s4000 firmware

**blakmumba** · 11-07-2012, 05:25 AM

Can confirm the recordings do NOT delete. As mentioned previously, they delete, go out of hard drive and back in and it's still there. Box still locking up & everything mentioned in previous posts by myself and buck401 still exist. ColdAsIce I'm surprised yrs is the only one that's not having these problems as myself and others have had the problems mentioned above and as stated, I reinstalled v.67 to ensure it wasn't a problem on my end: heck I even stopped my firewall/anti virus before loading the firmware to eliminate that too lol.

**ColdAsICE** · 13-07-2012, 05:11 PM

After further testing we have discovered an issue with this firmware( and earlier v1.10.57) if used with hard drives that have 16Meg Cache memory.
If your S4000 has a Western Digital A/V drive it needs to have "DS" at the end of its model number i.e.
"WD5000AVDS" this is the 32M cache ram version which will work ok but if you have a "WD5000AVCS" this is the 16Meg version which will cause the receiver to crash.
This has come to light due to the new firmware using the Hard drive a lot more than previous versions.
1 Tb drives will have 32Meg anyway but 64Meg ver5sion would be better still.
This would help explain why this new firmware works for some machines and it makes other machines totally unstable.

**buck401** · 13-07-2012, 06:00 PM

Does this mean that older machines with the duff drive require a new HDD? Or will new f/w correct the problem.

What type of drive (say 1TB) will be needed and what interface with the s4000 (SATA or what)

**blakmumba** · 13-07-2012, 06:55 PM

Currently I'm using a Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1TB internal Hard Drive SATAII 32MB Cache hard drive. Do you think I'll also need to change this or like buck401 mentioned, will a new f/w correct this?
Tnx

**blakmumba** · 13-07-2012, 07:02 PM

ColdAsIce, any chance you could find out if sata III 6/Gbs will work with the ice s4000 and also if the Koreans are nice enough to revert the icon menu back to a single page? (2 line icons per page) Thanks

**ColdAsICE** · 13-07-2012, 08:06 PM

buck401, Only late machines had the Western Digital 16Mb Cache HDD fitted. Western Digital supplied them at the time of HDD shortage without notification of the spec change. No one noticed it until the new firmware upset the cart.
The S4000 uses sata interface, the prefered drive is the lowest spindle speed with the largest Cache. High speed and low Cache is the killer.
blakmumba, your request has already been made. I don't know why they increased the Icon pages and spead them across two. It doesn't make sense.
By the way your drive isn't one we have tested but the specs look ok. Remember that the sata interface on the S4000 is not the latest so new spec drives are making some of the freezing problems worse.
My S4000 has a Hitachi 1Tb with 32Mb Cache and it doesn't have the freezing problems seen on others but its nearly 2 years old.

**blakmumba** · 13-07-2012, 11:37 PM

Originally Posted by ColdAsICE

buck401, Only late machines had the Western Digital 16Mb Cache HDD fitted. Western Digital supplied them at the time of HDD shortage without notification of the spec change. No one noticed it until the new firmware upset the cart.
The S4000 uses sata interface, the prefered drive is the lowest spindle speed with the largest Cache. High speed and low Cache is the killer.
blakmumba, your request has already been made. I don't know why they increased the Icon pages and spead them across two. It doesn't make sense.
By the way your drive isn't one we have tested but the specs look ok. Remember that the sata interface on the S4000 is not the latest so new spec drives are making some of the freezing problems worse.
My S4000 has a Hitachi 1Tb with 32Mb Cache and it doesn't have the freezing problems seen on others but its nearly 2 years old.

ColdAsIce your a good mate. Thanks for forwarding my request. Also will look into a 64 cache hard drive as enjoying this box to be honest. Love the media play back lol

**buck401** · 14-07-2012, 08:12 AM

I would be interested to know which 64 cache HDD could be easily swopped and working in the s4000.

***echelon*** · 14-07-2012, 10:51 AM

I just took the lid off my icecrypt s4000 to visually check the label on the actual hdd drive I fitted two or three years ago

its a sata maxtor diamondmax 22 , 500 gig STM3500320AS with 32 meg cache and 7200 rpm spin speed , so cache seems ok at 32mb but its not a 5400 rpm spin speed

now how that affects me using up to date firmwares I have no idea as mine is still on an older one from several months ago

clearly it seems we now need a sata hdd with 32mb cache or 64mb cache and 5400 spin speed, didnt know this when I fitted my hdd 2 to 3 years ago !

**buck401** · 14-07-2012, 11:22 AM

Would this work: WD30EZRX 3TB SATA Hard Drive 5400rpm 6Gb/s 64 cache?

