InstantCake reboot bug

[marty]

I've been using Instacake for a couple years and have been experiencing a consistent reboot issue.

I install on a PVT100 and go through the guided setup. I configure repeat recordings for 24x7 from a single channel as several manual recordings of a few hours each.

It works great. I can go back and watch whatever was broadcast on that channel within the last few days (up to the capacity of the drive). When the drive fills up, the older recordings are deleted. I don't need to connect the Tivo to a phone because it never phones home (because it is always recording).

This works well for several months, however, after about 4 months the Tivo goes into reboot mode. It reboots, runs for a few minutes and reboots again, over and over. To fix it I reinstall Instacake, but that deletes all the recordings.

I've tried this with several different Tivos and drives and they all consistently go into reboot mode after about 4 months.

1. Is there a way to reinstall the software while preserving existing recordings?

2. Is there a way to correct the problem from bash without reinstalling?

3. Is there a way to fix the bug so it doesn't happen?

[Lou Jacob]

I've been using Instacake for a couple years and have been experiencing a consistent reboot issue.

I install on a PVT100 and go through the guided setup. I configure repeat recordings for 24x7 from a single channel as several manual recordings of a few hours each.

It works great. I can go back and watch whatever was broadcast on that channel within the last few days (up to the capacity of the drive). When the drive fills up, the older recordings are deleted. I don't need to connect the Tivo to a phone because it never phones home (because it is always recording).

This works well for several months, however, after about 4 months the Tivo goes into reboot mode. It reboots, runs for a few minutes and reboots again, over and over. To fix it I reinstall Instacake, but that deletes all the recordings.

I've tried this with several different Tivos and drives and they all consistently go into reboot mode after about 4 months.

1. Is there a way to reinstall the software while preserving existing recordings?

2. Is there a way to correct the problem from bash without reinstalling?

3. Is there a way to fix the bug so it doesn't happen?

Its not a bug with InstantCake as it pretty clear that the software is working and imaging your hard drive correctly.

I don't know of anyone who runs their units for an extended period of time without having it dial in, so that could be the problem. Perhaps your log files are filling up and maybe that has something to do with your reboot problem.

Another common cause of reboots is a defective drive, so until you've ruled that out by running diagnostics on it, assume that is the problem because its the most likely cause.

[marty]

I've tried using several different Tivos and probably a dozen different drives over the years and the reboots consistently happen in about 4 months. Got to be software.

As you said, there are probably not a lot of folks out there using it this way so maybe it's an unreported bug with the Tivo software itself.

The rebooting issue in general appears to be pervasive in a variety of situations with Tivo. Do you know why their system does that? Is it some kind of watchdog process of some sort running in the background waiting for an anomalous condition to occur? I understand that Tivo runs duplicate system images and will reboot to the backup if it gets into trouble, and then when it's rebooted it rebuilds another backup. Could it be related to that process?