How to kill an SL65 (a cautionary tale)

**mick2me** · 07-01-2008

WARNING IF YOU ARE SQUEEMISH, READ NO FURTHER!

Well I bought this box a couple of years ago, and have been in discussion here about a patch, Nothing was forthcoming?.

Its not been used for a while.

Just before Christmas, I picked up an SL65/12 kit from Maplins for £39.95, a bargain, Christmas present for our girl, she can dish the small dish,and run it off the Double LND of the mains SL65.

Reading here and elswhere, I discovered it may be possible to flash the 12 volt SL65 and receive more stuff Great!

What about the original SL65, perhaps its the same chip?

Carefully peel off the heatsink with your fingernail they said!

Ok case lid off the old SL65, whats this? a 20 pin JTAG, hey i'm getting to know the terms now?

That looks like it a big silver heat sink, broke a couple of nails trying to get it off. Perhaps a touch with the screwdriver... Easy does it.

Eh! what was that noise? a bit like someone pulling hair out of the back of your head with a pair of pliers!

Bu99er!

Lets plug it in see what happens. No picture and a pop pop coming out of the speakers? Can't be right that? Ooo Err!

Looks like a dead un to me?

Right lets get that chip off and see what WAS on it? The whole lot came away quite easily in one piece. Getting the chip off the heatsink or vice versa, almost impossible even with hammer and screwdriver!

Anyway the results can be seen here, look away now if you have weak stomach!

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Now tell me the chip was flashable! or I had the wrong chip!

How do you plead! Guilty yer honor!

Paperweight anyone?

***2cvbloke*** · 07-01-2008

As far as I know, SL65/12 is not patchable, and yours most definately isn't now even if it could have been!!!

andysly · 07-01-2008

i am running a patched sl65/12 b1 chip with no problems here..
and for the cpu to go like that had to be a hardware issue
i changed my psu to something a bit more heavier ..
due to the orignal psu undervolting while under load.

and if i remember right thats not a b1 or e1

***2cvbloke*** · 07-01-2008

Originally Posted by andysly

and for the cpu to go like that had to be a hardware issue

Yes, it's called ripping the CPU off the board whilst trying to take the heatsink off...

**Robbo** · 08-01-2008

Originally Posted by andysly

and if i remember right thats not a b1 or e1

So it wasn't flashable anyway then andy?

andysly · 08-01-2008

Originally Posted by 2cvbloke

Yes, it's called ripping the CPU off the board whilst trying to take the heatsink off...

oopsy just seen that bit someone did no tell him the e1's heatsink is attached to the pcb :O

andysly · 08-01-2008

Originally Posted by Robbo71

So it wasn't flashable anyway then andy?

i have never done an e1 or seen a pic of a e1 cpu as most people dont rip them off the pcbs lol

but on madiens and some of the comag sub forum's did say that the e1's heat sink could not be removed.

most of the info is here _http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silvercrest_SL65

**Robbo** · 08-01-2008

I bet mick2me wishes he had read that then, as it clearly states if 20 pin Jtag go to Jtag, so there was actually no need whatsover to rip the thing to pieces then. Oh, well, it was only an SL65

andysly · 08-01-2008

its only ONLY a sl65/12 :P:P

i like it..for a 30 quid bit of german junk it works quiet well

but we all live and learn..i should be around a little more often.

**Robbo** · 08-01-2008

Originally Posted by andysly

its only ONLY a sl65/12 :P:P

i like it..for a 30 quid bit of german junk it works quiet well

Well, for £30 I suppose if you just want a nice and cheap FTA receiver that does the job, you can't go far wrong. Come analogue switch off, I'll probably get something similar.

**the_happy_traveller** · 08-01-2008

Originally Posted by Robbo71

Well, for £30 I suppose if you just want a nice and cheap FTA receiver that does the job, you can't go far wrong. Come analogue switch off, I'll probably get something similar.

Don't knock them, for the price, they are decent bits of kit.
I use 2 of them (1 for home & 1 for work) for all my sat viewing.
Plus I have a spare which was donated by a friend. Just in case.
I usually only watch 13e, 19e and 28e so they suit me fine.

OK, I stick to the FTA stuff but they are easy to use and have pretty good performance for the weaker transponders.

Bradwall · 08-01-2008

The later models of the receiver with the Ali B1 or E1 chips are flashable....they have 6 pin jtag connections not 20 pin and they are DVB-S SL65 or SL65/12 models. These receivers can be flashed via the RS232 using a null modem cable and the software corresponding to the B1 or E1 chip.
The 20 pin jtag models are DVB SL65 and are flashable via jtag with a completely different firmware.

**mick2me** · 09-01-2008

I glad that I could bring some hillarity to the forum.

I will be keeping my eyes peeled for the next sale of SL65's @ Aldi.
Whilst it worked it was very nice.

I wont be tearing the SL65/12, bought for christmas apart though.

I am wondering if I could have just tried an update without knowning what chip was on board?

Anyways the email with Aldi's latest hot offers has arrive.

Amongst them ...

A set of Dumbells!

***2cvbloke*** · 09-01-2008

Originally Posted by mick2me

Anyways the email with Aldi's latest hot offers has arrive.

Amongst them ...

A set of Dumbells!

If I were you, I'd avoid them, you wouldn't want to end up with a flat toe (like my brother did once!!!)...

**T_G** · 09-01-2008

Originally Posted by 2cvbloke

If I were you, I'd avoid them, you wouldn't want to end up with a flat toe (like my brother did once!!!)...

Aha! Thats whay they call them dumb-ells

But you could use them to remove the heat sink of your next receivers CPU

vma · 10-01-2008

If the thing had a JTAG connector, you could have used JKEYS to find out what CPU it had.

Also, you only needed to know what FLASH-Chip's it had - the CPU didn't really matter, as long as it was an STxx, which JKEYS would have told you.

Them you could have flashed the thing at your desire, as you could always flash it back through the JTAG, provided you had made a backup of the flash's content.

Messing like that with the hardware is never a good option! Most receiver's are glued together exactly to avoid that you remove heatsinks and such.

At least you learned your lesson and took it with some amusement. 30 quid is not that much money to go wining...

Cheers,
vma

**mick2me** · 10-01-2008

Thank you for that, I thought it would share the experience with you.

More importantly is that your reply contains the key information.

Jtag connection allows you to ascertain the information, and saves your fingernails.

I am

expert in this area, as you have deduced.

So to use Jtag is better than RS232, Yes?

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