Power failure - now 8642HD is stuck in reboot cycle - Canadian TV, Computing and Home Theatre Forums

Mr.Nobody · 2012-06-01, 08:30 PM

Had 3 or 4 power failures today due to the windy weather. The last one was 2 1/2 hrs ago. Ever since then my 8642HD has been stuck in a reboot cycle -- it starts with a "click", the display shows "--" then disappears and the Cisco logo comes up on the screen during which time a flashing dot appears where the clock usually is. Then the screen and clock-area go blank. A few minutes later, still nothing on either, "click" and it starts over.

I've pulled the power cord for 1 minute and pressed power to drain residual power, then plugged in back in. Hmm..

I own the unit..

Anyone experienced this before?

Edit: I went to MyRogers and clicked "Reset my digital box".. fingers crossed!

Mr.Nobody · 2012-06-01, 10:30 PM

Reset didn't work, and 4.5 hrs after the last power failure it was still stuck in the boot cycle. Tech support said they'd swap it. I'm impressed, he confirmed that it was a purchased not rented unit and when I said I'd put my own hard drive in, he said just swap back in the original and I'd be fine.

Off to clone my original drive..

Wonder if they'll swap it for a 160GB 8642HD or a 'Nextbox 2.0 500GB'?

57 · 2012-06-02, 12:04 AM

Will you get a UPS now?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...403#post413403

HDTV101 · 2012-06-02, 02:32 AM

The worst type of power failures are the quick 1 second outages... on a day like today with high winds, this happens when tree branches fall on wires, and they short and spark for a quick second. This is murder on hard drives! Using a UPS on anything running with a hard drive can really save you the pain of losing it all. The constant reboot might indicate the hard drive is unreadable... where you able to clone the drive?

Mr.Nobody · 2012-06-02, 05:52 PM

update:
I took the drive (500GB WD Caviar Blue, self-installed back in February) out of the PVR, put it in a computer, initialized it, partitioned it, and checked for errors - it came up good. Next, as I thought I was going to have to return the original 160GB WD Blue drive which was now in use in the computer, I cloned it to the 500GB drive, checked that the clone was successful, then took the 160GB drive and put it in the PVR... just to see what'd happen.

PVR booted up, the time displayed on the front, and I was able to power it on and see tv. The Guide worked, and when I hit List, it showed me the list of recordings I had on the drive back in February before I re-purposed it. Of course, the recordings were not found, but anyway, the PVR itself seems to be 100% functioning.

Took that drive back to my computer, cloned the needed partions from the 500GB drive back onto the 160GB drive, then popped the 500GB back into the PVR. This time it actually booted up and displayed the clock on the front, and then I was able to turn it on. "Success!", I thought. Guide worked, tv worked, but when I hit List it said "One moment, checking drive". About a minute later everything froze.

Left it for half an hour, came back, box would not boot.
Took drive out, formatted it in computer again, then returned it to PVR. This time it booted and went into 'hddf' mode (formatting the drive). A few minutes later it appeared to be done but shortly after I pressed the power button I noticed that the channel (1) was breaking up badly and the guide froze. A few minutes later, the box rebooted on its own and it went beack in to 'hddf' mode. Then it rebooted and now nothing.

So it seems that either the drive is somehow bad (it's under warranty still, thankfully) or the PVR is having an issue correctly formatting it.

I'm going to find a utility to wipe it 100% clean and try to get rid of the PVR partion that evidently remained intact during Windows disk operations..

majortom · 2012-06-02, 08:51 PM

spinrite has been known to fix many a buggy drive.

Mr.Nobody · 2012-06-02, 11:35 PM

update: I ran WD Data LifeGuard Diagnostics and the drive that'd been in the PVR resulted in "FAIL" on both the Quick Test and the Extended Test. I guess that explains why the PVR can't seem to complete the format process properly. Not sure why Windows Disk Management didn't find anything wrong initially, but it looks like I was lucky I was able to clone my computer onto it and back again without issue.

Tried to RMA the drive, but ... WD's RMA page says drive is not returnable due the S/N being "Our of Sub Region" (ie: sold in an area it wasn't originally intended to be sold in - ie: "grey market"). Gotta love TigerDirect... (pause).. NAAAWT!! TD says "not sure why" WD is saying "Out of Sub Region" and I'm waiting for word back from WD as to how/why this might be and if TD has been doing something they shouldn't have been.

Interesting sidenote: Putting my S/N into the "Warranty Check" page indicates that my drive's warranty expires in Sept 2014, instead of the Feb 2014 I expected to see. As WD cut the Blue & Green warranties from 3 years to 2 last December, this indicates TD had bought my drive 6 months before I bought it, and had been sitting on a massive stockpile of these drives (which was their 'go-to' HD for their barebones kits dating back at least to last summer). TD's retail price on the drive doubled during that time period, btw.

