We really believe that CableCARDs are a great new technology in that they allow DVRs to work with a wide variety of cable providers. But, sometimes, getting them configured is a bit of a hassle.

Early on in their history, CableCARDs caused a whole host of problems, largely just due to the lack of knowledge of cable installers. But since then, the problems have really almost totally disappeared, and their installation and use has become routine and reliable.

But if you do have a problem, you should try calling TiVo’s CableCARD hotline. These folks have pretty deep knowledge of CableCARD issues.

Phone number: 866-986-8486

Hours of operation:
Monday – Sunday
6:00 AM – 9:00 PM Pacific

This is definitely a hot topic, and we get questions about how to make these transfers all the time. We also get tons of spammers clogging up our forums with their posts on how to do it – and where to purchase their software (and, yes, we delete those threads as fast as we can).

But, in the end, TiVo.com has the best tutorials on how to make these transfers, so we recommend that you just see their pages for the best information. Links are at the bottom.

Some notes about what’s required for this to work:

• You do need to purchase software to make these conversions work. For the PC, you need TiVo Desktop Plus ($25) and for the Mac, you need Roxio Toast 9 Titanium ($75).
• You need to have your TiVo and your computer on the same internal network. If you need hardware for that, see our TiVo networking parts area for anything you might need.

Then, you just follow the steps in TiVo’s tutorials:

TiVo to iPod/iPhone on a PC

TiVo to iPod/iPhone on a Mac

We have previously written about the transition from off-air analog signals to off-air digital signals, set to occur in February, 2009. Remember that this change really impacts those who get television signal from an off-air antenna (rabbit ears). If you subscribe to cable or satellite service, those providers are generally unaffected by the transition.

For those that DO rely on off-air antenna signals and have a Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo (basically any TiVo other than the TCD648250, TCD652160 and TiVos with DIRECTV built-in), the transition to all-digital signals will absolutely impact your TiVo and its ability to record.

Those in this situation have several choices:

IF YOU HAVE A SERIES 2 TiVo (TiVo-brand starting with TCD1XXXX, TCD2XXXXX and TCD540XXX, any Humax-branded TiVo, Sony SVR3000 or any Toshiba-branded TiVo):

1) Continue using the Series 2 Tivo and get a compatible converter box.

2) Get an HD TiVo that can handle and convert the digital broadcasts.

3) Get cable or satellite.

Option #1: TiVo has released a list of compatible converter boxes (see the “Converter Boxes” tab after clicking link, or see the list below). These boxes will take a digital signal from an off-air antenna and convert it into an analog signal. The converter box contains a tuner. It will map the digital signal into an analog station and sent it out to your TiVo in a format that the TiVo can read. In order to change channels, the TiVo will have to communicate and control the converter box using an IR Blaster Cable. To cut the cost of the converter box, you can apply for a $40 coupon (limited supplies) from the Federal Government to help pay for the cost of the box. Remember that as of this date, the converter boxes will not work with your TiVo–you will need to wait for a software update before the TiVo can control the converter box.

Option #2: Get a TivoHD. These boxes are truly outstanding, are fully ready for the digital world, and can output high definition. The HD part may not be important if you don’t have an HD television, but you’ll be ready if and when you do change out your TV. The catch is that if you have lifetime service on your old Series 1 or Series 2, TiVo is not currently offering any transfer options. You would have to get new service on the TiVoHD and then sell or give away the Series 1 or Series 2.

Option #3: If you decide to abandon your antenna and go with satellite or cable, your Series 1 or Series 2 TiVo will work with just about any cable box and satellite (from DIRECTV, DISH Network and providers in Canada) set top boxes.

*Here is a list of the supported boxes:

Supported Models

• Insignia NS-DXA1
• Venturer STB7766G
• Magnavox TB100MW9
• RCA DTA 800A
• GE 22729
• Zenith DTT900
• Channel Master CM-7000
• Lasonic LTA-260
• Philco TB100HH9
• Samsonic FT300A
• Tivax STB-T9
• Artec T3Apro

Not Supported

• Digtial Stream DTX9000

IF YOU HAVE A SERIES 1 TiVo (HDR-series or SVR2000):

It’s a bit murkier for you, but as of now, TiVo is suggesting that it is not releasing a software version to make these units compatible with digital converter boxes. Series 1 owners using antenna signals are being told that Option 2 or Option 3 are the only options. For a limited time, Series1 owners (presumably, only those using antenna signals) can get a refurbished HD DVR for $100 and TiVo will move lifetime service for an additional $300. Not a bad deal at all.

Tags: analog, converter box, digital, digital transition, tivo, tivohd

With the amount of storms around the country at the moment, it seems that power supplies in TiVos are blowing out at a pretty swift pace. Our sales of TiVo power supplies have tripled in the last week. Thankfully, we have them for every model of TiVo ever produced, except the Toshiba SD-H400. See our TiVo power supply page for more info.

If you think your power supply may have failed, you should see our post for help diagnosing TiVo power supply issues. The short recap: no video at all, not even the gray screen, means TiVo power supply failure almost always. Even if the fan and/or hard drive still spins. 

But if you do get video out, like a gray “powering up” screen, then you likely have hard drive failure, and you need a new TiVo drive “replace” kit.

We’ve got a pretty extensive TiVo troubleshooting page on our site, but I thought I’d recap about the issues specific to power supplies, because we get a lot of questions about these.

The primary symptom of a bad power supply is getting no video out of any output port. That includes the gray screen – if you get even a gray screen, likely you don’t have a bad power supply. You need to get no video out at all – not even a flicker on your TV screen when you power up the TiVo.

But people often are convinced that the power supply is OK even without video, for some other reason. So here is a list of problems that people report that are all still consistent with problematic power supplies. If you have any of these same occurrences, you can still have a bad power supply – we see it all the time:

• Fan still spins
• Drive spins up
• Drive power leads test to proper voltage (5V and 12V)
• Lights illuminate on the TiVo faceplate

Customers often ask, “If one or more of the above is taking place, how could the power supply be bad?” Well, in many cases, when a power supply is bad, none of the above take place. But power supplies fail in different ways. The connector that delivers power to the drives uses different components on the motherboard than the flat white (parlex) cable that delivers power to the motherboard. And that cable holds several connectors, so sometimes there is a failure of some power delivery through it to certain components (like the processing chips) but not to the fan.

In short, the best way to diagnose a bad power supply is the video test: no video = bad power supply. Then, the best way to check that is to install a replacement power supply. Our power supplies are returnable subject to our normal terms.

We now have replacement TiVo power supplies for almost every model out there.