comp_ali

And the series of hardware failures in my system continues I found just today that my skystar2 (sat card) doesn't work and the system can't read it. After checking I found that one of the transistor that has a writing "c2" near it is burned out .
I don't know what to say since I am not electronic professional but can it be repaired or say bye bye to this great card that I didn't use it but less than 1 year

Thanks for you all

kris23

so what kind of card is it?

a drive controller? i dont know what you mean by sat card...

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comp_ali

dvb card I meant digital video broadcasting it just act like the satellite receiver

kris23

ahh i see, does the cards company have any repair services you can look at? assuming the warranty is over if any

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comp_ali

I don't know such these services availiable here in egypt but may I look for it in the official site but mostly they don't have and if so it would be highly priced than unofficial repairer

kris23

worst case scenario you can go to any electronics components shops and purchase a soldering iron, and ask for a replacement transistor (or whatever it may actually be) like the one that blew up

just make sure its a knowledgeable place

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GigaWatt

if you can read what is written on that burned transistor, i could probably tell you what to do next, to change it or not...

my opinion is that the card is burned to the core, everythning it had on it is probaly burned, since the transistor is (the desrete components go last, they can sustain more heat), so my opinion is that everyting that was any kind of a chip on that card is burned, and that transistor was the last thing to go... or atleast among the last ones to go .

but, nevertheless, those kind of components are really cheap (with price ranges around 0.1 to 0.2 euros, its basicly free ), so if you could read the writings on the transistor write them here on the forum, i could write a comparisontype and you could buy it, unsolder the burned one, solder the new one, and try the card. i would recomed that you try it on an old PC first, don't risk of burning up your primar rig, use some old one to do the test run .

some other descrete (non chip) components around that transistor could be burned too, maby some other semiconducter component (a diode, another transistor, etc.). usually, when one component burns, rarealy it's just one thats burned in the end. usually, a whole group of semiconductor components connected to the burned one are burned too. so check if there are any other transitors in the nearby "area" of the burned one, and if there are, see if thery are burned too... better yet, change them just like the burned transistor. you wouldn't want to risk burning the new one...

whell... just paste the codings on the transistor (and the other desrete semiconductor components around him, if there are any...), and i will see what i can do ...

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It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...

comp_ali

It has no writing actually but this pic may help
look at the left end of the card

Mousey

Waaah why not post a bigger pic? :/ lol
I doubt it can be repaired on your own, i'd advise sending it back

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comp_ali

Sending back to what
Do you know repair service in Egypt
I cheked their website it did't mention any branch here

Mousey

Sending it back to wherever you got it, or getting in touch with them to see what you should do now it's kicked the bucket

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GigaWatt

if what you have circled is the faulty component (which by the looks of it, it isn't faulty at all...) then thats not a transistor, it's probably a diode or a resistor, transistors have tree outlets (legs), this one has two. bu the looks of it, i would say the other component left of the one you have circled (the big black one with one leg unattached - N/C) is the faulty one, that one has writings on it, i can't make out the writings on it, but if you can, i will see if i can find a replacement/comparisontype for it

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It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...

comp_ali

Sorry, but this image I downloaded it from the web and edited it . It is not my device
I can't get a high res pic of my device to be this pure and obvious.
The diode or resistance in my device is obviously burned and it is exactly right in the same place where I mentioned in the pic

So can I try to do any thing myself as it is anyway does't work

GigaWatt

oh... sorry, i didn't know this wasn't your card on the pic, i assumed that it was...

well, in that case, there isn't much you can do about it, since it doesn't have any kind of writings on it...

the component could be one of two things, it's either a resistor or a diode, as i wrote earlier, transistors have tree pins, not two, this one has two... so one of the things you could do is replace the component with a wire instead of component... it could be some kind of a resistor with a small resistance value (maby around 3 to 4 ohms), but this is very risky, since you can't be certain that this actually is a resistor (it could be a diode).

see if you could find any kind of schematics or any kind of other specifications for the card on the net... any kind of technical info. if you can, then post the info or just put links to whatever it is you have found...

also, it might be good idea to google a little bit to see if anyone else has posted any kind of similar problem on some other forum, and see how they have solved it... it could be worth a shot ...

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It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...

kris23

resistors are very hard to blow out unless youre actually trying....

id say you have another problem on your hands.....

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comp_ali

Oh Just a minute
in the last 3 monthes I had a big problem in my motherboard and the computer can't start so I went to a repaire service and they told me the motherboard is actually burning out and the main chip(large square one on every motherboard) had blown out already . And it costs me alot to get the chip replaced with another used one . anyway from the enormos heat the 12v atx cable has melted in the motherboard slot and they made one part that had no way to get a rid of but replace the whole slot with another one and get another power supply. I lost my 512mb ram also in this "blow out".
So can that also be the reason of my sat card failure.

comp_ali

I didn't try the card after this accident.

kris23

you can try it if you want but i wouldnt.... it may short out the PCI slot

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GigaWatt

i would give the same recommendation as kris, try it at your own risk... it wouldn't be a bad idea to try the card on some old PC, if you have one by any chance, some old rig that has a PCI slot on it and you don't use it any more...

if it doesn't work, try the thing with the wire i described in my earlier post and plug the card back in... but do this ONLY if you have a spare a spare old rig, not on the current configuration you are using, the process is too risky, it could burn out the motherboard.

anyways, post if there are any new updates on this subject

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It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...

comp_ali

Thanks Giggawatt anyway I mailed skystar2 support and they told me to contact the dealer if the warranty still valid to look for replace or refund, I told them the warranty expired and can they repaire it on my budget they told my again to contact the dealer whom I purchased the card from!!
May be I try your suggestion on my nephew rig hehe!! it is some what older than mine

comp_ali

I tried putting similar component from old motherboard but the experiment failed and the computer didn't boot up at all and the card got tooooooooo much heat as well

I don't know what to do since this card is some what expensive 80 $ and I can't afford for another one for that quality , It is known as one of the best iuf not the best SAT card.

mmmm

GigaWatt

then the only possible option left for you is to buy a new card...

as i said, the process is risky and it's a good thing that you didn't burn out the motherboard...

the card is still probably functional (on some level...), since it still disipates heat... if it was burned out, it wouldn't disipate any heat at all... but the question is, what and where is the problem with the card...? i'm afraid that even the engeneers that built the thing wouldn't know the answer to that question...

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It's not schisophrenia... it's just a voice in my head...