GEOSATpro Do not disable satellite if you are set to one of its channels

[Stevemo]

Grrr, I had scanned all the circular dishes in where the C band dishes are located (adjusted positions a bit) but didn't get anything of interest. So, it just so happened that I was still tuned into Dish Network when I turned off the "hearts" on the c band dishes in one shot. Now the receiver just power cycles repeatedly...
Steve

 

[KE4EST]

Very interesting information. If I have time after while or in the morning I may try and replicate this. Brian will probably beat me too it though, since I am in the middle of another project right now.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Grrr, I had scanned all the circular dishes in where the C band dishes are located (adjusted positions a bit) but didn't get anything of interest. So, it just so happened that I was still tuned into Dish Network when I turned off the "hearts" on the c band dishes in one shot. Now the receiver just power cycles repeatedly...
Steve

Great information! Will attempt to replicate tomorrow and report findings.

 

[KE4EST]

Well just tried to duplicate with no luck. I was not tuned to a dish network satellite, but I tried several combinations, of turning off the "hearts" while tuned to different things. Even tried turning off all C-band while tuned to a Ku signal and vise versa. Maybe Brian can expand upon this when he tries to replicate.

 

[SatelliteAV]

We were unable to replicate.

Scanned 10 satellites, including some Dish Network (promo channels). Removed from the activated channel list while tuned to a channel from the satellite being deleted. The receiver continues to work without issue.

 

[northgeorgia]

This happened to me a few weeks back with my miniBUD experiment. Sorry I didn't mention it, because now I can't remember which bird I was on! Basically, I had put my Ku lnb back on, but forgot to select the Ku band channels back in the receiver (without "hearts"), so the only selected ("hearted") channels were set on C-band. I accidentally asked the motor to move to an old Ku-band channel but again, no Ku-band satellites were selected in the satellite list (so, I'm not sure really why the channels were showing up....could have been in the All Satellite list and just selected "Ebru TV" or something of the sort). Anyway, as soon as I did that, it crashed and went into a reboot cycle.

 

[primestar31]

We were unable to replicate.

Scanned 10 satellites, including some Dish Network (promo channels). Removed from the activated channel list while tuned to a channel from the satellite being deleted. The receiver continues to work without issue.

I think the people having this issue have ALSO modified their user file with the pc channel editor and then reloaded it. Seems to have also only hit people once the 8/20 or 23 firmware was released. It seems to be some sort of odd combination, since if it was only caused by de-activating sats with channels, I'd think a lot more people would have the issue. I'm still running 8/20 firmware, have disabled sats with channels, and I have never received a boot loop issue. Also, I have never used a (the) pc channels editor as of yet.

Perhaps we also need people that have had this happen, to list their entire setup, including firmware date, what lnb and switch settings they use, did they use a pc channel editor at any time, etc. I don't feel we yet have enough data points to pin this down enough.

 

[northgeorgia]

Good point. I have used the ALI editor and uploaded my own UDF files to the receiver several times. I have a universal Ku-band lnb on my 90 cm dish (no switches) with USALS to move the motor. And the firmware was the latest release.

 

[Stevemo]

I have downloaded the files from my machine a couple times to look through them but I've never dared upload one. I am on the newest firmware.


My setup is as follows:

Stab HH90 motor using Usals
QPH31 variant LNB
Ku Linear sats scanned into Ku standard Ku positions (I scan them all in even if I can't get them...optimistically hoping to get more as the leaves continue to disappear), all ku bands set to diseq position 4 but no diseq switch, 10750
Ku circular sats scanned into "some" of the C band positions (adjusted positions only, left the names as-is), all of these were set to diseq position 1 but no switch, 11250

You will find on one of the dish network satellites that they have about 5 channels in a row with some music and their brand symbol on the screen. I was on the lowest # channel of that group when I killed the c-band (ku circular) channels. I exited the menus and briefly saw the channel # on the screen before it started power cycling. The cycle will get just far enough to show the blue microHD screen and then it starts over again. I had manually moved the cable to the 10750 connector prior to plugging in the unit and changing the settings. Disconnecting the cable from the machine after the problem did not help.

Is this something a TTL cable can fix?

Cheers, Steve

 

[northgeorgia]

Is this something a TTL cable can fix?

