Beyonwiz T4 set top box suddenly cannot see any channels (and 1 tuner disappeared)

[prl]

It may be board damage ...

That's exactly what I've been wondering about michal's continuing problem with his T4's tuners.

[stevebow]

but I think I measured 0v across L56 and L61..

Don't measure voltage *across* the inductors. The inductors have a very low resistance and thus have very little measured voltage across them.

Measure from one side of the inductors (e.g. closest to the tuners) with respect to ground/chassis.

[michal]

So I finally had a chance to look at this again.

The voltage on the left hand side seems fine right from the outset but on right hand side I'm getting around 0.8V between the inductor and ground.

There is some damage to the board and the ground plane is partially exposed but at the regulator itself everything SEEMS fine as far as I can tell..

IMG_5596.jpg

(250.5 KiB) Not downloaded yet

Is there somewhere else I could measure to see if maybe there is a short or a trace has been damaged?

Regards,
Michal

[michal]

Bueller? Bueller?

[peteru]

Warkus?

[stevebow]

Is there somewhere else I could measure to see if maybe there is a short or a trace has been damaged?

I see you replaced the LM1117 on the 21/05 and got all 4 tuners back again, so it looks like you have a problem elsewhere.

To check the regulators though, you could measure the voltages at each regulator pin directly. I wouldn't expect that LM1117 to go bad already, but worth checking again anyway.

For each pair of tuners:

LHS regulator is the 1.25V tuner supply (LM1085):

• Pin 1 - 0V (GND)
• Pin 2/tab - 1.25V
• Pin 3 - 3.3V

RHS regulator is the 3.3V tuner supply (LM1117):

• Pin 1 - 0V (GND)
• Pin 2/tab - 3.3V
• Pin 3 - 5V

In reality the 1.25V pin will be a little lower e.g. around 1.21-1.23V, but that seems to be fine.

You didn't mention which side of the inductor you measured on - there is a possibility the inductor has gone open circuit, or the inductor has a dry solder joint and therefore not connected properly to the PCB - it's possible this would be intermittent and not show up until the PCB has been warmed up by the nearby regulators i.e. thermal expansion opening a bad joint. It wouldn't be a bad idea to redo the inductor's solder joints just to be sure, then measure for continuity through the inductor.

[michal]

Thanks for the tips!

The system is now only showing tuners A and B again and those are the only regulators that are heating up. C and D regulators are not heating up. Both regulators for C and D have the correct voltages but ground to the outside of the inductor is about 0.76V while it is about 3.3V on the ones heating up.

While clearly there is something wrong with the second set of tuners I do not understand why the first 2 aren't working either :/

[michal]

For what it's worth the resistance on both inductors (measured in-place) jumps around a bit before settling on 0 ohm.

[michal]

Well I guess that's it then :/ The T4 is off to a scrapheap in the garage.

I've not been able to make any sort of progress and I'm out of ideas.

Was good while it lasted but I'm very disappointed with how quickly it died. The plasma TV it's connected to is almost 13 years old and still going strong. It doesn't support h264 though so that sucks.

Thanks everyone for your help. I thought there might be a chance to fix it and it ALMOST worked.

[MrQuade]

Thanks everyone for your help. I thought there might be a chance to fix it and it ALMOST worked.

There is still $100 and a trip to Warkus on the table....

[michal]

There is still $100 and a trip to Warkus on the table....

Hopefully in the future.

I couldn't even afford the voltage regulators and needed a benefactor to fund those.
There's not even a guarantee that it can be fixed with $100 :/ I'll pack it up nicely and make sure there is a lot of silica gel to absorb any moisture.

Maybe things will turn round before too long.

[prl]

The breakdown of the thermal cement on the regulators doesn't only (or even necessarily) damage the regulators. It can also damage tracks on the PC board. That damage is not always repairable, but it often is.

[michal]

Hi,

I'm ready to try to have this fixed by a professional.

