Topfield PVR Problem
Roger Chapman
house with no mains water and the PVR immune to instruction.
Several gallons of boiling water poured down the stop cock shaft
initially had little effect but it probably eventually worked as the
water came back some time while I was asleep.
The Topfield TF5810PVRt is just over 2 years old and has never been
fault free but as I got it from Empire Direct and had returned it to
them as unsatisfactory at the time they went tits up I was thankful to
get it (or an equally precocious replacement) back.
The remote control has no effect at all. Disconnecting and then
reconnecting the power puts it into standby mode and pressing the on
button produces a brief 'wait' in the window followed by the clock. The
is no sound of a disk powering up and the other buttons do not function
other than to return the PVR to standby mode.
Given that this PVR is more than 2 years old, Empire Direct are no more
and I am a complete computer numpty is there any point in me trying to
get this repaired and if so by whom?
Alternatively is there much point in me getting a replacement at this
time or is the imminent switch to digital going to render such PVRs useless?
If twin tuner PVRs are going to continue to be useful into the non
analogue age what is the best one to get. I am reluctant to stick with
Topfield as the previous 5800 became very noisy after about 2 years
although ironically it still hasn't died.
Andy Burns
> The Topfield TF5810PVRt is just over 2 years old and has never been
> fault free
Have you enquired on http://www.toppy.org.uk/
> Alternatively is there much point in me getting a replacement at this
> time or is the imminent switch to digital going to render such PVRs
> useless?
Your PVR *is* digital.
dennis@home
"Roger Chapman" <ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote in message
news:qqednZNYK5E0CrzQ...@bt.com...
> Given that this PVR is more than 2 years old, Empire Direct are no more
> and I am a complete computer numpty is there any point in me trying to get
> this repaired and if so by whom?
I had a washer dryer from empire direct, free warranty.
It failed and the warranty was no good so I phoned the credit card company
and explained what happened..
they issued an immediate refund.
Tim Lamb
Burns <usenet....@adslpipe.co.uk> writes
AOL on the Topfield forum. Very enthusiastic but a bit techno minded:-)
Audible noise on the 5800 is either internal vibration or a worn hard
drive. The hard drive runs all the time unless you have disabled the
pause feature.
Changing drives is a piece of cake.
Old 5800's may suffer from electrolytic capacitor failure due to thermal
degradation. Kits are available but not a novice job.
regards
>
--
Tim Lamb
Roger Chapman
>> The Topfield TF5810PVRt is just over 2 years old and has never been
>> fault free
>
> Have you enquired on http://www.toppy.org.uk/
I will try there as well then but this ng has always struck me as the
fount of all knowledge as well as residence of choice for the Dribbles
of this world.
>
>> Alternatively is there much point in me getting a replacement at this
>> time or is the imminent switch to digital going to render such PVRs
>> useless?
>
> Your PVR *is* digital.
I was aware of that but what was concerning me for the future is whether
it would work through a digital TV. I don't know enough about these
things to know whether they would just refuse to talk to each other or,
alternatively, attenuating the signal through a third tuner would render
it too weak. As it was the Toppy often came up with "no signal on
channel 2" despite the local transmitter being only the other side of
the valley and the analogue signal being strong enough to provide a
picture with me sticking a finger into the aerial socket while standing
in front of a window.
F
> As it was the Toppy often came up with "no signal on
> channel 2"
That's usually down to a poor connection/lead between 'tuner 1 out' and
'tuner 2 in'.
--
F
Alan
<ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote
>I returned home yesterday after spending Xmas with relations to find a
>house with no mains water and the PVR immune to instruction.
First, there is a very active UK forum for Topfield PVRs (currently
12,000 registered members and 200,000 posts)
Main site
http://www.toppy.org.uk/
Forums
http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/index.php
Sign up (free) to the forums - the process may take a day at some times
if your application is manually checked. It is a spam free forum.
Some regular contributors to the forums are very knowledgeable on
hardware and firmware faults etc.
>
>Given that this PVR is more than 2 years old, Empire Direct are no more
>and I am a complete computer numpty is there any point in me trying to
>get this repaired and if so by whom?
Ask in the Toppy forums first and describing what does and doesn't work.
