Recover Dead Skybox/Openbox Flash Using Serial RS232 Null modem Cable

[beggsy21]

I have a skybox F3 which is stuck in 'Load' I don't have a serial port on my pc's at home and neither do any of my friends, does anyone know of a person who may be able to reflash my box if I post it to them? Willing to pay a ridiculously little amount of money

[rrodclos]

I get a memory error. please help

[Hadron]

id just like to say thanks for the help I got the capacitors and soldering iron and my box is up and running again thanks mate

Good to hear it's all working again.

[damienc]

Luckily this board is single sided (no solder on the top of the board), so it's quite easy to replace the capacitors.

There are a few surface mounted resistors near the capacitor solder pads though, so use a soldering iron with a fine tip so as not to disturb any other components.

id just like to say thanks for the help I got the capacitors and soldering iron and my box is up and running again thanks mate

[Hadron]

thank ill get some and maybe have a go myself if I can get my hands on a soldering iron sure what harm could I do

Luckily this board is single sided (no solder on the top of the board), so it's quite easy to replace the capacitors.

There are a few surface mounted resistors near the capacitor solder pads though, so use a soldering iron with a fine tip so as not to disturb any other components.

[damienc]

thank ill get some and maybe have a go myself if I can get my hands on a soldering iron sure what harm could I do

[Hadron]

If you want to do it yourself, or if you know someone handy with a soldering iron, you can get Panasonic capacitors from Ebay. Don't be tempted to get them from Maplin. They will work for a while, but won't last long.

There are a couple of sellers that I have used for a while. "Semtech 1" and "h.m.comp". These are the caps you need from semtech 1:-

1000uf 10v 105c Panasonic LOW ESR x3pcs | eBay

470uf 10v 105c Radial Panasonic Low ESR 11.5x8mm x4pcs | eBay

For h.m.comp, you need to select the capacitance & voltage yourself (1000uF 10v, & 470uF 10v):-

Panasonic Electrolytic Radial Capacitors , High Quality Various Values / Voltage | eBay

The Panasonic FM, FC & FR series caps are all good replacements. You can get cheaper ones, but their reliability won't be as good.

[damienc]

any idea where I can get them replaced

[Hadron]

ok ive look at the 2 capacitors that u said and they look slightly raised compared to all the others so that might be the problem but if is was would the box still show on in the display?

It's perfectly possible.

When the capacitors first start to play up, they can cause various symptoms, from completely dead, to constantly rebooting (and anything inbetween).

They need to be replaced with reliable types. I always prefer Panasonic FM types. You can get cheaper ones, but they may not be as reliable.

[damienc]

ok ive look at the 2 capacitors that u said and they look slightly raised compared to all the others so that might be the problem but if is was would the box still show on in the display?

[damienc]

thanks for the replys ive tried 2 different firmwares so far and when u say clone do u mean clone box? if so ill look for the firmware and try it and ive looked at the capacitors a few days ago but will look again see if I missed anything hopefully ill be up and running again soon thanks

[Hadron]

hi my openbox s10 died it but it still makes a noise and if left the display shows on ive followed the instructions from page 1 and after a week of trying ive finaly got it to work but the box still wont boot up and still shows on in display after the firmware has been done can any1 help please and tell me why this would be please ive ticked the bootloader when doing it silly question but is the bootloader in the firmware or do I need to download it somewhere to

These boxes are known for having PSU problems.

Take the lid off (while it's unplugged from the mains) and have a look at capacitors C11 (1000uF 10v) on the PSU board, and possibly C15 (470uF 10v). The top of the components should be perfectly flat. If they are bulging at all, then they need changing. Inspect the others at the same time, but it's usually one or both of the capacitors mentioned.

ps...the bootloader is included. There's no need for a seperate download.

[mahrkpat]

The boot loader in firmware, have you tried using different firmwares official as well as the clone (by Anonymous?) If you have and it makes no difference then could be a hardware problem.

[damienc]

hi my openbox s10 died it but it still makes a noise and if left the display shows on ive followed the instructions from page 1 and after a week of trying ive finaly got it to work but the box still wont boot up and still shows on in display after the firmware has been done can any1 help please and tell me why this would be please ive ticked the bootloader when doing it silly question but is the bootloader in the firmware or do I need to download it somewhere to

[mahrkpat]

I'm sorry.. Does this method working for F3.. Same tools ?

Same method for the recovery tool and firmware go to this site SkyBox | SkyBox