HDHomeRun FLEX 4K crashing regularly for nearly 2 years!

[lschwarcz]

Hi everyone,

I'm going to try to be calm here but as you can imagine, I'm pissed!

I bought my FLEX 4K almost 2 years ago and it's been crashing regularly since new. After over a year of this issue and Silicondust not being able to resolve this issue it was suggested that I try replacing the AC power supply. They sent me a new one and that did help a bit but it's still crashing.

After much back and forth they finally told me that the log files are stored on my local disk and that I could access them on a Linux system. It turns out there are no log files. Were they they thinking of a different device or just trying to give me useless tasks in hopes that I just give up?

What's must frustrating is that I got this to act as a backup to my YouTube TV service. Right now they're in a dispute with Disney so they have blocked all of their stations including all prior recordings! I went to my DVR where I recorded the same shows and it had crashed over 3 months ago! Of course there's no indication on the unit that it's down. You can only tell when you can't access it.

Has anyone else had this issue? The support group there gives the illusion of trying to help but obviously is not helpful. If they were, this issue would have been resolved LONG ago! Since the developers didn't think to keep a log file tracing issues is nearly impossible!

Thanks for letting me vent here and hopefully someone out there has an actually useful suggestion!

Larry.

[nickk]

I can check the diagnostic logs... what is the device ID of your HDHomeRun?

[lschwarcz]

Hi Nickk,

Are the diagnostic logs the same ones I can view as, "System Logs?"

If not, how can I check them from here?

If these are logs that are available there but not on my device, shouldn't this information been available to help to diagnose the issue almost 2 years ago?

Thanks,
Larry.

[nickk]

There is an additional level of diagnostic logging that is sent to our servers if you enable "send diagnostic information" on the HDHomeRun. We can look up this information by Device ID to see what the problem is.

Logs are kept for 2 weeks then purged automatically. The "send diagnostic information" option automatically disables itself after 10 days.

[lschwarcz]

Hi Nickk,

What I don't understand is why the logging is only for a limited time. This makes diagnosing issues like this one really difficult.

Speaking as a retired software developer there should be some flag that could be set to start logging and would keep logging until the flag is changed. You could keep a circular log on the local drive allowing the user to reboot the system after a crash and then see the log. Instead customers are left with a defective system (perhaps the DVR itself or some external device) for month after month turning into year after year!

Fortunately I do have other external drive enclosures I can use. I'll swap it over today.

Thanks for your help.
Larry.

P.S. When I send e-mail to SiliconDust for help, are you the one who replies? Email from the company never has a name of who replied.

[KeithAbbott]

If it were me, and I was serious about getting this problem resolved, I would:

1. Start monitoring on a regular basis (daily?), instead of only looking at it once every three months.
2. Every 11 days, re-check the "send diagnostic information" box on the HDHomeRun web page.
3. As soon as you see the box crash, create a ticket with SiliconDust and send them your device ID.

If you faithfully do these steps, SiliconDust should have good diagnostic information leading up to the failure, and will hopefully be able to help to resolve the problem. Monitoring on a daily basis shouldn't take more than five minutes or so every day.

[nickk]

Send diagnostic information is enabled - thanks. DeviceID is 10A73555.

You have a HGST HUS724020ALE640 hard drive. The SMART health is good. This is a 3.5" hard drive...

Question 1 - am I correct in thinking that the USB enclosure has its own power supply?

There was a power-on event at 6:56pm on Oct 31 and another at 11:21pm.

Question 2 - did you unplug power at these times?

[lschwarcz]

Hi Nickk,

Yes the external drive has its own power supply.

No, I did not intentionally power cycle the FLEX 4K at either of those times. I did it yesterday (Friday, Oct 31, 2025) in the morning.

Does the log show the reason for the power cycle?

Larry.

P.S. I'm waiting to hear back from you before I swap external drive enclosures. If the issue is not the drive no need to swap them!

[nickk]

No reason to swap out the USB enclosure or drive that I can see.

It looks like it is rebooting as soon as you start trying to watch something (and sometimes whenever).

The logged reason is "power on". If a fault such as a segfault, stall, or hardware watchdog trigger were to occur the cause is logged. That isn't happening here.

"Power on" (when not caused by the user) almost always means the power adapter shut down under load. That usually points to a failing power adapter or a USB drive that pulls more current than is allowed by the USB standard (usually bus-powered NVMe drives). Your USB drive is self-powered so it can't be that.

Normal procedure in this situation is to replace the power adapter - I understand we sent you a replacement power adapter in February.

We provide a 2 year warranty and your device is under warranty.

