DM500s Recovery Repair your DM500s STB from a failed firmware upload

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How to revive and recover your DM500s STB from a failed firmware upload

On this page we are going to look at on how we can recover from a failed firmware update on the satellite DM500s STB. We will provide our tutorial and hopefully by carrying out the steps as shown you will recover your DM500s STB from its bricked state.

 

The DM500s STB is a very power full set top box for viewing satellite TV and radio. The satellite set top box runs open source Linux software. If you search the internet on the DM500s you will find hundreds of developers around the world who have tweaked and made enhancements for the firmware software for the STB.

Due to this you will also find many users who have bricked their set up boxes from failed firmware updates. If you find yourself with this problem then you will be glad to hear that these boxes do offer a few options for recovery.

The recovery method that we used on our DM500s was to use a null modem serial RS232 com cable and a utility called DreamUP to communicate and upload a good working copy of the firmware to our set top box. Below are the instructions and where to get a copy of DreamUP software. You will also need a good copy of the firmware for the DM500s which you can get from searching Google.

 

So this is how we recovered our set top box.

 

Download a copy of DreamUP and place this on your desktop from here  DreamUP_ver1.3.3.1.zip

You will also need a good copy of the DM500s firmware. Download this from the internet if you don't have a good backup.
 

Next you are going to need a Null Modem Serial RS232 com cable. You can get one from your local electronic shop.

 

We made our own and below is the schematics for those wishing to make their own cable.

 



We must point out that the use of the correct cable is absolutely essential. If you are unable to communicate with the set top box and dreamUP or receive errors it will most likely be the use of using incorrect cabling. Please check that you have not got a straight through serial cable. The correct RS232 serial cable requires pins 2 and 3 known as the transmit and receive lines to be crossed linked.

As you can see in the schematic you really only need 3 wires from your DB9 socket to make the RS232 serial cable. Note that pins 2 and 3 are crossed over for transmit and receive of the signals.

 

Assuming that you now have the correct cable lets go onto the next step.

 

Using your PC / laptop download DreamUP_ver1.3.3.1.zip and unzip the contents to your desktop.
Also make sure you have on you desktop a good copy of the DM500s firmware obtained from a working backup or downloaded from searching Google.

Next plug your Null Modem RS232 cable between the DM500s and the serial port of your PC.
Now run the DreamUP_1_3_3_1.exe utility as an administrator.
You will notice the following screen.

 

 

Next make sure that the "Use Network" box is un-ticked as shown above. Ensure that you also choose the correct serial port eg COM1 or COM2 or COM3 etc.

 

If the connectivity is successful between the DM500s and your PC you should see the "Box attached and ready" message as shown blow.

 

 

Its probably best to do the "Flash Erase" option to erase the faulty firmware embedded in the system.

Now browse for the new working firmware in the .IMG format and flash the new firmware by clicking the Flash Button.

 

 

This process of uploading the new firmware may take 15 to 20 minutes or longer. Do not interrupt this process or you may permanently brick your DM500s.

 

If everything has gone well you have now recovered your bricked DM500s.

 

If you have enjoyed our latest tip or wish to discuss this further then please leave your comments and suggestions below.

 

Disclaimer :
There is a chance you can brick your hardware permanently if something goes wrong, also this can then void your guarantee / warranty of your hardware. So by flashing the firmware you  do so at your own risk 

We are providing the contents here for educational purposes and offer no guarantee that this process will work for you. On this note you should be aware that by carrying out the processes here you do so at your risk.