AminoTechnicalNote005

DebugCableQuickReference

February2011

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Copyright
DebugCableQuickReferenceTN005 February2011 Issue109 AminoCommunicationsLtd.2011 Amino,AmiNET,AssetHouse,MoodandtheAminologoaretrademarksofAminoCommunicationsLtd. Allothertrademarksarethepropertyoftheirrespectiveowners. Confidentiality:theinformationinthisdocumentissubjecttonondisclosureagreementsandmustnotbe passedtootherthirdpartieswithouttheexpresspermissionofAminoCommunicationsLtd. Thisdocumentdescribescomponentsthatundergocontinualdevelopment.Theinformationinthisdocument issubjecttochangewithoutnoticeatanytime. Commentsaboutthedocumentationarewelcome. Pleasesubmitfeedbacktodocs@aminocom.com. ForfurtherinformationaboutAminoorAminoproducts,pleaseemailinfo@aminocom.com.

Documenthistory
Version 109 108 107 106 105 Dateissued 11/02/11 14/01/11 23/12/10 5/10/10 13/09/10 Changes Addedpictureofflexicable. Additionalinformationaddedformodifyingandlocating thedebugheader,inparticularwhenacaseisfitted. A129andH140picturesadded. A130Hv2pictureamendedasdebugpositionincorrectly shown. Moodinformationadded.Documentchangedtonew Companyformat.

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DebugCableQuickReference

ThisdocumentdecribeshowtosetupandusetheAminodebugcableontheAmiNETandMoodsettop boxes(STBs).ThedebugcableisessentialwhentestinganSTBtoaidintherapiddiagnosisoffaultsand unexpectedbehaviour.ItisapplicabletothefollowingversionsofSTB: AmiNET A103 A110 A110H A125 A129 A130EU/US A130H A130EU/USv2 A130Hv2 A130 A140 H140 A500 A530EU/US A540 Mood400032 M540 Mood Mood400002 Mood400020 Mood400022 Mood400030

1
1.1

TheDebugCable
Aminetx3xandMood400002/020/022STBs

TheAminodebugcable(partnumber500745)hasablackconnector,alightgreyplasticbreakoutboxanda DB9serialconnector.Itisalsosuppliedwithadebugheaderablackconnectorwith4pins.

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1.2

Aminetx4xandMood400030/032STBs

TheAminoflexicableassembly(partnumber5128570000CABLBP)hasablackheaderanda4way flexiblecableattached.Theflexiblecablewillnormallybewhiteorlightbluebutmayvarydependingonthe supplier.

2
2.1

AmiNETSTBs
ConnectingthedebugheadertoAminetx3xSTBs

FittingadebugheadertoanAmiNETx3xSTBisafairlysimpleprocess.Beforeyoustartyouwillneed: APhilipsheadscrewdriver. Adebugheader. (Optional)Asolderingironandsomesolder.

Firstlyremovethescrewsontherearoftheunit(andontheA500,disconnectthetwocables)andthenslide thePCBbackwardsoutofthecase. Thedebugheaderfitsinto4holesonthecircuitboard.OneachversionofSTBthelocationoftheheader holesisdifferentseeLocatingthedebugheaderpositionsAminetx3xSTBsforthelocations.OneverySTB excepttheA530(seethenotebelow),thesilkscreenwillbeasshowninFigure1. Thetwofeaturestonoteare:

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therearetwowhitemarksalongonesideofthesilkscreening theendpinissurroundedbyasquaresolderpad.

ThesefeaturesarebothhighlightedinredinFigure1andareausefulindicationofthecorrectheader orientation.

Figure1:Exampleheaderlocation Thedebugheaderhastwoslotsononeedge.Theseslotsalignwiththetwowhitemarkshighlightedonthe pcbsilkscreen.Inaddition,thesquarepadindicatesthepositionfortheredwireofthedebugcable. Inserttheheaderpinsintotheholesonthepcb. .

Figure2:Debugcableinplace
NOTE

Iftheheaderandcableareplacedthewrongwayroundtheboxwillnot bootup,noLEDswilllight,andtherewillbenodebugoutput.Removing thedebugcableandinsertingitcorrectlywillreturntheboxtonormal operation. Remembertoremovethedebugcablefromthesettopboxbefore disconnectingtheotherendofthedebugcablefromthePC.

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Itisnotstrictlynecessarytosolderthedebugheaderinplaceifitisinconvenientforyoutodoso.However, theheaderpinsarenotatightfitintheholesinthepcbsoifyoudonotsoldertheheaderinplace,youmay havetoapplyaslightpressureontheheadertoensuregoodelectricalconnectivity.