**blakmumba** · 14-07-2012, 05:21 PM

Originally Posted by buck401

Would this work: WD30EZRX 3TB SATA Hard Drive 5400rpm 6Gb/s 64 cache?

Think you might struggle with 3TB as only ones pre-fitted into an ice s4000 are 2TB drives so doubt they'll have the drivers to recognise a 3TB. Its interface is also Sata III which; when i asked above, ColdAsIce reply was in quotes 'Remember that the sata interface on the S4000 is not the latest so new spec drives are making some of the freezing problems worse.'

**chris217** · 14-07-2012, 05:34 PM

Hi ColdAsICE,

Just to be absolutely clear. Is this bug specific to:

Drives from any manufacturer with 16MB cache;
Western Digital drives with 16MB cache;
Drives from any manufacturer with a cache of 16MB or less;
Western Digital drives with a cache of 16MB or less?

The sdparm command on my receiver reports the drive as an ST3320310CS. This seems to be a Seagate drive with 8MB cache. Will this be OK?

Thanks.

**ColdAsICE** · 16-07-2012, 09:16 AM

Originally the Koreans said the S4000 would support up to 4Tb but that was before they had been developed so it was a speculative statement that has to be taken with a pinch of salt.
As time has gone on it has been noticed that the faster spin drives would cause freezing issues.
It was thought that the combination of higher speed and higher temperature due to the lack of fan cooling could be the cause but now the cashe ram or the lack of it has been identified as a major problem with the larger faster drives.
It wasn't a problem on the older smaller slower drives so don't get worried if you have a older machine with 320Gb but if your thinking of upgrading the drive then consider the speed + cashe combination.
Its not specific to any manufacturer just some drives work better than others, general rule of thumb is the lower speed spin and the larger cashe the better.

**buck401** · 16-07-2012, 04:05 PM

No Idea what the cache is on my older 320GB or the spin speed. All I know is that the .49 f/w onwards causes freezing and other do***ented issues.
What is the way forward or am I stuck on .32 f/w forever?
Is SATAII better than SATAIII with 5400rpm and 64mb cache?

**blakmumba** · 16-07-2012, 04:24 PM

Originally Posted by buck401

Is SATAII better than SATAIII with 5400rpm and 64mb cache?

Test have shown no speed difference between sata 2&3 when using a mechanical hard drive (ssd then different ball game). As off yet no mechanical hard drive has reached the full speed of sata2 let alone sata3. Sata3 is also backward compatible so will run on a sata2 port at sata2 speeds.
So to answer your question, the hard drive spec that your mentioning should be ideal

Sent from my iPhone

**buck401** · 16-07-2012, 04:53 PM

Can this be easily fitted: WD10EARX 1TB 3.5 internal 5400rpm SATAII 64MB cache, and will it work. I see one priced at 70 pounds.

**blakmumba** · 16-07-2012, 05:24 PM

Originally Posted by buck401

Can this be easily fitted: WD10EARX 1TB 3.5 internal 5400rpm SATAII 64MB cache, and will it work. I see one priced at 70 pounds.

Standard 3.5" size so yep straight forward. Out with the old in with the new lol.
On a side note, make sure you get the hard drive in question from a reputable firm with a good after returns policy as these 'green' drives are pot luck, many people have had good drives and on the other hand, many have had theirs die within a couple of months. Hope that helps

Sent from my iPhone

**blakmumba** · 18-07-2012, 02:19 AM

ColdAsIce, any chance you could kindly ask the Koreans if they could either up date or add further drivers for the usb wifi dongles?. Downloaded the 'confirmed working usb wifi dongle list', purchased a Belkin F5D7050 v2000 as this was 'confirmed' to be working but for some bizzare reason mine is not. Then purchased a Belkin F6D4050 v2, again 'confirmed' as working on list yet same problem. Have read previous posts on how to attach correctly, switch off ice etc but no joy (no option of wireless). Both confirmed working on laptop/pc & really don't wanna go get a 3rd one as now have 2 lying around gathering dust.
Would be great if the request could be forwarded.
Thanks

Sent from my iPhone

**ColdAsICE** · 19-07-2012, 10:48 AM

buck401, We have used that drive with no reported issues. In fact its a recommended drive but Blakmumba is correct regarding the warranty. It pays to buy them from a good known source in case you need to make a claim.
Blakmumba, I will forward your request but I feel the answer will be that they are not responsible for the change of specification of third party devices from when they first tested.
The real problem is that some of those devices on the approved list have been inserted because some resellers reported them as tried and tested OK. This is where the errors have occurred.