Manual Flashing Firmware (When ethernet not working)

[mcglynnj]

Hello all,

I've inherited, what I think is, a discontinued (and out-of-warranty) HDHR5-4DT here that has a problem and is flashing both the green and red LEDs on its ethernet port. When plugging it into a ethernet hub or switch, the light on the switch-side port doesn't light up, hinting the device's NIC isn't initialising. My understanding is that this unit may be failing to boot properly or not at all.

I popped off the metal bottom cover to see if there were any clues for other recovery methods, and I can see an unpopulated 10-pin connector marked 'CN6' on the PCB with tracks appearing to connect only four of them.

I'm trying to avoid unnecessary e-waste here, but is there genuinely no way to flash the firmware when the ethernet isn't functional?

[nickk]

Are you seeing both red and green LEDs lit at the same time, then both off, then both on, repeating?

Are the flashing with 0.5 second on then 0.5 second off, or is the on time slower?

If the flashing is slower then the unit is in a reboot loop, most likely due to the power adapter.

[mcglynnj]

Are you seeing both red and green LEDs lit at the same time, then both off, then both on, repeating?

Are the flashing with 0.5 second on then 0.5 second off, or is the on time slower?

If the flashing is slower then the unit is in a reboot loop, most likely due to the power adapter.

Yes, it's roughly at a half-second interval, and the LEDs are both turning on and off together, not like in a red-green-red-green etc. pattern. EDIT: It's being powered with its original PSU wall adapter.

[nickk]

I would start by trying another power adapter.

The HDHomeRun maintains two images on flash so it would require both images to be corrupt for it to be the problem. There is no in-circuit way to program the flash. The 10-pin header on the HDHR5 contains a USB interface (disabled) and a UART-TX pin (disabled).

[mcglynnj]

I would start by trying another power adapter.

The HDHomeRun maintains two images on flash so it would require both images to be corrupt for it to be the problem. There is no in-circuit way to program the flash. The 10-pin header on the HDHR5 contains a USB interface (disabled) and a UART-TX pin (disabled).

Just tried a few, including temporarily swapping it in with my other, working, unit, which is of the same model, and the power source can supply at least 3A at 5v, and its still producing the same light pattern on the ethernet port.

Could it be that this unit has no firmware on it at all, and maybe the ethernet controller is producing that on its own, independently of the CPU or other circuitry?

[nickk]

The LEDs are controlled by the CPU, not (electrically) related to Ethernet.

[mcglynnj]

Ok, well, either way, its the same result no matter what supply I use.

[signcarver]

[removed by moderator]

[mcglynnj]

Spoke to NickK via PM to just get definitive confirmation that it isn't possible to manually flash fresh firmware, and this is sadly impossible due to other technical factors at the factory and service level.

As there is no other way forward here, I would like to request this thread be locked or deleted.