Moxi HD DVR - Page 185

Excellent thanks. Couldn't find any current auctions and didn't think to look for ended ones.

Much appreciated.

Bump for flash install step by step!
Tee Jay

Not sure how much of this has already been discussed or not, or to what length. Since I recently found out that consumers can no longer purchase any more new moxi units, I decided to try my best to plan on a few worse case scenarios. One of these scenarios has to do with the power supply.

I was looking at the connector from the PSU to the moxi MB. I see that the MB connector has a 9 pin connector, but there are only 7 wires used; Blue, Orange, Yellow, Yellow, Black, Black, and Red. Looking at the moxi PSU, the labeling of the wire colors appear to match up with the typical wire colors coming from an ATX PSU; in that, Orange=3.3v, Yellow=+12v, and that Black is ground. However, the Blue wire in the ATX PSU is typically -12v, but on the moxi it is labeled as "PORT". Also, the Red wire in an ATX PSU is 5v, but on the moxi it is labeled as "PG".

My question is, what is "PORT" and "PG"? I can't ever recall hearing those terms before with regards to a PSU. Also, would anyone know what the voltage values are for these two wires?

The reason that I'm asking is that I was considering a possible future purchase of a power supply that is typically used for like an ITX motherboard. For example:

http://www.morex.com.tw/products/productview.php?fd_id=30&fd_parentname=l12_1&fd_childname=l12#Chassis

http://www.power-on.com/itx055.html

However, I guess that I should also know what wattage the current moxi DVR PSU uses before making any possible purchase, and what are the voltages of those two wire colors.

What do you mean? 4fp instructions? See the hd replacement thread.

i think i overreacted when i posted that. i tried saving my favorite sports pages and they came back with "not enough memory to load page., etc." the adobe site does recognize its linux 32bit w/ opera web browser though. i am getting more pictures, etc. on web pages through the moxi also. i guess its hit or miss. it used to be just miss...lol

Thanks for the help. Their senior technician had same opinion and he was able to fix this.

There's a thread for replacing the internal drive of the MOXI, but is there a currently-updated list of external drives that work well? I ask because a friend has a Seagate GoFlex 3TB I could use, except the connection is USB 3.0. Can this be put into an enclosure with an eSATA jack and work? I'm no rocket surgeon, but I do own a flathead screwdriver.

My internal HD appears fine for now; my MOXI HD unit is 2 years old.

Stated observations confirmed. TWC NYC

Without belaboring you with the embarrassing details of how I fried my Moxie's power supply, I had to rebuild it, replacing the rectifiers as well as the fuse. I too noticed the PORT and PG wires. If my memory serves me correctly, I measured voltages of 12 V, 5 V and 3.5 V. My first guess as I was diagnosing the problem was that PORT is for the 5V USB port; the second wire is for a signal return voltage from the main board back to the PS; without it the power supply won't fire up the unit. But off the top of my head I can't recall which was which. Hope this helps. I'd just measure it. Regarding the wattage, I never calculated it though I suspect it isn't particularly high.

J

Thanks Operon. I totally realize that it's incorrect for me to make assumptions when I say this next thing, but with that being said, it appears the wire colors seem to follow the standard wire colors of computer power supplies then. I did feel the port wire was most likely for something like that but wasn't totally sure. The signal return makes sense, but since there wasn't an actual switch on the moxi, I really wasn't sure if it needed to have something like that. I might consider getting one of those PS to have around as an in case situation. I know that I could just wait for mine to crap out, but many many these things can take a few days to a few weeks to be delivered to my house. Plus, I can then test it out. If my moxi PS does ever bite the dust, then I can slap it in and pray for the best. Of course, I could just hope the Ceton Q is out by then.

I finally decided to get rid of some of my remote control clutter and bought a harmony 650. Setup went smoothly, not half as bad as I expected. Unfortunately, I do have one nagging Moxi related issue that I can't quite figure out:

Naturally, I set up the Watch TV activity to use my Moxi. I didn't like the default placement of some of the more frequently used Moxi buttons on the Harmony LCD menu, so I remapped them to unused hard buttons.

The problem I am having is that when I press the Watch TV button, my hard buttons don't start out in the new remapped layout. They start out in a combination of the TV and Moxi default layouts. To get to my new remapped layout, I have to press the Devices button under the Harmony LCD and then choose the Moxi with the top right LCD button. Needless to say, this is less than ideal.

Did I make a mistake setting up the software or is this behavior normal and I just have to learn to live with it?

(I apologize in advance for asking these questions here, since they are really more Harmony questions than Moxi questions. I tried looking for an answer on the Logitech forums but they are a hot mess. I figured anyone here who used a Harmony with their Moxi would be able to easily answer my question right off the top of their head.)

Devices and activity button assignments need to be configured separately. Only some of the hard buttons like volume punch through.