For instance if the Toppy has lost it's channel scanning it will not
allow you to come out of the menu until you have done a re-scan for
channels again.
There are many other failure modes and often it is just a matter of
going through all the ideas until the problem is located.
For certain faults (such as power supply faults) a couple of forum
members offer a repair service for fellow forum members.
If it's a hard disk failure then a straight swap out may be all that is
required. A Topfield with a failed disk usually still works as a basic
Freeview receiver. The failed hard disk will not be seen in the menus.
Other faults can be repaired by Turbosat, the UK importer who carry
spares for DIY or also have a Topfield repair facility.
>
>Alternatively is there much point in me getting a replacement at this
>time or is the imminent switch to digital going to render such PVRs
>useless?
>
It is a twin Freeview DIGITAL SD PVR
>If twin tuner PVRs are going to continue to be useful into the non
>analogue age what is the best one to get. I am reluctant to stick with
>Topfield as the previous 5800 became very noisy after about 2 years
>although ironically it still hasn't died.
The 5810 and 5800 are no use for analogue at all because they cannot
record the analogue transmissions. By buying the Topfield
you were well ahead of the game in anticipating analogue switch off.
The 5800 was probably easily repairable for little cost.
--
Alan
news2009 {at} admac {dot} myzen {dot} co {dot} uk
Alan
<ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote
> As it was the Toppy often came up with "no signal on channel 2"
>despite the local transmitter being only the other side of the valley
>and the analogue signal being strong enough to provide a picture with
>me sticking a finger into the aerial socket while standing in front of
>a window.
Duplicate channels from more than one transmitter?
The Toppy is rather intolerant of duplicate channels.
Alan
<t...@marfordfarm.demon.co.uk> wrote
>Old 5800's may suffer from electrolytic capacitor failure due to
>thermal degradation. Kits are available but not a novice job.
Posts on the Topfield forum suggest it can be a novice job and those
without any previous electronic or soldering experience have fixed power
supplies by following the instructions. However, a reasonable priced
repair service provided by a few people is an alternative for the
inexperienced.
Dave Plowman (News)
Roger Chapman <ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote:
> The Topfield TF5810PVRt is just over 2 years old and has never been
> fault free but as I got it from Empire Direct and had returned it to
> them as unsatisfactory at the time they went tits up I was thankful to
> get it (or an equally precocious replacement) back.
> The remote control has no effect at all. Disconnecting and then
> reconnecting the power puts it into standby mode and pressing the on
> button produces a brief 'wait' in the window followed by the clock. The
> is no sound of a disk powering up and the other buttons do not function
> other than to return the PVR to standby mode.
The majority of faults on this model are down to the power supply.
Remove the case and check all the various voltages with a decent DVM - the
voltages are marked on the PSU board. If they're wrong, it needs a few
caps replaced. The originals are of poor quality. I'd guess the 5 volt
rails will be very wrong.
Google will give you chapter and verse on doing this.
If this is outside your comfort zone I'd happily do it for you - I've
repaired several and have the replacement caps 'in stock'.
--
*Why is it that most nudists are people you don't want to see naked?*
Dave Plowman da...@davenoise.co.uk London SW
To e-mail, change noise into sound.
Tim Watts
> In message <fsmdnRdxXY5HObzQ...@bt.com>, Roger Chapman
> <ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote
>
>> As it was the Toppy often came up with "no signal on channel 2"
>>despite the local transmitter being only the other side of the valley
>>and the analogue signal being strong enough to provide a picture with
>>me sticking a finger into the aerial socket while standing in front of
>>a window.
>
> Duplicate channels from more than one transmitter?
> The Toppy is rather intolerant of duplicate channels.
>
Pretty sure there is a TAP (extension) at toppy to prune out duplicates.
--
Tim Watts
geoff
<ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> writes
>
>The remote control has no effect at all. Disconnecting and then
>reconnecting the power puts it into standby mode and pressing the on
>button produces a brief 'wait' in the window followed by the clock. The
>is no sound of a disk powering up and the other buttons do not function
>other than to return the PVR to standby mode.
