T4 bootup and timers after power failure

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Wed Aug 09, 2017 14:25

Hi, I have a Beyonwiz T4 running software 16.1.20170310.

In the last few weeks we have had two power outages, the first lasting about 20 minutes the second lasting an hour or so during the day (wasn't home).
When the power was restored my T4 did not boot to either "Standby" or "On" however the front panel remained blank/dark and the unit did not respond to any inputs from the remote.

I turned the rocker switch Off/ On at the rear of the unit and it booted up correctly - question is why it didn't boot after the two power outages? Any known issues at all?

I just tried pulling the power manually and plugged it back in after 2 minutes and it booted fine. I can't say for sure the exact state of the device when the power outages occurred, but it is MOST LIKELY that it was in Standby mode. We always put it in standby when we are finished watching it.

One other observation with Monday's daytime power outage, we didn't get home til late at night and only then realized the T4 hadn't booted up. I power reset it and everything appeared fine. Last night however we went looking to watch some shows that were meant to record Monday evening and they weren't there. I checked the timers (set by IceTV) and they all said they had recorded normally (green tick mark and Done!) which seemed strange considering they were not recorded. Took me a while to put two and two together that they hadn't recorded because the T4 had not recovered from the power outage correctly.

IanB · Post by **IanB** » Wed Aug 09, 2017 18:25

Switch mode power supplies when exposed to mains transient conditions tend to shutdown to protect themselves.

As your mains supply was compromised there may have been such transients.

A ups with surge protection might be a good investment.

Grumpy_Geoff · Post by **Grumpy_Geoff** » Wed Aug 09, 2017 19:16

tb123 wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 09, 2017 14:25
... Last night however we went looking to watch some shows that were meant to record Monday evening and they weren't there. I checked the timers (set by IceTV) and they all said they had recorded normally (green tick mark and Done!) which seemed strange considering they were not recorded. Took me a while to put two and two together that they hadn't recorded because the T4 had not recovered from the power outage correctly.

The timer state of 'done!' simply indicates the end time has now past, not that the timer actually fired. Press INFO on a timer to view its timer log entries.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Wed Aug 09, 2017 21:54

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 09, 2017 19:16
The timer state of 'done!' simply indicates the end time has now past, not that the timer actually fired. Press INFO on a timer to view its timer log entries.

The timers that didn't fire are blank under the INFO option. Not that it helps me, but would be nice if they showed as an error rather than green/done!

Grumpy_Geoff · Post by **Grumpy_Geoff** » Wed Aug 09, 2017 22:09

tb123 wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 09, 2017 21:54

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 09, 2017 19:16
The timer state of 'done!' simply indicates the end time has now past, not that the timer actually fired. Press INFO on a timer to view its timer log entries.
The timers that didn't fire are blank under the INFO option. Not that it helps me, but would be nice if they showed as an error rather than green/done!

There were no entries in the timer logs because the timers didn't fire. There wasn't any timer errors, as your unit wasn't running when they were due to fire.. What 'error' do you expect to see?

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 08:12

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 09, 2017 22:09
There were no entries in the timer logs because the timers didn't fire. There wasn't any timer errors, as your unit wasn't running when they were due to fire.. What 'error' do you expect to see?

That the program failed to record or the timer failed to fire, take your pick.
It is a missed event, surely that should raise some sort of flag, even if only of an information type?

Grumpy_Geoff · Post by **Grumpy_Geoff** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:06

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 08:12
...
That the program failed to record or the timer failed to fire, take your pick.
It is a missed event, surely that should raise some sort of flag, even if only of an information type?

I guess that's possible - each timer that has reached its end time is examined for both 'recording start' and 'recording stop' entries and if not present then 'raise a flag'.

What would you do with this information?

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:59

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:06
I guess that's possible - each timer that has reached its end time is examined for both 'recording start' and 'recording stop' entries and if not present then 'raise a flag'.

What would you do with this information?