Does anyone know the best way to contact Warkus?

And can anyone recommend couriers from Brisbane to Perth that are affordable?

Thanks in advance.

Regards,
Michal

P.S. Unless you guys would recommend a Beyonwiz V2 PVR Media Box as an alternative?

[Grumpy_Geoff]

Does anyone know the best way to contact Warkus?

And can anyone recommend couriers from Brisbane to Perth that are affordable?

http://decisivecomputersolutions.com.au/contact.html
Mark can advise on couriers too,

[MrQuade]

P.S. Unless you guys would recommend a Beyonwiz V2 PVR Media Box as an alternative?

The V2 is nice, and is capable of 4K output and can decode HEVC video. It doesnt need a fan, and can be equipped with purely solid state storage which means it runs quietly (barring any coil whine).
It also lets you run Kodi, which is a bit of a game changer to the previous Beyonwiz units.
It doesn't have an HDMI-input or an internal harddisk, and relies on an external tuner to bring you up to a total of 4. So those factors might put you off.

Beyonwiz are doing a $80 trade-in deal atm with a free return-shipping satchel, so that might be an enticement for you.

The T4 however, is a more mature product with fewer new-model "quirks", and getting it repaired will be cheaper than a new PVR.

[michal]

Thanks! That's very helpful.

While a newer machine that's more capable would be Bice Kodi is not really something that I need as I already use an AppleTV with Plex for what Kodi could provide and all the external attachments would indeed drive me wild. Besides that the plasma TV it would be connected to can't even do 1080p so 4K would be wasted on it.

I've sent Mark an email so hopefully he can do his magic and I can keep using the T4 for at least another 5 years.

[Paul_oz53]

Mark suggested I use Sendle and in the original box if possible when I spoke to him recently.

I've been too busy to send the T3 yet so can't comment on their service but Mark was happy with them.

[michal]

Thanks. I have NO idea if I still have the original box and do not even remember what it even looked like.
Sendle SEEMS great! Am I reading correctly that a briefcase sized package would be $10.90 to send Brisbane to Perth?

I haven't gotten a reply to the email I sent two days ago.
Does Mark normally respond to email or is that a bad way to reach him?

[Paul_oz53]

Thanks. I have NO idea if I still have the original box and do not even remember what it even looked like.
Sendle SEEMS great! Am I reading correctly that a briefcase sized package would be $10.90 to send Brisbane to Perth?

I haven't gotten a reply to the email I sent two days ago.
Does Mark normally respond to email or is that a bad way to reach him?

He's a bit hit or miss. I prefer to phone him.

I'll planning on sending my T3 next week having just found the box.

[Trial_Master]

I don’t currently have any issues with my T4. Would you recommend being proactive and getting it to Warkus now? Do you send the entire PVR or just the bits he needs?

[Paul_oz53]

I don’t currently have any issues with my T4. Would you recommend being proactive and getting it to Warkus now? Do you send the entire PVR or just the bits he needs?

If it's ok then probably not worth the trouble. Open your unit and inspect for degradation of the heatsink glue.

Mine is revision 2 and doesn't appear to have any degradation. As a precaution ours has a 5v 120mm USB fan sitting over the tuners to fan cool the area. Very quiet.

If degradation is apparent then post the whole unit. Sendle cost me $17 for a T3 to Perth and $23 for a P2 to Canberra

[Trial_Master]

Thanks Paul. I’ll pop the lid open and take a peek over Xmas break.

[peteru]

I disagree with Paul. Don't wait until you see symptoms and it's too late to repair the damage. The T4 is the best unit that Beyonwiz ever made and I doubt that they will ever produce anything better. Keep your T4 working as best as it can for as long as you can. You won't be able to replace it easily and repair may not be possible later on.

IMHO, pre-emptive maintenance is very much advised, if Warkus can offer it. A clean, PSU recap and possibly heatsink/regulator replacement should add many years to the service life.

