Vu+ Duo 4k has died

NinjaFromNZ

Vu+ Newbie
Running OpenBlackhole (latest)

The (external) power supply failed and when I opened it up, I could see that it was burnt out - probably something in the STB is drawing too much current. I replaced the supplied 12v 5A power supply with another but not powerful enough (only 1.5A) and the box ran for another 3-4 days before the second power supply failed.

With a poperly spec'ed replacement power supply, when you power up the box, the LED shows the BlackHole logo for a few seconds and the hard disk runs, but the LED goes off and there is no TV output. The HDD continues running. The TV knows that the box is on as the screen goes from black to grey-ish and if the box is powered off, my TV won't even show that HDMI port as being selectable. I've tried reflashing the box, but since the LED is off, It's not possible to respond to the prompts as I can't see them. The illuminated buttons on the fron panel are illuminated and they flash in the normal way when you use the remote control

I've searched on the forum for known issues but the only ones I seem to be able to find are about the dodgy capacitors in some of the boxes that have internal power supplies. Since this box has an external power supply, this can't be my issue

The box is 13 months old so is out of guarantee and it's interesting to see that it's no longer sold by World of Satellite - the nearest equivalent is the Ultimo

I'm based in New Zealand and the thought of shipping it back to the UK isn't appealing, si I'm wondering if anyone has suggestions of what the issue might be or possible fixes. Even things to suggest a satellite/TV repairer might look out for would be appreciated.
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
Can you provide us with a picture of your motherboard?
The fact that your box has got an external supply, doesn't mean it has no capacitors: also desktop computers MBs have "external" power supply but they've got capacitors.
And the fact the box worked again for a few days make me think the problem might not be actually the power supply: have you tested it?
 

NinjaFromNZ

Vu+ Newbie
Photo attached. Yes I tested the original power supply that failed which was definitely dead

The replacement reads 12.15 v DC
 

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AlexWilMac

Moderator
Well: at least there are no traditional capacitors in your model's MB.
So, you'll probably solve with an identical power supply: after all is a totally separated piece of HW and you have chance to find it. Of course a technician is always good to consult, but in this case, if the problem is really only the external power supply, you should not need any. The important is not to use incompatible parts.
 

p.rodrigues

Vu+ User
I don't know if you already have a power supply with the same requirements as the original ... it will always have to be with the same requirements.

Do what @ Matrix10 suggests, the same for HDMI. I don't know if you have the box connected by wifi or cable, check if you have access via the PC. Never tried it, having access by network can we use the button of the virtual command of OpenWebif? I'm not near my 4K Duo, I don't know how long it takes, with the box turned off and the USB stick inserted, until the message to touch the on/off button appears to start the flash.

If someone can determine the time it takes the message to appear, put it here ....
 

NinjaFromNZ

Vu+ Newbie
I removed the HDD and unplugged both tuner cards, connected the wired network cable and plugged the HDMI out in for the TV

On power up, the LED and TV showed the BlackHole splash screen for a few seconds, then both went blank

My router shows that the LAN port is active and the green and yellow lights on the port on the STB are both lit/flashing, however a network device scan shows no VuPlus box, just the other devices on my network.

With nothing being displayed, pressing the remote does get a response on the front panel with the power button flashing. Since I was getting no response, I powered it down with the intention of seeing could I reflash it

However, bad news - my replacement power supply has blown as well, so I'm guessing that there must be a short circuit on the main board. There's nothing obvious visible on the top of the board and I've not yet removed it to have a look at the underside.

There are quite a few screws visible and I'm keen not to unscrew anything that isn't necessary so I can get a look at the underside. If anyone has safely removed (and replaced) the main board and can offer any advice, please let me know before I do something fatal to it...
 

NinjaFromNZ

Vu+ Newbie
OK, so I removed the mother board (hint every visible screw needs to be removed) including front panel, the screws for the HDMI connectors and the HDD cradle. I carefully checked the underside with a jewellers eyeglass. The only area that looks like it might have overheated is the part of the board that has the optical output on it, but I think it's unlikely this this part of the board has overheated as I've never used that connection.

