AZbox Premium boot error - Only see CHECKING after it says BOOTING - Help!

[em200]

Hi all,

I have a new azbox premium plus HD receiver.

I had problems with my diseq1.2 motor settings, the box was not saving the motor positions so I always got No Signal message. (Sometimes it could work but many many times not). I thought I would downgrade to another FW and when I did that it did not find the internal HDD. I also did a Factory Reset to clean it up.

And after that, it is not starting up! I turn it on and see BOOTING and then CHECKING. And then it only shows CHECKING.

I disconnected the HDD and removed USB flash drive to test and same error. I can't hear the fan, i guess it comes on later?

I tried to put latest FW on flash drive but it's not even reading the patch.bin, patch files.

So now I am stucked with a non-working brand new premium hd plus box. I don't feel so happy so please can somebody give some advice?

Is it possible to do a mega hard reset somehow? I read something about opening the box and reseting something there. Please explain about that!

Thank you for taking the time and I hope for some help soon.

Gustav

 

[stargaze]

You can try this procedure: That was posted at another azbox website:
However given the fact you are new to all this you may want to contact whoever you bought the receiver from to explain the problem you are having, the procedure below can be very involved if you do not have any experience.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Have the TV connected via the HDMI or SCART cable.

Power UP the Receiver with the USB stick (loaded with the latest Patch) Inserted.

From the Upgrade menu, choose: 4. Format application area. - This action removes the corrupt software.

When the message "Formatting: done" is on the screen, Press the EXIT key to return to menu.

Choose 1.USB - The receiver will then search for a valid patch.

When found will give details of Your Version on the Receiver, and the Patch version.
Also asks if you want to update, - press OK.

The patch file is then extracted, with details of the progress shown on the TV screen.
Also there is also a warning: DO NOT POWER OFF.

After the patch is loaded, the Receiver will reboot itself, returning to the Upgrade menu.

Choose 5. Boot without update.

When the Receiver is rebooted, remove the USB stick.

You can now Setup the receiver again from scratch.

After Re-Establishing The Internet Connection within the Setup menu, also checked the Network Service screen, that the FTP Server and the Telnet Server were both be enabled.

--------------------------------------------------
Another option is :


How to load USB Patch from the Front Panel.

Switch ON your AZbox with the updated USB Stick Connected.


The AZbox will Reboot and the Front Panel Screen will eventually display: UPDATE: USB.


On the front panel press the OK button.


The Front Panel will display: USB FOUND and then PATCH OK?


On the front panel press the OK button.


The Front Panel will display in sequence:


EXTRACTING,
UPGRADING,
[1/4] 0-100%,
[2/4] 0-100%,
[3/4] 0-100%,
[4/4] 0-100%,
REBOOTING.


Front Panel Screen will eventually display: UPDATE: USB.


Press the DOWN button.


The Front Panel will display: UPDATE NET.


Press the DOWN button.


The Front Panel will display: UPDATE OTA.


Press the DOWN button.


The Front Panel will display: FORMAT APPS.


Press the DOWN button.


The Front Panel will display: BOOT NOW.


Press the OK button.


The AZbox will now reboot with the Updated Patch.


Remove the USB stick and then commence the Set-up from your TV screen and your Remote Controller.


If this fails you can get a comprehensive guide on trying to get the receiver out of the boot-up mode by downloading a file posted here:

 

[em200]

Thanks for the info but I tried to put the FW on a stick and load it BUT it's not working, nothing happens. It's like it's not even reading from the stick. The above instructions would probably work if i get to see the Upgrade menu.

I sent a message to my shop for help.

From what I experienced so far this is not so good receiver. It did not move to the satellites as my old nokia did. I wanted something for 4:2:2 feeds and thought it would work good.

 

[AcWxRadar]

EM200,

When you use the USB flash drive, first ensure that it is formatted in FAT32.

Then, when you copy the patch file to that USB drive stick, have it unzipped, and then rename it. You may have to rename it as "patch" or as "patch.bin" or not rename it at all.

Make sure that there is nothing else on the USB drive other than the patch file and that it is not within a folder on the drive.

Renaming the file has to do with how your PC is set up. But if you try it all three ways, it won't hurt anything. Only one way will be recognized by your AZBox, the other two ways will simply be ignored completely and won't harm anything.

If nothing is working, read around the forum here for the emergency flash or emergency recover procedure and give that a test. If that doesn't help, then return it for warranty repair.

Also, when you get it recovered, ensure that you do NOT turn the hardware acceleration feature to ON. Not all the boxes respond the same to this setting. I recommend not using it set to ON.

My eyes are too droopy at this time to help more, sorry, I must sleep. Look for the items I mentioned first, then come return with your results and we will work on other items.

RADAR

 

[em200]

Thanks for the info again. I now formatted the stick again and put all 3 files but still nothing shows up. It says BOOTING and then CHECKING and then always CHECKING. I pushed OK many times also but that did not help either. So I can not get into the Upgrade menu.

I looked around for more options but as I understand it's either the USB stick option or making a cable and connect it to the box from computer. I don't have such a cable...

Or did I miss something about the procedures above: emergency flash or emergency recover procedure. If somebody could give links to these procedures it would be great.

And Yes, I used the hardware acceleration but turned it of after a while.

There's no other way to reset the box totally?

 

[stargaze]

I am afraid that this is the extent of my knowledge with this problem.
I know of another individual who has been experiencing the booting problem and they believe it was due to turning on the hardware acceleration and not turning it off.
These receivers are kind of picky in certain areas and if none of what I posted for you helps you may consider contacting OpenSat (the people that make these receivers) to see if they can help you.

