[woodcreeker]

How To JTAG Pansat 3500

After many days of searching and asking questions and trying things, I have finally successfully JTAGed my dead 3500, bringing it back to life. I would like to share what I have learned.

First you need a JTAG cable. You can buy one or build one. You will also need two programs, Wall and Skymax, which are both included below. You will need a bin file, also included below.

If your receiver is completely dead, you need to establish if it is a flash problem or a power problem. This can be done 2 ways. If you have a dc volt meter you can check the voltages coming from the power supply. The power supply is the board to the right, looking from the front of the STB. The voltages are printed on the motherboard where the power supply plugs into it. If you don't have a meter, turn the unit on for about five minutes. Feel the heat sink on top of the prossessor. If it is warm, the power supply is probably Ok.

Identify your flash chip. The flash chip is directly right of the processor. Numbers ending in BBTC-70 are 1 meg, CBTC-70 are 2 meg. The 2nd file included below is the 2 meg bin flash, the last file attached is the 1 meg bin flash. These chips are MX29LV160 and M29W160ET which are Samsung chips. The TE28F160 is made by Intel. This is why some 3500 owners are able to JTAG with no problems, and others have problems JTAGing. If you have the Intel chip use the other JTAG Kit.

Insure that your PC parallel port is set for 2 way comunication, EPC works best. Attach your cable to the unit and to your PC parallel port. Turn the receiver on. Open the Wall program. A warning will pop up. Just ignore the warning and click Ok and click "Refresh Items". Now open Skymax. Click whichever chip you have and then what port you are using. Click start. If there is comunication it will show in window. Click erase. After erase is complete, click write and use the included bin file. After writing is complete, turn off the unit, close programs and disconnect from PC. Turn unit back on. It should light up, show B-70 boot file then go to a channel number. Now your up and running again.

After you get to this point you can use the serial cable on the back. Load the B-80 boot file and then the latest bin file release. You will have to go in and reset the sats to your LNB configuration or reload your own channel list. If you have a channel list backed up on your SD you can reload it back from there.

This worked perfectly for me the first try.