Bugzilla – Bug 2690
Display intermittently corrupted on power-on
Last modified: 2006-02-22 11:22:40 UTC
When power is applied to the SqueezeBox (I have noticed this on two different SB2s), there is perhaps a 1 in 10 to 20 (or so) chance that the display will be corrupted. The ends of the display panel have bright noisy vertical lines, and the whole display is mixed with what looks like noisy echos of the contents of the display. I will attach a picture to this report, since it is much easier to understand by seeing it. I have my SB2 in my car, and at first I suspected the lower air temperature, and it has been suggested that the power source could be the culprit. However, the same unit has exhibited the problem inside and while plugged into the supplied wall AC adapter (note that it had been outside 5 or 10 minutes previous to this). And another post to the forum reported that it happens sometimes on his SB3 inside at room temperature using the standard PS. So I am not convinced there is anything but a random correlation to these factors. Doing a soft reset clears the problem - it does not seem to clear up on its own (but I have never left it long in this state). Sean commented that it should not be left in the corrupted state for long, since display damage/burn could result in rare cases. I have not seen the problem happen after the unit has been running normally, but of course a house power failure followed by return of power could leave the init in this state, and if display damage can occur, this is a risk. The random nature of the problem makes it very hard to reproduce. I have returned one of the SB2s that exhibited the problem most frequenly, but I cannot provide instructions for making it happen other than trying connecting power with perhaps various interval times between power-down and power-up and perhaps putting the unit in the cold before trying to see if this makes it more likely.
Created attachment 1067 [details] Here are three photos of the corrupted display
Try using the provided AC adaptor indoors and see if the problem persists. Please contact support@slimdevices.com about this if it's still failing.
Yes, it happened to me using the indoor power supply as well. It happened on the unit I ordered to replace the original as well, so it is not isolated to one particular unit. It is definitely random - happens about once every 20 power-ups. It may happen more often in the cold, but also happens at room temp. (I have too little data to support the temp theory).
Subject: Re: Display intermittently corrupted on power-on Please get in touch with support@slimdevices.com. Thanks.
I don't understand - does support know the answer to this? I thought it was still a mystery. They already exchanged one unit that exhibitted the same problem, plus they are out of SB2s, as far as I know. You had said you wanted to take a look at the one I sent back. Since the newer one I received show the problem more often than the original, I returned that one. Did you have a chance to look at the return? I wonder if it's a timing thing. I did not open the case to see if any connectors were loose, etc...
Subject: Re: Display intermittently corrupted on power-on Sorry to be abrupt. This isn't really a "bug", rather some kind of manufacturing issue (or just bad luck on your part). Best to work with support directly on this.
Dean - understood. However, I recall that others reported seeing the problem too, and I saw it on two units. Are you sure this is really a manufacturing issue, given how many cases have been seen? I can't believe my luck is that bad! :) I think you also mentioned that it might be fixable in firmware (timing, do to the display chip not syncing correctly?), but you were reluctant to do that at the time. I could try support, but last time they were out of black units. Is there the possibility to get one or two replacement SB2 boards and displays instead? I'd be glad to replace the guts myself. In fact, I would not mind having a couple of spare parts given that the unit is discontinued, and this is the only form factor that works in this particular application. I still wish you could somehow reproduce this on the unit I sent back. Hopefully they have a record of my return so you could find this unit. Thanks - Joe
Subject: Re: Display intermittently corrupted on power-on Hey Joe, Again, you'll have to check with support for replacement parts, etc... I realize that this is a special application, but they'll be able to help you out. > Dean - understood. However, I recall that others reported seeing > the problem > too, and I saw it on two units. Are you sure this is really a > manufacturing > issue, given how many cases have been seen? I can't believe my > luck is that > bad! :) > > I think you also mentioned that it might be fixable in firmware > (timing, do to > the display chip not syncing correctly?), but you were reluctant to > do that at > the time. > > I could try support, but last time they were out of black units. > Is there the > possibility to get one or two replacement SB2 boards and displays > instead? I'd > be glad to replace the guts myself. In fact, I would not mind > having a couple > of spare parts given that the unit is discontinued, and this is the > only form > factor that works in this particular application. > > I still wish you could somehow reproduce this on the unit I sent back. > Hopefully they have a record of my return so you could find this unit. > > Thanks - Joe
Dean, I wrote to support@slimdevices.com about this, as you suggested, on 2/16. I have gotten no response so far. Here is the email I sent for reference: ------------ Hi, I worked with you (support) a few months ago on a corrupted display issue. A replacement was sent, but it exhibitted the same problem (worse) and was sent back. This was on an SB2, and the problem appeared as a garbled display that showed up rarely on power-on (maybe 1 in 20 times). Photos are in bug #2690 on bugs.slimdevices.com; I have copied the text of this report below, showing a recent exchange with Dean Blackketter. He thinks the problem might be a production one, however I have seen this on two SB2s, and at least one other on the forum also reported it, so it seems to be not islolated. Since I have tried two units, both showing the issue, I am not interested in exchanging the SB2 - plus I believe you are out of the SB2 anyway, and my application requires this form factor. I asked Dean if it was possible to get a couple of spare boards and displays for the SB2 as backups. Given that it is out of production, this would ensure I have a way of replacing the boards of needed. He suggested I contact you (support) to help with this. Do extra boards and/or displays exist for the SB2? Thanks, Joe