EDIT: Further update: SUCCESS!!
After running WD's Data LifeGuard's "WRITE ZEROES" utility, I popped the drive back into the PVR to see if that might help and .. lo and behold, despite the previous "FAIL" diagnosis(x2), and multiple previous "fails" at getting it up and running issue free in the 8642HD, this time the PVR booted up, formatted the drive, loaded the Guide, and didn't freeze! (I let it sit doing whatever it needed to do for 20 minutes before daring to touch the remote).

Page 18/37 of the (still on old firmware) Service Menu shows 0 Bad Blocks, and Page 29/37 shows 0 lost clusters, 0 bad clusters on any of the PVR-created partitions. I've set it to record lots of HD programming overnight, and I'll check again in the morning to see if it's still working.

Still want to RMA the drive but the lesson here is that persistence pays off. [/EDIT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by 57

Will you get a UPS now?

http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...403#post413403

Unless I see one on special at a be-stupid-to-pass-up price, I doubt it. I'm aware they have their uses and can potentially save expensive equipment (such as a PVR) but I've had many computers over the last 30 years and a PVR for 8 or 9, and until now have never had anything fail due to a neighbourhood power failure. My computers & PVR are on surged-protected powerbars and the computers are regularly backed up, the backups backed up to detachable media, and I've never stored anything on the PVR that I'd cry over if I lost. (Especially as most stuff can be downloaded these days anyhow). I was admittedly especially lucky this time, I'd caught up on all my scheduled recordings and only had a few concerts from HiFi-HD on it, and they often get repeated. I buy most electronics on AMEX, so the double-the-warranty gives additional peace of mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by majortom

spinrite has been known to fix many a buggy drive.

I'm not sure that SpinRite could help in this situation because 1) I'm not actually trying to recover data, and 2) I could be wrong but I imagine the PVR won't recognize "bad block"-tagged blocks like Windows would, and may format over them with the result being it'd do as it seems to have been doing and freeze when it encounters them. Thanks for the suggestion though. Certainly if I had a legal copy of SpinRite I'd test it out..

timberland29 · 2012-06-03, 02:19 AM

As a last resort you can always get a warranty replacement from rogers. I recently did the same with 8642 500gb purchased from best buy. The 8642 pvrs are under warranty for 2 years. I just called around rogers stores and found one that carried the 500gb model. Ofcourse they just let me get a refurbished model.

m3repair · 2012-06-03, 09:44 PM

Congrats on getting yourself back up and running, yes long and frustrating to get yourself going if you don't know whats wrong, been there, I suspect that some blocks got all messed up and the software got you all straightened up. I know this may sound like a broken record, but I would highly urge you to get a UPS if possible, like mentioned on this thread its the worst for the drives for those kinda power surges and flicks, I myself have several PVR's and if one drive was to fail at least in terms of the Bell's PVR's it would be difficult to find a replacement, at least with Rogers it isn't that bad to replace. Just some food for thought, a normal UPS just for the PVR should run you about 80-90$ at the most. or you can find one with dead batteries for free and just replace the batteries. (done this countless times now) still cheaper then getting a new one, Just food for thought. (Coming from a person who has lost his data in a computer surge that killed my hard drive)

coghlan · 2012-07-17, 10:21 AM

I've got one of those 8642 stuck in reboot cycle also. Started after a power failure early last Sunday morning. There was a "communication failure" message, so I called Rogers and they sent a tech. He checked a few things and finally said I need to replace the PVR.

The last time I had to do a warranty replacement (SA box replaced with Cisco box), I had to buy a new extended warranty. I'm hoping I can just keep my existing warranty, which still has two more years to go.

coghlan · 2012-07-18, 09:11 AM

In my case, the 8642 wasn't responding to the PWR button or the remote, so it looks like much more than a hard drive problem.

I took it back to Best Buy and was able to exchange it under my extended warranty plan.

2012-06-01, 08:30 PM	#1
Mr.Nobody Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 34	Power failure - now 8642HD is stuck in reboot cycle Had 3 or 4 power failures today due to the windy weather. The last one was 2 1/2 hrs ago. Ever since then my 8642HD has been stuck in a reboot cycle -- it starts with a "click", the display shows "--" then disappears and the Cisco logo comes up on the screen during which time a flashing dot appears where the clock usually is. Then the screen and clock-area go blank. A few minutes later, still nothing on either, "click" and it starts over. I've pulled the power cord for 1 minute and pressed power to drain residual power, then plugged in back in. Hmm.. I own the unit.. Anyone experienced this before? Edit: I went to MyRogers and clicked "Reset my digital box".. fingers crossed!

