T4 Hangs on Booting

mkwilson · Post by **mkwilson** » Wed Jun 17, 2020 17:29

Hi All,

My trusty T4 will not boot. It just hangs on the start of the 'Booting' screen, never gets to the point where it shows percentage complete. Have tried downloading a new firmware image and plugging in a USB with it to no avail.

Will try a different USB stick in the mean time.

Is it likely to be cactus?

Cheers
Mark

MrQuade · Post by **MrQuade** » Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:05

mkwilson wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 17, 2020 17:29
Is it likely to be cactus?

It sounds like a variation on the known Regulator Problem with the T4's.

it usually first manifests as a loss of two of your tuners, but can sometimes progress straight to a more serious failure like yours.

If you have never had your T4 serviced, then this is the likely problem.

Warkus can repair it if it isn't too far gone. What happens is that the heatsink on the power regulators breaks down and starts eating the copper on the motherboard, which will eventually cause it to fail. You can clean the gunk off and install new regulators, heatsinks and compound, and it will come good as long as the board isn't too badly damaged.

mkwilson · Post by **mkwilson** » Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:22

MrQuade wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:05

mkwilson wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 17, 2020 17:29
Is it likely to be cactus?
It sounds like a variation on the known Regulator Problem with the T4's.

it usually first manifests as a loss of two of your tuners, but can sometimes progress straight to a more serious failure like yours.

If you have never had your T4 serviced, then this is the likely problem.

Warkus can repair it if it isn't too far gone. What happens is that the heatsink on the power regulators breaks down and starts eating the copper on the motherboard, which will eventually cause it to fail. You can clean the gunk off and install new regulators, heatsinks and compound, and it will come good as long as the board isn't too badly damaged.

Thanks Mr Quade. I might open it up tomorrow and have a look. My 2nd USB stick is recognised as having the update on it, but IIRC my front panel arrow buttons don't work so it shuffles through to 'booting'. May not be relevant though. Wouldn't be so annoyed if I could just buy another T4 or U4.

Grumpy_Geoff · Post by **Grumpy_Geoff** » Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:27

mkwilson wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:22
My 2nd USB stick is recognised as having the update on it, but IIRC my front panel arrow buttons don't work so it shuffles through to 'booting'. May not be relevant though.

Rename the 'noforce' file on the USB stick to 'force', then attempt the firmware flash again. This bypasses the need to press the front panel 'up' button.

mkwilson · Post by **mkwilson** » Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:58

Grumpy_Geoff wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:27

mkwilson wrote: ↑
Wed Jun 17, 2020 18:22
My 2nd USB stick is recognised as having the update on it, but IIRC my front panel arrow buttons don't work so it shuffles through to 'booting'. May not be relevant though.

Rename the 'noforce' file on the USB stick to 'force', then attempt the firmware flash again. This bypasses the need to press the front panel 'up' button.

Thanks Geoff....yeh I remembered that there was a solution so searched my old posts.

After about 20 minutes of doing not much, I seem to have got the T4 working again. Wondering if the fan has failed and the machine is overheating (as well as the issue that Mr Quade noted). At least I can back some stuff up before it happens again.