Problems with flashing my ET8500 via USB

[Delboy181251]

I had not updated my Xtrend for about a year so decided to try to flash my Xtrend ET8500 with the latest Openvix image.
An online attempt failed so I followed the USB flashing instructions.
I took out my HDD in case that interfered with process.
Formatted a USB to FAT32 (using the HP Formatting Tool) and copied the et8500 folder onto it (using the Teracopy software), put the USB stick in the unit (rear USB slot) and switched on.
Got the usual Red and Black Xtrend logo at start up and the power button flashed red and blue. Touched the power button on front and it went steady red and blue with usual logo still on screen. Then button went steady blue and after a few moments saw the Openvix screen saying please wait.
Power button turned blue, unit began to whirl as if booting and screen goes blank with occasional colour flashes.
Instructions suggest flashing should take up to 4 minutes but after 20 minutes nothing has changed.
When I remove the USB stick and pop it into my computer, it has created a folder called Movie and one called Timeshift.
On re-starting the ET8500 I get the red ad black logo and then a blank screen.
I have tried with the et8500 loaded onto the USB and also tried adding just the contents of the et8500 folder but still no success.
Have tried an alternative brand new Kingston Datatraveller G4 8Gb USB, but when I use that, the power button does not even flash so cannot progress.

Please help!

[Willo3092]

When the led on the front panel turns steady blue it means the flash is complete.
I've never removed my hdd when flashing, try it again with the hdd back in.
These are the instructions I use:

Extract your zip file to the Fat32 formatted USB stick.
(Should result in just one folder on the stick named et8500)
Power on the Xtrend with the usb stick inserted and press the power button when it flashes alternately blue
and purple.
The flash is complete when the power button turns solid blue and the box will reboot automatically.
The flashing process should take approximately two to four minutes.

[Delboy181251]

Thanks for the prompt reply.
Do I need to be connected to the internet when I try the flashing process?
cheers.

[Willo3092]

Not if you're flashing by usb.

[Delboy181251]

Hi Willo3092, Have followed your instructions to the letter but the machine never re-boots. Been 15 minutes now. Power button is steady blue but I have a blank screen.?

[twol]

Its a bit late but how did you try to flash online? How did it fail?
You are being over cautious removing the HDD and Internet connection - leave well alone or you may cause an issue.
Like most usb flashing use the oldest stick you can find (you don‘t need much memory)

If the usb stick contains Movie and Timeshift (and didn‘t before) it means the system at some point booted up and used the usb for files .... probably when you removed the HDD.

So put the HDD and internet connection back in.
Check you haven‘t messed up your connection to the TV whilst removing things.

Format an old usb stick and put the et8500 folder on the usb .
Stick it into the rear of the powered down et8500, ensure no other usb device is attached.
Power on and hopefully hit the button when it indicated it has found the et8500 folder.
The screen flashing makes me wonder if your TV connection was messed up by all the moving around.

So take a deep breath, relax and try again.
I had 2 et8500‘s for several years and I beat them up terribly and they never failed - as solid as a rock!!

[Willo3092]

Can you access the box using putty? You can get the IP address from your router if you don't know it.

putty instructions (http://www.willobuild.xyz/Guides/PuTTY.pdf)

You can flash the box by pasting this line into putty and follow the instructions.
You will need to have the hdd inserted.

wget --no-check-certificate -O install_vix.sh http://willobuild.net/files/Scripts/vix/install_vix.sh?dl=1 && bash install_vix.sh

The script is courtesy of grog68

[twol]

Can you access the box using putty? You can get the IP address from your router if you don't know it.

putty instructions (http://www.willobuild.xyz/Guides/PuTTY.pdf)

You can flash the box by pasting this line into putty and follow the instructions.
You will need to have the hdd inserted.

wget --no-check-certificate -O install_vix.sh http://willobuild.net/files/Scripts/vix/install_vix.sh?dl=1 && bash install_vix.sh

The script is courtesy of grog68
Clever script! I have always done it the hard way!

[Delboy181251]

Its a bit late but how did you try to flash online? How did it fail?
You are being over cautious removing the HDD and Internet connection - leave well alone or you may cause an issue.
Like most usb flashing use the oldest stick you can find (you don‘t need much memory)

If the usb stick contains Movie and Timeshift (and didn‘t before) it means the system at some point booted up and used the usb for files .... probably when you removed the HDD.

So put the HDD and internet connection back in.
Check you haven‘t messed up your connection to the TV whilst removing things.

Format an old usb stick and put the et8500 folder on the usb .
Stick it into the rear of the powered down et8500, ensure no other usb device is attached.
Power on and hopefully hit the button when it indicated it has found the et8500 folder.
The screen flashing makes me wonder if your TV connection was messed up by all the moving around.

So take a deep breath, relax and try again.
I had 2 et8500‘s for several years and I beat them up terribly and they never failed - as solid as a rock!!

Thanks guys and you were bang on Twol,
It had updated but lost my TV connection. Got instructions on my TV to use my Xtrend remote to re-install my plug-ins etc. Now working great.
Many thanks for your invaluable help.:thumbsup:

[twol]

I am still curious as what happened when you tried an online update - would appreciate knowing what went wrong

[Delboy181251]

Hi twol,
Sorry for delayed reply,
Wish I could tell you but all I can say is that I had not updated the image for ages and when I started to do it on-line it came back with message that the update failed due to incompatibility issues. Hence I did it via USB.
with the Xtrend ET8500 having its own LCD screen I never bothered to switch on my TV and when the machine didn't seem to reboot I was sure that had failed. I checked the connections between my Onkyo amplifier and the output to the TV and suddenly on the TV I got instructions to use my Xtrend remote to re-set the screen resolution to 1080p etc.

[twol]

OK - thanks maybe a kernel issue.
Ref LCD - yep understand that, the LCD display is so good I always worked off the LCD when flashing as it was so much faster than waiting for the TV display.
Have to say the ET8500 was one of my all time favourite receivers .. well ahead of its time in many ways

[Willo3092]

Nice big lcd screen too! I use mine with the TV cloned to lcd and don't bother switching the TV on in my mancave.

[twol]

Regardless of other receivers marketing , the ET8500 is probably still the only receiver you could do that on

[carteman]

Sorry to jump on in on this thread. My suppliers saying that in need to install open atv on my box to stop the freezing issues. Like above i cannot get the box to boot from the usb. Currently running willo 5.2.043. I can’t see that this image is causing the freezing issues. Anyone cast some light on this for me.

[Andy_Hazza]

Sorry to jump on in on this thread. My suppliers saying that in need to install open atv on my box to stop the freezing issues. Like above i cannot get the box to boot from the usb. Currently running willo 5.2.043. I can’t see that this image is causing the freezing issues. Anyone cast some light on this for me.

More like change your supplier.... [emoji85]


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[cactikid]

Omg the stress of atv images and all those issues that others are having with them,not moving from working openvix.
Good usb needed like kingston,cruzer or integral 8gb formatted to fat 32 and image extracted to usb stick.No other usb devices plugged in.

[twol]

Sorry to jump on in on this thread. My suppliers saying that in need to install open atv on my box to stop the freezing issues. Like above i cannot get the box to boot from the usb. Currently running willo 5.2.043. I can’t see that this image is causing the freezing issues. Anyone cast some light on this for me.
Does it still boot? If so wait a few days and you can then use the latest OPenViX ImageManager to flash OenATV....... but OpenATV have a few issues at the moment (things not working) ..... any supplier pushing you to a specific image is talking ####

[carteman]

Yea thought he’s probably talking crap. Never had a problem before. Fear of sounding dumb what’s the ecm times a guide of and what should they be.