Basic User diagnostics / information / reassurance.

Put it this way, I sit down to watch some shows that were set to record that I had been looking forward to watching. I crack open the Media library and they aren't there? Where are they, were they not on, did they not record, were they deleted, moved, not enough tuners available etc etc.

So I wander over to the Timer list and see them in there, all with a nice green check mark saying they were done (and most people probably don't even realise there is more info, or lack of info, behind each of them, me being one of them). So from the green indication (green is good usually) I assume, incorrectly, that they should have recorded.

In this scenario if there was a yellow exclamation mark (or similar) that at least shows there was an issue with particular timers I would know that something happened and that's why they are not in the media library. I may not have all the answers, but there was at least a reason and I've been alerted to it. (Does the T4 log power interuptions or cancelled IceTV timers etc, could that be displayed behind the timer info?)

In my case I was aware of a power outage because my T4 didn't recover properly, but if it had of recovered, but been off during the time the shows should have recorded, I would have no way of knowing what happened and visually everything looks ok.

hope that makes sense?

Paul_oz53 · Post by **Paul_oz53** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 15:12

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 12:59
...
hope that makes sense?

Makes sense to me - I have had a fail to record where the timer list suggested it had recorded. Mildly irritating that the timer list entry didn't show the true state of affairs.

Not a big issue but an incremental improvement if we get an exclamation mark or red cross if the failed to record circumstance arises.

Paul

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 16:23

tb123 wrote: ↑
Wed Aug 09, 2017 14:25
When the power was restored my T4 did not boot to either "Standby" or "On" however the front panel remained blank/dark and the unit did not respond to any inputs from the remote.

I turned the rocker switch Off/ On at the rear of the unit and it booted up correctly

Make sure that your front panel firmware is updated to 20057.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:23

peteru wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 16:23
Make sure that your front panel firmware is updated to 20057.

Thanks Peter - Looks like it might be 20050 if I can decipher what I'm seeing.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:40

Hmmm, looks like I may have bricked my T4....

Followed the upgrade instructions for the front panel, said OK to upgrade, front panel said something like "fpupload".
After a while the unit switched itself off with a red light on the upper right of the display, and that's as far as it goes now.
Left it like that for a few minutes, tried turning it on with the remote, tried turning it off on the rear switch for a while, but nothing, nada, when I turn it back on. I hear the hard drive spin up, but after maybe 15-20 seconds it shuts down then spins up again and cycles through like this. I cannot get to it from a web browser either.

Any help would be appreciated!!

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:50

I'll put this here in case nobody see's my other post, however I just tried updating the front panel on my T4 to help with a power reset lockup issue.
It was running 20050 previously. The unit was on the latest production release firmware.

The upgrade has bricked my T4.

Followed the upgrade instructions for the front panel, said OK to upgrade, front panel said something like "fpupload".
After a while the unit switched itself off with a red light on the upper right of the display, and that's as far as it goes now.
Left it like that for a few minutes, tried turning it on with the remote, tried turning it off on the rear switch for a while, but nothing, nada, when I turn it back on. I hear the hard drive spin up, but after maybe 15-20 seconds it shuts down then spins up again and cycles through like this. I cannot get to it from a web browser either.

Any help would be appreciated!

MrQuade · Post by **MrQuade** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:53

Erk! Don't know what went wrong there.

But if the front panel is genuinely hosed, and the operation of the T4 front panel is anything like the T3 front panel, then the T4 is properly bricked.

A while back there were a handful of T3 front panel errors, and in those instances, the whole panel needed to be replaced, as the T3 couldn't boot without it.

I think that you will need to contact Beyonwiz and either arrange a repair, or get them to send you a new front panel if you think you are able to replace it yourself.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:55

MrQuade wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:53
I think that you will need to contact Beyonwiz and either arrange a repair, or get them to send you a new front panel if you think you are able to replace it yourself.

What's required? Is it plug and play, or soldering etc?