I know of no other way to totally reset the Azbox.

 

[em200]

I have contacted both my store and Opensat in hope of more help. Weird they put a menu like that and it's not good to use it .... Anyone else with any ideas of how to start it, except the cable thing that I can not do right now....

 

[mr3p]

As others have stated, your options are trying a different USB stick, repairing it yourself , or contacting your vendor and/or Opensat.

 

[comfrey]

hit the OK button on the menu a few times when you see "checking". It may prompt you for upgrade method.

 

[em200]

i tried that.... pushing OK both on remote and the box -many- times but nothing. It's on Checking it stops and just standing there. I gave up now. Somebody said to take away the battery so I did that but did not work. I also removed that chip 256 mb something but also did not work. now it will stand disconnected for the night and maybe tomorrow it can work. But I guess I must send it back to the store. Only 2-3 days old... He.

 

[mr3p]

should we ask what you were trying to load when it failed?

 

[em200]

Sure, I had problems with my motor (diseq1.2), seems it did not store the positions. I had the latest FW then. I then looked around and somebody recommended azbox-0.9.4931-patch as a stable FW. I had a HDD inside which worked OK. I then downgraded and did the Factory reset. It restarted and then there was no Wifi, no HDD and the resolution was always 512 or something like that even if I changed. Before I had the latest and it was OK just did not save the motor positions. So when I restarted the last time these things started to happen. It stops at CHECKING. It could have freezed and I did a reboot I don't remember now. So, something messed up the system in all this. I thought it would be possible to change FW and change back. So sad. I don't even know if the new HDD is working since I have laptop only....

 

[pwrsurge]

if you haven't done so already, you need to disconnect the HDD from the unit as you want to recover using the USB stick instead. Make sure the firmware you want to use has been copied in the root directory of your USB stick and named "patch.bin". It has to be renamed patch.bin or else it won't work. Boot the receiver with only the USB stick in the drive, no HDD and it should bring you to the menu where you can format the application area and then reinstall the firmware from USB. I believe you have to format the application area first if you want to downgrade to an older firmware.


Regards,


PwrSurge
AzBox Canada

 

[em200]

I disconnected the HDD already before testing everything. I did not remove the cables from the motherboard but I don't think that should make any difference? It was off now during the night but the same problem. It don't want to read the stick, front or backside USB. It's like it's not even starting to read from it. I guess the only thing is to send it back.

 

[stargaze]

There some info posted here on a booting issue.
http://www.satelliteguys.us/azbox-discussion/236171-recover-guide-azbox-stuck-boot.html

Even if you decide to send it back for them to repair, there is a sticky area at the top of the az section here where you can download a user guide which has some detailed information and links in it for some aztools and editiors, and a 2nd guide with some question and answers in it.
The information was gathered together from people who have been using the azbox from around the globe.
I just put it together in one place to make it easier for people.

I hope you get your problem sorted out.

 

[AcWxRadar]

EM200,

How was your HDD formatted? When this all occurred?

I read some little clip about this somewhere that it wil hose up your AZBox if it is formatted in NTFS and you try to install an update or format the DOM (format the application area). If the HDD was formatted in FAT32 or ext2 or ext3 via LINUX, then this is not a worry for you. However, in the future, whenever you do anything major, always disconnect your HDD (power off of course) before you begin the process. ANd that is for both internal and external HDDs. One of those safety tips you read about after it's too late. You are not supposed to be able to use a HDD with NTFS formatting anyway. Either it won't work or it causes problems.

Actually, I have not yet read of this specific error (stuck in "checking"). Read about stuck in booting a great deal (since I have one doing this) and read some about stuck in "loading", but never seen that personally.

As a long shot, did you try powering down and unplugging the receiver and then reseating all the connectors inside the box? Any connector that isn't soldered in, unplug them and plug them back in. I doubt that this is going to help any, but if it might work, it sure beats sending the unit in for repair.

RADAR

 

[em200]

Thanks for all tips and links firstly.
Yesterday I searched Google the whole day for all possible ideas and my problems is the first it seems, when it stops at CHECKING.

Anyway, I did format the HDD from the box so it should be the file system they recommend.

I also opened the box and removed the battery, and the DOM I guess, it was no other things to remove really. I checked cables and connections. No smells or anything like that at all. It seems it just somehow became corrupt when I downgraded to old firmware. And who knows before that you must format the box before doing an downgrade.... So as I understand it must be flashed again by somebody. I don't have a cable so I can not connect to the box. And like somebody did in a Russian forum, removed the chip and re-flashed it them self is quite hard for normal people....

I just tested one more time and still same problem, showing BOOTING, then CHECKING and that's it. Not reading from the USB stick or anything. One last chance is to connect a external HDD if that can work. Only problem - I can not format it since it's loaded with files.... I will see if it will find patch.bin anyway.

Update: here is a movie clip of my problem:


After that I will pack it and send it back to the store. They must be able to do something, I just got it last week.

 

[em200]

Now it's on the way to the distributor for them to fix. Hopefully that will do it!

 

[putney]

Is that a Sandisk Thumb drive?
The Sandisk I have had come with a proprietary partition (for their backup SW) I had to download software from their website to overwrite their partition.

 

[em200]

Actually it was a Sandisk I tried with (Sandisk cruzer 16GB, SDCZ36-016G). How to see if it's really FAT32? Could be interesting to know even if it's posted now and on the way to the distributor. But I also tried with a Transcend stick and that did not work.