HD100 Just died

[impro]

My HD100 is finally dead.
REST IN PEACE for now.
Waiting for a response from SAGE Support

* merged *

[pjpjpjpj]

You have read this thread, right?

http://forums.sagetv.com/forums/showthread.php?t=38923

[sic0048]

Here is a nice writeup on how to fix your HD-100 hosted by Cocoontech.com.

Great site related to home automation, security, and home theaters. Check it out.

[reggie14]

impro-

Can you post in the 'HD100 Just Died' thread with approximately when you purchased your HD100 and any symptoms you noticed before the device died? (e.g., Did it emit a high-pitched noise? Did it crash frequently? Did you notice reduced IR sensitivity?) I'm less concerned about the severity of the problem with the HD100's, but I'm still keeping track of failure reports.

[impro]

Use to have audio glitches on 1 show and not another.
Watching the same program on my laptop ASUSN50 was fine.
Then 3 days ago just stopped.
How long for the RMA to even get to me?
Its been 3 days. TOTALY UNACCEPTABLE.

Here is what my sollution will be from now on!
I will buy 2 HD100s and keep 1 in dark dry space.
That will send me back $400 especially now - being laid off for the last 11 months.
Love Sage but can not afford to charge room mates for TV and not have it working.
Also my Wife is pissed and does not give me any action.
If I get divorced I will state SageTV in a the court case and have them SUBPOENED!

Originally Posted by reggie14

impro-

Can you post in the 'HD100 Just Died' thread with approximately when you purchased your HD100 and any symptoms you noticed before the device died? (e.g., Did it emit a high-pitched noise? Did it crash frequently? Did you notice reduced IR sensitivity?) I'm less concerned about the severity of the problem with the HD100's, but I'm still keeping track of failure reports.

[impro]

That last one was a Joke .

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by impro

Its been 3 days. TOTALY UNACCEPTABLE.

You should double check your SPAM folder, if you have one. Usually Sage gets back to people in less than three days. Sometimes things fall through the cracks or take longer than you'd like. It's one of the downsides of dealing with a smaller company.

Originally Posted by impro

Here is what my sollution will be from now on!
I will buy 2 HD100s and keep 1 in dark dry space.

I know you're (mostly) kidding, but you should know the HD200 really shouldn't have the same problem. If the power supply goes back in the HD200, you just get a new external power brick. That's a quick and relatively cheap fix.

For now, either find someone you trust to solder a set of new capacitors on the HD100 power supply (a $5 fix), or send it in to Sage and have them fix it. They'll fix for free (except shipping) if it's under warranty, otherwise they'll charge you $39 (which includes return shipping) for the repair if you got it more than 12 months ago.

[impro]

It took sage a few hours to merge my post but still have not got a response from them??

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by impro

It took sage a few hours to merge my post but still have not got a response from them??

As it states in many places, this forum is not technical support.

Most cases of not hearing back from support come down to either you not receiving their reply or them not receiving your email. As was mentioned above, check your spam folder. Make sure that emails from SageTV are whitelisted. If it has been over 72 hours since you submitted your support request, consider sending it in again via the support request form, but try using a different email for them to reply to you.

- Andy

[impro]

Send several emails already.

Originally Posted by Opus4

As it states in many places, this forum is not technical support.

Most cases of not hearing back from support come down to either you not receiving their reply or them not receiving your email. As was mentioned above, check your spam folder. Make sure that emails from SageTV are whitelisted. If it has been over 72 hours since you submitted your support request, consider sending it in again via the support request form, but try using a different email for them to reply to you.

- Andy

[Opus4]

Originally Posted by impro

Send several emails already.

Yes, that's what support tells me. Please stop sending emails. Your support request(s) have been received and you will receive a reply when it is your turn; other people are in line in front of you, but you should be getting a reply sometime soon.

- Andy

[impro]

I got contacted by Sage Support.
My mistake was emailing from a different email.
I gave all my info and original email in the emails body.
Thanks Sage support and sorry for the mestake.

[impro]

Originally Posted by Opus4

Yes, that's what support tells me. Please stop sending emails. Your support request(s) have been received and you will receive a reply when it is your turn; other people are in line in front of you, but you should be getting a reply sometime soon.

- Andy

Thanks
I pissed them off I guess.
I am waiting.
RMA should not be a very hard and/or time consuming.
It is sad that there are a lot of people in line in front of me.
I guess we are not going to watch TV for the next few weeks.

[simonen]

Not to be rude or insensitive, but if you have been laid off for 11 months now, you have plenty of time to fix it yourself if you can't wait. I think there are instructions on how to do it.

[MrD]

Originally Posted by simonen

Not to be rude or insensitive, but if you have been laid off for 11 months now, you have plenty of time to fix it yourself if you can't wait. I think there are instructions on how to do it.

Maybe watch less TV too

[pjwerdna]

Add another to the list of "fixed by changing capacitors".

Got fed up of waiting for SageTV to reply to my support request (10 days and counting) so swapped the caps myself.

[lobosrul]

Well, you can add me to the list of those with a dead hd100. When I turn it on the red light blanks about once every 3 seconds and I hear a high pitched noise.

Such as shame that somewhere down the line, someone made a decision to save a couple of cents with cheap parts. (note: I don't mean to imply that it was SageTV's decision).

I don't have a soldering iron, and I don't feel like waiting weeks to get an RMA. Whose had success replacing the entire power board? What is the exact right kind to get? And where to get it?

[Baloo]

Yup - mine failed a couple of days ago... red light blinking, hissing noise and audio sounds like turning on and off... three capacitors bulging and two leaking.

Living in Singapore going to pass on the Sage fix - will use the external "home-fix", thanks to all in this thread for instructions on that.

P.S. Purchased in Dec '07.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by lobosrul

Such as shame that somewhere down the line, someone made a decision to save a couple of cents with cheap parts. (note: I don't mean to imply that it was SageTV's decision).

A few weeks ago Sage's CTO reported a 1% failure rate on the HD100, and there hasn't been that many more reports of failures since then. I think you'd expect a significantly higher number if there was a bad batch of capacitors.

I don't have a soldering iron, and I don't feel like waiting weeks to get an RMA.

I wouldn't think it would take you very long to get it back. In my case, the vast majority of the HD100 turnaround time was the shipping time- from east coast to west coast and back. Since you're in NM I would think it would be pretty quick. Unless, of course, Sage is backed up with various support requests, which might be the case.

Out of curiosity, lobosrul and pjwerdna, when did you purchase your HD100s?

[lobosrul]

Originally Posted by reggie14

A few weeks ago Sage's CTO reported a 1% failure rate on the HD100, and there hasn't been that many more reports of failures since then. I think you'd expect a significantly higher number if there was a bad batch of capacitors.

I have a hard time believing that the failure rate is only 1% with a forum thread this large. And its not like every sageTV user posts here.

Out of curiosity, lobosrul and pjwerdna, when did you purchase your HD100s?

I just went back and checked my email, and I'm glad I did. It was purchased on June 29th 2008. Which I believe means its still under warranty. I was about to go to the local radio shack and buy the equipment I needed to replace the capacitors, but why do that now.