A little while ago this evening, while watching TV, my CBIII lost lock with the cable set-top box and went silent. Since this happens fairly often, I just did what I normally do and turned the CBIII on and off. Sound was back briefly but then a series of long beeps from the speakers was followed by silence.

Basically, the CBIII powers up but now does not emit any sound with any of my sources. I checked connections, swapped cables, turned it on and off a bunch of times and nothing. The internal test tones work just fine and the unit is not muted. Sometimes the lock light will be on, but for all source inputs, even those that are not connected.

I also noticed that the unit is slower than usual to react to remote commands.

I reset it to factory settings but still the same behavior.

Hopefully, there is something I have overlooked, but any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Sean

First turn unit off and then on in the back. Next go into your menu on the input source and check that the speakers are set to on. Prior to my CB3 upgrade, this could happen.

You may have to do a re-load using TDD. Make sure you save your setup first or you'll have to start from scratch. Regards, Norm

Thanks for the replies.

All the relevant speakers are set to on and the internal noise generator works.

I will run the TDD process and see what happens.

Sean

OK, went out and bought a M-F DB9 serial cable and hooked it up to my CBIII and laptop. Running the TDD but it can't connect to the CBIII. 'No Response or Wrong Baud Rate' I have the right COM port selected on the laptop (there is only one serial port on my laptop) and I have set the baud rate in the TDD to the same as the CBIII; 115200.

In my laptops device manager, I have set the COM port's properties to as best I can match the CBIII requirements. The bits per second rate is set to 115200, but there are other options I don't know how to set such as Data Bits, Parity etc. I have left them at their default.

Which boneheaded thing I am doing wrong?

Sean

No offense, but the boneheaded thing you're doing is not taking the unit to your dealed. I had a CB3 for several years and there were always annoying little niggles like this.I have since moved on to a much more stable unit and have never looked back.

David Shapiro

No offense, but the boneheaded thing you're doing is not taking the unit to your dealed. I had a CB3 for several years and there were always annoying little niggles like this.I have since moved on to a much more stable unit and have never looked back.

David Shapiro

Thank you for your candor; but my local dealer doesn't deal with Theta's UK distributor anymore.

Since the solution might be something I can do myself, I thought it worth while to ask for help, since it would be much less hassle than having to mail the unit at great cost to the distributor or Theta themselves.

I'm delighted you have moved to something that serves you better and I agree that the CBIII can be unreliable at times, but given the none existent used value of a CBIII right now and the large amount I invested in it; I can't afford to just move to something else right now.

Cheers,

Sean

Sierra,

No parity, 8 Bits, 1 Stop Bit (N81). That should do it.

Sound quality wise, there is little better for the HT than the CBIII. If you are less interested in the sound, I would agree with David - there are more stable systems. But it is a trade-off. Depends on where you want to be.

I have a feeling that once ATI releases the HDMI CBIII and it is proven to be much more stable, you'll be back David - you'll be back.......

Sierra,

No parity, 8 Bits, 1 Stop Bit (N81). That should do it.

Sound quality wise, there is little better for the HT than the CBIII. If you are less interested in the sound, I would agree with David - there are more stable systems. But it is a trade-off. Depends on where you want to be.

I have a feeling that once ATI releases the HDMI CBIII and it is proven to be much more stable, you'll be back David - you'll be back.......

I tried your COM port settings (which are the default by the way) and still the same negative result. It could be my serial cable, but it is brand new.

I will email Theta.

Sean:

I had the same problem communicating with my CB3 there is something you need to change in the CB3 settings, I will try and find that email

Sean:

See if this works:

Hello Lon:



Thanks for your email.



In order to connect using Crystal, you’ll need to temporarily set the Casablanca III’s baud rate to at least 19200. To do so, go to SETUP / GLOBAL / RS-232 / BAUD and use the LEVEL UP and LEVEL DOWN buttons to change the speed to match your Crystal baud rate. Once complete, you’ll want to change it back so your RS-232 control system works properly.



Best regards,



Carl Nicolson

Thanks Lon,

Still a no go. With Crystal I get the error 'Get Com State Failed'

Perhaps I just happen to have bought a duff serial cable?

Would you mind PM'ing me Carl's email address?

