Trying to debug 490RE - did I zap the power supply?

[jerrymc]

I picked up an RCA DWD490RE in a batch of non-working DTV receivers on liquidation. After a bit of fiddling around, I was able to get the WEBTV screen to come up but it wanted to dial in which was unsuccessful - says it couldn't get a dial tone or something, but it never picks up the line. Reading this forum for a few hours convinced me my hard drive was bad or the OS was corrupted. I pulled the drive to find it had been replaced by who knows who with who knows what experience or intelligence. I unlocked the drive with MHD3 and ran diags on it with no errors.

When I put the drive back in and powered up (I'm using an unsubbed access card for now), I got the exact same results. Using the 411 code never shows any drive info. I powered down and removed the IDE cable from the drive, then powered back on, or tried to. Got a small spark at the power plug when I inserted into the UTV, now there is no sign of life in the unit. Fuse tests good.

Did I fry the PS? Are there any known weak points in the PS that might be responsible and can be repaired?

Any comments on my procedure? Anything else I should try or should have tried?

I'm an EE with 20 year's experience and I know my way around Tivos though this is my first attempt at tinkering with UTV. I'm reasonably certain I didn't make any boneheaded mistakes, only the softheaded ones.

Thanks in advance for any help!

-Jerry

[jerrymc]

Hmm. Not much activity on this forum. Seeing as how this is an unsupported box, I guess I shouldn't be surprised. Unless I can fix/replace the power supply, it's starting to look like this box just isn't worth the time and effort. Anyone want to make me an offer for the thing AS-IS for parts?

-Jerry

[klassic]

A weak point is at the power supply ribbon cable.
If you have been pulling it off, it could have broke...

The ends are basically tin foil and will break if you look at them wrong.

It's very hard to see the break with the naked eye..

Dl the Sony schematics, courtesy of Blue Cop, and test the connector at the main circuit board for the correct voltages.
Then you can rule out the power supply

[jerrymc]

Originally posted by klassic
A weak point is at the power supply ribbon cable.
If you have been pulling it off, it could have broke...

The ends are basically tin foil and will break if you look at them wrong.

It's very hard to see the break with the naked eye..

Dl the Sony schematics, courtesy of Blue Cop, and test the connector at the main circuit board for the correct voltages.
Then you can rule out the power supply

Thanks for the excelent suggestion! That's the kind of input I was hoping for.

-Jerry

[kiidutv]

Jerry...you got a PM.

[BigHatGMW]

I pulled the drive to find it had been replaced by who knows who with who knows what experience or intelligence. I unlocked the drive with MHD3 and ran diags on it with no errors.

I got the exact same results.-Jerry

Jerry - you said that you Unlocked the Drive with the MHD3... you did not say that you then put an OS on the drive after doing your diags...

I am a newbie also - but from what I have read the MHD3 program not only unlocks the drive but zero's it out. You then need to have WinHex (registered) and load an image onto the drive in order for it to work.