The soldering on the underside looks like it's been flow soldered when it was manufactured so the discolouring might just be flux residue or similar. The area under the big heatsink is cleanest of all

I bought it from World of Satellite in the UK and I've dropped them a note asking what they'd suggest, but they haven't replied yet. If any of the WoS team watches this forum, can you please get in touch?
 

gerolamo

Vu+ User
Boh!
I believe that everything you could humanly do you did, other interventions done so blindly could also make the situation worse.
Believe me it's time to put your decoder in its original box and take it to a repairer or send it to the seller to have him handle the repair himself.
He may be out for a long time but keeping a decoder like this is useless.
 

p.rodrigues

Vu+ User
We just need to connect the box without HDMI (if you haven't already) ... does the power supply have the same values as the original?
 

NinjaFromNZ

Vu+ Newbie
The replacement power supply had the same values as the original- but it’s now burnt out as well

I’m going to take the STB to a local repair shop to see if they think they can sort it out. Hopefully the issue is not one of the proprietary components
 

p.rodrigues

Vu+ User
Then, please, put the result here .... this model exists in many houses, although, apparently, it was discontinued to make way for the SE.
 

GSp

Vu+ User
Then, please, put the result here .... this model exists in many houses, although, apparently, it was discontinued to make way for the SE.

Hello, I am looking to find out what are the differences betwen the "classic" models and "SE BT"' models, but so far google is not my friend ; would you have any hints ?
 

p.rodrigues

Vu+ User
Hello, I am looking to find out what are the differences betwen the "classic" models and "SE BT"' models, but so far google is not my friend ; would you have any hints ?


The question you ask here is completely out of context ...

There is already some discussion on the topic that you put here.
 

NinjaFromNZ

Vu+ Newbie
Back on the original thread, I’m back up and running but I have a lot of work to do

it’s hard to list everything that’s happened but here’s a summary (including my mistakes)

1. Power supply failed
2. Replacement power supply obtained
3. Box only boots to splash screen then goes off
3a) this was because the mains lead on the replacement power supply was faulty and the box was drawing more power than the power supply could provide. Testing with a voltmeter that draws little/no current did not reveal this
4. Unable to reflash
4a) this was because I had a USB drive I’ve frequently used to reflash but since I had both BH and OBH on it, I had renamed both from the required vuplus folder name
5. Reflashed to openVix
6. Discovered my mistake in 4
7. Reflashed to OBH
8. Restored the most recent good backup
9. Restored the most recent personal settings backup

but...

I’ve lost 90% of my previous customisations

1. my Remote Control key mappings have vanished
2. Under Setup there is no User Interface option so I can’t customise the RC key settings
3. Cool TV guide no longer works
4. DVB-S tuner settings lost
5. Bouquets lost
6. Timers lost
7. Autotimers lost
8. Skin lost
9. When I go to Setup/plugins I get a blank screen
10. Cron settings and scripts I used to pull my EPG Import files down gone
11. EPG Import settings gone
12. All plugins I used to have gone. Things like series organiser, Kodi and more
13. Press/2x press/Long press on all buttons does nothing - other than on some combos it says nothing is assigned

Stuff that still works
DVB-T
LCD4Linux
That’s about it


any advice appreciated!

I have full backups and personal backups available but when I unzip them I can’t see any of my missing stuff

I’d be really grateful if anyone has a guide I can use to restore what I used to have as it’s likely to be weeks before I’m up and running otherwise
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
In a full backup you don't need to "see" anything: it's called full because it restore everything exactly it was the moment you did it.
If you don't have everything you had, it means the FullBackup is too old.
One of the many comfy features of OBH is to schedule a FullBackup like you prefer. I perform a daily FullBackup and so personal backup it's useless to me.
But if your full Backup is older than your latest settings, after F.B. you can restore the personal settings.
But my advice is to schedule a F.B. on a daily basis (or, at least, weekly) in the future: you'll save your heart and a lot of time.
For this time, be patient and to do again the work you need.
In the future I also advice you to save important configuration: most of them (included OBH key assignments) are in the file
/etc/enigma2/settings
 

NinjaFromNZ

Vu+ Newbie
I also run full backup every day and have tried to recover from a recent known good one

when I try to restore from the backup menu in OBH I just get error messages so based on searching in this forum I unzipped the compressed backup file onto a USB drive and used it to reflash my box - which then was missing all the stuff listed above

is there some other process I should be using to recover a backed up image?
 

AlexWilMac

Moderator
No: if the embedded Backup (and restore) menu doesn't work, you did right: unzipping the full backup and put the vuplus folder in the root of a USB stick and then just flash it.
Maybe the F.B. was corrupt. You could try a slightly older one. It's a really strange thing this one.
 
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