Flashing a 500S

Fano

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Can Flash wizard pro flash a dreambox as effectively as Dreamup using a Null modem cable ?
I have been flashing my 500s over the Lan using Flash wizard pro and it seems to work effectively.
I have seen that the newer versions of Gemini are "only running in flash (it has been only tested that way)".
What exactly does that mean ?
I have been setting up my new 500s the last few days .
I flashed it with Gemini 3.4 and networked it successfully ,also loaded CCCam.
I currently have it set up on my Sky Minidish pointed at 28.2 E until I receive my motorised mount.
Initially it was working well ,signal level was around 85% on average but now the signal keeps dropping and I get large BER levels.
It is especially prevalent on low frequency transponders.
The box locks up and I have to reboot it .
I've tried the Dreambox connected to a friends 80cm dish which has a very strong signal ~95% but the same thing happens .
Its fine for 5-10 minutes but then the ber goes mad.
Is this an image issue or a faulty tuner ?
After flashing when I try the Satfind option the signal strength is good and I can do an automatic transponder scan.
I tune about 50 channels in ,then I stop the scan and watch a few channels.
It seems to work well.
If I plug out the box and restart it though I get an error 'Switch ,No Service Found' for all the entries .
The Satfind cannot lock onto any transponder .
Its as if the tuner cant pick up any signal .
 
Its possible you have a hardware fault but its hard to know by guessing. The best thing would be to load the image by dreamup using null-modem cable.
'Running in flash' means that you should not have an image running on a bootable device like a usb stick, you should have it written into the machine itself in its own flash memory. Flash wizard pro will not be as effective as using dreamup in my opinion, and if you have a corrupt image then your problem may need to be solved by a full erase and reflash using dreamup. Thats what i would do as a first step.
 
It says "only running in flash (it has been only tested that way)" when it's a MAXVAR image. There should also be a normal version of the image.

MAXVAR images are compiled differently to the normal image.

It says to use dreamup because of the way that it installs the image. Dreamup erases the flash, copies the new image to flash then erases the /var partition. When you first bootup, it copies everything in /var_init to /var. I can't remember the FWP process as it's been so long since I've used it but I don't think it does the same as Dreamup.
 
Since getting my db500s a year ago, I have only used fwp to flash images and never had a problem, as long as you flash like for like ie: maxvar for maxvar theres no problem (for me anyhow) if you are putting an uncompressed image over a maxvar you will need to use null modem cable and flash erase.
FWPro always erases flash, remember to pull the power after flashing and reboot, don't just reboot.
 
Is your box an original one or a clone? I don't really think it would really matter whether you use either dreamup or flashwizard if you've got a hardware problem.
 
My box is a clone.
I figured out the problem .....eventually .
It was the IF in connector on the back of the box.
It needs to be pressed downwards or else it loses the signal after a brief period of time.
Weird I know but it is working ok now.
I have placed a little metal box on top of the connector to keep it pressed down and the signal stays steady now.
Very weird .
 
Its probably using a cheap substandard connector or the soldering of the tuner to the mainboard is loose. Glad to hear its a minor problem. I have read lots of problems about the tuners on the clone boxes.
 
Can Flash wizard pro flash a dreambox as effectively as Dreamup using a Null modem cable ?

I didnt read the rest.

Yes it can, i have many times BUT you run the risk of shagging the box. If it goes tits up you may need to jtag it! HASSLE!

Your best using DREAMUP and following one of the great tutorials.

I ONLY used flashwizard when i was waiting for a null modem cable to arrive and couldnt wait!
 
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