2.1.1

Modifyingandroutingthedebugheader

Extendingtheheaderpins
ThedebugheadercanbemodifiedusingMolex*headers(orequivalent).Attachingtheseheadersasshown inFigure3giveslongerpinsforinsertion,andtheplasticframecanbeusedtoprovidesomecompression forcetoholdtheheaderinplaceifitisnotsoldered.

*Molex0.14wayheader,squarepin,partnumber:22272041.Availablefromhttp://uk.farnell.com/

Attachingaribboncable
Insomecircumstances(forexample,atestlaboratory)youmayneedtousethedebugfacilitywiththeSTB casefitted.Itispossibletosolderaribboncableontothepcbwherethedebugheaderwouldnormallybe fitted,andthenroutethiscableoutsidethecase.
NOTE

Ifyousolderaribboncablebetweenthedebugheaderandthepcb, ensureyouconnectthecablepintopin.Forexample,usetheredwire betweentheheaderpinandthesquaresolderpadwhichitwould normallybefittedinto,thenconnecttheremainingcablesinthecorrect order.

Routingtheribboncable(x3xSTBs)
ToroutethecableoutoftheSTBandallowyoutorefitthecover,wesuggestyoufeedtheribboncable throughoneoftheholesinthebackplatethatareusedwhentheSTBismountedvertically.

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2.2

LocatingthedebugheaderpositionsAminetx3xSTBs

Thepicturesbelowhighlightwheretofindthedebugconnectoronthedifferentversions:

AmiNET103

AmiNET110

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AmiNET110H

AmiNET125

AmiNET130EU/US

AmiNET130H

AmiNET130EU/USv2

AmiNET130Hv2

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AmiNET130M

AmiNET500

AmiNET530EU/US(seenotebelow)

NOTE

OntheA530EU/USitiseasiertoconnectthedebugcabletothe undersideofthePCB.Whenthecasingisremovedthisisthesideof thePCBthatisexposedbutisnotthesideshowingthesilkscreen. However,theendpinofthedebugheaderpositionisstillmarkedwitha squaresolderpad.

2.3

ConnectingthedebugcabletoAminetx4xSTBs

Onthex4xseriesSTBsyoucanusethestandardflexicableadaptorprovidedbyAminotoextendthecable. ThiscanbethreadedthroughthebackplatealongsidetheRJ45connectorsothattheSTBcanbeusedwith thecasefittedbutstillwithdebugfacilitiesavailable.

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2.4

LocatingthedebugheaderpositionsAminetx4xSTBs
AmiNETA140andA129 AmiNETA540

AmiNETH140

3
3.1

MoodSTBs
ConnectingthedebugcabletoMoodSTBs

FittingadebugcabletoaMoodSTBisasimpleprocess.Beforeyoustartyouwillneed: APhilipsheadscrewdriveroraT10torxheadscrewdriverdependingonthemodel Adebugheader.

RemovethecoverretainingscrewsontheunitandslidethecoverbackwardsandofftheSTB. Theheaderpositionisinadifferentplaceoneachofthe002,020and022STBs. Theheadertypeonthe030and032STBsistheflexicabletypeasontheAmiNETx4xseriesSTBs.

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3.2

LocatingthedebugheaderpositionsMoodSTBs
TheheaderfittedtotheMoodSTBs002,020,022isnotpolarised,soit ispossibletofitthedebugcablethewrongwayround.Forthese versions,ineachpicturethearrowindicatesthepositionoftheredwire inthedebugcable. Remembertoremovethedebugcablefromthesettopboxbefore disconnectingtheotherendofthedebugcablefromthePC.

Thepicturesbelowhighlightwheretofindthedebugconnectoroneachversion.
NOTE

Mood400002

Mood400020

Mood400022

Mood400030

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Mood400032

(SerialATAcableremovedforclarity)

UsingtheDebugCable

TousetheAminodebugcableconnecttheDB9plugtotheserialportonyourPC. Openyourterminalsoftware,forexample,MinicomorHyperterminalandconnectat115200bps,8bits,1 stopbit,NOparityandNOflowcontrol.Yourterminalwindowshouldnowshowthedebugoutputfromyour STBandallowyoutologintotheconsole.

ThestandardAminousernameandpasswordarerootandroot2root.