>
Really strange that you should say that
I had a TV remote and a HDD/DVD remote both stopped controlling their
respective appliances for a couple of hours one day last week
The DVD remote would control an identical machine in another room and
other remotes in that room worked OK
later in the day they both started working again
I think that aliens must have landed
--
geoff
F
> Posts on the Topfield forum suggest it can be a novice job and those
> without any previous electronic or soldering experience have fixed power
> supplies by following the instructions.
I'm expecting delivery of a kit (£6) anytime now...
> However, a reasonable priced
> repair service provided by a few people is an alternative for the
> inexperienced.
£35 inc carriage for the whole box to be sent if I remember correctly.
--
F
John Rumm
> The Topfield TF5810PVRt is just over 2 years old and has never been
> fault free but as I got it from Empire Direct and had returned it to
> them as unsatisfactory at the time they went tits up I was thankful to
> get it (or an equally precocious replacement) back.
In what way was it faulty originally?
Have you updated the firmware since new?
> The remote control has no effect at all. Disconnecting and then
> reconnecting the power puts it into standby mode and pressing the on
> button produces a brief 'wait' in the window followed by the clock. The
> is no sound of a disk powering up and the other buttons do not function
> other than to return the PVR to standby mode.
Do you briefly see the "run" message? If so try holding 0 on the remote
at that point. (that will stop any "TAPs" running at power on.
> Given that this PVR is more than 2 years old, Empire Direct are no more
> and I am a complete computer numpty is there any point in me trying to
> get this repaired and if so by whom?
Yup well worth repairing.
> Alternatively is there much point in me getting a replacement at this
> time or is the imminent switch to digital going to render such PVRs
> useless?
Your PVR is already digital and hence ahead of the game. The switch over
will help rather than hinder since broadcast powers on the digital
transmissions will be raised after DSO.
> If twin tuner PVRs are going to continue to be useful into the non
Twin tuner PVRs are of no use in the analogue age. The only feature that
your lacks is the advent of Freeview HD reception and HDMI outputs. It
will still work just fine in an all digital environment and with new
TVs. It won't however receive or record HD channels if you are in a part
of the country where they are available.
> analogue age what is the best one to get. I am reluctant to stick with
Topfield and Humax are still in the list of top choices really. The
Humax probably suits non techy users better since it does slightly more
"out of the box", but the toppy is more flexible and can be tweaked to
do what you like do to the number of aftermarket software add ons
available.
> Topfield as the previous 5800 became very noisy after about 2 years
> although ironically it still hasn't died.
Noise is usually a sign of a dodgy hard drive. These boxes basically
contain off the self drives, and hence are no more or less likely than
any other to suffer problems in this respect. Making sure they have
adequate cooling space is worth doing however, as some can run quite
warm, and elevated temperatures will lower the drives reliability. Its a
relatively painless job to swap out the drive.
--
Cheers,
John.
/=================================================================\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\=================================================================/
Michael Chare
news:P3i8fbB+...@amac.f2s.com...
>
> First, there is a very active UK forum for Topfield PVRs (currently 12,000
> registered members and 200,000 posts)
> Main site
> http://www.toppy.org.uk/
> Forums
> http://forum.toppy.org.uk/forum/index.php
>
> Sign up (free) to the forums - the process may take a day at some times if
> your application is manually checked. It is a spam free forum.
>
> Some regular contributors to the forums are very knowledgeable on hardware
> and firmware faults etc.
Indeed!
I would also suggest using the toppy forum version of the firmware.
--
Michael Chare
Roger Chapman
>> The remote control has no effect at all. Disconnecting and then
>> > reconnecting the power puts it into standby mode and pressing the on
>> > button produces a brief 'wait' in the window followed by the clock. The
>> > is no sound of a disk powering up and the other buttons do not function
>> > other than to return the PVR to standby mode.
> The majority of faults on this model are down to the power supply.
I got these the wrong way round. For power read standby and for standby
read power. The destructions do not have an illustration of the front of
the unit nor any reference to using the unit without the remote.
> Remove the case and check all the various voltages with a decent DVM - the
> voltages are marked on the PSU board. If they're wrong, it needs a few
> caps replaced. The originals are of poor quality. I'd guess the 5 volt
> rails will be very wrong.
>
> Google will give you chapter and verse on doing this.
