NeutralAxis

I’ve used ReplayTV DVRs for over a decade after getting into their beta testing program and having them send me free hardware with lifetime activation. Not a bad gig. I still love them, even though they don’t record HD, because of their local network streaming ability. Of course, ReplayTV has basically been out of business for several years now, yet they kept the server operational so users could still get program guide data. Unfortunately, as of July 31, the ReplayTV server is shutting down, which means no more program guide and the units become essentially useless. Enter WiRNS.
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For several years I’ve used two Logitech Harmony 880 remote controls at my home.  For some unknown reason, that even customer service couldn’t understand, one of them became “blocked” such that I couldn’t log into its account, and therefore couldn’t make any changes to it’s setup.  I had been having trouble with some of the buttons on it for awhile, so decided I’d risk the cash and try a Harmony One as a replacement.  It took a bit of effort to get it setup the way I wanted it, but so far I like it. (continue reading…)

I’ve recounted problems on this blog before with my aging ReplayTV DVRs that I can’t bear to give up.  Upon arriving home today I found both of my units in a continual state of rebooting.  Cue despair.  How in the world did two go down simultaneously? Answer: Thank goodness they didn’t … ReplayTV’s server did.

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The replacement drive I found on ebay for my ReplayTV arrived.  Its a 400GB Seagate 7200.8 which theoretically should work.  I copied an image of the 500MB system partition to it from a backup, and … IT BOOTS!

Its hooked up now getting a 250GB infusion of recorded shows from my earlier drive that started occasionally having clicking fits.  These are PATA IDE drives and rather than mucking around in a case to hook them up, I just use a IDE to USB adapter.  Transfers aren’t as fast as they could be, but it’ll do.  About 6 hours from now I ought to know if everything transferred OK and can quit watching TV on the networks’ schedules.

Update:  6 hours later and the new drive is installed and working fine, giving me nearly 150 hours of high quality mode capacity.

The hard drive in one of my old ReplayTV DVRs started an ominous clicking noise last week.  I powered it down for a day and then turned it back on.  The clicking stopped and its been running for a week now, but I’ve been looking for a replacement drive.  They’re getting harder to find at a reasonable price.  SATA drives don’t work and the typical off-the-shelf IDE’s won’t work either.  There’s only a few model numbers proven to work and they’re apparently not the current versions.  This may finally force me into moving to Tivo.

Update [3/26/09]:  The clicking started again last night.  Crap.  Fortunately, I found a Seagate drive on Ebay for a reasonable cost that I think will work.

The ReplayTV DIY Information/Repair/Upgrade Site