HELP - My T2 is not responding

[raj]

G'day and Merry Christmas everyone.

Unfortunately for me, not too merry. I awoke to find my T2 was not responding - NOTHING.

I manually powered down waited and waited and then powered back up but nothing. I tried different inputs to my TV but still nothing.

I removed the plug pack and checked to see if it was alive, and it reads 12.53 VDC.

When I switch on, I get a red LED on the front panel of the T2, but no reassuring sound from the sound system.

I know there has been some discussion on cooling, well, I have had a laptop cooling fan running off an independent USB input for years, and this keeps everything cool.

On the face of it, it would appear to be something other than the hard drive as I understand it, the T2 can power up without a hard drive fitted. Power is getting to the T2, but does not appear to be getting through to the system to start the boot up process.

So, as the subject says, HELP. Any tips, thoughts or suggestions appreciated. At the moment I am slumming it and am going to have to get my old AKAI STB to fill in until I can get things operational.

What did you get for Christmas

[IanL-S]

Not the best of Christmas presents.

When I have had this happen it has been caused by the HDD doing file system check. However, in that case it was showing the splash screen. The problem could still be HDD related. Is there any sign that it is powering-up? I assume you have checked that the power and SATA cables are firmly seat on the main board and the HDD itself (I'm assuming you are using an internal HDD rather than a USB HDD).

Another possibility is a confused firmware (aka corrupted firmware). You could try doing a USB installation of the latest firmware.

Ian

[raj]

Not the best of Christmas presents.

When I have had this happen it has been caused by the HDD doing file system check. However, in that case it was showing the splash screen. The problem could still be HDD related. Is there any sign that it is powering-up? I assume you have checked that the power and SATA cables are firmly seat on the main board and the HDD itself (I'm assuming you are using an internal HDD rather than a USB HDD).

Another possibility is a confused firmware (aka corrupted firmware). You could try doing a USB installation of the latest firmware.

Ian

Actually, the most forgettable one,

I do not get a splash screen, and there is no hint of the hard drive spinning up.

I have not opened the box up so not checked the cables, but this should not stop the splash screen displaying. One way I can check how far in things are is to connect the cooling fan to the USB port rather than to a separate plug pack and see if it will spin up.

I am using the internal HDD. I think in future it might be better to use an external HDD as the data then becomes portable.

I will look into reflashing the firmware.

I have made contact with Nasa Electronics and let the Christmas break finish and see what transpires.

My brother alerted me to the latest IceTV email on the IceBox units that are showing as being available from Jan 3. I had not read mine as yet

Thanks.

[raj]

Just a follow up.

Everything points to a hardware failure on the power in side.

Using the laptop fan that was powered by an external USB power pack, I disconnected it from its power supply and connected it to the front USB port behind the flap. Then switched it on from the back and nothing. I tried it on the rear USB port and again, nothing. So, trying to do a reflash is off the cards.

Is there an inline fuse that resides on the T2 motherboard? Reminds me of the GPA Supermodem (super because it 2400 bps the standard then was 300 bps). It had an inline fuse that was so sensitive, it would pop quite readily. The solution was to have the same rating for the fuse but opt for the slo blo version. After installing that so that the fuse could be replaced from the outside with a 1/4 turn carrier, it never failed, and the modem worked perfectly.

Now I have to decide between a repair or go for the new IceBox that is to be available from Jan 3, 2023 (first time I have had to use 2023).

Thanks.

[IanL-S]

The IceBox may be your next move in the PVR world. I am currently doing beta testing. One thing to remember you are not limited to using IceTV EPG. Looking at the specifications, you can buy it with one or two dual USB tuners. There is no information on the max number of concurrent recordings (appatently the max number of concurrent recordings is limited by the RAM and CPU, similar to the V2. Hopefully more information will be provided once it goes on sale.

Ian

[raj]

It's looking that way.

It's a pity because as far as the interface is concerned, nothing (or very little) comes even close. I have had friends and work colleagues wishing they had known about this sooner.

The biggest single factor that worked against the BW was the surge in streaming services. They needed to offer streaming service apps on their offerings. The market has changed but unfortunately BW did not.

Let's hope that IceTV does not get caught as well. Just look on FTA TV as a scheduled streaming service that delivers content via RF rather than Ethernet or WiFi or 3G, 4G or 5G or whatever comes along next. Just do not think that they are just a flash in the pan.

Thanks.

[raj]

G'day Everyone,

A "good news" follow up.

I went with the IceBox as it seemed a reasonable alternative on paper, however after too many issues where I simply could not view channels or record viewable recordings, I decided to see if I could get my T2 to a working state. While I was at it, I decided to see if I could get my DP-P1 working as well.

I contacted Nasa Electronics and arranged a time to get the units to him. I am fortunate as he is located around 30 minutes from where I live in Blacktown.

When I got there, he checked the power supply on the T2 and from listening to it, he could tell it was faulty. He hunted through his store and located a brand new one. While he was listening to it, I thought to myself "maybe it was a dud power supply". Well, it was! The thing is I checked the output with a multimeter and it read 12V and why LEDs lit up when plugged in. It was when amps were needed, it could not supply any needed to operate.

With the new power supply, everything checked out and worked, only it was as though the world paused on December24, 2022.

So that was done. Now to the P1.

This would not power up at all and it has an internal powerboard. Something like 9 capacitors were bulging so he removed them and soldered in new ones, and checked a couple of other items as power was still not getting through, so he replaced them and after an hour or so, It was up and running as well. He went through everything and to make sure all worked, powered off, unplugged back in and started it again to make sure everything was as it was supposed to be.

So, I have things back working. I still have the IceBox active in the hope that the issues will be addressed.

Having the T2 (and P1) working after 6 months or so is like catching up with a long lost friend and having to recall how it all works.

So, if you have a similar issue, first thing to check with the T series or later is the power supply. They are repairable and should not be consigned to e-waste until it had been checked at least.

Now some other trivia.

My P1 was purchased in March 2009, and failed in May 2016. Broadly around 7 years,

My T2 was purchased in May 2016 and failed in December 2022. Again, broadly around 7 years.

Anyhow, thought I'd pass this on as it might help others.

[Twizzle]

Thank you Raj it gives hope to those who think they have no option. I had a T4 repaired by NASA and they are reasonably priced & efficient.