| TiVo Repair and Troubleshooting: TV Only Shows a Black or Blue ScreenYour TiVo: Symptoms you may be experiencing When powering up your TiVo, the TV shows no change at all. Often, there will also be no lights illuminated on the front panel of the TiVo itself or the lights will be flashing. Sometimes, in this situation, the fan will actually still spin and send some air out the rear fan grates. Fix my TiVo! - Solutions There are several possible causes of this problem. Most often, this behavior indicates a bad power supply. A replacement power supply will usually fix the problem. Each TiVo needs a very specific type of power supply, so be sure to find exactly the right model. WeaKnees sells parts for most models on their TiVo power supply page. Also, for most TiVo DVRs, you'll need a Torx T-10 to open the TiVo, remove the power supply and install the replacement. With high definition TiVos connected to a TV using an HDMI connector, it is possible to have a black TV screen (no output) when the HDMI connector has gone bad. This problem is easy to diagnose: Just connect a different cable type (composite or component) between your TiVo and TV and see if that produces a picture. If it does, you may need your HDMI connector repaired. We recommend that you contact weaKnees for assistance. More Information about this problem Many TiVo users try testing the output voltage of their power supply to rule this out as a source of problems. While it's true that the power supply should be sending 5v and 12v signals out the hard drive power cable, power supplies that test to those voltages can still frequently cause TiVos to fail to boot. The reason is that the power supply is also responsible for special signaling through another cable, usually a flat white "Parlex" brand cable, directly to the motherboard. And there's really no test for the signals on this cable, short of just trying a replacement part.One other note about this problem: On TiVo Series3 units with HDMI ports, the unit can appear to be dead because the HDMI port is simply not outputting any video. For that problem, WeaKnees is generally able to repair the HDMI port. See the TiVo HDMI Repair area on the WeaKnees website. Finally, the TiVo HD and the TiVo HD XL can sometimes exhibit a flashing green light, and no other signs of life. This is an increasingly common motherboard problem on these two units. WeaKnees can now repair the TiVo HD flashing green light problem. |
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