GEOSATpro microHD - Endless Boot issue yuck!
- Thread starter pacificrim
- Start date
- Latest activity Latest activity:
- Replies 56
- Views 10K
Something wrong there.
Thanks for the links and support. I've ordered the cable and just have to suck it up with an old SV360 until i fix the MicroHD. I have a Q-Box S2 but I am wrestling with it, ProgDVB, codecs and the HTPC it is attached to. Cheers.
Endless Boot issue yuck!
Well I went to add a few channels to my Micro using the Ali editor today and something corrupted my .udf file so I'm stuck in the boot mode. Weird thing was all I did was edit a few channels and uploaded the info to the Micro which I've done lots of times with no issue. Luckily I have a spare Micro so I hooked it up and I tried to load the file in it...bad idea it's in a loop now too. I ordered the cable from Dave K4est so we'll see what happens. I noticed the cable isn't for Windows 8..I've got Windows Vista and Win 7 on other machines so I guess I try them. Question is have I lost all my channel info I had stored on the usb since the file corrupted? If so that's gonna be a lot of work reloading all the info. Thanks Jeff AKA Blind
Well I went to add a few channels to my Micro using the Ali editor today and something corrupted my .udf file so I'm stuck in the boot mode. Weird thing was all I did was edit a few channels and uploaded the info to the Micro which I've done lots of times with no issue. Luckily I have a spare Micro so I hooked it up and I tried to load the file in it...bad idea it's in a loop now too. I ordered the cable from Dave K4est so we'll see what happens. I noticed the cable isn't for Windows 8..I've got Windows Vista and Win 7 on other machines so I guess I try them. Question is have I lost all my channel info I had stored on the usb since the file corrupted? If so that's gonna be a lot of work reloading all the info. Thanks Jeff AKA Blind
Last edited:
If you already had the newest firmware installed, then you would only need to upload the UDF file. If not, then this is the time to update both the firmware and user data files. Make sure you do a factory reset and remove the power after the upload to clear out the memory.
If you have an old version of the ALi editor program, then download a new copy and install it as to prevent it from corrupting your UDF files.
...from an older post
"you need to run the ALiEditor and use that to transfer the file from the PC to the microHD. Be sure to download the current version of the microHD software as posted by Brian or from the link where to purchase the cable, as I recently had problems with the posted software. (Brian re-uploaded the ALiEditor yesterday). With the ALiEditor you need to edit the .ini file to show the correct path to your directory where the ALiEditor is. (check the other thread as I posted a pic of my ini file yesterday and edit your path to match your computer) Also check that the chip type is correct. Depending on what is corrupted in your box, you may only need to transfer the UserDatabase File (UDF file) or if that does not solve it then the firmware file. If you follow the link to purchase the cable, there is a video of how to restore your microHD." Don't forget to remove the power after the flash by unplugging the power cable, do not just power it off and on with the remote.
You might be having a simular issue to what I was having
http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/304359-New-Feature-Request/page3?highlight=overlaping
If you have an old version of the ALi editor program, then download a new copy and install it as to prevent it from corrupting your UDF files.
...from an older post
"you need to run the ALiEditor and use that to transfer the file from the PC to the microHD. Be sure to download the current version of the microHD software as posted by Brian or from the link where to purchase the cable, as I recently had problems with the posted software. (Brian re-uploaded the ALiEditor yesterday). With the ALiEditor you need to edit the .ini file to show the correct path to your directory where the ALiEditor is. (check the other thread as I posted a pic of my ini file yesterday and edit your path to match your computer) Also check that the chip type is correct. Depending on what is corrupted in your box, you may only need to transfer the UserDatabase File (UDF file) or if that does not solve it then the firmware file. If you follow the link to purchase the cable, there is a video of how to restore your microHD." Don't forget to remove the power after the flash by unplugging the power cable, do not just power it off and on with the remote.
You might be having a simular issue to what I was having
http://www.satelliteguys.us/threads/304359-New-Feature-Request/page3?highlight=overlaping
Last edited:
Larry, Thanks I'll hope I don't lose all my channels then. Guess I'll wait til cable comes. Might be an idea for Brian to ship a cable with each Micro. Might add a few dollars to the cost but several of us have needed them eventually.
The typical microHD owner will never update firmware, transfer or edit files. If the advanced user follows the transfer / update instructions, the serial cable will not be needed.
A few dozen cycling reboots out of over 10,000 units sold does not justify the distribution of a cable that 99.99% of owners would never need let alone understand how.
You guys are advanced users and often have need for items that the majority of users do not. The cable is cheap and readily available if needed. Does it make sense to increase the cost of producing a unit by x% to provide something that most will not use?
We offer free warranty service to restore operation for any looping receiver. I believe that this continues to be the best approach to providing a solution to the majority of microHD owners.
A few dozen cycling reboots out of over 10,000 units sold does not justify the distribution of a cable that 99.99% of owners would never need let alone understand how.
You guys are advanced users and often have need for items that the majority of users do not. The cable is cheap and readily available if needed. Does it make sense to increase the cost of producing a unit by x% to provide something that most will not use?
We offer free warranty service to restore operation for any looping receiver. I believe that this continues to be the best approach to providing a solution to the majority of microHD owners.
