re-image the hard drive yourself and it should work.


Since it's out of warranty, you've got nothing to lose, and heck if it works, you could just buy a bigger hard drive to increase the recording capacity of your system.

 

[Mikeyboy]

I agree with Joesc1 completely. Most likely the hard drive data is corrupted. Using your PC along with a downloaded disk image you can replace the disk image on the drive correcting the problem.


To fix the problem yourself download the disk image here ftp://replay:[email protected]/ it's in the images/replay/40xx folder. The file you want is called "Aug2-4000-4.3.zip". Instructions how to install it are found in the same folder. The win2000/xp procedure is much easier but requires a win2000 or xp PC to do it.


The easiest solution is to replace the hard disk with a ready to boot one. All you do is replace the drive and run setup again. I offer a 120 hour super quiet ready to boot drive for $149. Here is a link to how you swap out the drive http://home.comcast.net/~mikemenard/...placement.html

 

[skleiser]

First thing to check once you open the box is the hard drive cable connector - make sure it is plugged firmly into the drive !

 

[captapd]

Thanks for the advise. I'm going to attempt heart surgery this weekend. If that does work I'll start shopping around for a new hard drive kit.

 

[captapd]

I took joesc1 and mikeyboy's advise and tried to reimagine the drive. A big undertaking for me since I've never opened up a PC or any other electronic device before. The Replay was simple enough using Mikeboy's great pictures. Once I had the case open I inspected the interior for any obvious problems such as burned out components or loose connections. Finding none I then pulled the drive and connected it to the secondary ribbon and power cables on my opened up WIN 2000 PC. When I ran RTVPatch2.1.3beta the hourglass icon just kept ticking away and nothing happened. I realized I had it on the secondary ribbon for the CD-ROM, so I switched to the hard drive secondary ribbon. Same thing, I then switch the primary and secondary connectors on the ribbon between drives. Computer wouldn't boot at alll, which makes sense. I tried this whole process on a WIN XP PC down the hall same result.


What am I doing wrong? Am I using the correct patch program for my serial # Replay (See original post)? Shouldn't the patch program see the replay drive and the PC original drive. Does this mean the Replay drive is fried. Am I at the point that I should purchase a new drive? Any suggestions for places to buy already imaged ready to go drives?


That's for all your help to an electronic novice....

 

[tarfin]

Does your BIOS detect it?


When your PC first starts to boot you'll get a prompt like hit F2 (or F1 or DEL or something else) to enter setup. Do that and go into the section that has info on your hard drives. This varies wildly between BIOS mfr's. It may be called something arcane like Standard CMOS features. Don't be afraid to look in the different areas, just don't change anything unless you're 100% of the ramifications. Even if you do make changes the BIOS will prompt you to save them when you exit. Anyway you want to see if the BIOS has even detected the hard drive. If it hasn't you won' t be able to proceed until your computer can recognize the drive.


Have you verified the master/slave/cable select setup for the drives? If you're not able to get this to work in a short amount of time I'd suggest buying a made-to-go drive from Mikeyboy. It would be a lot less hassle for you. His price is reasonable and you'd be avoiding the headache/education of things you're probably not that interested in.

 

[Mikeyboy]

Quote:

Originally posted by captapd I took joesc1 and mikeyboy's advise and tried to reimagine the drive. A big undertaking for me since I've never opened up a PC or any other electronic device before. The Replay was simple enough using Mikeboy's great pictures. Once I had the case open I inspected the interior for any obvious problems such as burned out components or loose connections. Finding none I then pulled the drive and connected it to the secondary ribbon and power cables on my opened up WIN 2000 PC. When I ran RTVPatch2.1.3beta the hourglass icon just kept ticking away and nothing happened. I realized I had it on the secondary ribbon for the CD-ROM, so I switched to the hard drive secondary ribbon. Same thing, I then switch the primary and secondary connectors on the ribbon between drives. Computer wouldn't boot at alll, which makes sense. I tried this whole process on a WIN XP PC down the hall same result. What am I doing wrong? Am I using the correct patch program for my serial # Replay (See original post)? Shouldn't the patch program see the replay drive and the PC original drive. Does this mean the Replay drive is fried. Am I at the point that I should purchase a new drive? Any suggestions for places to buy already imaged ready to go drives? That's for all your help to an electronic novice....

RTVPatch isn't opening for you. Try the latest version RTVPatch 2.4 http://prdownloads.sourceforge.net/r...use_mirror=umn


If RTVPatch 2.4 hangs, does it only hang when the replay drive is connected to the PC?

 

[captapd]

Still no luck...RTVPatch2.1.3beta actually made my computer crash when I used it with out the Replay drive connected. Mostly the same deal with Replay drive connected or the program would not respond to commands and never saw the Repaly drive. RTVPatch2.4 works and sees the PC hard drive without the Replay Drive connected. When I shut down the computer and connected the Replay drive to the secondary IDE ribbon. The computer experienced repeated boot failures when I tried to to turn it on. So I guess I'm headed in the direction of a new drive....


Since I bought the unit woth a VISA card I'm waiting to see if they will pony up the cost of a new drive under there extended warranty program.


Thankls for the help! Mikeyboy I'll contact you about that drive once I hear from VISA

 

[skleiser]

Quote:

Originally posted by captapd ... I've never opened up a PC before. ... I then pulled the drive and connected it to the secondary ribbon.

Did you change the jumper on the Replay drive to be the slave?

 

[captapd]

No, I didn't see any kind of switch or anything between master and slave. What am I looking for?

 

[skleiser]

Quote:

Originally posted by captapd I didn't see any kind of switch or anything between master and slave. What am I looking for?

Take a look at these instructions .

 

[captapd]

Thanks, once more into the breech!