Would attempting to upgrade the T4's firmware be of any use, although not sure how to do that without the front panel?

MrQuade · Post by **MrQuade** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 18:05

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:55
What's required? Is it plug and play, or soldering etc?

A few screws and some pluggable cables. No soldering required.

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:55
Would attempting to upgrade the T4's firmware be of any use, although not sure how to do that without the front panel?

The front panel controls the front buttons, real-time clock for waking from Deep Standby for timers, and also handles the IR remote control commands. If it is dead, then none of those things will work.

I vaguely recall that my friend with the T3 front panel issue was still able to power his T3 on, but it just wouldn't do anything after that.

Come to think of it, the fact that your T4 pooped itself in the middle of the update and now won't boot might mean that something else is broken. It might mean that sending it in for repair is required.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 18:30

MrQuade wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 18:05
Come to think of it, the fact that your T4 pooped itself in the middle of the update and now won't boot might mean that something else is broken. It might mean that sending it in for repair is required.

I've raised a case with the helpdesk, will see what they say

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 19:06

By the way, does anyone know if this would be considered a warranty issue?
I know you guys don't make policy, but have been around the place for a while so thought you may have come across similar situations. For instance, does uploading firmware from the forum void the product warranty etc?

scotty · Post by **scotty** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 19:25

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 17:40
...
After a while the unit switched itself off with a red light on the upper right of the display...

Haven't heard of a T4 with a red light. I thought they were all blue.

Scotty

prl · Post by **prl** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 20:02

scotty wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 19:25
...
Haven't heard of a T4 with a red light I thought they were all blue.

Scotty

I have a pre-release T4 with a red LED (its my main test machine). I don't know why tb123's unit has a red fromt panel LED.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 20:21

Got the T4 late last year. Has a date of 08/2016 on it.

Is the red light the one that corresponds with button presses of the remote?

MrQuade · Post by **MrQuade** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 20:24

And mine was a pre-release, but has a blue LED. Seems there were a variety about

prl · Post by **prl** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 21:22

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 20:21
...
Is the red light the one that corresponds with button presses of the remote?
...

Yes, and is on, but dimmed, in standby. But in most T4s it's blue.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 10, 2017 22:17

prl wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 10, 2017 21:22
Yes, and is on, but dimmed, in standby. But in most T4s it's blue.

Not sure if I should feel special, although not feeling real special at the moment - I've had a shocking two weeks with computer equipment in general, I really should have known better than to tempt fate by attempting an upgrade today!

peteru · Post by **peteru** » Fri Aug 11, 2017 15:52

Based on your description, there is nothing wrong with your front panel. It's doing what it should - waiting for the main board to come up and power cycling if it doesn't.

It's more likely that the power outages you experienced have damaged the main board or power supply.

Use the rear switch to power off the T4. Wait 10 seconds. Power on. Wait at least a minute and if the unit fails to start the boot process, power off using the rear switch for about 1 or 2 seconds then back on. Try this trick a few times.

P.S. - Please don't crosspost. Keep all the posts on a particular issue in one place so that it's easier to follow. I moved your post out of the announcement topic into this one.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Fri Aug 11, 2017 17:24

peteru wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 11, 2017 15:52
Based on your description, there is nothing wrong with your front panel. It's doing what it should - waiting for the main board to come up and power cycling if it doesn't.

It's more likely that the power outages you experienced have damaged the main board or power supply.

Use the rear switch to power off the T4. Wait 10 seconds. Power on. Wait at least a minute and if the unit fails to start the boot process, power off using the rear switch for about 1 or 2 seconds then back on. Try this trick a few times.

P.S. - Please don't crosspost. Keep all the posts on a particular issue in one place so that it's easier to follow. I moved your post out of the announcement topic into this one.

Ok, so the T4 has been sitting on the ground powered off all day. I plugged it in and switched it on and it just came back to the red light with the drives cycling up and down as before. I then tried switching it off for 2 seconds as suggested and it DID boot first time I tried it (I've tried it again since and can't get it to go).

