Resuscitate Vu duo clone

[trance]

Evening all, Last night whilst watching tv, my vu duo clone decided to reboot by itself. Fine I thought, but it would load up and I could view 1-2 second of tv before it would go into the reboot cycle. this continued 3 times before I cut the power via the switch on the back of the box.
So I decided to switch the box on after 10-15 mins . all I get now is a red dot on the front screen [ my screen was not working from before] nothing loads up or anything. however the red light does react to remote control input.
Then I decided to open the vu up for a nose about, disconnected and reconnected all connections, the psu looks fine to me no signs of damage.
I have read maybe I can bring it back from the brink using some ferrari tools. Anybody have any advice
Its a vu duo clone on blackhole 1.73

[meggiedude]

Evening all, Last night whilst watching tv, my vu duo clone decided to reboot by itself. Fine I thought, but it would load up and I could view 1-2 second of tv before it would go into the reboot cycle. this continued 3 times before I cut the power via the switch on the back of the box.
So I decided to switch the box on after 10-15 mins . all I get now is a red dot on the front screen [ my screen was not working from before] nothing loads up or anything. however the red light does react to remote control input.
Then I decided to open the vu up for a nose about, disconnected and reconnected all connections, the psu looks fine to me no signs of damage.
I have read maybe I can bring it back from the brink using some ferrari tools. Anybody have any advice
Its a vu duo clone on blackhole 1.73

Dunno about it not being a psu issue. When my red dot only fail mode first happened there was no physical indication of a problem with the psu.
It only became a physical issue many reboots later. You may have psu issue. How of is it?

[trance]

Dunno about it not being a psu issue. When my red dot only fail mode first happened there was no physical indication of a problem with the psu.
It only became a physical issue many reboots later. You may have psu issue. How of is it?

true could be a psu issue, I've found something about bringing boxes back from the red light problem over on ferrari forums but I think they are bricked due to kernal issues.
So did you get yours sorted?

[cactikid]

is there a v2 sticker underneath box?think thats what they call the new one.

[the man]

if v2 put vix 2.4 OpenViX Downloads
on a formated usb , the turn box off at the back add usb turn box on , then wait , now if theres only a red ligth on the vdf leave box for 5.mins then take out usb and box off and on at the back of the box

when i had red ligth befor the vdf just stayed blank , but my usb was blinking so i know something was happening ,
good luck

[meggiedude]

true could be a psu issue, I've found something about bringing boxes back from the red light problem over on ferrari forums but I think they are bricked due to kernal issues.
So did you get yours sorted?

No not yet mate.
In dispute with clone seller via Paypal (replacement PSU has yet to arrive)
If reloading the image via USB does not work (I had no power to the USB for instance) one thing I would try is to try and connect to the box via the serial cable (supplied) and see if you can connect that way. The fail mode for me here was that I could not reflash the firmware/image here, it just would not connect. On one occasion it looked like it was going though the motions, but wasn't. Ther are instructions on the Ferrari forums and linuxsat-support forums where you can try this. If you can connect and get some info back from the box then you may be OK. If you can't they I suspect, like me, you have a PSU issue.

MD

[IAmATeaf]

If you look at this the thread below, post 58 show a pic of a capacitor that people have replaced in order to get their red light Vu Duo working. No idea it it would work for you but the component is cheap from places like Maplins and if you can solder it should be a quick 5 minute job.

Vu-duo is Dead | Page 3 | VuPlus Community

[IAmATeaf]

Forgot to add, if you have a HDD installed it might be worth trying the box with everything unplugged, so HDD and any USBs.

[trance]

thanks for the replys people.
I'll have a crack at the serial cable way tonight if that dont work, looks like I'll have to order a psu

[DOUGALMCD]

A lot of people seem to have had success with changing the capacitor it would definately be cheaper option. Keep us updated mate.

[IAmATeaf]

If your problem is PSU related then reading that thread that I linked to it seems to indicate that if you keep on playing with the box with a bad PSU then it can eventually destroy the other component that the thread mentions, a component that's very difficult to obtain.

[cactikid]

not knowing anything about the cap problem,i will ask is there a + and - on them and fitting in them in reverse may damage your box more?when the early starview boxes had caps going they were replaced with a higher rated one,is this the same here also or use the same?replacement boards have they been modified? all valid and important details and insurance for house upto date?

[trance]

If your problem is PSU related then reading that thread that I linked to it seems to indicate that if you keep on playing with the box with a bad PSU then it can eventually destroy the other component that the thread mentions, a component that's very difficult to obtain.

thanks for the info,
however now im confused as to what i should do
my psu looks ok [ maybe i should take it out and look under it] and the cap people change is on the motherboard. so i dont know which one is at fault + it seems that i should not mess with box using serial cable as this may cause more issues.
oh dear, looks like i'll be watching euro 12 in sd

[cactikid]

i have a similar problem with a car ecu repaired twice and still does not work,that is why electronics can be a nightmare to find problem,if you are not sending box back i would be looking at a replacement board,tell them to get finger out as they may get a special mention on www on dk .

[meggiedude]

If you look at this the thread below, post 58 show a pic of a capacitor that people have replaced in order to get their red light Vu Duo working. No idea it it would work for you but the component is cheap from places like Maplins and if you can solder it should be a quick 5 minute job.

Vu-duo is Dead | Page 3 | VuPlus Community

I would be careful about anyone going down this line. At least without checking the PSU first.
There are a multitude of caps on the motherboard and its the luck of the draw that just replacing one of them will fix any issue.
The guy in the linked thread was lucky as were others that went down this line.
If the PSU is compromised changing a cap on the motherboard is a complete waste of time.
Changing this cap would be a last resort for me. I'd rather ship the box back to the seller.