PDA

View Full Version : ex c&w box problem



neilmajithia
27-06-2006, 02:06 PM
Hi, im an ntl (ex c&w) user and ive had an "extra" box for a couple of years now. Up till recently someone used to update the fun card with a new rst whenever the keys changed or whatever happens and receltly ive started doing that myself.
However last week when there was a change the new rst didnt work for me. What happens is i get the bbc channels and nothing else.
The stange thing is, when i have a an rst that is not working i get the ussual
"access denied" error box in all but bbc channels
BUT
when i put a working rst in the box i get the error "information only - this channel is currently unavailable...." error code b1015, on the same channels i would have got access denied.
I should also mention that on occasion when i turn off the box and turn it on i get an Err1 error code but this hass happened since ive had the box and trhe box ussualy worked fine after a couple of tries of turning it on and off.
Anyone have any ideas what is wrong or what could be done?
:please:
Thanks!

neilmajithia
27-06-2006, 03:07 PM
quick update, i am now also getting the 8888 or 88:88 screen on the box, ive been looking around and founf this just means the box is dead and would need replacing. Since it isnt a subbed box, is there anything that can be done about it, considering it was working with that err1 problem for years. any help appreciated!

neilmajithia
27-06-2006, 08:17 PM
big update! my box is working (but god know 4 how long)
was searching round and found my problem meant i had a dead box. however it has been working up till now with that random err1 problem and eventually i found that some people reported that they left thier "err1"/"88:88" boxes on for a while/ all day or all night, and then and then switched it off and on at the mains and it worked perfect again. I tried this today and it worked! so anyone else have the same problem could try this

2tone
28-06-2006, 07:28 AM
To fix 88:88 you need to reflow the atmels they are two chips beside the sim,people have left them over night and it has fixed them as well but from seeing post on this it can come back to hunt you,think it might be time to get a new reciver if you dont want to be doing a reflow every time you get this prob

neilmajithia
28-06-2006, 09:56 AM
sorry, i didnt understand, reflow of amtels? what does that mean? and how do you do that?

i might consider a new box in the long run however people have been talking about ntl and other introducing the need for talkback for all channels so would it be worth it?

bammy
28-06-2006, 10:15 AM
As 2tone says, the atmels are two chips located right at the fron of the board to the right - these are next to the simm only if your box is a 1000 series (the 2000 series does not have a simm).

The 88:88 problem is often (but not always) caused by a dry joint on one of these chips (i.e. a solder joint is not making good contact). Turning off for a while then back on can sometimes cause a temporary fix as thermal exansion/contraction can re-establish the connection as the box warms / cools. Reflowing the atmels just means heating up the solder to a point where it melts (i.e. flows) and re-establishes a good connection. To do this you need to apply flux to the legs (NOT plumbers flux), and heat the area with a hot air source (or a soldering iron if you're sufficiently skilled but there is a risk of bridging pins and making a real mess). Heat up one side of the chip at a time so there is no chance of it moving on the pads. You can tell when the solder melts as it goes much brighter / silvery. I use a mini butane torch (around £11 from B&Q) which gives sufficiently localised heat not to scorch everything else in the area.

It may be that whoever modded the box in the first place removed the atmels to read the boxkey and left a dodgy joint when they replaced them.

neilmajithia
28-06-2006, 10:48 PM
cheers ill keep this is mind. i havent event opened the box before and i dont even have the right screwdriver so im hoping it keeps going for now

neilmajithia
28-06-2006, 11:01 PM
wait u said this for the 1000 series, i have a 2000 series, what does that mean for me?

bammy
29-06-2006, 09:44 AM
The 2000 does not have a separate simm, but it still has the two atmels at the front right hand side of the board. On the 2000 you will see two pairs of pads - one pair is occupied by the two atmels and the other pair is empty. Once you've got the top off the box it should be obvious!

neilmajithia
29-06-2006, 11:34 AM
thanks! sorry one more thing, what kind of screwdriver do i need, its a kind of 6 point star, i have 6 star screwdrivers but the smallest one i have is too big