Just 5 screws to open the case. Argh! All the screws were extremely
stiff and one had both a crossed thread and a section of stripped thread
half way along as well. Not easy to provide lift as well as torque when
the thread has a knackered section. Screw eventually removed complete
with a dusting of magnetised swarf.
>
> If this is outside your comfort zone I'd happily do it for you - I've
> repaired several and have the replacement caps 'in stock'.
Thanks for the offer but I am as yet not sure if that is the problem.
The con 2 connector has a different layout to that illustrated and as
there may be no load to drag down the voltages the measured voltages
could be suspect but FWIW the voltages as specified and measured
(working from the front of the case) are:
30 - 29, 17 - 17.27, 8 - 7.99, 5 - 4.96, 3.3 - 3.26, 17 - 17.27.
Apart from the 30v all were measured on the 20v range of my DVM. No idea
however whether that is as accurate as the readings suggest.
I couldn't find anything directly relating to the symptoms I have on the
Toppy forum but I did come across one contributor complaining about his
repair costing half as much as a new unit so I still have an open mind
about opting for replacement if anyone should have a reliable
alternative to suggest. As VAT rises at midnight this is a decision I
might well take in haste. :-)
At one point I connected the PVR to the PC but there was no sign of any
recognition. Do I need to be running any compatible software before
Windows will notice the connection or is the conclusion to be drawn that
the PVR software isn't functioning and just maybe there isn't a hard
disk failure either?
Andy Burns
> On 03/01/2011 09:42, Andy Burns wrote:
>
>> Your PVR *is* digital.
>
> I was aware of that but what was concerning me for the future is whether
> it would work through a digital TV. I don't know enough about these
> things to know whether they would just refuse to talk to each other
Yes it'll talk to a digital TV via HDMI, SCART or RF just as with
current TVs (just because transmitters stop sending analogue, doesn't
mean any TV you buy for a few years yet will stop receiving it).
Roger Chapman
>> The Topfield TF5810PVRt is just over 2 years old and has never been
>> fault free but as I got it from Empire Direct and had returned it to
>> them as unsatisfactory at the time they went tits up I was thankful to
>> get it (or an equally precocious replacement) back.
>
> In what way was it faulty originally?
There you have me. I can't remember. :-) However I can quote my
complaint to Empire Direct:
"1) Having paid extra for next day delivery I was extremely annoyed when
the delivery driver played the oldest trick in the book when he couldn't
find my house and pretended that I hadn't been in and he had had to
leave a card.
2) I have a problem with this Topfield PVRT5810, or possibly 2 or 3.
Yesterday, having set the equipment up I set it to record a program and
then decided to watch it anyway. On switching to the list I found it had
not been recorded. Now that might just be because I am unfamiliar with
this machine but the second problem is far more serious.
When I sat down to watch the 6pm news today I switched on the epg and
the machine appeared to freeze. The news continued in the window but
nothing on the handset worked, or at least not immediately. What seemed
to have occurred is an extreme go-slow with the button press being
actioned after a period of at least several minutes. After the best part
of half an hour normal service was suddenly restored but if the machine
is going to behave like this when new how bad is it going to be later
on? And to think I only bought this 5810 because my 5800 (bought from
you some considerable time ago) had started to play up.
The 3rd problem may just be a difference in behaviour between 5800 and
5810 but with the former when the machine is on standby I can watch the
analogue channels. With the later there is no signal strength when the
machine is on standby."
There have since been other issues with the machine failing to wake up
to record programs or just losing any record of particular programs to
be recorded.
>
> Have you updated the firmware since new?
Yes. Topfield orgs version. ISTR I didn't get anywhere with the official
upgrade. I don't think that solved any of the problems and I eventually
opted to leave it on constantly in an attempt to get round switch on
problems and yet another problem that was the failure to record
occasioned by the EPG not progressing. That didn't cure the latest fault
either but at least it did away with the switch on faults. However I
might not have taken that course of action if I had known about the PSU
capacitor problem.
>
>> The remote control has no effect at all. Disconnecting and then
>> reconnecting the power puts it into standby mode and pressing the on
>> button produces a brief 'wait' in the window followed by the clock. The
>> is no sound of a disk powering up and the other buttons do not function
>> other than to return the PVR to standby mode.
