Fwd: Differential Analyser

[Robert Lewis]

This machine in a larger model than shown here is currently at the Museum in Felton along with the

guy that you see here giving a talk.

Bob

---

https://www.computerhistory.org/revolution/analog-computers/3/147/2255

Best regards

Lisa R.

Lisa Robinson

San Lorenzo Valley Museum

[skybi...@yahoo.com]

That is quite the machine.

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[Meg McRoberts]

A little bit off topic but does anyone know anyone locally who does Tivo

repair?  I'm thinking there is a good chance that it's a bad power supply.

Just for context... This is for my 97-year-old mother.  She doesn't learn new

things as well as she once did plus she has a Tivo full of movies and other

shows that she has recorded over the years.  So if we could revive this one

by replacing a power supply, it would be a good thing.

Any help/advice greatly appreciated!

meg

[Brian Buhrow]

hello. I've purchased power supplies for Tivo series II Tivos from:
https://www.weaknees.com/
They have parts for a variety of Tivos. They have installation instructions, so putting the
parts in yourself is pretty easy.

-thanks
-Brian

[Meg McRoberts]

Thanks for the tip!  We have a Roamio 5 so the power supply is a little more

expensive but whatever...  

I'm seriously thinking about just shipping the whole thing off to WeakKnees

and let the pros deal with it.  Tivo has a good deal on a new model that has

similar capabilities so we may get one of those and hook it up for Mom until

the old one is fixed -- assuming it can be.  I've been thinking that maybe i

should get a second one anyhow...

meg

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[Jeff Liebermann]

On 6/22/2025 4:51 PM, 'Meg McRoberts' via Felton LUG wrote:

Thanks for the tip!  We have a Roamio 5 so the power supply is a little more

expensive but whatever...  

TiVo Roamio Series5 - TCD846500
https://www.tivopedia.com/model-tivo-roamio-tcd846500.php

"Troubleshooting TiVo Power Supply Problems"
https://www.tivopedia.com/troubleshooting-tivo-power-supply.php

TiVo Service Pricing
https://www.tivopedia.com/tivo-service-pricing.php

I'm seriously thinking about just shipping the whole thing off to WeakKnees

and let the pros deal with it.  Tivo has a good deal on a new model that has

similar capabilities so we may get one of those and hook it up for Mom until

the old one is fixed -- assuming it can be.  I've been thinking that maybe i

should get a second one anyhow...

Think again.  The videos stored on the hard disk drive are worth far more than the TiVo hardware.  The box and hard drive are 10 to 12 years old, which is borderline ancient.  Shipping the unit and/or hard disk drive back and forth is a great way of killing the drive.  I suggest you find someone local, who can remove the hard disk drive and make an image backup of the drive to a newer hard disk drive (or possibly an SSD).  Unfortunately, I can't do any service calls or repair work probably for at least a month or more.

-- 
Jeff Liebermann                 je...@cruzio.com
PO Box 272      http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Ben Lomond CA 95005-0272
Skype: JeffLiebermann      AE6KS    831-336-2558

[Jeff Liebermann]

More TiVo self help:
https://www.fixmytivo.com

[Meg McRoberts]

Jeff, you are absolutely right that the videos on the Tivo drive are what we want

to preserve.  But we thought that the drive was encrypted so that wasn't possible.

If we could do that, and then restore that content to a new Tivo, I would forget

trying to repair the old box.  I would also pay someone to make a backup of my

Tivo, which is roughly the same model as Mom's but a year or two older.

Jeff, I thought you were supposed to be retired ;-)   Is this something that any

competent computer service org could do or do you have a recommendation?

Do they need Linux competency or special equipment?

meg

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[Jeff Liebermann]

On 6/22/2025 6:23 PM, 'Meg McRoberts' via Felton LUG wrote:

Jeff, you are absolutely right that the videos on the Tivo drive are what we want

to preserve.  But we thought that the drive was encrypted so that wasn't possible.

If we could do that, and then restore that content to a new Tivo, I would forget

trying to repair the old box.  I would also pay someone to make a backup of my

Tivo, which is roughly the same model as Mom's but a year or two older.

The basic rule of repair is to never do something you can't undo.  In this case, don't work on your Tivo without creating and testing an image backup of the hard disk.

The drive is encrypted using your MAK (Media Access Key).  It's 10 digits that you'll can hopefully find on the activation page of your TIVO setup or by logging into your account on tivo.com.  I suggest you do whatever it takes to obtain the MAK before blundering forward.

If you stuck, there are utilities that can decrypt the recording, such as kmttg:
https://sourceforge.net/p/kmttg/wiki/Home/
https://alternativeto.net/software/kmttg/about/

Hmmm... there might be a problem using kmttg.  Looks like v2.8-I works:
https://www.tivocommunity.com/threads/new-program-for-1-step-ttg-downloads-decryption-encoding-kmttg.387725/page-664

Maybe one of these alternative programs:
https://alternativeto.net/software/kmttg/

Jeff, I thought you were supposed to be retired ;-)

True.  However, retirement doesn't mean I stop learning, tinkering and disseminating bad advice.  I might un-retire myself shortly.  I've become accustomed to my lavish and decadent lifestyle and my savings severely atrophied because of inflation.

Is this something that any

competent computer service org could do or do you have a recommendation?

I don't know enough about Tivo to answer that or to recommend a service organization.

Do they need Linux competency or special equipment?

Probably not.  I don't see this as a hacking exercise.  It seems like finding some instructions on how to use the available decryption and file transfer software is all that's need. 

Good luck.