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UsefulCommands

ThissectiondetailssomeusefulcommandsthatcanberunusingthedebugcableineitherIntActOSorLinux. IntActOSisasimpleOperatingSystemthatisstartedwhentheSTBisbooted.Itenablestheprogrammingof codeimagesandlaunchesLinux,theSTBsmainoperatingsystem. Thedebugcablecanalsobeusedtoviewthedebugmessageswhichappearontheconsoleaspartofthe normaloperationoftheSTB.Forexample,youwillbeabletoimmediatelyseethestatusofallstagesofa softwareupgrade,seethestatusofthevideoenginewhenplayingaclip,andtrackdownproblemswithPID detection,amongotherthings.

5.1
1. 2.

IntActOS
ConnectthedebugcableandpowerontheSTB AttheHitENTERtostopnormaloperation...prompt,pressEntertoenterIntActOS. ThepromptI>willappearasshownbelow. Thefollowinglistofusefulcommandsarenotcasesensitive.

ToenterIntActOS

5.1.1

ShowAll

Theshow allcommandshowsthevaluesstoredintheNORflash. Forexample:

I>show all Locked : 00 BoxID : 701306D000085 BoardRev : 2 VideoMode : 1 OutFormat : 2

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RFChan : 167 RFMode : 0 RFFreqTbl : 0 CAID : F0F0F0F0 NDSSoftwareVersion : 00000000 NDSDriverVersion : 00 ManufacturerID : 1D STBModelType : 01 HardwareVersion : 01 MACaddress : 00:02:02:0C:91:E0 Ethernet : 0 UseDHCP : Y IPaddress : 0.0.0.0 Gateway : 0.0.0.0 Netmask : 0.0.0.0 TimeServer : 0.0.0.0 DNS : 0.0.0.0 McastAdr : 0.0.0.0 McastPort : 0 I>

5.1.2

Format

TheformatcommandisusedtocompletelyerasetheNANDflashandthereforeanysoftwareloadedonto thebox.Thiswillputtheboxintoamulticastawarestate,readytoreceiveanewsoftwareimagefroma multicast(middleware)server.

5.1.3

Reset

TheresetcommandisusedtoexitfromIntActOS.

5.1.4

Help

Showsalltheavailablecommands.

5.2

Linux

ThissectionhasabrieflistofusefulcommandsthatwillhelpyougatherinformationabouttheSTB.Mostof thesearestandardLinuxcommands. OncetheboxhasbootedupfullyintoLinux,theconsolewillshowthemessagePleasepressEnterto activatethisconsole.PressingEnterpromptsyoufortheusernameandpassword(rootandroot2root)

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5.2.1

Ifconfig

Theifconfigcommandtellsyouthestatusoftheinterfacesonthebox,itwilltellyoutheIPaddressand subnetmaskoftheinterfaceandstatisticsontransmittedandreceivedpackets.

5.2.2

Route

Thiscommandshowstheroutingtable.Themostusefulinformationhereisgenerallythedefaultgateway.

5.2.3

Cat/proc/sys/dev/eth0/lnkfail

Runningthecommandcat/proc/sys/dev/eth0/lnkfailwillreturna1iftheEthernetlinkisdown,and0ifitis up.Otherfilesinthisdirectoryarealsouseful,forexampleaspeedreturnsthespeedoftheinterfacewhile afduplxwillreturn1forfullduplexand0forhalfduplex.

5.2.4

Vi/mnt/nv/config.txt

Thiscommandopensthebrowserconfigurationfileintheeditorvi.Otherfilesin/mnt/nvthatyoumaywish toeditincludesettingsandnetconf.ViisastandardLinuxeditorandmoreinformationonitsusageis availableontheInternet.

5.2.5

Free

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Thefreecommandreturnsthestatusofthememoryinthebox.

5.2.6

Reboot

Auserinvokedresetofthesettopbox.

QuickGuidetoReflashinganSTB

Itispossibletoreflashaboxbyclearingthememory.Thiswillputitintoamulticastawarestate,readyto receiveanewsoftwareimagefromamulticast(middleware)server. Theeasiestwaytodothisis: 1. ConnectthedebugcableandpowerontheSTB. 2. AttheHitENTERtostopnormaloperation...promptpressEntertoenterIntActOS. 3. ThepromptI>willappearasshownabove. 4. Attheprompttypef(forformat)andpressEnter. 5. ItwillaskforconfirmationpressY. 6. OncetheformatiscompletedtyperesetandpressEntertoresetthebox. ItwillnowbootupwiththeLoadingmessageonthescreenandwillattempttoloadanewimagefroma multicastserver.

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