>
> Do you briefly see the "run" message? If so try holding 0 on the remote
> at that point. (that will stop any "TAPs" running at power on.
No run message. The power symbol appears in the window immediately and
when switched to standby there is only the briefest of appearances for
'wait' before the time appears.
How can I check whether or not the hard drive has failed given that I
don't get so much as a menu on screen?
Thanks John to you and indeed all the others who have given advice on
the subject.
Alan
<ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote
>Thanks for the offer but I am as yet not sure if that is the problem.
On a 5810 it's not a common problem. PSU problems are seen on 5800 of
around 4 years old but the 5810 has a similar design (different physical
layout) so this model is likely to have problems in the future. A 5810
is more likely to have a hard disk failure or corruption.
>30 - 29, 17 - 17.27, 8 - 7.99, 5 - 4.96, 3.3 - 3.26, 17 - 17.27.
Those voltages look OK
>At one point I connected the PVR to the PC but there was no sign of any
>recognition. Do I need to be running any compatible software before
>Windows will notice the connection or is the conclusion to be drawn
>that the PVR software isn't functioning and just maybe there isn't a
>hard disk failure either?
You need to be running The Topfield software on your PC before it will
see the box and you may have compounded the problem if you have
connected the Toppy before installing the software and USB drivers.
Windows may have now installed a non-compatible drivers and associated
it with the Toppy which must be first uninstalled.
Roger Chapman
>> Thanks for the offer but I am as yet not sure if that is the problem.
>
> On a 5810 it's not a common problem. PSU problems are seen on 5800 of
> around 4 years old but the 5810 has a similar design (different physical
> layout) so this model is likely to have problems in the future. A 5810
> is more likely to have a hard disk failure or corruption.
>
>> 30 - 29, 17 - 17.27, 8 - 7.99, 5 - 4.96, 3.3 - 3.26, 17 - 17.27.
>
> Those voltages look OK
>
>> At one point I connected the PVR to the PC but there was no sign of
>> any recognition. Do I need to be running any compatible software
>> before Windows will notice the connection or is the conclusion to be
>> drawn that the PVR software isn't functioning and just maybe there
>> isn't a hard disk failure either?
>
> You need to be running The Topfield software on your PC before it will
> see the box and you may have compounded the problem if you have
> connected the Toppy before installing the software and USB drivers.
> Windows may have now installed a non-compatible drivers and associated
> it with the Toppy which must be first uninstalled.
I have a memory problem which means that although I can remember
updating the firmware I can't remember how I did it. I do however have a
Topfield folder on my PC and the instructions that I have found say I
only needed to to install the drivers once so they should be OK. Altair
1.250 doesn't see another drive which seems to suggest that the Topfield
drive isn't running.
Dave Plowman (News)
Roger Chapman <ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote:
> > If this is outside your comfort zone I'd happily do it for you - I've
> > repaired several and have the replacement caps 'in stock'.
> Thanks for the offer but I am as yet not sure if that is the problem.
> The con 2 connector has a different layout to that illustrated and as
> there may be no load to drag down the voltages the measured voltages
> could be suspect but FWIW the voltages as specified and measured
> (working from the front of the case) are:
> 30 - 29, 17 - 17.27, 8 - 7.99, 5 - 4.96, 3.3 - 3.26, 17 - 17.27.
> Apart from the 30v all were measured on the 20v range of my DVM. No idea
> however whether that is as accurate as the readings suggest.
They're ok and exhaust my knowledge of Toppy faults. ;-)
--
*And don't start a sentence with a conjunction *
Alan
<ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote
>I have a memory problem which means that although I can remember
>updating the firmware I can't remember how I did it. I do however have
>a Topfield folder on my PC and the instructions that I have found say I
>only needed to to install the drivers once so they should be OK. Altair
>1.250 doesn't see another drive which seems to suggest that the
>Topfield drive isn't running.
This indicates your diagnosis may be correct.
If you just disconnect the two connectors from the back of the disk
drive (power and data) your Toppy box should run as a basic Freeview
receiver. If it does suspect the hard disk and if it doesn't then there
is possibly something else wrong.
