DTR-T1000 stuck on nearly ready

[MontysEvilTwin]

I fancied having a poke around the innards of a DTR-T1000 to see how similar it is to the HDR-FOX T2. I bought one on eBay for just over £20. It went reasonably priced as there was no remote, and it was getting stuck on 'nearly ready' when booting up. I ran the maintenance mode, internet recovery procedure and got it working again. However, within a day it was missing recordings and started sticking on 'nearly ready' again. I have read suggestions on various forums that the problem is due to a failing disk drive, or perhaps a faulty power supply. The PSU is the same model as used in the revised hardware version of HDR-FOX (RE model) so I swapped the PSU. It made no difference: the original PSU has been working happily for almost a week now in an 'RE' HDR-FOX. The hard drive also seems fine when mounted on a PC. I noticed that if you boot up the unit without the hard drive connected it behaves in the same way: it goes through most of the process but sticks on 'nearly ready'. The hard drive is connected to main board by what I think is a proprietary cable (I can't find the exact same type of cable for sale). The hard drive end has a combined SATA data and power connector: this is linked to a SATA data cable and an ATX 4-pin motherboard power connector. When I pulled the right hand side of the joint connector (power) out slightly the box rebooted itself and then started working properly. The connection to the hard drive is clearly rather flakey. In fact, it drops when the connector is firmly seated. This cable is almost identical to that used in the HDR-FOX, and is probably made by the same manufacturer as the moulding is the same, with the letters 'CA' embossed on the connector (see photo).



However, the end of the connector is grey rather than black and the plastic feels flimsier and softer compared to one taken from an HDR-FOX. I am now using a cable from a HDR-FOX in the DTR-T1000 and it has been running fine for several days now.

In this case the problem seems to be down to the cable used to connect the hard drive to the main board but while it looks promising, it is early days. These findings are based on a sample size of one, and there may be several faults that exhibit similar symptoms so changing the cable may not fix your misbehaving DTR-T1000.

If you want to try this fix but don't have a spare Humax lead, the cheapest way I can see is to use standard SATA data cable and make your own power cable. This is quite easy: if you buy a SATA to molex power connector plus a 4-pin ATX power plug, you can remove the molex end and wire into the ATX plug using the colour coding from the proprietary cable as a guide.

 

[MontysEvilTwin]

I said it was early days. The box had bit of a wobble the other day. It missed a recording, and the second time I switched it on (from High Eco standby) it got stuck in 'Nearly Ready' again. I think the problem happens when the disk does not power up properly. Normally there is a lot of disk activity a few seconds after switching on and then lesser activity during the two minute boot-up sequence, finishing with a burst of activity just before the channel comes on screen. When it is in misoperation, either there is no audible disk activity from the start, or the disk spins down just as the channel is about to appear. I don't think it is the PSU: I installed one from a perfectly functional HDR-FOX RE box (it is the same model PSU) soon after I got the DTR-T1000. The original PSU is running fine in the FOX RE too. I don't think it is the disk drive either. While it was misbehaving, I swapped it with another of the same type (Seagate Pipeline HD 5900.2) but it made no difference. The hard drive data/ power lead that came with the box was rather flimsy and changing it may have improved the situation, but I think there is more to it than just the lead. While the box was stuck in 'Nearly Ready' I disconnected and reconnected the main board HDD power connector a few times and suddenly the disk woke up. The box rebooted and then started working properly again. It has been fine for the last day or so now. I now think the problem is related to power distribution from the main board.

I think a similar fault is seen with the HDR-FOX, though it is rarer. An example is discussed in this thread. The OP did extensive testing and concluded that the fault was on the main board. With the HDR-FOX such a fault would not stop it booting up but the HDD would become inaccessible. FYI, while the DTR-T1000 has its own main board, and is cosmetically different to the HDR-FOX (different logos on the front panel, no hole in the case for a CI card etc.) the other components are HDR-FOX parts. The PSU is the same as a FOX RE, the disk caddy, disk drive and fan are the same, as are the front panel components. The front board and USB board are marked as HDR-FOX parts: the front board has MICOM 12.1 installed (like the FOX RE) and works fine if connected to a HDR-FOX.

The symptoms I have observed with this DTR-T1000 unit seem very common with this, and later models of Humax Youview box. As disk access is necessary to allow the unit to boot up correctly, problems with the main board, hard drive or PSU could all make the unit fail to boot. I imagine that this particular model must have quite a high failure rate based on the numerous posts across many forums.

 

[triumph]

I realise this is a fairly old thread but the heatsink on the cpu is way too small! I`ve just got a DTR-T1000 BT badged one off eBay and was amazed at how hot they get! Even the Huawei box is cooler but a lot slower, so I`ve put a small fan (a 40mm 12v fan bluetacked to the HDD caddy.) onto the heatsink, powered off the yellow sata lead and its now running a lot cooler. Ok, its blowing hot air about in the box but at least its moving the air about and cooling the cpu.
In my opinion most failures are due to the heat and the well undersized heatsink!
I`m going to drill a couple of holes in the caddy to fit a larger fan at some time in the future to move more air about, or fit one in the top cover to solve the problem once and for all!! Heat is the deadly enemy of all electronics.