Probable death of a Receiver

[w3wilkes]

Duet receiver won't reset! I walked pas my receiver and noticed the front light was red and blinking very slowly, about once every 4 seconds which I'm pretty sure is slower than the normal slow blink. I thought I'd just do a factory reset by holding the front button. I can hold it for eternity and all it does is blink red slowly. Anybody have anything else magic to try or is it time I built a Pi player?

I was also surprised to see there was an update for the controller to 7.8 which I've done. The controller works fine for my other software players, but it doesn't see my receiver. Not surprised that it doesn't see the receiver since it's not on the network and since it won't factory reset the controller can't see it in initialize mode either.

[alfista]

Given the amount of SB2/SB3 problems that can be traced to power supplies going bad, I guess it would be worth having a look at that.
I know it isn't the same type of supply, but power supplies in general are pretty short lived these days.

[bpa]

The other problem common to all the older SB players - faulty WLAN card often prevents player from booting.

[mark wollschlager]

If you have another receiver, swap the power supply.
I had two power supplies go bad in the last 6 months, same symptoms.
a compatible replacement can be found here:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZJA1RX0/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[w3wilkes]

Okay, haven't quite given up. My other receiver is 350 miles away so I can't test the power supply swap, but I don't think the power supply is the issue.

I found this in a thread here from 4 years ago.

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?98247-Help-in-confirming-a-possibly-dead-squeezebox-receiver&p=775706&viewfull=1#post775706

So I cracked open the receiver, pulled the wifi card and powered up. Got the 2 flash purple saying the wifi card was missing as it was. Pulled the power and held the front button with wifi card out and put power back on. The LED did 2 purple flashes and then goes into the test sequence flashing all the LED colors. I then put the wifi card back in and I'm back to the slow red flash and can't reset. This leads me to believe the power supply is fine, but not the wifi card.

I then got to searching for a card and found this one on Amazon.

https://www.amazon.com/Compex-802-11b-WLM54G-23-2-4GHz-Mini-PCI/dp/B003WQPCB6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1519334048&sr=8-1&keywords=WLM54G+Atheros+AR2413

The card looks right and has the correct Atheros AR2413 Chipset, but is called a WLM54G rather than a WLANTPG V2 which is the card in my receiver.

Do any of you know if this card is a valid replacement before I spend the US $10 (includes shipping)?

[bpa]

My rule of thumb is make sure the layout of component on the card are similar. It look similar to the WLAN cards I have.

Below is a thread which I started when looking for compatible WLAN cards

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?95513-Compatible-WLAN-cards-for-SB3-Boom-Reciever-amp-Transporter

[w3wilkes]

Thanks @bpa. I went ahead and ordered the card. I'll let you all know if it works. If it doesn't I'll build me a PiCorePlayer to replace the receiver.

[Bassman]

There is a topic for making the Boom work with ethernet connect to an external WiFi dongle, here:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1203432-REG/iogear_gwu637_ethernet_2_wifi_universal_wireless_adapter.html?ap=y&c3api=1876%2C%7Bcreative%7D%2C%7Bkeyword%7D&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI6fL18MOe2QIVD3Z-Ch0Dwg1LEAQYAyABEgLH2_D_BwE

http://forums.slimdevices.com/showthread.php?108704-Simple-fix-when-Wifi-function-dies-done-by-someone-with-limited-tech-knowledge

[Mnyb]

Problem with the reciever is that it will not pass the booth sequence without a functioning wifi card.

Soo you cant just rip it out like in an SB2/3 these where sold w/o wifi so they are made to function without it.

[w3wilkes]

Got the new card and installed. Same slow red blink error. I'm ordering the Pi and building a receiver. When I get to my other receiver I'll try that power supply and see if that's the issue. Since all lights blink I'm skeptical.

[Mnyb]

It will take 20s for the fast blink to apear .

Use a timer we modern humans are impatient.

[w3wilkes]

Receiver is Repaired

Ordered everything to build a new Pi receiver, but I have another update after @Mnyb (Thanks) prompted me not to completely give up on my receiver.

Went back and re-read the thread I referenced above and went through the steps that were outlined with one extra power cycle of the receiver at the 3rd to last step.

Here's what I ended up doing to get the receiver going;

Pull power and the new card.
Hold the front button and then apply power wait for the receiver to go into self test (the LED will start flashing all color sequence).
Release front button and pull power.
Install new wifi card.
Hold front button and apply power.
Continue to hold button until fast red blink (this may take 20 to 30 seconds).
I then pulled power and re-applied power.
Held front button until fast blink.
Factory reset controller and went through normal setup.

Viola, all is good and it looks like I'll also have a backup Pi player tomorrow and we have another wifi card that is verified to work in the receiver.

EDIT: The MAC address of the receiver didn't change with the new card so MYSB.com didn't need an update.
FYI- There's a certificate error when logging in to MYSB.com that should probably be fixed.