Usual safety warning
As with all Topfield repairs be advised that power supply components at
the back of the box are running at 350V and you can get a life
threatening shock if you touch them whilst the box is plugged into the
mains. Likewise touching the metal heat sink on that part of the power
supply could kill you.
http://img167.imageshack.us/img167/3086/toppy2ns4.jpg
John Rumm
> On 03/01/2011 14:40, John Rumm wrote:
>> In what way was it faulty originally?
>
> There you have me. I can't remember. :-) However I can quote my
> complaint to Empire Direct:
>
> "1) Having paid extra for next day delivery I was extremely annoyed when
ok, not so much a toppy fault that one...
> 2) I have a problem with this Topfield PVRT5810, or possibly 2 or 3.
>
> Yesterday, having set the equipment up I set it to record a program and
> then decided to watch it anyway. On switching to the list I found it had
> not been recorded. Now that might just be because I am unfamiliar with
> this machine but the second problem is far more serious.
>
> When I sat down to watch the 6pm news today I switched on the epg and
> the machine appeared to freeze. The news continued in the window but
> nothing on the handset worked, or at least not immediately. What seemed
> to have occurred is an extreme go-slow with the button press being
> actioned after a period of at least several minutes. After the best part
Might be a problem with the 7 day epg - it can take a while to process
the first time, however once cached the problem should not be apparent
next time it updates its copy of it. I take it it does not still do this
for every switch on?
> of half an hour normal service was suddenly restored but if the machine
> is going to behave like this when new how bad is it going to be later
> on? And to think I only bought this 5810 because my 5800 (bought from
> you some considerable time ago) had started to play up.
>
> The 3rd problem may just be a difference in behaviour between 5800 and
> 5810 but with the former when the machine is on standby I can watch the
> analogue channels. With the later there is no signal strength when the
> machine is on standby."
Can't comment on that, I have the 5800. However, a tweak to the wiring
to split the aerial feed to the TV rather than looping it through toppy
would fix this.
> There have since been other issues with the machine failing to wake up
> to record programs or just losing any record of particular programs to
> be recorded.
I find mine *generally* reliable - but it does throw a wobbly now and
then. Usually power cycling it at the mains fixes it. It tends to be
worse when there is very little free disk space.
>> Have you updated the firmware since new?
>
> Yes. Topfield orgs version. ISTR I didn't get anywhere with the official
> upgrade. I don't think that solved any of the problems and I eventually
> opted to leave it on constantly in an attempt to get round switch on
> problems and yet another problem that was the failure to record
> occasioned by the EPG not progressing. That didn't cure the latest fault
Using the toppy recommended firmware and MyStuff TAP (that includes
various EPG patches) seems to make the whole thing work rather nicely.
You might want to try MyStuff if you are still using the original UI).
>> Noise is usually a sign of a dodgy hard drive. These boxes basically
>> contain off the self drives, and hence are no more or less likely than
>> any other to suffer problems in this respect. Making sure they have
>> adequate cooling space is worth doing however, as some can run quite
>> warm, and elevated temperatures will lower the drives reliability. Its a
>> relatively painless job to swap out the drive.
>
> How can I check whether or not the hard drive has failed given that I
> don't get so much as a menu on screen?
DVM on its power connector. If its getting 12V and 5V but not spinning
up then that is usually a good clue.
Roger Chapman
snip
>> 2) I have a problem with this Topfield PVRT5810, or possibly 2 or 3.
>>
>> Yesterday, having set the equipment up I set it to record a program and
>> then decided to watch it anyway. On switching to the list I found it had
>> not been recorded. Now that might just be because I am unfamiliar with
>> this machine but the second problem is far more serious.
>>
>> When I sat down to watch the 6pm news today I switched on the epg and
>> the machine appeared to freeze. The news continued in the window but
>> nothing on the handset worked, or at least not immediately. What seemed
>> to have occurred is an extreme go-slow with the button press being
>> actioned after a period of at least several minutes. After the best part
>
> Might be a problem with the 7 day epg - it can take a while to process
> the first time, however once cached the problem should not be apparent
> next time it updates its copy of it. I take it it does not still do this
> for every switch on?
My memory being what it is I can't be sure how long that fault persisted
but it certainly occurred several times in the early days.
