My DM500hd was wrking fine until I screwed it up with a bad flash and lots of aborted attempts at rescuing it. It always ends up with NO CA Found. Yassinov now suggests that it might be a hardware problem. I have therefore started doing some basic checks. The voltages on the P1100 are all as per your pinout drawing with the exception of pin 1 that is 1.204V instead of 1.3V. Is this meaningful or do you think it could be within the normal margins. I also tried to follow the sequence of the LEDs, but they are too quick for me to see the sequence. I can see though they end up as per your step 8, second and last lit. What else could I check on the hardware side? Many thanks
Hi, 1.204V instead of 1.3V is fine and is not related with a no ca found problem. I think, it's a sim card issue or related to it as wrong software which is not suitable for the sim. Best is to check the sim card and or look at it for the correct image file. Also, if you use windows 7 or higher, best is to use a wxp system to upload a image file as I a while ago had tested which you can see here dm800se-front-display-error-status-three-cases. It's about the 800se, but the basics are the same as the 500hd. If it's a hardware issue, then it could be the crystal y800 or some interruption to it, however this is mostly not the case, it's mostly a software or sim card issue and the use of the correct computer operating system.
Many thanks for quick reply and link to 800SE. I have also done more testing and I am pretty convinced the problem is with the ethernet port. At first I thought it was because of the wrong image or boot loader but now I noted that the ethernet lights do not flash briefly when the box is switched on (on y DM520 they flash) and looking at the boot sequence with Putty, after forcing it to proceed with X, when it gets to initializing the network I get: "Configuring network interfaces... [ 21.945000] bcmemac: eth0 NIC Link is Down udhcpc (v1.19.4) started Sending discover... Sending discover... Sending discover... No lease, forking to background done. net.ipv4.conf.default.rp_filter = 1 net.ipv4.conf.all.rp_filter = 1 Starting tpmd." It could be a driver problem of course but the lack of any led activity on switch on meks me think it is hardware related. Is there an easy way to test the network hardware?
Network may not work due software, best is to use openpli because this starts first the hdmi for giving the network status on screen when holding the front push button, and after it the network activation. Also it may caused due a fixed ip into the bios, better is to reset the bios which can be done with optiflasher or with a terminal program and the service port. But since you have the network issue it will be hard to change the image file by the service port only. However let's think it's a hardware issue, then it could be due the poe voltages 2.6v interruption as a interruption with the zero resistor R1000/R1001 or inductors L1000/L1110 More about this, see this topic. If this is not the case, and not due software or the bios or other case, then it could be a cpu issue, a interruption from/to one of the four rx/tx tracks.
Checked the bios settings and it is set to dhcp. Checked the voltages and they all are 2.504V which I assume is within the range. Tried to flash second stage or image with various versions of dreamup, and with optiflasher under win7 and winxp with different error messages. For instance under winxp dreamup does not work at all unless the network is selected. Then it fails because it cannot link on the network. Optiflasher fails even when selecting mode 2 (use usb only). It seems that whatever I try nothing actually gets written to the box. For instance: using putty I can see that the ssl is 84. I then try to flash an older 83 version with optiflasher in mode 2. The process seems to go through but when I look again with putty I still get ssl 84. What is going on? Is there a way to flash anything without using optiflasher or dreamup and wihtout the ethernet port? As the bios has an option to boot from a usb is it possible to boot from a usb set up correctly? What would it be needed on the usb to make this operation successful? And lastly. Is the ethernet port controlled by the main cpu or by another chip on the motherboard?
Yeah 2.5v should be sufficient for operating properly. As for dreamup, if you disable the Use network then it should be flashing the data trough the service port. I'm not sure if it can upload a image file, but at least uploading the boot loader must working. Maybe if you use another dreamup version as DreamUP_1_3_3_12 will work, or the japhar flasher. As for booting up with a usb stick, I'm not sure if it works when the box software failed. I think that it still use the nand flash data, and only a part of the data from the usb. Nevertheless, I have never done this, so I could not give you any advice about booting the box up with a usb stick. Further, which sim card do you use on the box, and is it a original box, or a older (clone) ferrari sim box. Because if it was a ferrari clone box, then I advice to try it with the (dreamup) FerrariFiller_1_3_3_7F and Ferrari_DM500HDSSL87F boot loader if you have a ferrari sim card in it. As far as I known has an original 500hd a black colored motherboard, clone 500hd's has green motherboards. In any case (old) dm500hd ferrari boxes may loose their network, and give a no ca found issue if the sim card has been changed to sim210 and software. When that happens it need to be set back to a ferrari sim box, and when that works be changed again afterwards to another sim. But to do this, you need a ferrari dm500hd sim card. Q: Is the ethernet port controlled by the main cpu or by another chip on the motherboard? A: Network Rx/Tx are directly controlled by the cpu, same as the hdmi. Q: I still get ssl 84 A: Depends how you look at it, for example when using dreamup it uses it's own boot loader which is always lower than the boot loader on the nand flash chip from the box. The real boot loader on the box is only to see with a terminal program and of course without using a program as dreamup, for example something as this.. Code: 4567 (c) 2007,2008 Dream Multimedia GmbH. All rights reserved. Dreambox DM500HD FIRST STAGE 1.2/400 {BO23456} 2ND STAGE OK, build #87 (2012-02-02) .... 0.007 - BCM board setup 0.007 - fp init 0.007 - ca init 0.319 - load config dCA: not existent, loading defaults 0.345 - config loaded. * woke up from power * press [S] to enter setup lcd: BOOT #87 P23 detected! - read config file: /boot/secondstage.conf detected jffs2 blocksize: 16kb ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Great explanations, many thanks. My box is a clone with sim 2.10. I tried various dreamups but no luck, just different errors but more often than not they get stuck on "calculating checksum" . The dreamups that require to switch off and then back on after loading the boot flasher don't respond after the second switch on. As the network RX/TX are controlled by the cpu it seems unlikely that only that section of the cpu is gone faulty all of a sudden don't you think? Anyway I have found a repair shop in Italy who claim they can restore the box if the hardware is working ok. I think I'll give them a try as I am getting to the end of my thether. Many thanks again for all your help. I'll let you know how it goes with the repair shop.
