Back from the dead...sort of

[NikAmi]

Hey guys,

Sorry that I dropped off the face of the Earth for a while. I've been ridiculously busy with my medical school board exams and then some business ventures that I am trying to start up and some work around the house. I haven't forgotten you all and I felt really bad about not getting around to beta testing the box for so long. Anyways, I had some free time today so I thought that I would try to put it through its paces and see how it handled 4K, network loading, etc. So I connected it to the TV, hooked up the power and pressed that big ole button in the middle and.....nothing. No whirs, no chirps, no hum of electrical noise. Nothing. So, my unit is DOA and I won't be able to do any testing. On the one hand, I'm sad that I don't get to play around with this new box and on the other hand, I don't feel guilty anymore since even if I plugged it in 2 weeks ago, I wouldn't have been able to test anyways. So, since it wasn't functional at all, I caracked open the box and found that one of the wires that goes from the switch to the mainboard is floating around rather than soldered to the board. I'm going to have to get my soldering iron out and fix that before I continue.


Oman, I would consider using a larger amount or stronger solder in the production units. Also, consider using tape to hold the wires in place and reduce the stress at the solder joints.

[Smokez]

Re: Back from the dead...sort of

Hey guys,

Sorry that I dropped off the face of the Earth for a while. I've been ridiculously busy with my medical school board exams and then some business ventures that I am trying to start up and some work around the house. I haven't forgotten you all and I felt really bad about not getting around to beta testing the box for so long. Anyways, I had some free time today so I thought that I would try to put it through its paces and see how it handled 4K, network loading, etc. So I connected it to the TV, hooked up the power and pressed that big ole button in the middle and.....nothing. No whirs, no chirps, no hum of electrical noise. Nothing. So, my unit is DOA and I won't be able to do any testing. On the one hand, I'm sad that I don't get to play around with this new box and on the other hand, I don't feel guilty anymore since even if I plugged it in 2 weeks ago, I wouldn't have been able to test anyways. So, since it wasn't functional at all, I caracked open the box and found that one of the wires that goes from the switch to the mainboard is floating around rather than soldered to the board. I'm going to have to get my soldering iron out and fix that before I continue.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]8018[/ATTACH]
Oman, I would consider using a larger amount or stronger solder in the production units. Also, consider using tape to hold the wires in place and reduce the stress at the solder joints.

That's the built in microphone, so won't be the problem, mine came loose too after opening the housing one too many times early hours shorting pins etc , not the best Mic so cable quality is not great, thought about upgrading it as it's not very functional unless sitting right there with the box

[NikAmi]

Yeah, I've been playing around with the unit for a while and I managed to figure out that that wasn't the problem. I started by reseating the ribbon cables and when that didn't fix anything, I broke out my trusty multimeter. I think that I have isolated the problem to the power brick. No matter if I place the leads directly on the barrel connector or on the power connector on the unit itself with the brick connected, I get no reading. To make sure that my meter wasn't bad, I connected it to a couple different barrel connectors and USB adapters and got accurate readings. My brick is bricked. I tried prying open the brick to see if there was a fuse or broken component that I could replace, but all I succeeded in doing was marring up the outside a lot. That thing is built like a tank. Short of taking my Dremel to it and cutting it open, I don't think that I can repair it. This is why I HATE proprietary connectors. If it took a USB connector, I could just swap out the supply or the cable and be humming aloing already. Heck, the unit is large enough to even use a computer power cable and internal supply. Bah! I know I'm complaining a lot, but I'm just so sad to have a heap of cool electronics rendered useless by something as silly as a crappy power supply. Oh well.

[NikAmi]

Gave up and just strong armed open the power brick only to feel like a complete idiot newb and realize that I forgot to check under the label for a screw. So, after I got the guts out, I braved electrocution and started measuring some voltages.

I was surprised to see them all correct and even got just over 5v at the final solder points to the cord. So then I test the cable for continuity from the solder points to the barrel and !EUREKA! I got an open signal from the hot wire. I found another adapter around the house with the same sized barrel connector to canibalize and so I popped it open, and cut off the cord.

Then I grabbed my soldering iron and decided to change the tip because it was smoking on me. When I went to plug it back in, I head a huge pop, saw an arc nearly 3/4 inch long and watched as the metal on the plug melted. I damn near melted my hand doing this.

So, now I need to go get a new soldering iron. Seriously, this supposedly easy and free test is becoming kinda of expensive and life threatening. LOL. Am I an idiot for taking it this far?

[Arbelzapf]

I would probably just have tried to find a PSU with the same specs on **** or something. These have got to be off-the-shelf parts. Oman surely would have been helpful in finding out what exact unit to get.

But then again, I'm not as good with electronics as you (I can understand the urge to fix something yourself, though)

[oman]

If you have any other 5V 2A or 3A PSU with the same hole,such as S82's..it can be used.

[HenryOcasio]

Hey guys,

Sorry that I dropped off the face of the Earth for a while. I've been ridiculously busy with my medical school board exams and then some business ventures that I am trying to start up and some work around the house.

essays agency

How are your medical school board exams ? I hope you passed them!
Do you have any other adapter at home? Look for one with the same sized barrel connector to canibalize.