Brian, Guess you're right the typical user probably wouldn't use it or need it. Both receivers had older firmware in them and not the latest so that might have been part of the issue. I've loaded and updated the channel list with the ali editor dozens of times but this time I wasn't so lucky lol..Guess I'll fix both of them when the cable arrives. Thanks
Hopefully a routine can be added to detect when the UDF file is corrupted and the box is about to reboot and then gives you the option to reset the UDF to the DDF. However, since only an extremely few people are ending up looping their receiver, the cable seems to be a good option and adding the routine would be very low on the list... if even considered.
The bigger problem is realizing you should of ordered the cable when you purchased the receiver, and now you have to wait for it to come or to send off your unit to be un-looped.
The bigger problem is realizing you should of ordered the cable when you purchased the receiver, and now you have to wait for it to come or to send off your unit to be un-looped.
Last edited:
My MicroHD crashed as soon as I deleted the satellite, exited, it saved settings and it went back to the channel of the now deleted satellite. CRASH. I pulled power after a moment, put power back on and then reboot loop started. It would have needed to delete all channels attributed to the deleted satellites to avoid this bug.
Once I get my usb ttl cable, and if I feel like I care, I might recreate it. Or not...maybe just watch some tv.
Once I get my usb ttl cable, and if I feel like I care, I might recreate it. Or not...maybe just watch some tv.
The power cycle loop will not occur if the receiver is running Version 13 or newer firmware with attached .udf file as long as the user performed a Factory Reset then removed the power source during the firmware update. Removal of a channel using the STB edit menu or editing the .udf file with the MES or microHD version of the ALI Editor and reinstalling the saved .udf file will not corrupt the unit. Always remember to remove the power source when installing a new .udf to set the new user data and delete the previous data. Also, DO NOT load any .udf files created with firmware release version .12 or earlier.
If you review the entirity of the microHD forum threads for the past year, you will find about a dozen reports of the boot cycle issue. In the past 5 months since the release of version 13 update, only 5 members have reported an issue. In the past 5 months, 4 units have been sent to our facility for power cycling. Maybe Dave or Michael might comment on how many cables they have sold. I know that a few months back they were mentioning that sales had been very minimal they wish that they could add some monitor or update features supported by the serial cable as a value add so more cables would be sold.
Most product distributors do not address operational issues in an open forum like is hosted here on SatelliteGuys. They simply address the units as a RMA in emails and do not offer a public solution for the hobbyist end user to quickly fix without the need to return. We have been very public with our support of the microHD and can assure you that this issue occurrence is lower than on any receiver brand or model that we have ever distributed or provided factory warranty service.
While we hate to hear of any frustration caused by the microHD power cycling, we are confident in the firmware fix released in December, 2012 and the effectiveness of the update process to prevent the power cycling "reboot".
If you review the entirity of the microHD forum threads for the past year, you will find about a dozen reports of the boot cycle issue. In the past 5 months since the release of version 13 update, only 5 members have reported an issue. In the past 5 months, 4 units have been sent to our facility for power cycling. Maybe Dave or Michael might comment on how many cables they have sold. I know that a few months back they were mentioning that sales had been very minimal they wish that they could add some monitor or update features supported by the serial cable as a value add so more cables would be sold.
Most product distributors do not address operational issues in an open forum like is hosted here on SatelliteGuys. They simply address the units as a RMA in emails and do not offer a public solution for the hobbyist end user to quickly fix without the need to return. We have been very public with our support of the microHD and can assure you that this issue occurrence is lower than on any receiver brand or model that we have ever distributed or provided factory warranty service.
While we hate to hear of any frustration caused by the microHD power cycling, we are confident in the firmware fix released in December, 2012 and the effectiveness of the update process to prevent the power cycling "reboot".
Last edited:
Now you tell me lol..the other day I would've brought them both down with the chili. Surprised you don't have a Skyline or Goldstar down there by now.
Brian, I appreciate your help and honesty. It's nice in this day and age that a company stands behinds what they sell. I'm not sure how my Micro messed up this time. I got the first unit when they first came out and have edited the channel list dozens of times no problem anyway the cable will get it fixed soon enough...wait I know what it was now! The new movie channel starts tomorrow and the FTA gods are getting me back lol
I encountered this reboot issue without doing anything other than using the remote control via the Satellite menu on the microHD to deactivate a satellite. The receiver was updated weeks ago to the latest firmware, factory default file was installed, reboot/power off was done at that time. The receiver worked fine for weeks after doing the update. Until yesterday. I haven't used the editor since updating the firmware. In fact, in past when I've deactivated a satellite, sometimes it has caused one reboot but the receiver recovered. I was curious about that but never worried too much since after reboot all was normal. I think the reboot happens when a deactivated satellite happens to have tps configured and/or channels scanned in or something related to this. I got into the habit of activating/deactivating satellites as I experiment in searching for new sats. I developed this habit while using my S9 without any problems before.
Doing any action using a remote control should not cause a fatal failure. There should be something in the software that prevents the action if that action will lead to this reboot looping. I suggest nobody deactivate a satellite once you have activated it until this issue is understood more fully.
Doing any action using a remote control should not cause a fatal failure. There should be something in the software that prevents the action if that action will lead to this reboot looping. I suggest nobody deactivate a satellite once you have activated it until this issue is understood more fully.
You describe performing a power cycle after the firmware update, but was a factory reset first performed before removing the power source?
It's a little mushy in the memory cells exactly what I did weeks ago. I really can't say now. I'll watch for this next time I need to do an upgrade.
We have been unable to duplicate this boot looping report with current firmware. Failure to perform a factory reset then remove the power source after updating the firmware will cause issues.
