Have I killed my HD2400?

[BenEadir]

Hi all,

I've checked previous threads and can't find this specific issue being dealt with previously so hope this isn't a duplicated thread.

Long story short is about 3.5 years ago I took the plunge and ditched Sky in favour of FTA/Saorview via a quad tuner Mutant HD2400 and flashed OpenVix 3.2 which gave me all the functionality I wanted:-

- Combined the Free To Air UK channels + the Irish Saorview channels on one 7 day EPG.
- Series record to the built in HDD.
- Easy to use for all in the family.

Having set it up and gotten it stable I left it well alone which means it's still on the last image of the 3.2 branch. My mantra was if it's not broken don't fix it and it's served us very well for 3.5 years.

Unfortunately the PVR function now hangs every time that function is launched. The PVR menu launches fine and the device starts looking for the saved recordings but then the blue "waiting" circle appears and it just hangs. I've tried waiting for hours but it just stays hung and requires a re-boot. I think one of the recordings much have become corrupt but as I can't access the PVR library I can't get in to delete what may be the offending file. Pause/rewind of live TV still works fine so I'm assuming that means the HDD itself is still working unless pause/rewind is somehow handled by built in RAM?

To fix the problem I decided to do a backup then flash the latest 5.3 version of OpenVix from Nov 21st and then intended to restore from the backup hoping that would keep all the settings etc as they are and with a bit of luck PVR would be working again and I wouldn't have lost the 500GB of recordings I have on the HDD.

So the backup -> flash new Vix version -> restore backup plan didn't go very well.

I downloaded and extracted the latest version of Vix and put the extracted HD2400 folder on an 8GB FAT32 formatted USB drive. There are two USB ports on the rear of the box just below the Ethernet port which I do have connected to my router.

One of the USB slots already had a 2GB FAT formatted USB drive containing three folders:-

- Backup
- Crossepg
- Imagebackups

I powered off and plugged out the power cord from the box for 5 minutes and during that time removed the aforementioned USB drive and the Ethernet cable.

I put the Vix Image USB into one of the USB slots and connected the power cable. The Mutant logo immediately presents on the TV screen and I was expecting shortly after that the term "Image Found" would come up at which point I'd press the up button on the front of the box and the new Vix image would flash but nothing happened other than the Mutant logo stayed on the TV screen.

Thinking I must have made an error extracting and/or copying the extracted Vix image onto the USB drive I decided to let the family watch TV whilst I re-downloaded and extracted a new version of the Vix image so I powered off the box again, removed the Vix image USB drive, re-installed the USB drive that has always been there (I don't remember why I left that there but I'm sure there's a good reason!!), re-connected the Ethernet cable (which I assume is needed to update EPG data?) and powered the box back on again expecting the old 3.2 image to power up as normal but instead I just get the Mutant logo on the TV Screen so it seems the box is frozen altogether, it won't recognise and allow a new Vix image to be installed and it won't boot up into the old image that has been working fine, bar the recent issues with the PVR, for 3.5 years.

I tried re-flashing the new image using the front USB port but get the same outcome. The Mutant logo just stays on the screen and every 15 minutes or so the box beeps, the Mutant logo disappears for a second then re-appears and 15 minutes later it repeats. This now happens whether I am trying to re-boot the 3.2 image as normal or whether I'm trying to flash a new image.

Have I managed to brink the box? Is there a way to do a soft or factory reset via a combination of button pushing?

Can't believe I fcuked up something as simple as flashing a new image to the box, it's literally paint by numbers easy to do

Any suggestions? Family looking at me like I've killed a puppy or something :-(

[ccs]

There are probably hundreds of posts saying "can't usb flash", it's usually down to the stick - the smaller the better.
Try a search to get more details if needed.

Once flashed, you won't be able to restore your own settings, so you'll need so have a look at https://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?57193-Manually-restore-settings-from-images-older-than-4-2

Couch flashing is much easier than usb flashing, but it's a bit more complicated because of the age of your current image.

I'll see if I can find a recent post which tells you what to do.

Here's one https://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?62172-Help-Flashing-Latest-VIX&p=491707&viewfull=1#post491707

We need to get your 3.2 image working first!!

Can you FTP or telnet to the box?

[abu baniaz]

Couch flashing is much easier than usb flashing, but it's a bit more complicated because of the age of your current image.


Beg to differ.



wget --no-check-certificate -O install_vix.sh https://www.dropbox.com/s/hc2cdr116lvx3dj/install_vix.sh?dl=1 && bash install_vix.sh


Guide to issuing commands here
https://www.world-of-satellite.com/showthread.php?40948-How-to-use-Putty-for-Unix-Linux-commands

[ccs]

… that's what I call a bit more complicated. :)

[BenEadir]

Hi CCS,

Thanks for reponding.


There are probably hundreds of posts saying "can't usb flash", it's usually down to the stick - the smaller the better.
Try a search to get more details if needed.

I did test the USB stick before using it (copied files over and back successfully) but I can try another USB stick if that would help although given you reckon I need to get 3.2 working first I guess that's not going to help at this stage?


We need to get your 3.2 image working first!!

Can you FTP or telnet to the box?

I do have FileZilla downloaded and have used it in the past. The initial challenge I have is identifying the IP address of the HD2400. I have looked on my router and of the 28 devices connected 5 are via Ethernet and only one doesn't have a self explanatory description so I'm hoping that's the HD2400 as I'm confident what the other four are.

