Box gone nutty

Magik

Magik

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I have a 1000 box in excw - and all was working fine up until a few days a go. The box started to hang after about 24hrs and a reboot was needed to get things working again. I put this down to heat, but tonight when i rebooted i get nothing - the ntl logo then the box display just stays blank, with the top led solid and the second led randomly flashing or off.

From other posts i'm inclined to think it might be a tuner problem, but i was wondering if you guys could help me decipher the exact prob.

I am using an Atmega and everything was working perfectly, i have tried a funcard in it - same, i've tried the cable supply from downstairs - the same, i've tried my other box and alls fine, so i guess we can rule out cable feed issues and card programming issues.

Right so into Eng Mode - and things seem to be different to earlier, but i'm no expert and haven't fiddled much with boxes so i maybe wrong (do bare with me).

pg1 all fine but pin number shows 0000 where it was **** before.

Pg2 Net id looks wrong, showing 09999 whereas the working box shows completely different.

pg 7 card status shows "please wait"

pg 11 "170 CM broadcast fail" with a few "16 tuning parameters corrupt"

pg12 AGC - 282 - combined is signal low(it was this when box was working tho)
SNR - 26.5DB Marginal
Lock status - locked

Arrrrrg......Box just chuffing hung again even in Eng Mod.

Now if i boot up normally i can select every channel, but nothing appears - the box display changes to the right channel, but nowt on screen, except the blue channel listing bar, with only the date showing.

If i go into TVOD i get being updated messgage.

Anyone any ideas of what i can do or what is wrong?

IS by boxed screwed and if so can i fix it????

Please help........
 
test your battery it should read 3.3-3.6 volts (if its less than say 2.7 then its the battery) mate i think it might need a new one thats why its gone back to default settings.
If your battery is ok then i would think it was the update, like you said its blue screen menu? this suggests to me that you might have an old straight 1000 and if it is then it should have 4 chips on the simm but to stop it upgrading ppl used to take off the 2 atty chips on the simm or replace the simm card with one from a 1000ph1b.
so check out the model number and the simm card inside the box ok.
clive58.
 
I think the first thing that i would do is pull the red jumper that seems to sort most things out by reseting the box. i think it does need a reset becoz your net id has changed to 09999 just maybe like clive says your batt could be on its way. pull the red jumper let me know how u get on.

Bilals
Peace In Da Middel East
 
I doubt if pulling the red jumper will help at all, for the net ID to have reset to default and the pin to have gone to 0000 (unset), then the box must have lost power from the battery (like as if you pulled the jumper). Test the battery (and then probably replace it!!) Reset your netID and freqency and it should work. I have got an old 1000 that hangs when it gets too hot, sounds like yours is the same, doubt its any more serious than that.

edcase
 
Thnx - will try the battery - if that fails then the jumper and i'll let you know.
 
Battery is reading 2.9v is this still bad? The battery looks soldered to the connectors, can i replace it with a standard battery CR17335se and if so should i solder it back together again?

Or is 2.9V satisfactory? should i try pulling the red jumper - or is it a definite battery issue?
 
clive,
simm has got 4 chips - two Atmels AT49LV1614 and two vg3617161DT chips.

does that mean anything?
 
Yep that means i want your simm :Laugh:
:)
It means your ok to do an update mate as long as those two atmels are soldered on the board ok :)
:)
No hang on to that box and simm mate you might need it to help someone out soon.
;)
Sounds a little iffy on the battery but just for now just read up on resetting your Net id ok and when you've learnt enough have a go at resetting it with your frequency in libby ok.
clive58.
 
Thnx guys - used libby to reset netid and alls up and running again. Does anyone know why it did this? should i expect more of this issue? With my limited knowledge i'd suggest it was heat, but is there any other reason?
 
Normally when it resets to default settings like it did its because the red jumper was pulled which keeps this information in the chip alive! or the battery has just died which has the same effect, so if it starts happening on a more regular basis i would replace the battery if i were you mate ;) (thats if you don't mind doing a little soldering).
clive58.
 
Arrrrgggggggggggg.....Problems again.

Box was working perfectly for about 12hrs then the crashing/hanging began again. after about a days worth rebooting every 30mins it finally gave up. Now all i get is a black screen as before - but this time NEtid has not been reset nor has the pin.

Eng Mode shows everything fine except for card status which states "no t stream" - i have tried another box here and it works fine so its def not the feed into my box.

Am i safe in assuming the tuner has finally died? I have even fitted a couple of fans inside the box to see if i could sort the overheating, but still the same, except my box sounds like a motorbike now...lol.

What can i do - short of getting a new box? Can i replace the tuner and see if that does the job? if so where can i get a tuner from and will i have to cut talkback on the new tuner?

Please help someone, footie seasons about to start and things are not looking good.

I used to get intermittency on a few channels a while ago, would this backup my theory that the tuners dieing or died? Would a faulty tuner have caused the netid to reset last time as initial thread above?
 
Take a look at the joint right on the other side of the "F" socket where it is soldered to the board, and reflow that joint.
 
"F" socket - where abouts is that? Where the cable feed comes into the box? infront of the tuner?
 
Its the bit where the cable feed goes into the box, the metal "can" that you take off to cut the talkback (has the circuits inside). Remove the can from the box and open it up to check the joint from the f-socket (where the cable feed screws in) to the track it connects with on the board, like clive says its probably worth reflowing.
 
Right...i opened up my box and removed the tuner tin type thing and found when i unscrewed the connector it just fell off. So it clearly had broken. Resoldered it and all is working fine.

Thanks guys.

However, i need serious help with cooling - I have fitted two fans, but i think they are soldered to the wrong place as when i reconnected them to the box after the connector resolder my box didn#t like it. I have two possible reasons that i'm wondering if someone can help me with.

1) the two fans i fitted are draining way too much power away from the box.
2) i've fitted them to the wrong place.

They are both 12v cpu fans from old pc's, and they fit a treat.

When i started the connecting i tried looking at a pic from DW for the 1000 box where someone had fitted an internal fan. This was connected to one transister in line with the power socket and to the board somewhere just behind there. I don't have this "somewhere just behind there" on my box, so i tried a bit of trial and error. Took my multimeter - which i have very little experience with and searched for two spots on the board (one the transister from the pic) and somewhere else which gave me 13V, and connected there. The fans start working, but the box doesn;t get very far and just stays on a black screen. As soon as i disconnect the fans all is working again.

So the fans are connected to the left leg of one transister and the right leg of another transister.
I assume these are all parrallely connected and it should work....Right?

Can anyone tell me if my limited electronics knowledge makes sense and if not where i should connect my fans on the 1000 box. The smaller tinny things are really getting hot and i think they definitely need cooling.

Thanks in advance
 
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