You configure only the Device Buttons (both hard and soft). I usually never touch the Device configuration of buttons. You can reset to default and then change the Activity buttons. The whole point of a Harmony is to use the Activity to combine multiple remotes for say watching TV into one button layout, an Activity.

Yeah, when I determined that it was the power supply that got fried I first thought I'd hook up a PC PS. My buddy who's well versed in soldering/component replacement in modern electronic devices convinced me to rebuild the power supply since the components were cheap and the components on the power supply board are laid out quite logically and are very accessible. Having lived with a TWC DVR in the interim and then switching back I noticed how the Scientific Atlanta and Samsung boxes had crappy remote responses, a clunky interface, constrained recording options, poor picture quality, etc., etc. The only issue I encountered when I switched back to the Moxi was that the Mate's channel switching was sluggish compared to the TWC equipment.


Like you, I'm hoping that the Ceton Q/Echo system materializes and is not vaporware much like Gateway's rumored DVR system.

Operon,

Since you are the only one who has replaced a power supply... Would you be willing to build power supplies for others for a fee?

The Moxi's power supply is a fairly complex device in and of itself with dozens of components and a PC board that would be difficult to duplicate. Exactly what I did was to, armed with a multi-meter, trace the current flow, determine which components were defective and to replace them. In my case it was 2 diodes, and a fuse which were readily available from an on-line electronics components supplier. Power supplies are simple devices generally but the Moxi's generates several DC voltages, which are well regulated and there is a feedback mechanism from the unit's main board that signal's power supply to feed the board.

At this point, I'll fess up to how this power supply event happened. I had just finished replacing the dead drive in my Moxi and left the case opened. With the CC Coax cable in hand I was pulling it from where I had been attached to another CC box I was using in the interim to bring it into place to reconnect to the Moxi's F connector. It slipped from my hand and the Coax's connector fell into the Moxi hitting the power supply's heat sink which sits on the distal side of the supply closet to the units exterior case. A visible and audible arc occurred and the Moxi immediate shut down, leaving a blackened mark where the Coax lead hit the heat sink. Ouch! So, so foolish.

That said, building a supply from scratch would be a labor intensive task and I think jbarrington had the right idea in using a PC power supply, an alternative to remedying a catastrophic failure of the power supply. Regardless, I would be happy to advise and consent anyone who needed help repairing their Moxi's power supply.

J

Ouch is right!

Fact of the matter, though, is something similar could have happened to 99% of us who open up electronics, even if it hasn't actually happened.

And, the other 1%? They're lying

I originally posted this over in the drive replacement thread, but haven't gotten any traction there, so I'll try over here. Sorry if that's against the etiquette. Anyway, I recently decided to move my Moxi into the main living area now that I've ditched the TW box and it was working fairly well, switched video be damned. Ever since I moved it though, it hasn't worked right. When I record a show unattended, the moxi loses chunks of the show (a few seconds missing for every few seconds recorded). The moxi mate is completely useless as it does the same thing on live or recorded streams. I'm pretty sure it's not the cable connection as I can watch live tv without any glitches (and if I watch a program live while it's recording, the recording is fine, though it won't play on the mate properly). So I was thinking that the drive (the original one from 2.5 years ago) might be going bad and tried to do the ffp, but I can't get it to work. I've tried with both the original drive in case it just needs a software reload and with a Seagate 7200.12 1TB drive that I had lying around. I've even tried connecting the moxi directly to my laptop via a crossover cable (or alternately, monitoring what it's doing via a gigabit switch with port mirroring) and I don't ever see it even attempt to go out on the network, so obviously I'm not doing something right. I'm reasonably certain that I've followed the directions (I tried for over an hour, probably 15 - 20 times to no avail). Using both the reset button and the power cord to force a reboot, holding the buttons in with an appropriately sized socket or my fingers, having them held before reset, after reset, after the lights go out, holding them for 30+ seconds, etc. Nothing seems to work. I had finally solved the need a second moxi mate problem (wireless HDMI + HDMI replicator) and that was working well, but now the dvr has started flaking out on me. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Sounds like an HDMI handshaking problem.

I had a similar problem when I had a Logitech Revue between the Moxi and my Samsung TV. Would record fine if TV was on, but would not record when TV was turned off. The symptom was skipped video every 5 seconds or so. This was because the Moxi was polling to complete the HDCP handshake, and repeating every few seconds.

Once I removed the Revue and directly connected the TV to the Moxi, all was well and recordings were fine again for unattended recordings when the TV was off.

Give it a try.

Mike

What about someone documenting the voltages/current so a power supply could be cobbled together from a PC power supply?

It took me about a week, but I finally found a 9 pin connector; at least, I'm hoping it's the correct one. I'll find out for sure when it comes in, and I'll find out if it fits correctly.

