This one I can't explain, except to wonder if the PCTV2GO software is refusing to run.

It's "there", in that it's an active device on my network.  I found the IP address in my DHCP server, and am certainly able to connect to it via TELNET, so I know that the base OS of the box is running.

However, no way no how can the PCTV To Go Setup Wizard find it.

[click to view image]
 

Edit:  Yep, it appears to be somewhat dead, as holding down the RESET button for the 4+ seconds doesn't cause  all of the lights to light up, nor do they then go out.  Assuming that this reset is a "software reset" (which I think is a safe assumption), that would tend to indicate that the software isn't running.

Nor do I see 2 LEDs lit on the front of the box after allowing the box a minute or so to initialize...so if that 2nd-from-the-right LED is under application control, the app isn't getting that far.

Darn. 
 

Hi Bittmann,

The screenshot you provided is usually caused by firewalls or spywares.

If that is already checked, the procedure in this FAQ should help (or you may have gone through this already, nevermind the title )

PS. Weird place to see you in this side of the forums

Well, I don't think that Firewalls are involved, as the machine that 5 minutes earlier had successfully connected to the PCTV To Go in order to kick off the firmware update is the same machine that 5 minutes later cannot see the PCTV...

And if Spyware is involved, it would've somehow hit me in that 5 minute timespan, which would be somewhat unlikely as I hadn't browsed the Internet nor received any emails in that timeframe... 

And as the telnet session on my screenshot showed, I certainly *could* communicate with the OS level of the PCTV To Go, so routing certainly isn't broken...

And I can't even do step 1 of your FAQ because it appears that the unit isn't successfully booting to a state that will honor the factory reset function (only the power light lights, the 2nd-from-the-right light doesn't come on at all)...

So:  By all appearances, this unit is now a very ugly, and somewhat expensive, odd-shaped paperweight--and one that I'm probably not going to bother shipping back in for repair, as I find myself not using it very much.  So, it's dead, and it's probably going to stay that way...at least temporarily, unless I can figure something out .

Now the question, I suppose: 

This unit seems to have a serial port on its motherboard (well, it sure looks to me like there's a header that's wired to a chip that sure LOOKS like a serial interface).  IF this is a Linux-based system (and the word on the street is that it indeed is Linux), and IF this serial port does what I suspect that it does (connects to a tty "console"), then as long as the unit boots into a sane enough state to allow a technician to attempt to manually re-load the firmware, I should be able to figure SOMETHING out.

Anyone there have any hints...or am I going to have to delve into this on my own?  It's the weekend, so I should have plenty of time... 

BittMann 

Well I could only go as far as the hardware exteriors. We normally just replace units if it is broken (which is most likely the case of yours).

Anyone there have any hints...or am I going to have to delve into this on my own?  It's the weekend, so I should have plenty of time... 

Let's hope some Monsoon guys join us here. Until then and as you said, it's weekend. So, goodluck!

OK, I'm part-way in.  I had to dust off my logic probe (OK:  So first I had to FIND the stupid thing...I don't think I've touched it in years), and I figured out the pinouts. 

The header is a serial header. Comms are 115200, 8N1.  It does show a console during boot.  That's the first half of the battle down.

The PCTV is booting, apparently a Linux kernel, and then Oops-ing (that's a "technical term", believe it or not....) part-way through the boot.  Linky.  Looks like the ramdisk is corrupt so -- "bad flash".  (Duh!)

The good news is that this device appears to be initialized via RedBoot, so if I can figure out how to load the ramdisk image manually...

...be right back. 

BittMann 

RedBoot> fis list                                                               
Name              FLASH addr  Mem addr    Length      Entry point               
RedBoot           0x50000000  0x50000000  0x00040000  0x00000000                
RedBoot config    0x507C0000  0x507C0000  0x00001000  0x00000000                
FIS directory     0x507E0000  0x507E0000  0x00020000  0x00000000                
zImage            0x50040000  0x01600000  0x00100000  0x01600000                
ramdisk           0x50140000  0x01600000  0x00580000  0x01600000                
sysconfig         0x506C0000  0x00800000  0x000E0000  0x00800000                
hwconfig          0x507A0000  0x00800000  0x00020000  0x00800000  

I *think* I should simply be able to load one of the firmware files via ymodem, then fis load the zImage, jump to the listed mem address 0x01600000, and then boot the machine...once I figure out how to upload firmware.  Will I need to unpack the ramdisk image?  Once again, I'll have to be right back... 

