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Hanging T2

D

dooferdog

Member
Afternoon,

I have mentioned over on the Steps for Repairing a Disk thread I am having an ongoing problem with my T2 frreezing up when changing video preferences in the settings menu on the Humax. This seemed to be co-existent with bad sectors warnings on the Webif, but is certainly happening with the wifi dongle plugged in. I have run via telnet fixdisk in maintenance mode. This got so far before seemingly freezing up, however since I have rebooted the T2 the bad sector warnings have gone away. I have been using the wifi dongle for a couple of years without trouble. I have therefore also reviewed my network situation for new media servers, and have turned off plex in the process. I also have the dlna filter package running and have done a factory reset and resinstalled the latest CF (3.03 I think? I am away from home this afternoon). Neither of these things resolve the problem.

I am thinking about a system flush as the next step but failing that am thinking it is possible I still have disk problems not heloing this situation. So failing the flush and re-install fixing my issue I will consider a new hard drive. I am considering this drive . Does anyone know whether the Humax will benefit from the 6Gb/s interface speed, or recommend a better/alternative 4TB drive. I am of the understanding that notwithstanding a recent thread 4TB is still the max drive size that can be used..?
Thanks
 
The maximum size of the internal disk is 2TB. The faster speed won't matter: the interface is not SATA III (not sure if it is SATA I or II). SATA III drives will still work though. Which kernel are you using? If you have installed the standard 1.03.12 kernel with custom firmware, this is not compatible with wifi.
 
prpr said:
Huh? Why not?
Click to expand...
It is to do with support for IP tables. When version 3.0 custom firmware was released there was a problem with the custom kernel and WiFi. This was fixed but now WiFi doesn't work without the custom kernel, unless you only have standard firmware installed, of course.
 
MontysEvilTwin said:
The maximum size of the internal disk is 2TB. The faster speed won't matter: the interface is not SATA III (not sure if it is SATA I or II). SATA III drives will still work though. Which kernel are you using? If you have installed the standard 1.03.12 kernel with custom firmware, this is not compatible with wifi.
Click to expand...

Oh OK, thanks Montys - well 2TB will be double my existing 1TB. Bit confused on the wifi incompatibility issue. If the kernal means the base Humax firmware, then yes I am on 1.03.12 with the latest CF 3.03 over the top. However I have I think been on the 1.03.12 with an earlier firmware for well over a year, and I think only wifi hangng issues for a couple of months.

To expand on the freezing up when changing settings: I have found that it is not a total freeze but a "hang" where whatever menu I am in stays on the screen and the machine is unresponsive to remote commands. If left for about 5 minutes it seems to eventually sort itself out, but another change of settings command on the remote will see a hang all over again.

What is the last known kernal/CF combination then that does not have a wi-fi issue? Perhaps I can system flush and go back to a working combo?
 
IIRC there were some teething troubles with the new kernel and CF3.00, but all that has been fixed for some considerable time.

If you think you have a problem with your particular WiFi dongle and a firmware update, I suggest you revert to a previous version of firmware (temporarily) and check it is not a coincidence.
 
dooferdog said:
Oh OK, thanks Montys - well 2TB will be double my existing 1TB. Bit confused on the wifi incompatibility issue. If the kernal means the base Humax firmware, then yes I am on 1.03.12 with the latest CF 3.03 over the top. However I have I think been on the 1.03.12 with an earlier firmware for well over a year, and I think only wifi hangng issues for a couple of months.

To expand on the freezing up when changing settings: I have found that it is not a total freeze but a "hang" where whatever menu I am in stays on the screen and the machine is unresponsive to remote commands. If left for about 5 minutes it seems to eventually sort itself out, but another change of settings command on the remote will see a hang all over again.

What is the last known kernal/CF combination then that does not have a wi-fi issue? Perhaps I can system flush and go back to a working combo?
Click to expand...

I don't think it is your firmware: you can check your kernel version by looking at the bottom right hand corner of the Web-If landing page. The custom firmware (1.03.12/ CFW3.03) also loads a custom kernel. In rare cases this can cause problems with external hard drives, and one model of WD green AV drive (internal SATA drive). This can be fixed by patching with the standard kernel after installing the CFW. If you have not carried out this extra step the custom kernel will be the version installed.
Re. your WiFi problem, I would first try resetting to factory defaults (without HDD format). Back up your recording schedule first as you will have to restore this afterwards, in addition to retuning and setting up your default settings. This is not guaranteed to fix your problem but it does not take too long and will overwrite the standard databases, fixing any corrupt ones in the process.
 
Sorry for being thick. From a couple of your posts I believe you are saying the custom kernel for 1.0312/CFW3.03 should be OK with wifi. When you have said "WiFi doesn't work without the custom kernel" what do you mean exactly, that the wifi will not function at all, the system freezes, or something else? My system works fine with the wifi, until I try to change more or less any setting. How would I patch with the standard kernel (not that I; sure I should do that if the wifi will not work with it.)?

I did already do a factory reset and retune which didn't improve the problem. I think I will try BH's suggestion and report back, but any suggestions which CF to go back to? Thanks.
 
OK, firmware/ CFW 1.03.12/ 3.03 includes the standard version 1.03.12 firmware plus custom firmware (version 3.03). This update also installs a custom kernel. Wireless works fine with this installed. If you look at the firmware downloads page, you will see a link for the standard 1.03.12 kernel. If you have the one of the problems described in my previous post you could install this file, after the above installation, as a fix. However, the unit will freeze if you plug in a wireless dongle so you would have to use the Ethernet port for networking. It seems that you have not installed this patch so it is not the cause of your WiFi issue. Installing it would not help you either.
 
