Clone DM800 Constant Reboot

**GAH** · 19-09-2009, 06:57 PM

I have a clone dm800 which I bought second hand. I had a few problems initially, and then it seemed to settle down. Anyway, it came with the BL69 sim, and I've since replaced it with a BL72 sim. I've been running a modified Nabilo BH 11G2, which was working quiet successfully. It would occassionally reboot once every two or three days of it's own accord, but sometimes it would stick at the "Dream Multimedia" splash screen, and not reboot at all. I would then unplug it, and when it was plugged back in, it would reboot normally. This has been going on for weeks and weeks. I recently installed NewcS/Magcamd in order to update my Al Jazeera card (CCcam doesn't handle Viaccess 3 emms very well apparently). However, it started to reboot, and now it won't stop! It will go so far (the progress bar gets to just below the letter b of "booting" on the OLED display), and then it restarts the booting procedure. It will do this several times, and then eventually stick on the "Dream Multimedia" splash screen. I have reflashed with several different images via the web browser, I have tried different bootloaders, but it does the same reboot routine every time. I also replaced the power supply, as I have a spare, and it made no difference. However, I have now discovered that I can get the box to boot by removing the tuner. After that, the box boots normally every time. I also have a spare working tuner, and it still reboots if I fit that tuner too, so I know it's not the tuner that faulty. I have also removed the motherboard and examined it with a magnifying glass. There are definitely no dry joints or broken tracks. However, no matter what I do, it will only boot without a tuner fitted.

Is there some sort of tool where I can see what running process is causing the reboot?

GAH

p.s. in case anyone is interested, I have since bought a GENUINE dm800!

**canthackit** · 20-09-2009, 11:43 AM

go back to SS69

regards: canthackit

**GAH** · 20-09-2009, 02:32 PM

Hi Canthackit,

Thanks for the suggestion, but that was one of the first things I tried, and it made no difference at all.

Regards,
GAH

**Giga** · 20-09-2009, 03:57 PM

the word is you have to dream up the ss69 to erase the defective image. If you go above SS69 use only external flash (USB memory) and do not flash internal

**GAH** · 20-09-2009, 05:51 PM

Hi Giga,

Thanks for the reply.

I have tried all sorts of things, including going back to SS69, but everything I've done has been with the web interface. I'll try flashing Nabilosat Blackhole 5 via DreamUp, and let you know what what happens.

GAH

**GAH** · 20-09-2009, 07:12 PM

Hi Giga,

Thanks for the suggestion, but it made no difference at all. As soon as I rebooted, it got as far as previous attempts, and then began rebooting again. As I mentioned, there must be a program I can use which will let me see the boot process, and at least then I can find out where it's falling over. I used to be able to that with my Nokia Dbox (satellite version) and DBox BootManager.

GAH

**Giga** · 21-09-2009, 07:40 AM

Have you connected the box with ethernet? disconnect it from the internet?
did you check this thread?: have modified tuner drivers?
image for clone DM800

**GAH** · 21-09-2009, 07:57 AM

Hi Giga,

Thanks for your suggestions, but the box was working fine with a modified image, and then it started this rebooting problem. As I said in my initial message, I have flashed many different images, and my problem isn't caused by incorrecy bootloaders or non-modified images. I have flashed at least 10 different images, using the web interface and Dream Up now. If there is no tuner connected, it boots correctly and I can do anything, including using FTP and Telnet to connect to the box.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

GAH

**Giga** · 21-09-2009, 11:22 AM

no spare tuner? looks more and more a faulty tuner? don't know if this will be of any help to you:
Bootchart is a tool for performance analysis and visualization of the GNU/Linux boot process. Resource utilization and process information are collected:

Code:

www.bootchart.org

if you can use this on the DM800 linux? (myself an XP user, would not know anything of linux)

**GAH** · 22-09-2009, 10:31 PM

Hi Giga,

Thanks for the reply, but as I said in my initial message, I do have a working spare tuner, power supply and bootloader sim. I have tried all of them, and it still makes no difference to the problem.

I'll checkout your bootchart suggestion and let you know how I get on.

GAH

**Titan** · 23-09-2009, 01:01 AM

I have an idea... Can you post close up pictures of the insides of your box GAH..