Yeah strangely it could happen that a receiver gets issues by changing the software. Therefore I never change the software on my dm800se which I use in my work shop. It is a first production clone box from china, and it still works flawless every day in the week for more than 5 years. But well, as for your issue, and based on the begin story, I think it needs to be searched by the software, maybe it's a bad sector on the nand flash chip which damages the network activation part, maybe it could help if you do the bad sectors option in dreamup. But still it's just a thought, for the same case you have just some bad luck with this box. The only differences between the flash status and a running box is the fan, it does not run when it's into flash state and therefore the cpu may become hotter than normal.
Couldn't agree more, it it aint broke don't fix it. Silly me. Still too late now. By the way I have tried tried the bad sectors option, but as dreamup never actually worked I don't know if the option made any difference. Regarding the issue of the cpu overheating that is what I thought it might have happened and how it might have been damaged, but I never left it on for more than 10 minutes and I remember that when the box was new I had made changes to the image using dreamup through the serial port, not the lan, and it had taken more than 1/2 hour. The cpu had survived quite happily then. The box is now on its way to the repair shop and we'll see what the outcome is. fingers crossed.
One thing I also think of because you say that you have difficulties with dreamup and the service port and assuming that this port works with a terminal program (readable received data from the box). Then it could be a damaged or bad sim card, or a hardware issue related to the sim card. But okay, I wish you good luck with the repair.
Yes I had the same fear that something might be wrong with the sim, but I get the correct leds at stage 8 and also I get "second stage ok" at the beginning of the boot sequence in putty (see attached). Does this not mean the sim is ok? By the way where is the second stge written? sim or nand?
Yeah, cannot read cert.. Means wrong sim cart for the boot loader and/or image file or a corrupted or wrong sim card. In any case, it can not read the sim card, but it sees that there is one present. Network has been set on a fixed ip.. Based on network: 3.716 manual, ip address is etc. It may also not work because I see no Broadcom BCM7413 P21 Ethernet Network Device drivers. Nand flash chip has some bad block issues, or wrong software for the nand chip... Based on, Bad block table Bbt0 found at page 0001ffe0, version 0x01 for chip on CS1 And, Bad block table 1tbB found at page 0001ffc0, version 0x01 for chip on CS1 Maybe because your box has the Hynix HY27US08121A and the software were written for the samsung nand chip. Q: storage to.. All software has been written to the nand flash chip. Bios settings are written to a small 8p chip. Solutions.. 1. change the sim card for another dm500hd sim card. 2. when that works, and the box failed to start with it, change the bootloader/software for openpli. Note: dreamup works only if the sim card is present and correct for in this case a dm500hd. A sim for another dreambox as the dm800hd/8000hd or 800se will not work.
Ah, loads of things possibly wrong. Obviously the more I messed around with it the worst I made it. Well, will see what the repairer manages to do if anything. At least he should be able to swap the sim card and see if the problem is there. I'll keep you posted.
Yeah well it's not so hard to fix it if you have the correct tools to preform it. And I'm still not know if this receiver were previously a ferrari sim card box. This is important because a ferrari sim card box which is changed to another sim card box may give issues afterwards when it works with it, mostly when it't later changed to another or newer software. If that is the case then it will fail on all the sim card except if you put in a ferrari sim card. Only then it could be fixed by uploading the ferrari boot loader and image file. When that works, it can be changed with another sim card and software. Not sure why this is, but it could be due the sim card amps consumption. Sim 210 / japhar sims etc. uses more amps consumption than a ferrari sim therefore it may happen that it works fine on a sim with less amps consumption, but failed on the newer sim cards. If this is the case then the solution could be to change the q902 transistor for another. Most likely for a FDN358 SMD SOT-23
My box is a sim 2.1 and it always was from new. How can the sim get damaged by messing around with the images, dreamup, optiflasher ecc? Do any of these programs write to the sim? What about the bad sectory recovery?
A sim could get corrupt without any reason, it just happens or when a owner has removed/replaced it and has bend it a bit I think. But the sim may also not work due other circumstances as flashing the box with a wrong image file, if that happen then it may no longer work on the sim card, but may work with another sim of which the software were written for. Example, your box has a sim210, but suppose you uploaded software for a sim card 8AP, then you may get these issues. In that case it may help when you add the 8AP sim card and bring it back to the sim210 software. Other cause why a sim may not work could be hardware related, could be due the cpu itself or some parts from the sim circuits as the Q900/Q901 or the U900 NXP CBT chip. But these are the most worse scenario, mostly it's the sim card itself, or software related with a No Ca Found issue. Q: Bad sector recovery can be done with dreamup, and only if the sim and software are suitable for each other. However even a new nand flash chip has some bad sectors therefore there is the rule that it may have a max of ten bad sectors. Which is not a problem as long they are marked as bad sectors, only then will the software be written on the good sectors.
