Well the title pretty much says it - I bought an allegedly functional Coolsat 5k off Ebay for about $30 with the shipping. Unfortunately I can't get it to do anything useful. When it's connected to TV with A/V cables it seems to go into an endless loop. What looks like a channel info bar for an encrypted channel flashes briefly on the screen at the same time that the display on the front panel of the Coolsat flashes a single digit number and lights up the "Remote" indicator. Then the front panel display shows four hyphens or dashes and the TV goes blank. After a few seconds the cycle repeats. Power and channel up/down buttons the front of the Coolsat have no effect and neither does the remote. I think the remote is OK as it works with my TV. I've downloaded the Coolsat loader and the FTA firmware to my PC but can't load anything to the Coolsat as I can't get it out of its endless loop.
Anyone have any suggestions? Or do I just have something for the recycling center?
thanks,
John
What I did was I forgot that the DB25 connector on my laptop is connected to a parallel port rather than an RS232 port. I used to know that and now I know it again. Anyway, my antique desktop PC has an actual RS232 port and using that worked fine to load the new firmware and satellite list (thanks to Iceberg for posting those). Now I just need to take the time to learn the idiosyncrasies of the Coolsat.
John,
Whatever you do, don't put that receiver on the scrap pile!
I know the Coolsat 5000 and 6000 models pretty well and I can recover it for you or guide you through the recovery process. As long as the hardware is not the problem, there is always a way to restore the Coolsat operation.
I will present one handy "back-door" tool at this point for you to use. There is a "hidden" menu for factory use that you can utilize for a few specific last resort measures. One being the NVRAM CLEAR function. But, you have to get to this menu in order to apply it. This can be troublesome if the box won't boot properly in the first place, but if you are patient, you can get there.
Here are the methods to access this diagnostic menu when things are working fairly well.
From the STANDBY mode (no channel being viewed – just the clock displayed):
DIAGNOSTIC MENU: Press channel UP button on front of STB and hold, then press power button on front of STB and hold until menu appears, then release the power button and then release the channel up button.
STB COPY – FIRMWARE: Press power button on front of STB and hold, then press channel DOWN button on front of STB and hold until menu appears, then release the power button, then release the channel down button.
STB COPY – CHANNEL DATA: Press power button on front of STB and hold, then press channel UP button on front of STB and hold until menu appears, then release the power button, then release the channel up button.
From the ON mode (STB fully powered up and channel being viewed):
DIAGNOSTIC MENU: Press power button on front of STB and hold, then press channel UP button on front of STB and hold until menu appears, then release the power button, then release the channel up button.
STB COPY – FIRMWARE: Press channel DOWN button on front of STB and hold, then press power button on front of STB and hold until menu appears, then release the power button and then release the channel down button.
STB COPY – CHANNEL DATA: Press channel UP button on front of STB and hold, then press power button on front of STB and hold until menu appears, then release the power button, and then the channel up button.
NOTE:
The DIAGNOSTIC menu has the NVRAM clear function within it. If you wish to clear the NVRAM, once you are in the diagnostic menu, just use the volume and channel buttons on the remote to highlight the NVRAM Clear box and press OK.
If the system is very corrupt, you may have to turn the rear switch OFF and hold down a combination of these front panel buttons and then swich the power on. This may require an assistant unless you have three or more hands. Ha Ha!
Give it a try with a working Coolsat so that you can become familiar with the access techiques. I have some other tips that you can utilize via your PC if you need them. Let me know and I will type out the instructions here.
Good luck and best wishes.
RADAR
