GI LX3 Bootloop

[supathug]

Hi all,

My LX3 has developed an issue where it is stuck in a Bootloop. Yesterday, I returned from holiday and noticed the fan whirring loudly with the box being hot to the touch (box had been left on standby while I was away).

Now the box will not boot. All it does is display the initial boot loader details on the vfd and splashscreen on the TV and then 'loading' before looping back to the splashscreen again.

I have tried, unsuccessfully to leave the box off for 24 hours and then reflash the boot loader and various images. Both reflash fine but the situation remains the same and nothing loads.

Does anyone have any ideas as to what might be causing this or ideas of fixes?

Any help much appreciated

Supa



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[abu baniaz]

Stop receiver with "init 4" command. Look at crash log for error or upload here. Default location for logs is /home/root/logs/

If there is no crashlog, start enigma 2 in console mode.

Links to commands in signature.

[Philthy]

I have exactly the same problem, and think I've found a solution?
I'm not sure of the protocol on this site, so won't post links, but it appears to be a power supply failure issue? One, or possibly two of the capacitors on the power supply board are failing. If you google "lx3 repair to power supply" you should find the thread on another forum.

The attached pic shows the bulging capacitor on my board.

It is a simple procedure to replace the capacitors, not beyond most hobbyists. Assuming of course, that your box is out of warranty, as doing this will almost certainly void it?

[aido]

Great post thanks, mine was playing up earlier this year and literally only this week started rebooting itself so I'm going to give this a go.

I've ordered these Panasonic caps from Amazon to try
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00U36LCHG/ref=pe_3187911_185740111_TE_item

I've only ever done one capacitor repair before which was on a Netgear router so looking forwards to giving this a go - that thing was bullet proof with upgraded caps and still works even now!

I didn't even realise how often it was rebooting until I turned on debug logs yesterday.

-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1411402 Oct 6 00:24 Enigma2_debug_2017-10-04_13-47-10.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 294751 Oct 6 03:43 Enigma2_debug_2017-10-06_00-30-39.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 4194304 Oct 7 08:35 Enigma2_debug_2017-10-06_03-44-26.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 617897 Oct 7 09:41 Enigma2_debug_2017-10-07_08-34-43.log
-rw-r--r-- 1 root root 240509 Oct 7 11:14 Enigma2_debug_2017-10-07_09-47-59.log

I'll pop the Technomate single tuner back in service for a bit :)

[aido]

Actually yes I've just popped the lid to take a look - when the box went back for service the caps were all looking fine but I notice the one hiding under the cable has started to expand now.

55088

Great post and assuming my soldering doesn't kill it you've just extended the life of my LX3 :D

[Philthy]

Nice one Aido, looks like the cap under the ribbon cable is usually the suspect? :D

[supathug]

Hi guys,

Sorry I didn't report back but replacing a bulged cap on mine on the psu solved the issue and my lx3 is running sweet again.

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[abu baniaz]

@aido, your attachment is not showing. Can you re-upload it please?

[aido]

Of course, not sure what happened there!

Here we go:

55088

You can just see that's it's coming up at the top on that one which is normally hidden by the ribbon cable

I'm just still waiting on the other caps arriving, I got notification they were shipped yesterday so I've got this job earmarked for the weekend :)

The Sam Young caps used don't have a mega reputation, hopefully these new Panasonic ones will outlive me (they're rated 10000 hours at 105 degrees and are supposed to double for every so many degrees you drop!)

[aido]

Thanks for the heads up guys - I finally got around to doing mine today!

I used these Panasonic capacitors as hopefully they'll outlive me and the box:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00U36LCHG/ref=pe_3187911_185740111_TE_item

The hardest part for me was getting the old capacitors out as it's only the second time I've ever soldered but it's gone well and the box came up first time so I'll keep an eye out to see if I still get the random reboots like I was prior to doing this.

In my case only one of the caps was bulging which was the 10v one, but I replaced both anyway so fingers crossed for more reliable service :)

Thanks again for the heads up - it was much easier than I'd expected!

[aido]

10 days on and the box has only rebooted once - which was when I told it to software update :)

It has seemed much more stable running IPTV too but that could be a coincidence I guess!

[thor1]

got up this morning my LX3 was not showing front display, I switched it off at the back and switched back on were it goes in a boot loop, it was working perfect yesterday, could this be a power supply problem

[Andy_Hazza]

Try flashing via USB flash drive and seeing if that works.


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[thor1]

I have removed psu, two capacitors are bulging one under ribbon cable the other one same as first picture, what is the value of capacitor under ribbon cable

[ccs]

My guess would be that they're all the same....


I used these Panasonic capacitors as hopefully they'll outlive me and the box:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00U36LCHG/ref=pe_3187911_185740111_TE_item

[thor1]

My guess would be that they're all the same....

was that for both capacitors

[ccs]

...maybe wait for aido to reply.

[aido]

It was yes, both capacitors are the Panasonic ones as linked and it carried on working beautifully up to a couple of months back when I swapped it for a Mutant HD51 :)

I'm not brilliant at soldering but the PCB used on these made it quite easy to fix and it sorted stability out for me :)

[thor1]

I have done the repair to my receiver, nervously de-soldered old capacitors and replaced with new Panasonic ones, up and running now, thanks for all the info on doing the repair

[thor1]

my friends lx3 has died, I have stripped it down to get the PSU out, only 1 capacitor is bulging, but not 1 in the photos it is situtated next to the yellow capacitor, can anyone advise what to do, the capacitor is 16v if that make any difference

[leif.59]

Got exactly same problem and after capacitors changed out, my LX3 up and running more better then ever.
Big thanks to everybody that support with answers.