During the initial boot I caught a date on the display of 2015 x x x x, not sure if that should be later than that since I upgraded the firmware back in March 2017 or that refers to something different. The display showed one of the SBS channels however the time and date was set as 1970 so looks like it has lost some config unless that is normal when it doesn't have an internet connection.
It is only sitting on my kitchen bench so not hooked up to a display so couldn't say to what state it actually booted. I put it to standby from the front panel and then switched it off but it wont boot by itself or with the 2 second off/on again any more, so I guess as you suggest, the front panel may be ok but something else has died.

PS: I posted in the front panel thread as well because I wasn't sure how many people actually look into these sub threads, thought I'd get more value there. No problems with deleting it.

MrQuade · Post by **MrQuade** » Fri Aug 11, 2017 17:36

tb123 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 11, 2017 17:24
PS: I posted in the front panel thread as well because I wasn't sure how many people actually look into these sub threads, thought I'd get more value there. No problems with deleting it.

Most of the regulars will read everything posted on the forums. If you mark all threads as read, then any new posts are simply highlighted, so it is easy to find new posts (at least that's how I operate).

tb123 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 11, 2017 17:24
The display showed one of the SBS channels however the time and date was set as 1970 so looks like it has lost some config unless that is normal when it doesn't have an internet connection.

Yep. Defaults to 1970 if you have configured network time and it can't reach a time server.

I think PeterU's post confirms my earlier scattered musing about "something else being broken" in the T4. You may want to call Beyonwiz rather than wait for the ticket to be actioned.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 24, 2017 20:14

Just curious what the usual timeframe for repairs from Beyonwiz are?
Sent my T4 away Monday last week for warranty repair. Sent them an email (by responding to the support ticket) Friday asking if they had received it with no reply, sent them another email today asking how it was going with no reply. Are they usually this talkative?

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Thu Aug 24, 2017 21:48

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 20:14
Just curious what the usual timeframe for repairs from Beyonwiz are?
Sent my T4 away Monday last week for warranty repair. Sent them an email (by responding to the support ticket) Friday asking if they had received it with no reply, sent them another email today asking how it was going with no reply. Are they usually this talkative?

Might be better to give them a call.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Thu Aug 24, 2017 22:01

Gully wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 21:48

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 20:14
Just curious what the usual timeframe for repairs from Beyonwiz are?
Sent my T4 away Monday last week for warranty repair. Sent them an email (by responding to the support ticket) Friday asking if they had received it with no reply, sent them another email today asking how it was going with no reply. Are they usually this talkative?
Might be better to give them a call.

Is that the Sales number - (02) 9603 1822?
That's the only number I can find, every other "contact" just goes around in circles back to support / log a job.

Grumpy_Geoff · Post by **Grumpy_Geoff** » Thu Aug 24, 2017 22:46

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 22:01

Gully wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 21:48
Might be better to give them a call.
Is that the Sales number - (02) 9603 1822?
That's the only number I can find, every other "contact" just goes around in circles back to support / log a job.

That's it - there's only one number.

grampus · Post by **grampus** » Thu Aug 24, 2017 23:49

tb123 wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 20:14
Just curious what the usual timeframe for repairs from Beyonwiz are?
Sent my T4 away Monday last week for warranty repair. Sent them an email (by responding to the support ticket) Friday asking if they had received it with no reply, sent them another email today asking how it was going with no reply. Are they usually this talkative?

Cant give a valued response to the no reply issue, But FWIW
I had a failing p/s issue some time ago.
I found that the turn around time in house they gave me was really good. I think it was less than 2 days, from time of receipt at Ryde? to being sent back into austpost. It was AustPost that hung everything up.
I was able to use the tracking numbers they sent me.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:59

grampus wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 23:49
I found that the turn around time in house they gave me was really good. I think it was less than 2 days, from time of receipt at Ryde? to being sent back into austpost. It was AustPost that hung everything up.
I was able to use the tracking numbers they sent me.

