Finally able to resolve my issue!

It appeared that the CPU (the only one BGA soldered chip) hasn't been very well soldered and with the time passing by and many cycles of warming/cooling it just got worse. When the chip was re-soldered on the mainboard everything went fine and it is not hanging up anymore.

I was before that with the modified version of 2.0.0.15. Right now I don't remember what was the situation with 1.X tree (I think the problem was there as well in 1.0.3.67), so I can try to flash it back to see if that will help. I will try with the original version as well. Is there a way to telnet the device with these firmwares?

EDIT:

I've tried with the latest official firmware version (2.0.0.17) and the freezes remain. So it's clearly a problem with my box. Maybe the box is overheating or who knows.... right now the fan is under the mainboard, from the bottom it blows to the up of the box, i.e. bottom side of the mainboard where the radiators are located. Maybe I should try to cool something else... Where is the fan located for the rest models of penbex devices with factory included fan?

(Last Edited by poceh on May 27, 2011, 1:21 pm)

Hi, heating was also the first thing that came to mind. I will look into it. Did you already try an older firmware version to see if that helps?

Hi all,

I have Watson CO1790MIU internet radio device since April 2008. Being using a modified firmware since at least 2 years. Thanks to this site and his wonderful database I'm able to enjoy the online stations much more than before, especially after fixing the Shoutcast support with the latest 2.0.0.18 version.

Anyway I'm experiencing strange hang-ups and freezes all the time. When the radio is playing, occasionally it just freezes. The LCD is on, but everything is not responding. When I try to remove the power cord and plug it again, it starts with the blue lights on, but nothing on LCD (blank, even the backlight is off). All I have to do is wait some minutes then eventually it starts. First I thought it can be heating issue, because when it freezes, it was impossible to start it again. Needed to wait a few minutes. Also the freezes were more frequent then when it was used with cold start. So I installed a fan inside, because all these amp transistors and their radiators are heating too much. But the problem remains.

Later I've found another way to boot it up. When it freezes and don't want to start again when pluggin in the cord, just pressing the UP arrow during plugging it always goes to the USB upgrade menu, without any freezes. Then if I restart the unit from the mains, it boots up normally.

This workaround brings me to think it's a software (or firmware) problem. So I reflashed it a couple of times. It helps for the first time, but later the freezes were back. Sometimes playing for hours, sometimes playing just a few minutes - everytime it will freeze.

Do anyone of you have an idea what can be the problem? Or do you have some diagnostic tools to monitor the problem? Even a simple telnet or ssh can help me a lot, to monitor what's going on the device during playback. Processes, memory, sensors, dmesg, etc.