Dead Phillips Series 2 DSR704

[alf50990]

Something went south on our DSR704. We had an onscreen message to "Activate Your DVR Service". No panel lights at all. After a troubleshooting session with Directv they determined that the DVR was "dead". After doing all the Directv checks we have no video at all. Black screen. Like most others out there I don't want the Directv DVR, so how do I diagnose the problem and get it resolved? Reading other threads here it sounds like it is one of three things:

1) Power supply
2) Hard drive
3) Motherboard

I have the cover off and don't see anything obvious like hot spots, etc. How do I check the voltages from the power supply, that seems like an easy place to start?

Thanks

[WK-Michael]

The power supply is probably fine if you get to the TiVo menus. Generally, this is a motherboard problem, sorry to say. But you can try a hard drive, if you'd like. They're returnable (with a restocking fee).

[alf50990]

Thanks Michael. More bit of info. If I unplug the ribbon cable to the hard drive and then plug the power cord back in, the hard drive runs and the power light comes on. Otherwise, the hard drive doesn't run and no power light.

Thanks

[WK-Jeff]

Usually, if a drive spins only if the drive (IDE) cable is unplugged, then the problem is a bad motherboard, rather than a power supply.

[alf50990]

Jeff, here's the latest. If I unplug the hard drive IDE cable and plug it in (power), the drive spins. Then if I plug the IDE cable back in (while the unit is powered up) the drive will continue to spin. After several minutes the power light comes on and the unit goees through startup to the point of acquring the satelite signals. So far it hasn't been able to acquire the sat signals. But, I can now watch all previously recorded shows. Does the initial prognosis of bad motherboard still sound correct?

Thanks

[WK-Michael]

If it can't acquire sat signals, then, yes, that still sounds like motherboard problems. Does it even get anywhere, percentage-wise?

[alf50990]

Hi, yes it does get somewhere. It has completed the setup (numerous times) and acquires some of the satelite signals. It finds two of three satelites and sometimes both Sat1 In and Sat2 In. Other times it only only gets Sat1 or Sat2 In. I can watch previuosly recorded shows, sort of. While watching it will glitch and I get the on screen Message 'Powering Up' and then it goes through the setup again and so on... Live TV is not good. There is no continous picture or audio. It is frozen, choppy, snowy...
Since this unit appears to be dead, what (in your opinion) is the best non HD TIVO unit, used or refurbished, with 100 to 200 hours of recording time? Same question for a TIVO High Def unit, though with 200 to 300 hours of record time?

Thanks,
Al

[WK-Jeff]

The only HD TiVo for DIRECTV is the HR10-250, which does not get 70% or more of the HD stations that DIRECTV offers. If you really want a TiVo with HD, your best bet is to switch to cable and get a unit from here:

High Defiinition TiVo for Cable

[alf50990]

So the only way to get High Def and stay with DirecTV is with their HR20 or HR21 HD DVRs? Well that sucks! I guess I won't go to high def... Okay, so what is the best, most reliable std def TIVO box with at least 100 to 150hours of recording time?

Thanks Again,
Al

[WK-Michael]

Really, all of these units are the same, on the inside:

http://www.weaknees.com/directv-tivo.php