I ordered a three from Mouser Electronics, and I had to also order 27 crimp ends for it. I know that only 7 of the nine connectors are used so I most likely only needed 21 crimp ends, but I wanted a few extra. The connector and crimp ends are made by TE Connectivity (TEC).
Here are the TEC part numbers:
9 pin connector: 1445022-9
CONTACT RCPT 20-24AWG GOLD: 1-794610-1
I'll let everybody know for sure later this week if they appear to work correctly, when they come in.

I guess that I could just take the cheap route and just cut and spliced the old PS wires with the new PS wires, but I want to do it correctly. Plus, I want to be able to quickly switch PS if the need arises. Once I find the connector fits, then I most likely will finally go ahead and order one of the PS units that I mentioned in an earlier post.

Ding Ding Ding Ding. And the winner is....

Now, the "good" news is that I work for Logitech, though not even remotely for the group that did (the now defunct) revue. Apparently this is a google tv problem, not specifically a revue problem, so I will ping the group responsible for this and see if they can fix it. This is why HDCP is EVIL (and pointless now that the master keys are publicly available). Maybe someday big content will learn. This also probably explains why the old SA 8300 HD would occasionally have to be unplugged from the Revue to make it work again.

If I had to guess, Revue is keeping the HDMI in hot while the TV is off, but is acting as a repeater and so the Moxi is attempting to verify the whole chain. Could probably be solved if Revue turned off the input when the output was off too.

Has anyone else tried one of these:

http://www.globalcache.com/products/itach/wf2irspecs/

I bought one on spec just to see if I could build myself an ultimate remote control on either my notebook or my Samsung Galaxy Tab tablet. Have had mixed results with it.

It works absolutely great for my Samsung TV and Bose Audio system, but not so reliable with my Moxi DVR. It did not support the Moxi initially (although a recent update includes the Moxi DVR). But it does have a feature to learn new IR codes (like any universal remote does) and I 'taught' it the full gambit of my Moxi remote codes. All simulated keys work fairly well when sent as an individual key press - but once in a while a command goes unheeded.

The real problem occurs when I define a key sequence (say to assign a button on my virtual remote to a channel number) and use it to send a string of channel numbers (e.g., 1406 to select MSNBC on my local lineup). It will randomly either drop or repeat digits. The same type of command sent to the TV works flawlessly. I believe the problem to be a timing issue, but have tried everything in the software I'm trying to use to adjust timing and delay and it still frustrates my efforts.

Was just hoping someone else had attempted this and found a solution.

FWIW, I am trying to use TouchSquid software on the tablet. I really like the way it configures, looks and works if only I could fix the compatibility issue with my Moxi.

http://touchsquid.org/

Thanks for any insight.

I have the Google TV, Moxi and a Mitsubishi TV. I do not have the stutter issues when I use the Moxi regularly.

However my recordings skip when I leave on vacation for a long period of time.. So during my trips I unplug the Google TV HDMI connection to prevent the skips... Maybe you can pass that along to your development team as well.

My solution to the Moxi/Revue problem was to buy a smart power strip to cut the Revue power when the TV is off. Hacky but it works.

The MOXI uses "toggle IR codes" (i.e., there are two codes for each key and you will have to send the other one to repeat a key). I am using one of those GC adapters (wired, not WiFi) for my MOXI using Roomie Remote on iOS and everything works 100% after setting up the toggle codes. Not sure how you would specify that for your software but I could send you my learned codes (toggle format - both codes for each key) if you want...

I tried using my contacts at Logitech more than a year ago when I first uncovered the problem. Did not get much assurance that issue would be addressed when it was still an active product.

May be something limited to Samsung, as the OP describes his experience with Mitsubishi TV without issues.

The way i resolved things? I moved the Revue to my FiOS Motorola DVR. HDMI works fine there.

I do however like the clever idea of using a smart power strip and may reconfigure things when I have some time.

I really, really like the Revue. A clever device that showed promise. Probably just launched prematurely. I purchased a second unit when they were closed out for $99. When connected to a normal non-DVR cable box, it is great.

i dont have issues w/ moxi and my samsung tv directly connected. i do, however, have issues w/ my sony bravia xbr9 and moxi directly connected via hdmi tv losing sound and tv turning off and then back on automatically w/ sound if i record to moxi a lot. sony could never fix it and seems multiple models after it have the same issue so i just stopped recording on the moxi connected and all is well!

I have an LG TV connected to my moxi mate and that TV occasionally loses sound when skipping/fast forwarding. I'll hear a loud pop and then no sound. If I turn off the TV immediately and then back on, sound is back. If I attempt to switch inputs on the TV, the TV's processor will crash, a second louder pop will be heard and the TV will reboot. Of course, this TV used to do this on just the cable input if I accidentally tuned to a scrambled/encrypted channel, so I'm blaming that one on poor software in the TV.

JBarrington,

Yes, Mouser is a great place to find that sort of stuff. I purchased the components I used to repair my power supply from them.

Keep us informed as to your progress using a standard PC power supply for use in the Moxi.

J
(Would have sent as personal message however you apparently do not accept messages.)