My Humax Forum » Freeview SD » PVR 9150T, 9200T, 9300T

9200T Four dashes (no colon) in standby

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    finrod

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    I very recently acquired a silver second hand pvr9200t for a song. It has the original Seagate disk with Humax sticker. It works fine for viewing and recording when active, but in standby it displays ----, and will not wake up to record.

    NB no colon, there is as yet no symptom of the --:-- cleaning issue.

    I have read about the problem in this, and other fora, and hope I might touch base with people with greater experience and expertise, so that I can review my understanding of the question.

    Current state:

    9200T 3020.0000

    update 20 May 2010

    PGXTF 1.00.23
    Loader a.4.0.7 ****** - I think I need 4.0.9!!!

    Shortly after setting up, I downloaded the software over the air (it coincided with the 18 June availability), formatted the disk, performed a default reset.

    When it boots up, it displays four swirling symbols which resolve to the four dashes to the left. L10, ...STING etc. It takes two boots to load into BBC ONE, when I then go to standby from there, I sometimes get four dashes to the right.

    I have tried disconnecting the power and data leads to the hard disk, but get the same result. I have tried disconnecting the aerial, booting with standby button depressed to no avail.

    From my PC via a usb to the front connection I can look at the hard disk and see rcordings (Humax Media Controller GUI) - I have transferred files to my PC using this, and can see the two partitions (d1: and d2:).

    Is the problem the loader software version? Is the loader software ever released over the air? If so, is there any hint of when this might be?

    Am I correct in concluding that the only way is a separate usb to serial cable to update the loader software, and that said cable is a prerequisite for use of the HumaxCheck and HumaxDiag tools?

    Thanks for reading

    | Sat 23 Jun 2012 13:57:10 #1 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    I am puzzled by the symptoms. I doubt that the loader version is significant. As far as I know it is never broadcast OTA and must be downloaded from a PC. See Flas9200 web site for one way of doing this. Can you describe what you mean by "It takes two boots to load into BBC ONE"? I think I would clean the clock board to be on the safe side even though the symptoms aren't quite right for that problem and run Seagate Seatools for DOS on the hard drive to check that out.

    | Sat 23 Jun 2012 14:24:38 #2 |
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    finrod

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    Thanks for the reply, at least I don't feel quite alone in bafflement.

    I will need the serial cable to use the Flas9200 s/w suggested, and I presume also for the Seatools? I don't yet have this cable.

    I have cleaned the clock card four times, with surgical spirit, and with isopropyl cleaning solution (but I have yet to try with a toothbrush!)

    Okay, I keep it powered down, then when I switch on at the back, if I use the standby button on the front, or the remote, it boots up to STING, and then goes back to ---- (either on the left, or sometimes the right), then when I boot again using either standby button, it boots (via STING) to BBC1.

    Hope that helps (though I'm doubtful)

    | Sat 23 Jun 2012 14:59:48 #3 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    finrod - 43 minutes ago  » 
    I will need the serial cable to use the Flas9200 s/w suggested, and I presume also for the Seatools? I don't yet have this cable.

    Yes you need a serial cable for Flash9200 but for the hard drive (if you don't have a PC with IDE ports) then you need a USB to IDE adapter.

    Okay, I keep it powered down, then when I switch on at the back, if I use the standby button on the front, or the remote, it boots up to STING, and then goes back to ---- (either on the left, or sometimes the right), then when I boot again using either standby button, it boots (via STING) to BBC1.

    If it was in standby when the power was turned off at the back then what you describe is perfectly normal (except that the display should be showing the time after the initial boot). My best guess is that this is a faulty clock board; the problem that can be fixed by cleaning is far and away the most common but there are other possible problems. Hopefully Biggles (who is the expert on the clock board) will be along to give his verdict. Maybe someone has a spare one they can let you have?

    | Sat 23 Jun 2012 15:50:11 #4 |
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    finrod

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    Martin

    Thanks for this. My reading over the past few days has led me to be chary of confusing the '----' with the '--:--' symptom, but I'm willing to await the counsel of Biggles, the clock cleanup guru. Even if he might implore me to refrain from resorting to a toothbrush

    Cables (excuse my naivété) - I have one that can connect my pc (usb) to the front of the pvr, I don't have one to connect to the rs232 serial port at the rear of the pvr.

    I do have a data 'caddy' for backup. I have just opened it up, and looked at the documentation. It has a short 40 pin IDE ribbon inside, leading from a usb 2.0 socket. Can I cannibalise this temporarily to connect directly to the hd in the pvr? Does this represent a chink of light?

    Thanks again

    | Sat 23 Jun 2012 18:34:45 #5 |
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    Martin Liddle

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    finrod - 21 minutes ago  » 
    I don't have one to connect to the rs232 serial port at the rear of the pvr.

    You only need a serial cable if you decide to update the loader which in my view is not essential and will not change the symptoms you are seeing.

    It has a short 40 pin IDE ribbon inside, leading from a usb 2.0 socket. Can I cannibalise this temporarily to connect directly to the hd in the pvr? Does this represent a chink of light?

    It will allow you to connect the drive from the Humax to your PC and run the Seagate Seatools for DOS. I would regard this as a sensible thing to do on a second hand machine but again your test with no hard drive connected indicates it will not fix the fundamental problem.

    | Sat 23 Jun 2012 19:00:42 #6 |
  7. aldaweb

    aldaweb

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    To Clarify

    The four dashes on the left when the unit goes into standby are displayed whilst the EPG is being saved to the hard drive. Once the EPG is cached then the Time should be shown on the right.
    Four dashes on the right in standby means you DO need to clean the clock board or leave the unit on. The colon is not always present.
    See the FAQ item my-9200t-shows-in-standby

    | Sat 23 Jun 2012 20:21:21 #7 |

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