If I can get FTP working should I be trying to flash OpenVix 5.3 or trying to reflash or somehow fix the installed 3.2 image first?

[ccs]

If telnet works and you're happy to start from scratch, then I'd reflash the latest image as per abu's post #3.

This will not go near your recordings on the hd, and you'll have 4 years worth of "fixes" so maybe your hd will then be ok.

[BenEadir]

Thanks guys,

I haven't heard of Telnet before so will do a bit of homework and if I can get my head around it I'll give it a shot, little to lose at this point in time.

[BenEadir]

Hi Abu,

Thanks for your input, I appreciate it.

I'm a complete Telnet newbie and not very experienced in networking at all so this is a steep learning curve for me.

I've managed to enable Telnet on my Win 10 laptop which is on the same router as the HD2400.

I've launched Windows PowerShell in Admin mode and have entered Telnet.

From here do I just copy and paste the command you kindly supplied, hit return and the latest OpenVix image should install on the HD2400 or do I somehow need to tell Telnet what device/IP Address the file is to be sent to?

Apologies if my terminology is completely wrong :confused:

[ccs]

Just copy and paste the wget command line in full into telnet, run it, and carefully follow the instructions.

I've just tried it (for the 1st time) and it works fine (@abu: I saw a number of kill errors which didn't look significant, but I couldn't cut and paste them here because the telnet session evaporates too soon.)

(If you've taken a settings backup (fairly) recently, you can cherry pick them as indicated in post #2)

[BenEadir]

Hi CCS,

I think I'm a lost cause.

I downloaded and installed Putty.

I launched Telnet using the IP addresses I think might be the HD2400 and right clicked to paste Abu's command but it failed each time.

I'm usually fairly dogged about stuff like this but I also need to know my own limitations and this Telnet business has me poking around in the dark. I really don't have a clue what I'm at and am worried I'll end up causing more damage to the HD2400 or elsewhere on my network due to my complete lack of knowledge on this.

Might be best to find a good box repair service who know how to use Putty/Telnet and flash the latest OpenVix image.

[ccs]

Sounds like you've either got the wrong ip address, or haven't logged into the box via telnet (username root, null password)

[twol]

Hi CCS,

I think I'm a lost cause.

I downloaded and installed Putty.

I launched Telnet using the IP addresses I think might be the HD2400 and right clicked to paste Abu's command but it failed each time.

I'm usually fairly dogged about stuff like this but I also need to know my own limitations and this Telnet business has me poking around in the dark. I really don't have a clue what I'm at and am worried I'll end up causing more damage to the HD2400 or elsewhere on my network due to my complete lack of knowledge on this.

Might be best to find a good box repair service who know how to use Putty/Telnet and flash the latest OpenVix image.
Honestly not going to do more damage using putty.
Don‘t know which router you have but normally you can log into teh router and display allocated IP addresses and who is using them (probably also an IP command in windows but have forgotten all my Windows tech!

[cactikid]

Possibly lost ip because you removed lan cable as you can leave cable in while flashing.
Usb sticks can be a curse but i have 3 in use all which work when formatted fat 32.
KINGSTON,CRUZER,INTEGRAL as all are 8gb in size and image extracted to it.

No other usb devices plugged in and insert flashdrive into rear when powered off,Are you pressing correct button to see the flashing starting,my Cruzer flashes to show me something is happening.

Always double check image downloaded matches the name on box.

[BenEadir]

Honestly not going to do more damage using putty.
Don‘t know which router you have but normally you can log into teh router and display allocated IP addresses and who is using them (probably also an IP command in windows but have forgotten all my Windows tech!


I've an Asus RT-N66U which is dual band. It's a few years old now but was pretty top spec when I got it and I keep the firmware etc up to date so will make a list of the IP addresses then unplug the Ethernet cable from the HD2400 and see which IP address disappears from the router. I guess that would be one step in the right direction and I could then push on with either FTP or Putty with a bit more confidence.

I won't raise the white flag just yet!!

[BenEadir]

Are you pressing correct button to see the flashing starting

Well the guide says to insert the USB drive -> power on -> wait for "Image Found" to display on the screen and then press the up button. All I'm getting is the Mutant Logo, I never get an "Image Found" message on either the TV screen of the LCD display on the box but I'll try powering on and pressing the up button regardless, can't do any more harm than has already been done!

[ccs]

… no harm done.

[BenEadir]

Sounds like you've either got the wrong ip address, or haven't logged into the box via telnet (username root, null password)

So I think I have the correct IP address now but when I open Putty and enter the IP address, set port to 23, select Telnet for the connection type and hit "Open" a terminal window opens but 2-3 seconds later there's a popup titled "PuTTY Fatal Error" and the message "Network error: Connection Refused".

I'll have a go at FTP'ing via FileZilla tomorrow.

[cactikid]

If box has no ip you cannot enter.Is the lan port flashing at the back.

[ccs]

I've never used Putty, so I can't see what may be causing the fail.

I prefer telnet from a windows command prompt window - You can enable telnet using "Turn Windows features on or off".

[abu baniaz]

EDIt: This issue is resolved, box is not dead. Thread closed.

IP issue posts moved to own thread.