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dooferdog said:
I did already do a factory reset and retune which didn't improve the problem. I think I will try BH's suggestion and report back, but any suggestions which CF to go back to? Thanks.
Click to expand...
Just to prove it, try 1.02.32 without CF (the packages etc will still be there - just dormant, and re activate when you do reinstall CF). If that doesn't work your dongle or network is broken. If it does work, install CF for 1.02.32 (that should work too, but you will lose iPlayer).

With those steps proven, install 1.03.12 without and then with CF. Report back.
 
mihaid said:
my hummy
HX/CFW/RS Versions 1.03.12 / 3.00 / 1.2.0
is working just fine with wifi dongle.
Click to expand...
There is no problem with with a regular install of custom firmware. The WiFi issue I mentioned will only be encountered if you install version 3.00 (or higher) of the custom firmware and then apply the patch (kernel only) to replace the custom kernel with the Humax kernel {HDR_1.03.12 (jinkh@jinkh-build-server) Fri Feb 7 14:15:02 KST 2014} extracted from the standard version 1.03.12 firmware update.
 
Black Hole said:
Just to prove it, try 1.02.32 without CF (the packages etc will still be there - just dormant, and re activate when you do reinstall CF). If that doesn't work your dongle or network is broken. If it does work, install CF for 1.02.32 (that should work too, but you will lose iPlayer).

With those steps proven, install 1.03.12 without and then with CF. Report back.
Click to expand...

Right, it appears there is hope, but I'm not sure how much..I have done the first two parts of what you suggest BH (see report below).

To recap and expand; the more I review matters and look at this systematically I seem to have a number of problems with the CF/wifi combination, some of which I think I have just learned to live with/work around, but the exercise just carried out seems to pin the problems down to the CF/wifi combination which is getting worse. My dongle is an edimax one the Edimax Wireless N nLITE USB Adapter EW-7711UAn. The serious problem of the box hanging when I go into the settings or use the 'wide' button on the remote have only appeared in the last 3 months or so (I can't say exactly when), some other of the problems have existed for much longer.

I will list the problems so they are easier to track through the tests I have done:

a) T2 hangs on changing or viewing menu settings with wifi plugged in (eg. preferences/video/16:9\4:3, system/wifi settings (just viewing), use of the 'wide' button on the remote). This problem goes away without wifi plugged in. Code="T2 Hangs"(Has appeared in last 3 months)
b) T2 will not come out of standby through use of remote or big button on front of box. This problem goes away without wifi plugged in (or alternatively hard reboot with switch at back). Code="Won't Wake"(has appeared in last 3 months)
c) T2 picture and functions freeze (sound continues) when trying to go into guide or media list immediately on start up. Code="freezes on start up " (have had this problem for a long time - over a year). I use a workaround which is to cycle up a few channels using the channel up on the remote before trying to do anything else. This seems to prevent the box from freezing.
d) EPG is very slow Code = "EPG slow"
3) Media list and 'deleting' function from media list is very slow.Code: "Media slow"

In terms of system steps and results.

1) I have loaded 1.02.32 standard firmware and no problems exist. EPG and Media list are lightening fast! "T2 Hangs", "Won't Wake" and "Freezes on Startup" does not exist
2) I then loaded 1.02.32 CF3.03. Problem="T2 Hangs", "Won' Wake", "Freezes on Startup", EPG Slow and Media Slow.
I haven't proceed further as the problems are introduced with the installation of 1.02.32/3.03.

I'm interested in what you say above that "the packages etc will still be there - just dormant". Does this mean that I haven't really done a full flush as the wiki says the flush is "designed to assist recovery from crash/reboot loops and to clear everything out after running RMA mode. ". Is it worth me trying this?

FYI I can't use wired LAN as I don't have cabling near the box and I have found those powerline products completely screw with the rest of the network and clients on the network. With no TV screen near my LAN points testing this by moving the Humax would be very difficult, but I will do it if absolutely necessary....
 
Well, I went ahead and tried to put the machine into RMA mode to do a flush. The Webif gave me confirmation messages that the machine was in RMA mode but the humax would not go into standby per the instructions. So I hard re-booted with the on off switch and the humax booted with 1.02.32/CF3.0, not in RMA mode. Also, whilst the front panel said CF3.03 none of the features were avaialable on the box, and the WebIf only came up with the short message about re-installing a CF, no full WebIf. I went ahead anyway and 'downgraded' the box to standard 1.02.32 which works fine. However, the humax will not now accept any of the two CF upgrades I have tried. I have tried both 3.03 and 2.21. Thefront panel just says "System Start", and hangs there with the Humax logo on the TV... This doesn't feel good to me....stuck now.
 
I wouldn't go back to CF pre-v3, there's no package support for it now.

If there was something serious wrong, I would not expect 1.02.32 to be successful. There is just a small chance that the bit of Flash storage required to hold the CF is dicky with the rest being OK, but it seems pretty unlikely.

You should be able to restore function by reinstalling 1.02.32. Installing 3.03 for 1.02.32 should be just as effective. If you can't get a USB firmware install to take at all - you're buggered (but don't give up on it easily).
 
That's been the case for some time. Didn't you know?

Are you still in stuck boot, even when booting into firmware update mode?
 
In which case I would regard the UPD as "damaged" and try others. This is a known scenario. The firmware update process is very picky about UPDs, it has limited driver support so it is more likely to be successful with vintage small UPDs than brand new huge ones. It is also easy to upset if the file system is not quite right (even though it works in a PC).

For more info see Things Every... (click) section 12.

dooferdog said:
No, i hadn't had a need to look for one.
Click to expand...
Said the man surprised by the arrival of bulldozers to build the Beddingford Bypass.
 
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