It's a strange setup, I assumed the T4 would get shipped to Ryde, however the pre-paid postage label they emailed to me has a Western Australia address. If I look at the tracking number it shows it was delivered to Thornlie last Friday.

They include a very criptic message after sending the postal label which suggests they issue 2 addresses in case it misses the first one - but if it was meant to go to Ryde, it ended up in WA. The other strange thing is that the two addresses physically on the label, one was theirs in WA, the other was mine as the sender, not both theirs as they say below. This is what they sent me (I'm about to call them and see what's up)

....all you need to do is pack up your product and place it in a box so its nice and secure, print out the label and take it together with the box to your local post office and it will find its way back to us, please write your ticket number from this email on the outside of the carton with a marker.
** NOTE: The return delivery address that is listed on the Aust Post return postage slip will be different to your return address, the listed address is use as a precaution just in case the item is not delivered to our service centre for some reason, instead of being shipped back to you un-repaired it will go to our secondary address, after the repair is complete the item will definitely be shipped back to your nominated address.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:07

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Thu Aug 24, 2017 22:46
That's it - there's only one number.

One that they don't seem too keen on answering - have rung a few times and it just rings out and disconnects, no queue, no voicemail, nothing.

Grumpy_Geoff · Post by **Grumpy_Geoff** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:27

tb123 wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 25, 2017 10:59
It's a strange setup, I assumed the T4 would get shipped to Ryde, however the pre-paid postage label they emailed to me has a Western Australia address. If I look at the tracking number it shows it was delivered to Thornlie last Friday.
...

If your T4 has gone to Thornlie, then it's in the very good hands of warkus/Mark.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Tue Aug 29, 2017 12:51

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:27
If your T4 has gone to Thornlie, then it's in the very good hands of warkus/Mark.

Thanks - that's good to know. Hopefully it is on its way back to me.
They still don't want to talk to me, no email reply, several phone calls have just rung and dropped out, have left 2 x callback and no response when I was answered (recorded options are to log a support ticket or email sales...). Are they still in business?

Gully · Post by **Gully** » Tue Aug 29, 2017 14:54

tb123 wrote: ↑
Tue Aug 29, 2017 12:51

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:27
If your T4 has gone to Thornlie, then it's in the very good hands of warkus/Mark.
Thanks - that's good to know. Hopefully it is on its way back to me.
They still don't want to talk to me, no email reply, several phone calls have just rung and dropped out, have left 2 x callback and no response when I was answered (recorded options are to log a support ticket or email sales...). Are they still in business?

No idea why but yes still in business but generally not here so this might not be the place to get answers on why.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Wed Sep 06, 2017 14:43

Hooray, my T4 is finally on it's way back to me. Sounds like it had a few issues, after fixing "something" it also needed a new front panel which had to be sent from NSW > WA.

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Wed Sep 13, 2017 18:38

Been a week and no sign of my T4 - wish it would hurry up as my backup DP-P2 has just died today

tb123 · Post by **tb123** » Wed Sep 13, 2017 20:24

Hmmm, apparently they were confused, after 4 weeks my T4 hasn't actually been fixed, it's still waiting for a front panel and new stock of front panels are "a few weeks away yet"... Far out

IanSav · Post by **IanSav** » Wed Sep 13, 2017 21:35

Hi Tb123,

tb123 wrote: ↑
Wed Sep 13, 2017 20:24
Hmmm, apparently they were confused, after 4 weeks my T4 hasn't actually been fixed, it's still waiting for a front panel and new stock of front panels are "a few weeks away yet"... Far out

You are not alone. I am still waiting for a replacement T4 motherboard. The unit has been faulty for about 2 months so far. I haven't been given any timeline for parts arrival.

Regards,
Ian.

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