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Dreambox - When All Else Fails


Somnambulist

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I know what you're thinking - troll. It's Saturday night and this dude is bored. No, hear me out. Here was my problem. I have a pc desktop computer and run an ethernet cble from my linksys router to my dreambox dm 500-s. Every now and then I turn it on and it says I'm offline and the IP address, netmask, and either nameserver or gateway (forget which) settings are wrong. Also, status is offline. I'm not technically inclined in the slightest but through trial and error I found out to fix it.

1) Unplug the linksys power cord, push in the reset button for 10 seconds, and plug in again.

2) Unplug the Dreambox and plug it in again.

3) With the remote, press Mcamd 1.30 (or whatever your case me be) then restart.

But today, for the first time, that didn't work so my Thai wife got online and found this:

http://thaidreambox.bayore.net/index.php?topic=9286.0

It's all in Thai but apparently a guy had the same problem and got so fed up that he put the dam_n thing in the freezer and it worked. Another poster tried it and it worked for him, too. And so we tried it and it worked!

Unfortunately, that was several hours ago and it stopped working again, so we did the freezer thing again and it worked but only for a minute, so it's back to square one - we have a cheap ass dreambox and need to find a better one, I guess.

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We've had a dreambox for 4 or 5 days now and I can't get the dam thing to work.

I've tried so many different things. Today I bought a "4 hub box" or whatever it's called but still cannot get it to work. I get the information about the different channels but there is a yellow key on most of the channels ... Oh I get all the education channels and TNN but that's all.

Maybe tomorrow I'll try the freezer. If that doesn't work I'll throw it on Klong Saen Saeb.

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We paid a Thai guy to set everything up and we still pay him 300 baht a month. Not sure why, since he's basically useless once he's done the initial setup and taken our money. We bought this box before we met this guy and he says it's crap (duh) and that we need to buy a new one. He's probably right.

I'd hate to have to do all the setup myself, though. I'd probably end up taking it outside and hacking it to bits with my machete while laughing maniacally.

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There are a lot of cheap copy Dreamboxes about. I have two 'originals' which have been working for over two years without a problem. The best advice is to buy an original from a reputable dealer and then no more problems

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There are a lot of cheap copy Dreamboxes about. I have two 'originals' which have been working for over two years without a problem. The best advice is to buy an original from a reputable dealer and then no more problems

There is a Company down South on there website the 'originals' are 43,000 baht, the copy is 3,400 baht.

You could buy a lot well 12 Copies for the price of an Original..

I have 2 one is 5yrs old and has never gone wrong, the other 4 years old and often freezes guess have had to have it re-flashed at least 30 times..

Local shop in Bang Yai sells them for 4,200 baht [was in there a month ago] he also sets it up in your home for that price.

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I have both clone and original and they both work fine, if you want to play dreambox you need to learn how to set them up correctly. Too many people have bought dreamboxes thinking they are going to just plug them in and have tv sorry but it dont work that way. Check out wiki for a really good tutorial to learn from and get started. Oh by the way freezing is only cooling an overheated chipset getting it to work for a short time until it overheats again.

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Is this about Dreambox that does not need a satellite dish but works purely through an internet connection?

No, they always need a satellite dish for the signal. Some people then use internet for the key codes to decode the signal, AKA card sharing.

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I have both clone and original and they both work fine, if you want to play dreambox you need to learn how to set them up correctly. Too many people have bought dreamboxes thinking they are going to just plug them in and have tv sorry but it dont work that way. Check out wiki for a really good tutorial to learn from and get started. Oh by the way freezing is only cooling an overheated chipset getting it to work for a short time until it overheats again.

Maybe im just thick but i have tried your suggestion and cant find anything, do you have a link?

Ready to put tongue in cheek. Palusa

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I have both clone and original and they both work fine, if you want to play dreambox you need to learn how to set them up correctly. Too many people have bought dreamboxes thinking they are going to just plug them in and have tv sorry but it dont work that way. Check out wiki for a really good tutorial to learn from and get started. Oh by the way freezing is only cooling an overheated chipset getting it to work for a short time until it overheats again.

Maybe im just thick but i have tried your suggestion and cant find anything, do you have a link?

Ready to put tongue in cheek. Palusa

Here is one I wrote for all models of DM boxes http://www.pli-images.org/modules/wiki/index.php?wakka=HomePage - take your time as it is huge and covers just about everything but fridges and freezers

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I have both clone and original and they both work fine, if you want to play dreambox you need to learn how to set them up correctly. Too many people have bought dreamboxes thinking they are going to just plug them in and have tv sorry but it dont work that way. Check out wiki for a really good tutorial to learn from and get started. Oh by the way freezing is only cooling an overheated chipset getting it to work for a short time until it overheats again.

Maybe im just thick but i have tried your suggestion and cant find anything, do you have a link?

Ready to put tongue in cheek. Palusa

Here is one I wrote for all models of DM boxes http://www.pli-image...?wakka=HomePage - take your time as it is huge and covers just about everything but fridges and freezers

Appreciate the reply. Thanks

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Thats the one, joncl's wiki, it helped me alot when I started using dreamboxes, my clone is running the pli image just fine but it didnt like some of the others availible. Read, read and read again. I would suggest finding a correct type of serial cable for it as you will in time need to use a direct link to your computer to get it flashed, that is after you crash it a few times learning as I did lol

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A year back I had problems with the network connection on my DB7020s

On Joncl's advice I flashed the image again, using a serial cable

lo and behold the LAN connection came to life again. :D

I thought I was going to need a new motherboard.

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If it's connected to the internet, the 300 baht pays for the sharing of card codes enabling your receiver to decode encrypted channels. Try stopping the payments :)

Aha, thanks for clearing that up. I'd ask how to hack that but I'm sure that would be against forum rules. Probably beyond my modest tech ability anyway. I only have two tools - a screwdriver and a BFH (big fuc_king hammer). :lol:

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Enigma is the os for the box while your image be it Pli, gemini, nabilo etc. is what you see onscreen. Your GP is a gemini project image, the original software or image that was written to run the dreambox. Many others have wrote their own custom images such as Pli. Is one better than the other ? Some say they are, up to you. I just have always had good luck with the pli images and like their osd layout, and I have tried them all and some clones only like certain images to be stable. One thing about gemini images, for awhile now they have put bombs in their code to knock out clones, so if you have a clone and want to flash a "non bomb" gemini image you are taking a risk of destroying your box and even a serial link-up prob wont bring it back, so clones keep away from gemini images to be safe.

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I think my DM600 runs Enigma though there is a GP logo displayed when it starts up. What's the difference between that and PLI? Why is one better than the other?

When I first received my Dreambox, and I think it is a genuine one,

I played around with the various images available. I even had a dual

boot setup for a while.

I settled in PLi as it seemed to give the best support for the cards I use.

I would not say one image is better than another, just slightly different,

making it a personal choice of which to use.

With a LAN connection it is very easy to swop images.

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A heatsink on the processor (1) and the tuner (2) makes a lot of difference

1248634583.jpg

Thanks for the photo. I checked mine and I already have a heatsink on the processor. Unfortunately, all my tricks (restarting, putting it in the freezer) have stopped working. I guess my box is a POS. I think I need a new one. Anyone know where to get a good knockoff in Chiang Mai?

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  • 6 months later...

Hello again, I'm the OP and I've come back to tell you all that I completely misdiagnosed the problem. The culprit was the Internet cable. It didn't snap into place like it should and once I replaced the cable all was well and has been for several months now. Doh!

Now the only problem is the content. Now where's that torrent how to.....

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