SamyGO

Hi

Recently inherited a nonworking Samsung LN40C630 with no signs of external damage to either the screen or front and back body.

While this is the first LCD I have worked on, have been taught to check for burnt and broken components and PC boards, and count flashes and beeps when turn unit on/off.

At start only plugged the set in and turned it on and off with these results.

When plug in the AC cord the set makes a short musical sound(MS) and the power light(PL) flashes 6x then off.

When turn the set on get shorter (MS) and (PL) stays on but there is no screen light.

When turn the set off get shorter (MS) and (PL) flashes 5x then off.

After opening the back checked the 2 fuses and the front and back sides of the Power Board (PB) and Main Board (MB).

The 2 fuses were OK and I did not notice any burned/broken components or traces on either board. Upper left of (MB) noticed Switch SW701.

Then removed the (MB) connector and plugged the AC cord in and the LCD back light came on.

Pushed SW701, reconnected (MB) and when connected AC cord got 5 power LED flashes and short music, touched power and LED came on and stayed on (no flashes) but no screen came up and the Input Mode and Menu did not work. After ~ 1 minute touched power and got 5 flashes and short music and set turned off. Also got same results with a DVD player connected to AV2.

Wonder if these flashes are same as PC BIOS "No Boot" beeps? If yes is there a database with codes?

Appreciate any comments!

If anyone would like photos please tell me how to do.

Thanks

Ken

See if you can get a working ex-link cable aka. UART / RS232-TTL adapter and connect it to tv to get a bootlog.

Does it show reaction to IR-RC inputs?

Hi beatfreak,

First thing I would like to determine is if this is a hardware or software problem.

Do not know anyone who has a UART / RS232-TTL adapter.

Since the LN40C630 has a VGA plug I will try to get cable to attach it to my WindowsXP PC (checked the Internet and found posts that it is supported) and see if it works as a monitor. Does this seem reasonable to you.

Have out of necessity only worked on Windows PCs because most of the apps I use run Windows.

From the Compatibility Table for C series TVs http://wiki.samygo.tv/index.php5/Compat ... series_TVs has root access by USB.

Hope that the LN40C630 will allow me to boot from a USB drive so I could use a Linux rescue tool such as mentioned "10 Linux rescue tools for recovering Linux, Windows, or Mac machines" http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-thi ... -machines/ Normally I use Windows Rescue tools so appreciate any suggestions you have concerning what works best for Samsung Smart TVs.

Thanks again for your help!

Ken

Your TV will not boot from USB, it only boots from internal flash.

Yes, your ex-link port should be integrated in TVs VGA Port, but C-Series ex-link is on TTL-Level (0V to +5V) while your PC operates at RS232-Level (-12V to +12V) so your cable has to have at least aome kind of Voltage-levelshifter.

i use something like this and putty.exe

beatfreak,

Thanks again for the tips. Saved me a lot of trouble!

Any suggestions as how to determine if my problem is hardware or software?

Have Googled but to date have found nothing relevant. Must be using wrong keywords.

Regards,

Ken

Could still be both, a bootlog might give some useful information.

Try to find a USB-Stick with access-led so you could see if TV scans it for media files.

also check if tv accepts IR commands from remotecontrol

put some audio signal into SCART input and keep switching input sources on tv

if TV plays the start-melody and performs a shutdown when powerbuttn is pressed again then the major part of its OS should be running...

Maybe someone with a similar model could give you the button press order to set ex-link port from UART to debug in service menu (as i understand you'll have to do this blind, very dangerous )

Originally researched this problem and thought it was a Power Supply problem. My post is NonWorking Samsung LN40C630?
http://www.badcaps.net/forum/showthread ... post479683 If you need any better photos please tell me.

"check if tv accepts IR commands from remote control" Forgot to mention that I did not receive the Samsung remote for this set. Tried a universal remote and am able to turn the set on and off. Since it does not have all the special Samsung buttons this is all I have tried.
"if TV plays the start-melody and performs a shutdown when power buttn is pressed again then the major part of its OS should be running..." Yes it does! That is hopeful!!!

"Try to find a USB-Stick with access-led so you could see if TV scans it for media files" Does this occur when the set boots?

"put some audio signal into SCART input" This set was mfr in Mexico so does not have a SCART input.

Thanks again for all your help!!!

Ken

I cannot view the photos there if i'm not a member.

You could try to get a cheap Samsung RC, any Samsung TV remote, produced between 2008 and now, will work. Or you have a LIRC compatible sending device (like dBox2 or some DIY serial port transmitter) to send the codes (we have a list of them).

You should see the LED flashing once usb-devices are detected during boot and maybe once more when tv looks for media files on it.

"I cannot view the photos there if i'm not a member" Did not know that.

Will be glad to send you the photos if you tell me how.

"..cheap Samsung RC, any Samsung TV remote, produced between 2008 and now" Will check, thought it needed to be for the LN40C630 set.

Will any Universal RCs work?

"LED flashing once usb-devices are detected during boot and maybe once more when tv looks for media files on it" Do the number of flashes have any importance? Should I keep track of the flashes and the ~ time occur after turning on the TV?

Ken

beatfreak,

Finally found Samsung SmartTV Specs http://developer.samsung.com/devices/tv-specs lists OS as Linux 2.6

Is this correct?

Also found Samsung Smart TV: Basically a Linux Box Running Vulnerable Web Apps
http://entertainment-beta.slashdot.org/ ... e-web-apps "Two researchers at the Black Hat Briefings security conference Thursday said Smart TVs from electronics giant Samsung are rife with vulnerabilities in the underlying operating system and Java-based applications."

How can I test if my problem is Malware?

Thanks again for all your help!!!

Ken