Darn.  Stuck for now.  The problem appears to be that the ramdisk image is screwed on the PCTV To Go, so I can get as far as booting, then when it tries to unpack the ramdisk, blooie.  Have to figure out how to extract the ramdisk image from the firmware upload file...if that's even possible, with no more info than I have on this turkey.

More later, I'm sure.    

Got it!  Got it good!  The ramdisk image, at least in my case, is stuck inside of the ramdisk.24.180151.upd.img file.  There's a 32-byte file header, followed by gzipped data--which is a compressed ramdisk.  Extracted the gzipped data from the file, "load"ed it on the hardware, burned it via Redboot's fis utiltity...and voila!  Booted just like it should.

I'm going to leave actually TESTING this thing for another day (It's midnight?  How the heck did THAT happen?!!), but at least for now, I have a booting system.

(Whew!)

BittMann 

OK...and after testing I can say:  Works good, last long time.  Back in the pink. 

And Warren:  As far as troubleshooting a "not connect", here's one more bit of info that might be helpful -- From watching the boot sequence, and looking at the LEDs on the front of the device, I think that we can say this:  If the user only sees one LED lit up (power LED on, and nothing else), then no interfaces are active.  And if no interfaces are active, then there's no way to resolve any of the "cannot find device" problems...the device isn't online, so there's no sense trying.  No amount of spyware scanning for firewall tweaking can fix an "I'm not listening!!!!" issue. 

Now, mine is a first-generation HD Wireless unit (heck, it even has an NTSC tuner!), so LEDs on different units may mean different things -- but hey, info is info, isn't it?

BittMann 

bittmann:

And Warren:  As far as troubleshooting a "not connect", here's one more bit of info that might be helpful -- From watching the boot sequence, and looking at the LEDs on the front of the device, I think that we can say this:  If the user only sees one LED lit up (power LED on, and nothing else), then no interfaces are active.  And if no interfaces are active, then there's no way to resolve any of the "cannot find device" problems...the device isn't online, so there's no sense trying.  No amount of spyware scanning for firewall tweaking can fix an "I'm not listening!!!!" issue. 

Reminded me why I'm thankful "Bittmann" is around

Hi Bittmann,

I'm also having the same problem as you with my PCTV to go. So far I only managed to get the image out of the file by removing the first 32 bytes and unpacking it. Now comes the hard part for me: connecting to the device using the serial interface and uploading the image.

 Can you please detail those steps? Thanks!
 

Ok, here is an update:

I'm using a Asus WL500gp router. I tried reseting the PCTV to go, several times, I tried unplugging and plugging in again the ethernet cable into it ... but nothing. Only the first LED remains lit.

After that I connected the PCTV to go directly to my laptop and I managed to connect to it. This time both leds were lit. After this I tried plugging in the PCTV to go into my router, but no luck.

Apparently there is a problem for the PCTV to go to get an IP address from the router. I must mention that the router has DHCP enabled and that all the computers that connect to it are able to receive an IP address.

As for my PCTV to go ... it is the simple version (not HD or wireless) and I just updated the firmware to 1.7EU.

I also must mention that I managed to get the PCTV to go to work with a Linksys router but after a few restarts as well, as it did not get an IP address at first. Also, after running throughout the night connected to the Linksys router, the next day I was unable to connect to it again and I had to restart it again several times.

I hope this helps and if I can offer you more details that will help someone answer / solve the problem, please let me know. 

OK, sorry it took me so long to reply, I've been gone on vacation.

It sounds to me like you have a very different issue than I had -- my unit simply wouldn't boot at all, and yours is definitely booting.  You can tell if yours is by holding down the reset button for a few seconds -- if/when all of the lights blink, it means that your system is running (that reset button isn't a "hardware reset", it's a "software reset", so it needs to boot in order to reset.)

Anyhow, and that all out of the way:  You making any progress?

BittMann

Hello,

 it's my turn to apologize for the late response. I do not have the box with me because I had it shipped home and the problems that I described in previous posts were the ones described by my girlfriend who was trying to install it. I will go home in about one week and I'll give it a shoot myself. I will post here more details about the problem and (hopefully) the solution to it.

 
Iscandarani
 

Hello,

I finally managed to go home and personally set up the TV To go. I just plugged it in and it worked. I have no idea why it did not work for my girlfriend, but I guess that if you want a job well done, do it yourself. Now I'm back abroad and I can watch and control my home satellite without any problems.

Sorry, i didn't want to post here.