Under what conditions does a STB reset itself?

[ffrcoupe]

Just curious.

My 6416 seems to do it when I am in VOB or when I'm trying to get it to process too many things at once.

Any of you techies know?

[Keyboards]

Haven't figured out any rhyme or reason in the 3+ years I've had either a 6416 or 7216.  Had it happen when scrolling through the guide, FF a recording, searching for a show, and numerous other things I can't remember the details of.  Just a "feature" of Verizon's operational firmware

[ffrcoupe]

I guess my real question is more on the techie side.  Is the cache full, too many disk read errors, processor has a brain flatulence, etc.

[Hubrisnxs]

the primary reason the box will reset itself, is that it's getting too hot.  there is a temp gauge, and if it reaches a threshold it will reset itself to try to cool itself off.     Other than that, it would be a glitch in the firmware or software, because there aren't any real known reasons that it should reset based on a FF or a Cache being full.   There is a neat write up here that gives you boot error codes, so these will give you an idea of what "technically" would cause different things

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/How_to_use_a_Motorola_DVR/Boot_Error_Codes

for actual resets though the primary thing is heat.   you can check the temp by going to the diagnostic menu.

that is accessed by using the front panel, and not the remote.

with the box powered on, you hit (with 1 sec intervals) power once, select once, and select a 2nd time 

that will pull up a diagnostic menu, and then you choose  

d13 PVR/HDD STATUS 

and then it's on page 2 so you have to scroll down to see it

[Hubrisnxs]

also try the new New STB Tool - Set Top Box Auto Correction

it's under the menu > help > in home agent, and then  Set Top Box Auto Correction

that may help resolve the issue,  outside of that you may want to call the Tech support line

[jmw1950]

Don't really want to rain on the party, but resetting because of an overtemp really doesn't make a lot of sense.

I've measured the power consumption on both  the 6416 and 2500  at least, and there is no measurable difference in power consumption between being on and being off. So it is hard to see how rebooting or cycling off will in fact reduce the heat generated.

My own experiences with resetting have seemed to be completely random, and I have always attributed them to software/firmware snafu's. The STB can be viewed as an absolutely huge stage engine, and there is no possible way to test all of the software/firmware for all of the potential states. There are always going to be some holes.

What am I missing?

[spacedebris]

Well there are several things (intended) that will cause a reboot. I'm not going to list all the unintended reasons

When it gets hot it can reboot. Although it really should shut down until cool and then restart

When there is a power surge, the boxes should shut down. Never understood this one but it is supposed to be a reason

Upgrades to the software. This usually happens in the middle of the night.

Software glitch.  not much to say about this one.

Reboot commands. Commands from Verizon or the customer using the in home agent.

[Hubrisnxs]

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@jmw1950 wrote:

Don't really want to rain on the party, but resetting because of an overtemp really doesn't make a lot of sense.

I've measured the power consumption on both  the 6416 and 2500  at least, and there is no measurable difference in power consumption between being on and being off. So it is hard to see how rebooting or cycling off will in fact reduce the heat generated.

My own experiences with resetting have seemed to be completely random, and I have always attributed them to software/firmware snafu's. The STB can be viewed as an absolutely huge stage engine, and there is no possible way to test all of the software/firmware for all of the potential states. There are always going to be some holes.

What am I missing?

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I didn't mean to reset it to correct a temp problem.  I meant in case it was not the temperature overheating issue, and if they were still having an issue, to try a reboot as a general use fix.   

[ffrcoupe]

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@Hubrisnxs wrote:

you can check the temp by going to the diagnostic menu.

that is accessed by using the front panel, and not the remote.

with the box powered on, you hit (with 1 sec intervals) power once, select once, and select a 2nd time 

that will pull up a diagnostic menu, and then you choose  

d13 PVR/HDD STATUS 

and then it's on page 2 so you have to scroll down to see it

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 Hey now... that's pretty cool. You learn something new every day!

BTW, got any more cool tricks you care to share?