Installation guide

For more on using a ReplayTV image file, see: How do you use a downloaded image?
Hard Drive Manufacturer Utilities:
Western Digital Data Lifeguard Diagnostics
www.maxtor.com - go to Support, Software Downloads, Desktop Storage, DiamondMax Family or Maxtor Other, Diagnostics,
Powermax.
Powermax (to make a bootable diskette) is also available here, or a bootable ISO image is available here.
Seagate Sea Tools Diagnostics
Other Maxtor Utilities:
Acoustic Management Utility (amset)
Write Verification Utility (wvset)
Some of these may require the creation of a boot diskette to run. If you have another brand of drive, the manufacturer
diagnostic software is usually available from the manufacturer site, under support and then downloads or software.
RTVTools:
A useful collection of software for manipulating ReplayTV mpegs is rtvtools. Here's one link to rtvtools info, and here's
a link to Lee Thompson's rtvtools web page. (If Lee's site is down, click here for a backup location.) Re-imaging
only the system partition will not recover recorded shows, as the record of what shows exist on a drive is kept in the system
partition. Re-imaging the system partition wipes out the record of what recorded shows exist so there is no way for the OS to
access those shows. For more on RTVTools, see: Burning ReplayTV mpegs to DVD
extract_rtv:
If there are recorded shows on a drive that gets stuck in the reboot loop, the only way to retrieve those shows is by hooking
the drive up to a PC and running extract_rtv5 (Here's a link to one of the original extract_rtv info pages. However some,
if not most of this page is outdated.) For more on extract_rtv, see: ReplayTV stuck at "Please wait..."
Streamfix for recording glitch:
If you've ever had a small glitch in a recording and ended up with the audio slightly out of sync with the video, Jeff D's
streamfix may be able to help. You can download the affected show via DVArchive and use streamfix on the mpeg file and
then stream it back to your ReplayTV from DVArchive. Here's a thread where Jeff D talks about streamfix.
• ReplayTV seems unstable, works for while, then reboots or other strange and/or erratic behavior
There may be a problem with loose mounting/grounding screws on the power supply board and/or poor connection at the
connectors between the power supply and the motherboard. The problem is caused by a poor ground with the power supply
and may show up as a variety of problems mainly in the form of ReplayTV operating instability. You can re-seat the connectors
and tighten the screws on the power supply board. Here's one thread on the power supply problem. And here's
another thread about the problem.
• ReplayTV stuck at "Please wait..." (See: You did the upgrade and now it won't boot??? for additional information.)
• extract_rtv5
• burning ReplayTV mpegs to DVD
If a ReplayTV experiences a problem with the OS on a drive, or a drive problem, it may get stuck in a reboot loop at the initial
"Please wait" screen. Drive replacement and/or re-imaging may be required to get the drive into a bootable state again.
Another possible cause for a ReplayTV to become stuck in a reboot loop is if the mpeg partition is entirely filled (no free
space/time remains). Here's a post by Jeff D describing the problem. The fix is disconnecting all inputs to the
ReplayTV and rebooting with only an output hooked up. Then delete some shows to free up some drive space, hook the
input(s) back up and reboot.
If there are recorded shows on a drive that gets stuck in the reboot loop, the only way to retrieve those shows is by hooking
the drive up to a PC and running extract_rtv5 (Here's a link to one of the original extract_rtv info pages. However some,
if not most of this page is outdated.) Keep in mind that if the drive has developed a problem (as opposed to data corruption
from some other cause), it may be impossible to retrieve any data from the drive. (extract_rtv is compatible with any model