>
>> of half an hour normal service was suddenly restored but if the machine
>> is going to behave like this when new how bad is it going to be later
>> on? And to think I only bought this 5810 because my 5800 (bought from
>> you some considerable time ago) had started to play up.
>>
>> The 3rd problem may just be a difference in behaviour between 5800 and
>> 5810 but with the former when the machine is on standby I can watch the
>> analogue channels. With the later there is no signal strength when the
>> machine is on standby."
>
> Can't comment on that, I have the 5800. However, a tweak to the wiring
> to split the aerial feed to the TV rather than looping it through toppy
> would fix this.
Thanks. I will bear that in mind should I ever manage to resurrect this
machine.
>> There have since been other issues with the machine failing to wake up
>> to record programs or just losing any record of particular programs to
>> be recorded.
>
> I find mine *generally* reliable - but it does throw a wobbly now and
> then. Usually power cycling it at the mains fixes it. It tends to be
> worse when there is very little free disk space.
AFAICR the disk was less than half full when I left it running before my
Xmas break - which reminds me i have had another fault which left the
machine recording without end but as I was around at the time I stopped
it before it was anyway near disk full.
>>> Have you updated the firmware since new?
>>
>> Yes. Topfield orgs version. ISTR I didn't get anywhere with the official
>> upgrade. I don't think that solved any of the problems and I eventually
>> opted to leave it on constantly in an attempt to get round switch on
>> problems and yet another problem that was the failure to record
>> occasioned by the EPG not progressing. That didn't cure the latest fault
>
> Using the toppy recommended firmware and MyStuff TAP (that includes
> various EPG patches) seems to make the whole thing work rather nicely.
> You might want to try MyStuff if you are still using the original UI).
When (if) the time comes I hope I will remember where I can find your
advice. ;-)
>>> Noise is usually a sign of a dodgy hard drive. These boxes basically
>>> contain off the self drives, and hence are no more or less likely than
>>> any other to suffer problems in this respect. Making sure they have
>>> adequate cooling space is worth doing however, as some can run quite
>>> warm, and elevated temperatures will lower the drives reliability. Its a
>>> relatively painless job to swap out the drive.
>>
>> How can I check whether or not the hard drive has failed given that I
>> don't get so much as a menu on screen?
>
> DVM on its power connector. If its getting 12V and 5V but not spinning
> up then that is usually a good clue.
Will do that shortly. I currently have the hard disk disconnected as per
Alan's advice. The machine did not run but pressing the power button
produced an endless 'wait' in the window. Some 80 minutes later it is
still frozen in time so perhaps it is not worth waiting any longer. I
had seen this earlier and cleared it with another button press but that
was before I revisited my e-mail to Empire Direct and reminded myself of
the delayed action aspect of that earlier fault.
Alan
<ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote
>I currently have the hard disk disconnected as per Alan's advice. The
>machine did not run but pressing the power button produced an endless
>'wait' in the window. Some 80 minutes later it is still frozen in time
>so perhaps it is not worth waiting any longer. I had seen this earlier
>and cleared it with another button press but that was before I
>revisited my e-mail to Empire Direct and reminded myself of the delayed
>action aspect of that earlier fault.
If you haven't done it already, turn the box off at the mains for two
minutes. This will give the box a complete cold boot which doesn't
happen if you just put the box into standby.
A Toppy should take no longer than around 40 seconds to boot up (usually
around 15 seconds if you are running firmware with most of the
performance enhancement patches and utilities)
I recommend that you post your symptoms and detail what you have already
done (incl. power supply voltages etc.) to the bugs section of the Toppy
forums where many more people familiar with Toppy failures will read
your post.
On Topfield 5800 Freeview PVRs the common failure is a PSU capacitor
problem.
On a 5810 it is common for an early disk failure (possibly due to a
faulty batch being fitted) but there have been a couple of documented
PSU failures.
Less common is a 1.5V regulator failure on the mother board.
There is secondary failure (usually on a 5800) as a result of the 30V
rail rising to 38V taking out the transistor that controls the tuner
AGC.
All these are documented (with fixes) on the Toppy forums.
F
> I would also suggest using the toppy forum version of the firmware.
And MyStuff 6.3
--
F
Roger Chapman
>> don't get so much as a menu on screen?
