TiVo-d off
Jan. 10th, 2005 06:28 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peristaltorMajorly bummed.
A good friend loaned me his old TiVo! That was cool, and about a year ago. I couldn't use it, though, since it wanted account information, and I was too tight in the funds at the time to spring for a subscription. I unplugged it, and there it sat.
A year later, I activate the subscription and fir the puppy up. I neglected to go through the offficial setup menu, though, and so did not have the Call Waiting Interrupt enabled, the *70 that prevents calls from interrupting the machine. Away it was working, downloading info. About 3-5 minutes into the download, a call came in and interrupted the download.
After the call, though, I could not get the thing to work. No matter what combination of options I adjust, the Machine Infernal starts its Daily Call, and shuts itself off.
I've spent upwards of 7 hours on the phone to Sony tech support, trying different tacks to resolve the difficulty, but no dice. My only option is to spend $150 to send it to support to fix it. Since it isn't mine. . . .
The reason I mention the failure mode; I have a theory as to what happened. Since it has been sitting for some time, I believe it was in the process of downloading a new operating system when the download was corrupted. Now, every time it starts the Daily Call process, the corrupted file that explains to the machine how to execute a Daily Call causes emergency shutdown. This is particularly frustrating, since on just about every other machine I can think of, one can boot from another source to correct corrupted files on the drive. Not so with this one; the only way to transfer uncorrupted data to the drive is to send it to Mass (as in the state), and spend more than a new or reconditioned machine would be.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to convince any tech lackeys that I should get a pass on the fee. I'm convinced that, since the machines were not built to withstand the simple interruption of common user error (failure to enable proper call waiting dialing), and the manual (I downloaded it) does not mention that the machines can be corrupted and rendered unusable unless the Daily Call is executed without interruption, the user is technically not at fault and should therefore not be held monetarily responsible for repairs needed after such failures. Of course, I have no way of knowing if that the machine has a drive corrupted by an interrupted overwrite, but still. . . .
Bummer.
A good friend loaned me his old TiVo! That was cool, and about a year ago. I couldn't use it, though, since it wanted account information, and I was too tight in the funds at the time to spring for a subscription. I unplugged it, and there it sat.
A year later, I activate the subscription and fir the puppy up. I neglected to go through the offficial setup menu, though, and so did not have the Call Waiting Interrupt enabled, the *70 that prevents calls from interrupting the machine. Away it was working, downloading info. About 3-5 minutes into the download, a call came in and interrupted the download.
After the call, though, I could not get the thing to work. No matter what combination of options I adjust, the Machine Infernal starts its Daily Call, and shuts itself off.
I've spent upwards of 7 hours on the phone to Sony tech support, trying different tacks to resolve the difficulty, but no dice. My only option is to spend $150 to send it to support to fix it. Since it isn't mine. . . .
The reason I mention the failure mode; I have a theory as to what happened. Since it has been sitting for some time, I believe it was in the process of downloading a new operating system when the download was corrupted. Now, every time it starts the Daily Call process, the corrupted file that explains to the machine how to execute a Daily Call causes emergency shutdown. This is particularly frustrating, since on just about every other machine I can think of, one can boot from another source to correct corrupted files on the drive. Not so with this one; the only way to transfer uncorrupted data to the drive is to send it to Mass (as in the state), and spend more than a new or reconditioned machine would be.
Unfortunately, I have been unable to convince any tech lackeys that I should get a pass on the fee. I'm convinced that, since the machines were not built to withstand the simple interruption of common user error (failure to enable proper call waiting dialing), and the manual (I downloaded it) does not mention that the machines can be corrupted and rendered unusable unless the Daily Call is executed without interruption, the user is technically not at fault and should therefore not be held monetarily responsible for repairs needed after such failures. Of course, I have no way of knowing if that the machine has a drive corrupted by an interrupted overwrite, but still. . . .
Bummer.