2012-06-02, 12:04 AM	#3
57 Moderator Join Date: May 2002 Location: Toronto, Rogers, 8300HD, eHDD, Panasonic TCP65S1, Denon AVR4310Ci; 8300HD, eHDD & Sony KDL40W3000 Posts: 50,302	Will you get a UPS now? http://www.digitalhome.ca/forum/show...403#post413403 __________________ 57's Home Theatre (Latest equipment & photos) 57's Optimization Services (Home Theatre Optimization)

2012-06-02, 08:51 PM	#6
majortom Veteran Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 2,566	spinrite has been known to fix many a buggy drive. __________________ uhf/vhf combo rotor chimney mount homebrew vhf hi hpf ap-8700 preamp 4way split lg lcd dtt901 pctuner mythtv

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2012-06-01, 10:30 PM	#2
Mr.Nobody Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 34	Reset didn't work, and 4.5 hrs after the last power failure it was still stuck in the boot cycle. Tech support said they'd swap it. I'm impressed, he confirmed that it was a purchased not rented unit and when I said I'd put my own hard drive in, he said just swap back in the original and I'd be fine. Off to clone my original drive.. Wonder if they'll swap it for a 160GB 8642HD or a 'Nextbox 2.0 500GB'?

2012-06-02, 02:32 AM	#4
HDTV101 Veteran Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2,000	The worst type of power failures are the quick 1 second outages... on a day like today with high winds, this happens when tree branches fall on wires, and they short and spark for a quick second. This is murder on hard drives! Using a UPS on anything running with a hard drive can really save you the pain of losing it all. The constant reboot might indicate the hard drive is unreadable... where you able to clone the drive?

2012-06-02, 05:52 PM	#5
Mr.Nobody Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 34	update: I took the drive (500GB WD Caviar Blue, self-installed back in February) out of the PVR, put it in a computer, initialized it, partitioned it, and checked for errors - it came up good. Next, as I thought I was going to have to return the original 160GB WD Blue drive which was now in use in the computer, I cloned it to the 500GB drive, checked that the clone was successful, then took the 160GB drive and put it in the PVR... just to see what'd happen. PVR booted up, the time displayed on the front, and I was able to power it on and see tv. The Guide worked, and when I hit List, it showed me the list of recordings I had on the drive back in February before I re-purposed it. Of course, the recordings were not found, but anyway, the PVR itself seems to be 100% functioning. Took that drive back to my computer, cloned the needed partions from the 500GB drive back onto the 160GB drive, then popped the 500GB back into the PVR. This time it actually booted up and displayed the clock on the front, and then I was able to turn it on. "Success!", I thought. Guide worked, tv worked, but when I hit List it said "One moment, checking drive". About a minute later everything froze. Left it for half an hour, came back, box would not boot. Took drive out, formatted it in computer again, then returned it to PVR. This time it booted and went into 'hddf' mode (formatting the drive). A few minutes later it appeared to be done but shortly after I pressed the power button I noticed that the channel (1) was breaking up badly and the guide froze. A few minutes later, the box rebooted on its own and it went beack in to 'hddf' mode. Then it rebooted and now nothing. So it seems that either the drive is somehow bad (it's under warranty still, thankfully) or the PVR is having an issue correctly formatting it. I'm going to find a utility to wipe it 100% clean and try to get rid of the PVR partion that evidently remained intact during Windows disk operations..

2012-06-03, 02:19 AM	#8
timberland29 Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 79	As a last resort you can always get a warranty replacement from rogers. I recently did the same with 8642 500gb purchased from best buy. The 8642 pvrs are under warranty for 2 years. I just called around rogers stores and found one that carried the 500gb model. Ofcourse they just let me get a refurbished model.

2012-06-03, 09:44 PM	#9
m3repair Join Date: May 2011 Location: Etobicoke, ON Posts: 378	Congrats on getting yourself back up and running, yes long and frustrating to get yourself going if you don't know whats wrong, been there, I suspect that some blocks got all messed up and the software got you all straightened up. I know this may sound like a broken record, but I would highly urge you to get a UPS if possible, like mentioned on this thread its the worst for the drives for those kinda power surges and flicks, I myself have several PVR's and if one drive was to fail at least in terms of the Bell's PVR's it would be difficult to find a replacement, at least with Rogers it isn't that bad to replace. Just some food for thought, a normal UPS just for the PVR should run you about 80-90$ at the most. or you can find one with dead batteries for free and just replace the batteries. (done this countless times now) still cheaper then getting a new one, Just food for thought. (Coming from a person who has lost his data in a computer surge that killed my hard drive)

2012-07-17, 10:21 AM	#10
coghlan Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 203	I've got one of those 8642 stuck in reboot cycle also. Started after a power failure early last Sunday morning. There was a "communication failure" message, so I called Rogers and they sent a tech. He checked a few things and finally said I need to replace the PVR. The last time I had to do a warranty replacement (SA box replaced with Cisco box), I had to buy a new extended warranty. I'm hoping I can just keep my existing warranty, which still has two more years to go.

2012-07-18, 09:11 AM	#11
coghlan Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 203	In my case, the 8642 wasn't responding to the PWR button or the remote, so it looks like much more than a hard drive problem. I took it back to Best Buy and was able to exchange it under my extended warranty plan.