Skybox F3 No Longer Bricked

Lazarus

Lazarus

Retired Moderator
My Satellite Setup
80cm Motorised.
Several small Dishes.
Much else.
My Location
North York Moors
Well, while trying to get the BBC Feeds on 27.5W open, I needed to Edit my Channel List to Flag them as Scrambled, in order to let my constant.cw file do its stuff.

So I downloaded the Program Edit Tool from the Skybox Site.

All seemed straightforward - got the TP-PROG.dbs file open and changed the Flags.

Completed the process by uploading the Edited file to the box.

Box was already running, and apparently working, but I noticed that my 27.5W Channel List was both Duplicated and showing all sorts of weird entries.

Made the mistake of rebooting the box and it got to L100 then reset and just kept going round in a loop.

No joy, so I found a Recovery Tool on the Web.

Dug out my Null Modem Cable and went next door with the Box to use my neighbours PC (No Serial Socket on Lappy or Netbook) and ran tool.

It saw the Box ok and reported Sync., but simply failed on "Memory Error".

So it is BRICKED!

I shall bite the bullet and get another, but beware: DO NOT use the PROGRAM EDIT TOOL.
 
Ouch, sorry to hear that. I know nothing about these boxes but maybe someone will have an idea... worth asking the manufacture if they recommend anything?
 
I've got a Recovery Tool which so far hasn't worked - but I shall persevere as there is much evidence that these Boxes are recoverable, but a bit finicky in the process.

They are only £50 which isn't a massive hit and I was going to get another one anyway: I'll order one tomorrow then there is no hurry to panic over the existing one!
 
Ouch, sorry to hear about the box. Was going to recommend the recovery software but you've already tried it. It definitely sounds like you've bricked the box.
It's a fairly rare occurance, but these things happen.

Had a problem with an openbox last year which died within one day of switching it on. 6 months went by, finally got round to contacting the seller, explained what had happened and received a newer box FOC.
 
My Seller's eBay Shop is nowhere to be found!

Anyway, have discovered a different version of the Recovery Tool and a few hints as to how to proceed - one of which is to use an earlier Firmware Version than the one in use.

That suits me, as my original Firmware of 12 May had a less tortuous WiFi enabling route.
 
Tivù said:
My Seller's eBay Shop is nowhere to be found!

Anyway, have discovered a different version of the Recovery Tool and a few hints as to how to proceed - one of which is to use an earlier Firmware Version than the one in use.

That suits me, as my original Firmware of 12 May had a less tortuous WiFi enabling route.
Click to expand...


Sorry to hear of your problems. Good luck with the other recovery tool. Keep us informed of your success (hopefully)

Cheers
Ross
 
Will report back later - judging by the experiences of others, the patience to make repeated attempts almost always pays dividends.

Of course, the real ignominy is having to use a friend's ancient Dell PC Tower as it has a native Serial Port whereas yer new fangled stuff doesn't!
 
I got a serial to USB cable from WoS. Works great with my lappy. My old cable worked fine under Windows Vista, but not under Windows 7, probably a clone chipset.
 
One good bit of news is that I do keep Dumps going back two months, so I still have a copy of the uncorrupted TP-PROG.dbs file that has my carefully manicured Channel Lists from right across the arc.

That will save hours and hours of work, whether I can recover this Box or have to install a new one.
 
Huevos said:
I got a serial to USB cable from WoS. Works great with my lappy. My old cable worked fine under Windows Vista, but not under Windows 7, probably a clone chipset.
Click to expand...

Yes, I thought about one of these, but again my research suggests people don't have success with them. You've just borne that out!

Anyway, will pop next door in half an hour or so bearing a thick slice of my freshly baked Lemon Drizzle Cake.

That should keep my chum happy.

PS: Can't quite recall, but I think he's still on XP.
 
Tivù said:
Yes, I thought about one of these, but again my research suggests people don't have success with them.
Click to expand...
Well the cable from WoS works fine and comes with a mini CD with drivers. Very convenient for less than a tenner.
 
Tivù said:
Will report back later - judging by the experiences of others, the patience to make repeated attempts almost always pays dividends.

Of course, the real ignominy is having to use a friend's ancient Dell PC Tower as it has a native Serial Port whereas yer new fangled stuff doesn't!
Click to expand...

I also had to dig out an old dell to reflash an old eagle box with same issue on ports. Not sure how well these converters work to allow u to connect to recent hardware
 
According to what I've read in conjunction with Openbox, F3 etc. the only comments are about failures (But then people are more likely to report problems than successes).
 
Ok!

The Recovery and Flash seems to have worked first time: Not yet connected it back up to my Dish, but next door it went to L100 then Strt, then NoCH, which bodes well.

Going to cross everything and connect it up now ............................
 
The words


WOO!


and


HOO!


spring to mind.


All seems well - Uploaded my setting and Channels, rebooted and bingo.

I commend it to the house.

50 sovs saved, and much confidence gained.
 
And can you now view the channels you wanted from 27W?
 
Huevos said:
And can you now view the channels you wanted from 27W?
Click to expand...

Not even going to try any more - that's where all the trouble started and I was only doing it in order to assist our Canary chaps, as well as because "they're there".

A chap's got to know when to call it a day!
 
I saw you throwing that towel myself :-biglaugh
 
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