The areas, as low an angle as possible whilst still being able to see all the capacitors - looking from the back of the box :

1. The back of the tuner board (the area after the metal shield)
2. If you can remove it - the area underneath the tuner
3. The area between the scart socket and the HDD cage

Ta

**GAH** · 23-09-2009, 01:04 PM

Hi Titan,

I have removed the motherboard from the receiver, and checked it over with a magnifying glass. There are no dry joints, no broken tracks, no bulging capacitors, or any solder splashes anywhere. As I mentioned, I have two tuners, and both were working perfectly up until the reboot problem.

What are you thinking?

GAH

**loveman** · 23-09-2009, 03:46 PM

Out of curiosity, do you still have the bl-69 sim? If so, have you tried putting that back in to the box, and taking out the bl-72 sim? Maybe it's the sim at fault?!

Just noticed you said you have a spare sim, but was that the original bl-69 that was working fine?

Also, if you change back to bl-69 sim, are you using an image that only had bl-69 on it?

Also, have you tried using an older image of nabilo which was released before the later bootloaders?! (I think nabilo blackhole 0.6 is ss-69)...

**GAH** · 23-09-2009, 05:04 PM

Hi Loveman,

Thanks for the reply.

Both sims worked fine before this problem arose. I have since tried both sims (and both my tuners, AND both my power supplies!), and with images modified for that sim, but it makes no difference. I have also tried Nabilosat Blackhole 3, 5, 7,9,10, and 11 images (obviously some are original and some have been modified for use with bl 69 or 72). The only way the box will boot is without a tuner.

GAH

**Titan** · 24-09-2009, 04:35 PM

Glad to see you seem to have checked everything out.

Since it was working fine and then wasn't, the symptoms you describe are uncannily like (and by that I mean exactly like)cheapo capacitor symptoms. Electrolyte used heats up and starts to break down, resulting in blown caps. To be honest I'm sick of seeing it and fixing it, especially on Desktops.

This usually manifests iteself with bulging caps HOWEVER this can be hard to spot. I'm not implying you are are some kind of idiot, far from it. Look again at the caps if there is even a slight curve on the top of the cap and not 100% flat - it's blown.

Only other way is to check the voltages with a multimeter - PCI risers fail fairly often too. I can't tell from the pictures if the riser is directly soldered onto the motherboard but should be fairly simple to check voltages between that and your original.

**GAH** · 24-09-2009, 05:52 PM

Hi Titan,

Thanks for the reply.

I have checked all the capacitors, and I'm 100% sure none are blown. To be honest, I did work in electronic servicing, so I'm fairly familiar with blown components.

The receiver had been pretty erratic since I bought it, but it had been running pretty well for a while before this problem. It all started when I downloaded new emus from the Nabilo server (I had been running CCcam) because I had a Viaccess 3 card that wasn't updating. I think I may have deleted the emus through the "Addons Uninstall Panel", and when I restarted, it went into this continuous loop that it's in now. I have flashed so many different images, I have tried both tuners, both power supplies,a nd both BL simcards, all with the same result. Only way the box will boot properly is with no tuner installed. Once it boots, I can put the tuner back in, and it behaves ok (obviously at this point it's not connected to a dish). Of course, once I reboot, it's back to the loop again. I think that the bootloader process is being halted, so I need some sort of program which will allow me see where the process stops.

GAH

**GAH** · 29-09-2009, 08:09 PM

Hi Guys,

Not really any further forward, but here's what else I've done.

I flashed Nabilosat BH 11 (modiified image) to the box. This image USED to work perfectly in my box. The only way I could get it to boot now was by removing the tuner. Once I'd one that, I used the "Update Software" option in the Software Manager section to update the box. Once I'd done that I reflashed bootloader 72, replaced the tuner, and it booted up! However, I got the expected hardware error. I then used Telnet to replace the the two drivers that cause this (bcm7401.ko and stb-core.ko). After that, the box began the rebooting cycle again!

I then tried the same procedure with a modfied Oozoon image. I got the exact same result, apart from no hardware error on the first reboot. However, the box didn't recognize my tuner (it said no tuner found, or something like that), and when I replaced the two drivers, again it went back to the reboot cycle again!

Now, the problem is obviously related to these two drivers. However, these modified images used to work in my box, and unmodified images used to work after replacing these drivers and the bootloader, so why don't they work now?

Have I updated something that I shouldn't have?

Anyone any ideas?

GAH

**paul01609** · 29-09-2009, 09:13 PM

is there any cooling to the box theese boxes do get very hot,i took a old pc fan cut up a usb cable and it sits on top of my box to help with cooling,my clone works fine with nabilo 11 moded,also have you loaded barry allen on to usb stick as i found this caused me probelms on my clone