Send the whole unit, possibly with the exception of the HDD.

[Paul_oz53]

I disagree with Paul. Don't wait until you see symptoms and it's too late to repair the damage. The T4 is the best unit that Beyonwiz ever made and I doubt that they will ever produce anything better. Keep your T4 working as best as it can for as long as you can. You won't be able to replace it easily and repair may not be possible later on.

IMHO, pre-emptive maintenance is very much advised, if Warkus can offer it. A clean, PSU recap and possibly heatsink/regulator replacement should add many years to the service life.

Send the whole unit, possibly with the exception of the HDD.

Comparing my rev 2 T4 to Judy's rev 1 which has died, the heatsinks on mine lie flat on the tuner regulators whereas hers are slanted. Also, the cement on hers appears OK but there is a trace of brown visible on the motherboard. There's no visible degradation in mine.

As you say Peter, pre-emptive maintenance will likely extend the product life so its worth the peace of mind if it's done. At the slightest sign of deterioration it should be done.

[Trial_Master]

I disagree with Paul. Don't wait until you see symptoms and it's too late to repair the damage. The T4 is the best unit that Beyonwiz ever made and I doubt that they will ever produce anything better. Keep your T4 working as best as it can for as long as you can. You won't be able to replace it easily and repair may not be possible later on.

IMHO, pre-emptive maintenance is very much advised, if Warkus can offer it. A clean, PSU recap and possibly heatsink/regulator replacement should add many years to the service life.

Send the whole unit, possibly with the exception of the HDD.

Thanks Peter. I might get on the front foot, i love my T4

[Trial_Master]

Hi Peter and Co.

I am taking my T4 offline today to get the preemptive maintenance done to avoid the issues in this thread. I would like to backup all the box settings in case something happens with the harddrive. I have SSH access enabled and would like some advice on what to backup. I have just completed a backup of settings via UI.

From what the back up screen shows i see /etc/enigma2 looks like it needs to be backed up.

Thanks in advance

[prl]

I have SSH access enabled and would like some advice on what to backup. I have just completed a backup of settings via UI.

From what the back up screen shows i see /etc/enigma2 looks like it needs to be backed up.

A settings backup saves a lot more than just the contents of /etc/enigma2.

What you want to save is /media/hdd/backup/beyonwiz/v1/enigma2settingsbackup.tar.gz

[Trial_Master]

That's awesome. Thanks Peter. Much bigger file.

If I ever need to restore that somehow I'll come back to you, it's just a safety net for now.

I'm going to miss my T4

[prl]

If I ever need to restore that somehow I'll come back to you, it's just a safety net for now.

You just need to put it back where you found it, and then restore settings (without saving settings in between).

[Trial_Master]

That's even easier than I thought. I'm assuming I'd need to run the setup wizard and get the box setup as basic defaults then copy and restore the file?

[prl]

It depends on what state the settings are in when you start up. If you have to go through the setup wizard, you can skip a lot of what it wants to do. You won't need to do a service scan, for example.

[Trial_Master]

Ok, thanks for info. Hopefully I don't need to worry about restoring and can just plug it back in again.

[Trial_Master]

Hey Peter, one more question. When i get my T4 back, will i need to delete the old timers on it and Resend All Recordings from ICE or just let it sync and it will sort itself out?

[prl]

Hey Peter, one more question. When i get my T4 back, will i need to delete the old timers on it and Resend All Recordings from ICE or just let it sync and it will sort itself out?

My recommendation is to not delete the timers (that will tell IceTV that you don't want to record those episodes), and just do a "Resend All Recordings" in the IceTV Web pages, then on the T4, MENU>IceTV>Fetch EPG on the T4and update timers now, to ensure that you get the updates immediately. Or do the "Resend All Recordings" while the T4 is shut down (not just in standby) and then restart it.

The IceTV log should then show all the timers that have been (re)sent.

[Trial_Master]

Thank you mate.