Cheers, Steve

I am almost certain it will. Very few people have had no success after using the TTL cable.

 

[turbosat]

I don't have one of these new receivers yet, but am following these threads out of curiosity. I don't quite understand why anyone would scan in ku band channels to a c-band slot in the list...?
Or even scan the circular sats, I've had nothing but grief and lots of work cleaning out all that scrambled stuff when I did try that. Why would you want to disable a satellite that had scanned channels listed to it?

 

[northgeorgia]

Well in my case, the only question that applies is the last one, "Why would you want to disable a satellite that had scanned channels listed to it?" The answer: it's a little bit easier for me to move between satellites with a shorter list. I only have a 90 cm dish, so usually I use the Ku-band channel list. However, when I'm experimenting with the miniBUD, I prefer to deal with just the C-band list. I could leave both lists up, but then it gets annoying when I accidentally select the C-band channel list when I meant to choose the Ku-band one. So, the shorter channel list is nice, but it's great to have those finds from C-band already scanned in whenever I want to experiment again.

 

[SatelliteAV]

Bottom line is that we designed the microHD receiver to be capable of removing a satellite from the active satellite list so it is not scanned during a multiple satellite search or visible in the installation menus. If removing a satellite from the active satellite list causes a receiver error, we need to determine if there is a common denominator or series of events.

So far, no common denominator has been found and we have never had this issue occur on the test bench. On the test bench, we are constantly searching, deleting, activating and deactivating, downloading/uploading .udf files, editing, etc.... Often 20 or 30 times in a day!

There have been thousands of microHDs sold with no issues. There is no doubt that a few users have experienced an issue after deleting channels or deactivating satellites, but we have not been able to replicate to cause any receiver to cycle reboot after channel deletion or satellite deactivation.

 

[primestar31]

You will find on one of the dish network satellites that they have about 5 channels in a row with some music and their brand symbol on the screen. I was on the lowest # channel of that group when I killed the c-band (ku circular) channels. I exited the menus and briefly saw the channel # on the screen before it started power cycling. The cycle will get just far enough to show the blue microHD screen and then it starts over again. I had manually moved the cable to the 10750 connector prior to plugging in the unit and changing the settings. Disconnecting the cable from the machine after the problem did not help.

Is this something a TTL cable can fix?

Cheers, Steve

Brian, during boot, what is the MicroHD looking for or doing right specifically around the point above where I have bolded his text? Is that were it checks for the lnb somehow, and pings it in some way, expecting a particular results-return? Could it be if it doesn't get the expected results (if/then statement?), it then does the constant boot-loop instead of the full boot?

Ok, this is all some "throw it out there" speculation, since I don't have access to a lot of info how these receivers are programmed. It still seems possible that somehow a particular memory location with certain data in it is getting overwritten, which causes the loop because the data it's looking for MUST be in that location, and it's not for whatever reason. So, it keeps rebooting hoping to get that data. Can you or your programmer step-through the firmware to check something like this? It would be easiest I suppose if you have some sort of emulator to check this.

I don't know if I'm making sense now or not, as it's hard to formulate it very completely without a lot of data, but at least part of this sounds like a bit of a possible theory.

 

[Stevemo]

Not to worry, I am now all-in for 5 bucks on a TTL cable which I was planning on getting at some point. I can live without DBS-S2 for a week while I'm busy building and setting up my new Home Theatre PC.

As for the why I scanned useless channels, I am an Electrical Engineer who studied communication systems and orbits in great detail so I couldn't help myself.
Regards, Steve

 

[turbosat]

Thanks Steve, I"m guilty of that too sometimes. "Because they're there" is a good enough reason, haha.

 

[KE4EST]

Yep just because it is there is right..

 

[rv1pop]

I think I take after Edison ... Just in case it might work, I WILL try. Well I took after him. I do not seem to have time for too much of that. I have not found a defrag program that works ...... on my brain.

 

[tekjunkie02]

I think most of us here are afflicted with some form of this same disease!
I know I am a terminal case..LOL!

How does that work?
Why does it work like that?
I'll need to see what's inside.
I think I can fix it and make it work better.

 

[rv1pop]

How can this be used for something else?
Is black thread better than white?
Hmm. copper wire lasted for 6 seconds. Nichrome was yellow orange for 45 before it burned up... Hmm What else can we try?