Reviving my Traxis 3500

[GreatFTA]

Every time I see my Traxis 3500 receiver, it seems to call me a murderer.
You see, I bought this receiver last year from a friend who bought it new and never used it.
I used it for a little while with great results, being a great receiver with its excellent blindscanning capability.
One day I decided to upgrade its firmware to the newest one that came out.
Well, I downloaded the latest firmware and tried to install it. I did this type of thing in the past with other receivers with no problems.
During the process of installing, there was a step I overlooked and the 3500 became a doorstop.
Has any of you ever had this happened and managed to revive it? I feel like the processor can be restored.
If it is possible, please let me know!
Thanks.

 

[Lak7]

Missed a Step or loaded the wrong Firmware?

 

[Pixl]

Most of these FTA receivers have a nvram chip that controls the boot up. Nvram has a small window of opportunity to load new instructions at power up. A friends Coolsat somehow got scrambled up and turned into a brick. I found a file out on the internet that I had to load thru the serial port right at power up and brought it back to life, was then able to re-load firmware and now working again. Routers for your internet connection also have this nvram chip. I bricked a Linksys one time when I made a mistake loading DD-WRT. Found a rescue file that again you run right at power on, brought it back to life. Perhaps such a file is out there for the Traxis.

Jim

 

[GreatFTA]

What happened was I forgot to load the necessary files into a folder that the 3500 had to go to in order for the firmware to work. It went to the empty folder and next thing is the 3500 became useless.
Now with the 232 cable hooked up between the PC and 3500, the 3500 won't let me in, using the loader. Got to be a way to trick it to do what I need to do.

 

[turbosat]

If you had another working box, maybe you could "clone" receiver to receiver? Some brands will do that.
Edit to add: I still have the manual that came with my traxis and it says you can do that-clone from one rec to another. I'd be glad to try it if you wanted to ship yours to me. PM me if you're interested.

 

[Pixl]

Now with the 232 cable hooked up between the PC and 3500, the 3500 won't let me in, using the loader. Got to be a way to trick it to do what I need to do.

If you know how to use the serial 232 cable then you might be able to save the receiver yourself. Attached here is instructions for setting up your computer with a serial cable, then at a certain point you power up the Traxis and the loader program shoots the file in at the right time. The people here have the files and more info to get you going. This is similar to how I revived that Coolsat.

Jim

EDIT: Well for some reason I can't post the link. PM me for the files you will need.

 

[Lak7]

Make sure you have a "P" version unit!


http://www.dmsiusa.com/dbs3500software.html

 

[GreatFTA]

Since the Traxis is a doorstop, does it make any difference if it is P or not?
If I remember correctly it is not a P model.
Maybe if I get this firmware into it then I can use this one to help me get the correct version installed.

 

[Pixl]

Since the Traxis is a doorstop, does it make any difference if it is P or not?
If I remember correctly it is not a P model.
Maybe if I get this firmware into it then I can use this one to help me get the correct version installed.

I think you're right, at this point if you can get any available loader to boot the receiver, you can go from there to get the right firmware back in. Can't make it any worse.

 

[GreatFTA]

There is nothing on the 3500 display at all when I turn it on. The SPDIF at the rear is lite up, indicating it is getting power.
When I use ther loader to connect, I get this: Target not connect or target is error status!
And that is far I can go.

 

[Pixl]

There is nothing on the 3500 display at all when I turn it on. The SPDIF at the rear is lite up, indicating it is getting power.
When I use ther loader to connect, I get this: Target not connect or target is error status!
And that is far I can go.

Does the loader software have a "connect" test for the Serial rs-232 port. Also some receivers need a cross over cable or null modem which is simply a connector that trades pin 2 to 3 and 3 to 2. Probably not an issue if you are using the cable that came with the receiver.

 

[GreatFTA]

I got the cable that came with it. I believe this receiver is really gone.
Oh well...

thanks guys

 

[eurosport]

Get with Turbosat, maybe the "cloning" will work. Sounds like you can't lose anything, and maybe it'll come back to life.

 

[phlatwound]

MrFTAMan, if you can't get yours going, and you want a Traxis 3500, you might consider making Lak7 an offer he can't refuse for the one he has for sale (in his sig).

 

[Pixl]

MrFTAMan, if you can't get yours going, and you want a Traxis 3500, you might consider making Lak7 an offer he can't refuse for the one he has for sale (in his sig).

That would be great if you bought it. I'm tired of looking at
For Sale: Traxis 3500 - make offer

 

[Lak7]

You're telling me, it's just sitting here looking at Me!

 

[GreatFTA]

I may get Lak's receiver. But it will be Christmas very soon and I want to get that taken care first. I had spoken to Lak back in the summer about it. Can't believe he still got it!

 

[bubbagscotch]

I REVIVED MINE

Well mine went haywire one time, black and white and the picture moving up and down the screen. I could see that there was still a menu and stuff but couldn't read it since it moved up and down real fast. I grabbed my other traxis 3500 and tried the copy feature with the rs cable and bam came back to normal. If you know anyone with the same receiver you should try and copy from one receiver to the other.

 

[GreatFTA]

Problem is, I know no one around here that got one. :-(

 

[the_man_one]

possibly j-tag time, is the traxis a copy of the pansat 3500 or vice versa? if so a cable is easily made & the programs are out there.... the other option (if available) is return the reciever to the factory to get them to j-tag it