>
> DVM on its power connector. If its getting 12V and 5V but not spinning
> up then that is usually a good clue.
4.97v and 12.46 present on the connector in both powered and standby
mode. As far as I can tell the drive doesn't spin.
Roger Chapman
>> I currently have the hard disk disconnected as per Alan's advice. The
>> machine did not run but pressing the power button produced an endless
>> 'wait' in the window. Some 80 minutes later it is still frozen in time
>> so perhaps it is not worth waiting any longer. I had seen this earlier
>> and cleared it with another button press but that was before I
>> revisited my e-mail to Empire Direct and reminded myself of the
>> delayed action aspect of that earlier fault.
>
> If you haven't done it already, turn the box off at the mains for two
> minutes. This will give the box a complete cold boot which doesn't
> happen if you just put the box into standby.
The box has had several periods of complete disconnect in excess of one
hour.
> A Toppy should take no longer than around 40 seconds to boot up (usually
> around 15 seconds if you are running firmware with most of the
> performance enhancement patches and utilities)
>
> I recommend that you post your symptoms and detail what you have already
> done (incl. power supply voltages etc.) to the bugs section of the Toppy
> forums where many more people familiar with Toppy failures will read
> your post.
Will do that thanks once I have registered.
> On Topfield 5800 Freeview PVRs the common failure is a PSU capacitor
> problem.
>
> On a 5810 it is common for an early disk failure (possibly due to a
> faulty batch being fitted) but there have been a couple of documented
> PSU failures.
>
> Less common is a 1.5V regulator failure on the mother board.
>
> There is secondary failure (usually on a 5800) as a result of the 30V
> rail rising to 38V taking out the transistor that controls the tuner AGC.
>
> All these are documented (with fixes) on the Toppy forums.
I couldn't find anything matching my symptoms earlier but the search
engine seems to require quite specific matches to produce any result at
all.
John Rumm
It sounds like it ought to be spinning. You could check the jumpers to
make sure delayed spin has not been selected (that allows the computer
to spin up the drive when it wants rather than at power up - not a
facility used on most desktop machines, but handy on servers with a
large number of drives to spin up)
You could also try plugging the drive into a spare power connector on
your PC and see if it spins there.
Alan
<ro...@nospam.zetnet.co.uk> wrote
>I couldn't find anything matching my symptoms earlier but the search
>engine seems to require quite specific matches to produce any result at
>all.
The site inbuilt search engine is poor but recently a Google search
facility has been added which is_much_ better. Use the first search box
at
http://www.toppy.org.uk/search.php
Roger Chapman
> It sounds like it ought to be spinning. You could check the jumpers to
> make sure delayed spin has not been selected (that allows the computer
> to spin up the drive when it wants rather than at power up - not a
> facility used on most desktop machines, but handy on servers with a
> large number of drives to spin up)
>
> You could also try plugging the drive into a spare power connector on
> your PC and see if it spins there.
I have extracted the drive. There are no jumpers present which appears
to indicate the 'single or master' option. So if I can plug this into a
computer will it run at all given it thinks it is a master? And is there
any chance that this would cause a problem to the computer or, indeed,
to the drive assuming it is not as yet totally knackered?
John Rumm
If you just plug in the power lead, then it ought to spin up and not
cause a problem for either of them. If it does not spin with just the
power lead connected (and there is no delay spin jumper in place), then
its probably a safe bet the drive is toast.
Roger Chapman
snip
>>> You could also try plugging the drive into a spare power connector on
>>> your PC and see if it spins there.
>>
>> I have extracted the drive. There are no jumpers present which appears
>> to indicate the 'single or master' option. So if I can plug this into a
>> computer will it run at all given it thinks it is a master? And is there
>> any chance that this would cause a problem to the computer or, indeed,
>> to the drive assuming it is not as yet totally knackered?
>
> If you just plug in the power lead, then it ought to spin up and not
> cause a problem for either of them. If it does not spin with just the
> power lead connected (and there is no delay spin jumper in place), then
> its probably a safe bet the drive is toast.
Given that I have the correct volts on the PVR power connector I thought
that I would try that first. The drive does indeed spin up when only the
power connector is connected. However with both connectors in place it
does not. Curious?