Help Required Echostar DVR-7000 Fails To Boot ?

[moonbase]

Hi,

I have an EchoStar DVR-7000 receiver that powers up OK but fails to complete the boot sequence. The front panel display shows a rotating dash that would normally be expected to be followed by the completion of the boot process into normal status. However, the boot process is not getting beyond the rotating dash on the front panel.

I think the boot process is stuck due to a fault with the internal hard disk. The reason I think this is that when I have disconnected the hard disk in the past' the DVR-7000 then fails to boot and gets stuck at the same point in the boot process.

Would anyone know if it is possible to get the DVR-7000 to exclude the hard disk from the boot process via a jumper on the main board or some other method to get the unit to boot up?

Rgds

 

[Analoguesat]

What happens if you slave the hard drive onto an old desktop motherboard - does it see the drive in any way?

 

[moonbase]

What happens if you slave the hard drive onto an old desktop motherboard - does it see the drive in any way?

I have not tried that, I am not sure if I have an old motherboard with an IDE connector on it.
My oldest PC has an X58 socket 1366 board in it, I will check to see if it has an IDE connector.

I could probably buy a used IDE hard drive but I think it might need some type of proprietary initialisation that the EchoStar DVR-7000 can use. There seems to be very little info available about how to troubleshoot the receiver. It was one of the last models made by EchoStar before they pulled out of the motorised receiver market which could account for the lack of support information?

 

[BM300]

Hello Moonbase,
I thaught that I am the only one who refuses to dump the old units.
It has a nice motor drive controller but the satellite data base is way out of date.
If I remeber correctly, this (analog/digital) unit does not like to loose its contact with the hard drive.
Try to connct any old hard drive and see.

I did not try this but I was told by the Ecostar many years back that you cannot connect the HD to a computer to download the contents due to copyright laws!
I do not know if this as true.

Ecostar (now Echolink?) had an office / factory at Almalo - Holland. If they are still open, you could get some help.
They may have closed this down.

 

[moonbase]

Hello Moonbase,
I thaught that I am the only one who refuses to dump the old units.
It has a nice motor drive controller but the satellite data base is way out of date.
If I remeber correctly, this (analog/digital) unit does not like to loose its contact with the hard drive.
Try to connct any old hard drive and see.

I did not try this but I was told by the Ecostar many years back that you cannot connect the HD to a computer to download the contents due to copyright laws!
I do not know if this as true.

Ecostar (now Echolink?) had an office / factory at Almalo - Holland. If they are still open, you could get some help.
They may have closed this down.

Hi,

Yes, I agree, it does have a good dish motor controller, that is why I hope to get it back operational. It is a flaw in the receiver design that it is disabled if the hard drive fails. However, they went out of production years ago so nothing can be done about it. I will probably try another IDE hard drive in there to see if I can get it working.

The satellite database in the EchoStar receivers can easily be edited on a PC and brought up to date. I use the SetEditNav software to download the satellite database into the editor program then update it and flash it back to the receiver. I prefer the EchoStar receivers to a v-box for moving a dish

 

[BM300]

Hello Moonbase,
Thanks about mentioning SetEditNav, I forgot about it.


Will be intrested to see how you solve this problem.
Wish you all the best.