Cheers,

Sean

Sean:

See if this works:

Hello Lon:



Thanks for your email.



In order to connect using Crystal, you’ll need to temporarily set the Casablanca III’s baud rate to at least 19200. To do so, go to SETUP / GLOBAL / RS-232 / BAUD and use the LEVEL UP and LEVEL DOWN buttons to change the speed to match your Crystal baud rate. Once complete, you’ll want to change it back so your RS-232 control system works properly.



Best regards,



Carl Nicolson

Well, maybe the good news here is you could get an early HDMI upgrade.

Well, maybe the good news here is you could get an early HDMI upgrade.

Hi Jeff,

Yes, that would be great of course. :cool: I still think it is something I am not doing correctly with trying to re-flash the software. With your recent issue with the Lumis, I hope you will spare me a thought with all this serial cable COM port stuff! :confused:

Still, I have a nice cold Peroni Nastro Azzuro now and I don't feel so bad about it all anymore! :)

[QUOTE=sierraalphahotel;17033676]Thank you for your candor; but my local dealer doesn't deal with Theta's UK distributor anymore.QUOTE]

Hi Sean,
I wasn't trying to rub it in. I actually feel your pain, having gone through the exersize many times with Theta. It may be heresy here, but at a certain point, I just want things to work as advertised, instead of spending my limited free time trying to get my toys to perform. It's worth it to me now to sacrifice a little performance for reliabilty.

David

SAH,
Make sure you didn't pick up a null modem cable by mistake. The CB is expecting a straight through serial cable, wired pin for pin, no crossover.

The default setting in Crystal or TDD should be fine unless something was reset in the CB. If you've reset to default that shouldn't be it.

You're not getting a port busy message or anything similar are you? If so something else in the laptop could be tying up the port.

A little while ago this evening, while watching TV, my CBIII lost lock with the cable set-top box and went silent. Since this happens fairly often, I just did what I normally do and turned the CBIII on and off. Sound was back briefly but then a series of long beeps from the speakers was followed by silence.

Basically, the CBIII powers up but now does not emit any sound with any of my sources. I checked connections, swapped cables, turned it on and off a bunch of times and nothing. The internal test tones work just fine and the unit is not muted. Sometimes the lock light will be on, but for all source inputs, even those that are not connected.


My old unit did that. It had to be repaired at the factory. I forgot what parts had to be replaced. Hope you are able to avoid a repair.

Thanks for the responses.

The cable I bought is a straight RS232 serial lead (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97735).

I am not getting any port busy messages; when I hit Connect in TDD, it will say Connecting but after a little while come back with 'No Response or Wrong Baud Rate'

I am not using my primary laptop, I had to pull my old one out of the bone yard since it is the only thing I have with a COM port. Far as I know the COM port works.

I have emailed Theta.

Thanks for the responses.

The cable I bought is an straight RS232 serial lead (http://www.maplin.co.uk/Module.aspx?ModuleNo=97735).

I am not getting any port busy messages; when I hit Connect in TDD, it will say Connecting but after a little while come back with 'No Response or Wrong Baud Rate'

I am not using my primary laptop, I had to pull my old one out of the bone yard since it is the only thing I have with a COM port. Far as I know the COM port works.

I have emailed Theta.
Are you running Vista or XP. I'd try XP if your laptop is running Vista. Regards, Norm

Hey Sean,
Did your unit get fixed? Did they at least diagnose the problem?

David

Hey Sean,
Did your unit get fixed? Did they at least diagnose the problem?

David

I got a reply back from Theta to try and re-install the OS, but I will have to go and buy yet another 'new' serial cable since that is the only variable that I have not tried. My laptop could be faulty, but since com ports are kinda rare of most 'recent' laptops, I don't have any alternative. I might buy a USB to serial and try that. If that fails I need to send it in for service.

If the HDMI upgrade is coming soon :rolleyes: I can't justify the cost of sending it for service in the US now, assuming that I would then have to send it over again shortly after for the HDMI upgrade. I doubt the timing will be that close to be honest, but I can live without the CBIII for a while. With any luck, I will soon have to pull everything out of the room to begin initial construction of my new Erskine Group designed space.

Cheers,

Sean