[Brian Buhrow]

hello. There's more here than just the cost and/or value of the hardware. If yu paid for
the lifetime/all in service for the existing Tivo, it make sense to get the power supply,
install it and use it going forward. Another feature of the model you have is that it can take
cable cards or it can accept telivision signal from over the air. The new models take one or
the other, but not both.
You are right that the video is encrypted on the drive itself. While it's possible to copy the
video to another location, the process is imperfect and depending on where yu put it, it won't
necessarily be easier to access when you're done.

I concurr with Jeff's assertion that shipping the existing unit out for repair would be bad for
the hard drive.

I may be able to perform the power supply change for you. If you're interested, e-mail me
privately at buh...@nfbcal.org so we can discuss logistics.

-thanks
-Brian

[Wayne]

Sounds like the WeakKnees has a weekness.

On 6/22/25 4:51 PM, 'Meg McRoberts' via Felton LUG wrote:
> Thanks for the tip!  We have a Roamio 5 so the power supply is a little more
> expensive but whatever...
>
> I'm seriously thinking about just shipping the whole thing off to WeakKnees
> and let the pros deal with it.  Tivo has a good deal on a new model that has
> similar capabilities so we may get one of those and hook it up for Mom until
> the old one is fixed -- assuming it can be.  I've been thinking that maybe i
> should get a second one anyhow...
>
> meg
>
> On Sunday, June 22, 2025 at 09:18:14 AM PDT, Brian Buhrow <buh...@nfbcal.org> wrote:
>
>
>     hello.  I've purchased power supplies for Tivo series II Tivos from:

> https://www.weaknees.com/ <https://www.weaknees.com/>

> They have parts for a variety of Tivos.  They have installation instructions, so putting the
> parts in yourself is pretty easy.
>
> -thanks
> -Brian
>
>
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[Meg McRoberts]

Okay, we ordered the power supply.  Within an hour of placing the order,

they wrote that it had shipped.  How's that for impressive service?

I really appreciate your guys warning me about shipping the unit to WeakKnees.

I really should stop being such a wimp about messing with hardware but I might

take you or Bob up on your offer to help.

I don't think this Tivo works with over-the-air signals but it's kind of a moot point.

As I understand it, we don't have great over-the-air service in Scotts Valley because

of our terrain.  And Mom needs her MSNBC -- ha!  If replacing the power supply

gets her unit up and running, I will be very happy.

Since we already ordered the new Tivo, I can then see if there is any way to get

it functional for myself.

meg

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[Paul Neuman]

Swapping out a power supply is probably one of the easiest tasks...getting the exact right part is always something that keeps me on the edge of my seat.

I've been sitting back watching this conversation and wondering...in this day and age why anyone would stick with TIVO.  My mom had TIVO at a remote location in Long Barn California...down in a valley almost at the bottom of the hill.  I could still get digi OTA broadcast, but with the TIVO I think she got about 100 channels of crap!  LOL 

I've been watching over the air and streaming and I will never go back...well...unless the current US administration does something just too stupid!  If I want to get content not being streamed here in the US I can VPN to a server that does.  I get over 50 channels OTA...many pretty good.  My wife likes OTA for certain shows that she would have to wait a day to stream.  Anyway...I get so much free content through our Roku I can never figure out what to watch.  I do pay for Paramount...I'm a Trekkie 😔

Kind Regards,

Paul
(Please excuse mistakes... sent from my phone)

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[Meg McRoberts]

My kind of conversation!

For the current emergency, this is my mother's Tivo I'm trying to save.  She is

97 and in very good shape for 97 but age is starting to take a toll.  She was

able to program every VCR they had, starting with their first BetaMax that had

a wired remote and you had to program it by setting date and time to record with

arrows on the front of the box -- none of these nifty menus, etc.  For now, all she

has is the Roku and she is struggling to just move through the top-level screen

with the arrows on the remote.  So keeping the familiar interface plus her extensive

library of concerts and movies that she likes to watch and rewatch is high priority.

For me, I must admit that the ability to record shows is important to me and watching

something that is recorded on the Tivo is much more pleasant than using the streaming

services -- I can FF and REW easily and precisely.  I record a large number of shows on

MSNBC so I can scan through them and choose what to watch on any given day.  And I

can FF through commercials easily, which I can't do with streaming services that have

commercials.  And I do have some recordings of shows that I rewatch and that I could

currently access only by paying for them on Prime or perhaps finding them on youtube.

And, to make you gag even more, I still pay CDs even though I have Spotify and Amazon

music.  Yes, it is fun to just ask Alexa to play a song but she does a lousy job with classical

music.

Other than losing the library on my Tivo, my viewing needs would be satisfied by any DVR,

of course.  I actually started out with an Xfinity DVR, but they didn't offer an upgrade after

a few years and, if one broke, they didn't even have new ones to install but instead gave me

a used machine -- I had a couple that broke after a couple months!  So that was when I

switched to Tivo.

I think it is fascinating to see how different people use these devices.  I keep telling Bob that

I want to have a discussion about the merits of different Linux distros instead of just vague

"I like this one" versus "This other one is the best".

meg

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[Paul Neuman]

I know what you mean.  I was the only one that could keep My "TIVO Mom"'s Windows 98 box running (especially when there was problems with the phone line or the modem connection)!  LOL.

I have a CD/Blu-ray jukebox that holds 401 discs including all of The Matrix and something your Mom might like - All the Ma and Pa Kettle movies!

Stopped storing my CDs in there, ripped em all and put em in my profile's music folder on our server so it sinks with my phone and goes with me everywhere!

There's a lot of content you can get through your Roku.

I don't do much watching...my wife does...and calls for me when she can't figure something out.  Hey, perhaps that is a way for you to be more connected to your Mom!  😜

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