Fortec star beta black screen

[Dave52]

Help, my fortec star was working OK until I decided to tidy up the scanned channels, I went into the data reset menu and selected delete all channels, the box went to reset and all I now have is a black screen with a thin white vertical line about one third across the screen from the left. I have turned it off at the mains, left it over night and still get the same thing. When I turn it on I get the welcome blue box on screen, the fortec box displays two symbols that look like n's then goes blank. There is no info on the screen. Is there such a thing as an engineer’s box reset using the remote control even though I can’t get any display on the TV.

[Robbo]

mmm,not sure.

You could try disconnecting the LNB first, and see if that springs it into action.

If not,you could always try reflashing it I suppose.

You would need the Fortec Loader and the official firmware.

Both are available on the Fortec Star website:-

http://www.fortecstar.com/downloads/...roducts=86%2C1

You need a null modem cable (RS232), the wiring of it is in the manual, or you can buy one for a few quid from the internet or Maplin, but they are a bit expensive from there.

To load the firmware,the box has to initially be switched OFF.
Then you have to start up the loader program, select the the software file, and start the download, once started turn th ebox back on. This 'should' fix the problem.

Robbo

[slick]

Hi Dave,

you don,t mention what model you have. If you have a Passion, do as Robbo stated go to Fortecs home page ,then downloads, then they require your name email etc and business. For this just put in say-- TBA(to be arranged) then you can access the required download file which will for a passion reciever start with P-av112 etc you can save this to your computer load it onto a USB memory stick then reload this onto your stb using the USB CONNECTION INSIDE THE CAM FLAP.the STB must first be switched off as Robbo mentioned insert your memory stick then switch on stb.Unzip the file
Load onto USB stick
Depress the power on the front panel
Insert the USB stick
Press the power on the front panel to start the boot up process
The display will say “File 1” Press OK ...
The file name will appear, Press OK to start download.
The display will erase and load and finally will display ‘GOOD’
Depress the power button.
Remove the memory stick
Now perform a 'Factory Reset'
hope this is of some help

[Robbo]

I was referring to this model:-

http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?im...%3Den%26sa%3DG

which does not have a USB port.
I didn't realise they had a Passion Beta as well.

[slick]

My appologies Robbo,
obviously i misunderstood the gist,and wrongly assumed we were talking re: Passion

[Dave52]

Thanks for your suggestions, I tried the firmware update and got no further, I had a lead from my Humax so it was worth a try, it now appears that a component on the board has shorted/burnt out so I gave it back to my very understanding brother in-law.

[Robbo]

I wouldn't worry too much, the Fortec betas are a pile of poo anyway

Mine was always crashing, I only had it about two weeks and got shot of it.

Maplin were getting rid of them at £20 a throw at one point, for B-grade. As far as I'm concerned, thay are all B-grade.

[mibmab]

Originally Posted by Dave52

Help, my fortec star was working OK until I decided to tidy up the scanned channels, I went into the data reset menu and selected delete all channels, the box went to reset and all I now have is a black screen with a thin white vertical line about one third across the screen from the left. I have turned it off at the mains, left it over night and still get the same thing. When I turn it on I get the welcome blue box on screen, the fortec box displays two symbols that look like n's then goes blank. There is no info on the screen. Is there such a thing as an engineer’s box reset using the remote control even though I can’t get any display on the TV.

I have exactly the same problem here with the Fortec Star Beta, that I wanted to install at a friends house yesterday. The system stopped working after clearing the channel list. After the box shows the welcome screen, the screen turns black, sometimes with a white vertical line one third across screen. Updating the firmware via null modem cable did not work either.

I guess I'll now look for a cheap alternative - Technomate seem to get good reviews.

A

[JonInNorway]

Yip. I have exactly the same problem with a "new" Fortec Star Beta (not Passion) bought on ebay. Never had a peep out of it though there is some variation in the vertical line on the screen and the receiver's LED display at times.

I bought a Strong 6750 Viasat receiver used off a Norwegian internet auction site which, it seems, will only pick up Thor, Sirius, Hotbird, Astra 19 and a satellite referred to as "LM1" (whatever that means)

I have a 1.35m offset dish well off the Lyngsat footprint map for Astra 2d at 28.2 in Norway and when I take the LNB out of one of my FS4200 (I have 2 of those) and put it in the Strong, I get nothing of any use. The FS4200 gets me everything from the UK's freesat system. I just bought a 1.8m Luxor prime focus dish and a new C120 LNB so I'll play around with that in the summer and see if anything new arrives. It may just firm up the daytime signal.

I hate throwing bust gear into landfill. I looked inside my Beta and found nothing amiss. If anyone finds a fix for this, please post it. At the very least I need a few receivers since I just got a new quad LNB and want to stream BBC Radio 4 via satellite all day instead of over the internet hogging x% of my bandwidth all day.

Having said that, if it (the Beta) is dead, I have a spare remote if anyone needs one.

I also have a Konig receiver which is small but has a GREAT audio tuning facility where you can stand outside fine tuning your dish with wireless headphones on connected to the TV's audio output. As the signal increases, the pitch of the signal goes higher.

That too has a problem .... it crashes and can take days of switching on and off to boot properly. NOT a great receiver but for tuning the LNB for use with receivers without the audio tuning facility, it's worth having.

The FS4200 are fine for now but I will get myself something a bit more tasty soon.

The Strong 6750 is the only receiver I have with a sim card slot (not a CAM). Is it worth hanging onto in case I want to start playing around more with downloaded "fixes" and my RS232 sim card reader / writer or is a WiFi CAM the way forward?

I read a bit about upgrades using the receivers' RS232 ports. I have the null modem cables etc. and old laptops with serial ports but what exactly is acheived by these "upgrades"? Can scrambled channels be received with some "upgrades"?

With so much content now available on the internet "is this "hobby" now doomed?