I want to test your unit and power adapter in our lab here... can you please drop a quick email to support@silicondust.com (include a link to this thread), and our support team will send you the RMA information. We will send you a replacement FLEX and flag your return to be sent to me for investigation. Be sure to return the power adapter with the unit so I can test both.

[lschwarcz]

Hi Nickk,

I just sent the e-mail. But, I specified that they would need to first send me the replacement. After dealing with this issue for nearly 2 years making me do without the device during shipping both ways plus processing time on your end is not acceptable.

And, I also specified they would need to send me a new unit. Not a refurbished one. I don't want to have to deal with someone else's broken device. Since I don't know what issue the first owner had, there's no way I can confirm that the refurbished one was fixed correctly.

Thanks for your help,
Larry.

[nickk]

I just sent the e-mail. But, I specified that they would need to first send me the replacement. After dealing with this issue for nearly 2 years making me do without the device during shipping both ways plus processing time on your end is not acceptable.

Support history:

You filed a support ticket in Jan 2024. Support responded quickly asking your to enable "send diagnostic information" which is the correct handling.

You replied back in Aug 2024. Support responded quickly explaining how to access data on the drive.

You didn't reply back to support until Dec 2024. Support responded quickly, discussion about log files and auto-delete.

Jan 2025 you reported a crash. Support approved the RMA to replace the unit. You declined to have the unit replaced.

Feb 2025 you posted on the forum. I reviewed the logs and recommended replacing the power adapter. Support sent you a new power adapter.

Oct 2025 you posted this thread.

We don't do advanced replacement but we can cross ship:
You ship the unit + power adapter to us, providing the tracking number. Once the tracking number shows as in transit we ship the replacement unit.

And, I also specified they would need to send me a new unit. Not a refurbished one. I don't want to have to deal with someone else's broken device. Since I don't know what issue the first owner had, there's no way I can confirm that the refurbished one was fixed correctly.

The replacement will be refurbished. Every refurbished unit goes through full production test and load test at our facility.

[lschwarcz]

Hi Nickk,

When you take your car into the shop, when you pick it up what's the first thing you do? You try to reproduce the issue. If it made a funny noise when turning left, the first thing you do is turn left.

With a refurbished unit I have no idea what happened to the device. Maybe it was some odd issue that only happened under unusual circumstances. I have no way to check that it was correctly repaired. And, if it was an intermittent issue, I have no assurances that the repair person was able to reproduce the issue, fix the root cause and then verify that the issue has been truly fixed.

The technicians at most companies can't spend that much time troubleshooting each broken device that comes in. Often they just take a guess at the issue and throw some parts in it figuring if they threw in the wrong parts the next person to get it will just send it back for them to try again. Essentially playing a game of parts-darts. Eventually they'll throw in the right part and get it fixed.

This is why refurbished units are a total crapshoot and should always be avoided. It could be perfect or a ticking time bomb just waiting to die when you least expect it.

Maybe the repair facility there is fantastic. Maybe it's a joke filled with monkeys using hammers. We the customers have no way of knowing. And yes, even getting a brand new unit has some risk. Just look at my unit.

In my experience, getting a refurbished unit has a much higher risk of further disappointment than getting a new unit. And, when ever a company only supplies refurbished units it also tells me that they get enough broken devices coming in that they have a steady supply of used ones to pass out to unsuspecting customers. Only to again be disappointed.

This is why I hate refurbished devices as a repair exchange and never buy refurbished items.

As for the "cross ship," this is also unacceptable. I can understand that SiliconDust doesn't want to risk the customer stealing a device from them. But making the customer wait for days while a device is shipped really is poor customer service. What would be fair to both of us is me giving SiliconDust my credit card information so if you don't get my returned unit, you then bill me for the second device.

Thanks again for your help,
Larry.

[jph1589]

[removed by moderator]

[lschwarcz]

Hi jph,

What??? Why would I not want it fixed? I don't know what you read that makes you think I don't want it fixed but I absolutely do want a working DVR. But I also don't want to get someone else's broken device.

Maybe you've had good luck with refurbished devices. If so, that's great for you!

But I've been burned too many times in the past to put up with companies trying to pass one customer problem off to another customer.

Some companies are very good about fixing returned devices but some just keep passing broken crap from customer to customer.

If you have something constructive to contribute to this thread I'd love to hear it. But accusing me of wasting everyone's time sounds like you have too much leisure time.

Larry.

[nickk]

BTW - Refurbished units are almost always from unwanted-purchase returns. We have Amazon set to return to us rather than put back on the shelf as new. We run all unwanted-purchase returns through full production testing and load testing when we get them back.