【V8 Finder】RS232 Recovery for V8 Finder

V8 FINDER PRO2 /V8 FINDER2 / BT03 /BT05

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Feralkiwi
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【V8 Finder】RS232 Recovery for V8 Finder

Post by Feralkiwi »

RS232 Recovery or Software Downgrade for V8 Finder

There is a RS232 connection inside the battery cover of the V8 Finder.
Be careful with screws in plastic. If you don't find the already cut thread in the plastic when you screw the screws back in, you can strip out the screw holes.
To avoid this put the screw in the hole and turn it anti-clockwise, with very light pressure on the screw, until you feel it click.
This click is when the screw has dropped into the start of the thread in the hole. Once it has clicked turn the screw clockwise until just tight.
V8 Finder RS232.JPG
V8 Finder RS232.JPG (148.07 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
This connection is similar to the one inside the V7HD. The V8 Finder is based on the V7HD and its software.

You need to make a cable from this connector to your null modem cable.
I started with a connector form an old printer that has the pins at the same spacing.
IMG_6733.JPG
IMG_6733.JPG (245.41 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
I then cut this connector down to the size needed.
I found I had to cut a little of the plastic away from around the connector to make it fit into the RS232 connector in the V8 Finder.
I also had to cut some plastic off the end of the connector so it fitted deeper into the V8 Finder.
All this is done a little at a time being careful not to cut too much or cut your self.
IMG_6734.JPG
IMG_6734.JPG (208.59 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
Before I cut some plastic off the end of the connector I had spent some time trying to make the cable work with the RS232 software.
I failed at first and then used a multi meter to test if the cable was connecting with the V8 Finder connector.
To do this I removed the battery and tested on 200K ohms setting between the ground connection of the LNB cable and each wire.
The ground wire (red on my cable) has zero Ohms and the TX has 2.3 and the RX has 6.7.
Remember that after you remove the battery in the V8 Finder the Finder will not power on until you put it on the charger to tell the battery level test that the "Flat" battery is recharged.
IMG_6747.JPG
IMG_6747.JPG (256.49 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
I then connected these wires to my Null Modem cable.
I did this by twisting the bared wires and folding them over to make them a little thicker and carefully pushed them into the correct connectors on the null modem cable.
You could solder these wires to make them stiff like pins.
Pin 1 is at the top right of the null modem D9 connector and 5 at the top left as shown in this pic.
Pin 5 is Ground, 2 is Rx and 3 is TX.
The connection is Tx to Tx, Rx to Rx and Gnd to Gnd.
The second pic shows a null modem connection from this discussion on null modem cables.
There is another discussion here on flashing via RS232 cables.
.
IMG_6751.JPG
IMG_6751.JPG (239.09 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
Image

Then it is time to use the software, the RS232Tool_V7V8SuperGolden_V1.3.rar
Inside the .rar folder is a PDF instruction and the software folder.
To start the software click on "TCOM.exe"
IMG_6738.JPG
IMG_6738.JPG (209.54 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
Set up the "Com Connection" and press "Open" and then press "UPG"
IMG_6740.JPG
IMG_6740.JPG (197.83 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
Set the "Project Type" to "Sonata DDR3"
Select the V8 finder software file from your PC directory by clicking the "..." button.
Then press "Start". The window at the bottom will report
Please reset the STB!
IMG_6753.JPG
IMG_6753.JPG (159.03 KiB) Viewed 26745 times
This is when you power on the V8 finder.
If all is well and the RS232 is communicating you will see these reports in the window.
Please reset the STB!
ÀBOOTROM ...
UPG...
DDR Calibration Completed
I had many failures form this point onward.
Sometimes I found that closing the RS232 software and rebooting it and "Starting" it again worked, while pressing "Exit" and "Start" again in the software did not work.
I was using an old XP PC.
I also had the RS232 software crash a few times too.

It did work for me three times. I down graded to 20170421 and back up to 21070706.

Most of my failures reported this:
Please reset the STB!
BOOTROM ...
UPG...
start send upgclient
Start to check serial...
!! UpgClientTest FAIL: Can not receive any responses from STB!!
!! UpgClientTest FAIL: Can not receive any responses from STB!!
!! UpgClientTest FAIL: Can not receive any responses from STB!!
!! UpgClientTest FAIL: RSP error!!
Other times when it crashed it just reported:
Please reset the STB!
BOOTROM ...
UPG...
You will know when it works as there are graphics showing the upload progress.
I suggest having the charger plugged in while doing this as you do not want a power fail from the battery.
I found it worked more reliably with the charger plugged in.
I recommend doing this with the charger plugged in. It did seem much more reliable with the charger.
RS232 uses 12 volts on the RX and TX and the battery in the Finder is 7.4 volts.
With the charger connected I did two software reloads in a row with out rebooting the software.

When it has finished the V8 Finder will boot and display the menu screen.
The log file will end with this:
second_bootloader=0x80100000
#0**CDU UDQ**: 6c37
#0**CDU UDQ**: 86c8 37
If you are doing this while the V8 Finder still works, remember that you can save your user data file (db_ssdata.bin) to USB in the tools menu. This will save you reloading all your sats.
We all hope that we will need to save our softcam.key files as well if Freesat adds the encryption software to the V8 Finder.

The V8 finder uses the same user data files as the V7HD so you can upload you V7HD user data into the Finder.

Good luck to you all.

Owen

Edited June 11 2021:
Here are some more note on USB to RS232 serial devices.

Here is how I got this to work

I had plugged the USB to RS232 serial device into a USB port and it loaded the driver as port 14.
The GT Media recovery tool only allows for ports 1 to 9.

I use Windows 7, this may be different for Windows 10.
I opened "My computer" / Control panel / View devices and printers.
There I can see the serial device and the port number it is using, for me that was 14.
I then clicked on it and when to Hardware / Properties / Change settings / Drivers / Uninstall.
Then I plugged in the USB to RS232 to a different USB on the other side of the laptop and it reloaded the driver as port 4.

Then I could set the recovery tool for port 4 and V7Pro.

I then worked.

Here is a link to my posts on this

Owen
Dishes; 3x3m, 2.4m and 4.1m, 10+ ku, 2 movers, USARLS. V8 Combo, Pro, V8 Golden, Nova V8Pro2, GTC, Super.V7HDs, Combo and V7s V7Plus Finder, Finder-Meter V8X / UHD V7Pro GT/XCombo. Sats 100.5E to 177W. I'm a Sat hobbyist who helps out.

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Feralkiwi
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Re: 【V8 Finder】RS232 Recovery for V8 Finder

Post by Feralkiwi »

salia8327 wrote:
Tue Nov 01, 2022 1:14 am
Hello, kindly mark the attached pic.. what are the 3 cables.. im ggoing to downgraded v8 UHD.

Thanks you
Hi

If you look at this picture further up the post you will see them connected to the RS232 port on the finder.
These three wire RS232 ports are all the same on all GT Media units that have them.
The wires are different colors in that picture, but it shows the connections.

Owen
Image
Dishes; 3x3m, 2.4m and 4.1m, 10+ ku, 2 movers, USARLS. V8 Combo, Pro, V8 Golden, Nova V8Pro2, GTC, Super.V7HDs, Combo and V7s V7Plus Finder, Finder-Meter V8X / UHD V7Pro GT/XCombo. Sats 100.5E to 177W. I'm a Sat hobbyist who helps out.

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