Crashing

R7814N

Member
My HDR-fox t2 is crashing as soon as it starts up from cold. It then counts down 10 secs and crashes again. This cycle continues without a pause. I found this advice in our forums:

https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/steps-for-resolving-hdr-fox-crash-reboot-issues.5320/

As I can not access the machine via my lan, and can not stop the crashes, I disconnected the HD, but still it crashed. I have looked at the capacitors in the PSU they look normal with no bloating. There are two black pods in there that look as if they have been squashed with pinchers but I think that is how they are meant to look. They are not capacitors as far as I can guess.

The front panel seems to be working in that it is clearly showing that the machine has crashed and is about to restart.

Before this complete crash stage, I noticed that the machine would start, there would be a click, and then restart again. After that it worked normally.

What should I check next?
 
Are you running the Customised Firmware? You've posted in the wrong section if you are.
Applying the System Flush image would seem to be your next option.
 
You've posted in the wrong section if you are.
I disagree, this is (probably) not a CF problem.

I noticed that the machine would start, there would be a click, and then restart again.
The click comes from the HDD, when it gets reset (by the restart I guess).

Have you done everything, including 1C?
 
1B & 1C: How do I follow these steps when I cannot stop the continuous cycle of crash and restart? On a normal computer I would put in a live CD and boot off it. The advice at 1B & C implies that it is possible to get round the non stop cycle of crash and reboot, by installing via the USB. When I did this it did not install the software on the usb, because the crash cycle took precedence over installing from the usb. Is there a way to force it to install the software on the usb?

It seems to me that there must be a boot rom installed otherwise how would it be able to react to give the crash message. This implies there is a window of opportunity to stop the machine restarting, but I do not know how to access it.

Can I test this type of power supply with an ordinary volt meter?
 
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The bottom line is that power supply outputs DC voltages, so yes you can test it with an ordinary volt meter although obviously you won't see any noise on top of the DC levels, there is a high resolution picture of the PSU on the Wiki (Click HERE), that might help, you could locate your 'Black Pods' for example

EDIT
My guess is that your black pods are L51 and L121, these are inductors and have been wrapped in heat shrink sleeving, they are (as you say) meant to look like that
 
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When I did this it did not install the software on the usb, because the crash cycle took precedence over installing from the usb.
Did you start with the Humax powered off? Looking at the USB stick is one of the first things it does. How is the USB stick formatted? Have you used it previously to update the Humax?
 
When I did this it did not install the software on the usb, because the crash cycle took precedence over installing from the usb.
Hmm. That's a problem, agreed, and not one I have come across. If it won't load an image in this state, you're stuffed.

Did you start with the Humax powered off?
Could try that.

Have you used it [that particular USB drive] previously to update the Humax?
Relevant, because unless you have there is no guarantee that particular drive would work anyway (it's picky).

It seems to me that there must be a boot rom installed otherwise how would it be able to react to give the crash message.
The "boot rom" as you put it is the Flash, which is partitioned into the "Loader" and the operational stuff. Updating the loader is a separate protected operation, and requires extreme caution.

It is the limited USB mass storage driver support in the loader which makes the firmware update process picky about drives.
 
I was using a USB 3 stick, expecting it to work with USB 2 sockets, but in this instance it did not. I put in a different stick specifically for USB 2 and that has worked. The Umax did not crash but went to the file on the stick. I expect I will be back with the next problem soon, but I will continue with the guidance as to how to deal with crashes. It was not obvious what connections to use to test the output from the PSU, but as the usb stick worked I am hoping there is no problem with it.

On a visual inspection there does not appear to be a fault with the PSU. The two black pods are the same per the photo of the PSU in the link to the Wiki.
 
R7814N : It was not obvious what connections to use to test the output from the PSU

The connector in the bottom left hand corner of the Wiki picture has 8 pins in it, they are marked as G, G,+5.8, +5.8, G, G, +12, +12 there is a picture here :-

IMG_4133s.JPG
Click on Image

My measurements with the unit fully running were 6.62 Volts for the 5.8V and 12.25 Volts for the 12v

WARNING
You must only attempt to take these measurements if you know what you are doing, there are obviously Mains voltages in this unit
 
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Although indications are that OP's issue isn't with the PSU, the labelling and observed measurements imply that it would be fairly easy to create a substitute PSU from suitably rated off-the-shelf 6V and 12V supplies soldered to a PCB header cut from a broken unit.

Apparently there's no direct feedback to the PSU for the standby function, so I suppose the PSU is meant go into idle on low current demand.

Obviously the main board has on-board regulation to provide the lower voltages needed for the computer-y parts and perhaps also for the analogue stuff (tuners, eg), so maybe those regulators can be suspended for standby (as implied by the existence of a setting to control suspending tuner power in standby).
 
That's strange because I've used one several times with no problems.
Then I stand corrected. I assumed, incorrectly it seems, that any UPD designed for USB3 would require more recent drivers than those installed in the Humax firmware.

It is a surprise, is it not? Or could it be the case that these "USB3" devices just have a USB3 style connector without the accompanying speed?
 
The stick in question definitely has a blue insert. It also definitely sucks when it comes to write performance. I don't think read performance is that great either.
I doubt either is greater than USB2 speed; write certainly isn't.
Anyway a USB3 device is backwards compatible with a USB2 socket interface.
 
It is a surprise, is it not? Or could it be the case that these "USB3" devices just have a USB3 style connector without the accompanying speed?
Some USB3 devices have a USB2 style connector and are claimed to be USB2 compatible. I haven't tried in the HDR-FOX T2 but a couple of USB3 memory sticks work fine in various computers with only USB2 sockets and a Humax FVP-5000T.
 
USB2 style connector
??? How can a "USB3" device not have a USB3 connector? USB3 has more signal contacts than USB2 (in a row hidden behind the normal four USB2 contacts).

a couple of USB3 memory sticks work fine in various computers with only USB2 sockets
So they should - USB3 is supposed to fall back to USB2 compatibility mode when only USB2 signals are present, and the USB3 plug is designed to fit a USB3 or USB2 socket. That says nothing about driver versions (which can be installed on demand on a desktop OS, but not on the HDR-FOX).
 
??? How can a "USB3" device not have a USB3 connector?
The words I used were "USB2 style" connector. i.e. they look superficially like USB2 but have the extra contacts. I believe the correct designation is USB 3.0 Standard-A plug. There are also USB 3.0 Standard-B plugs but they are not compatible with USB 2.0 Standard-B sockets and USB 3.0 micro B plugs. A USB 3.0 micro B socket will accept a USB 2 plug but a USB3.0 micro B plug will not fit a USB 2.0 socket.
 
Following the advice at https://hummy.tv/forum/threads/steps-for-resolving-hdr-fox-crash-reboot-issues.5320/ I used the usb stick to install

HDR_FOX_T2_1.03.12_mod_3.13.zip

I then restarted the machine and now it only shows initially:
L000

It then comes up with E-OS until I turn off the machine.

It was not clear to me if 1B was requiring the official firmware to be installed first.

Download and install (or re-install) the latest Humax firmware via USB. Full details are on the wik

Did I misunderstand what 1B was referring to and thus I should have installed the official firmware and then installed the system flush? Alternatively is it safe for me to proceed to install the system flush with out installing the official firmware?
 
The E-OS is an error code informing you that the system has encountered an Incorrect Operating System, my understanding is that you should be able to install the custom firmware without having to install the standard firmware first, however the system doesn't like what it sees, so I would re-install the standard HDR_FOX_T2_1.03.12, you can always install the custom firmware at a later date

BTW
Just checking - zip files do need unzipping before installation
 
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