Dead Audi Phatbox - Any diagnostic ideas?

[SRKEEVIL]

Hi all,

Have been browsing the forums for a while, whilst waiting to get my phatbox installed.
Was really looking forward to getting it up & running but I've been told my phatbox is dead.  My headunit has been tested with another PB and is OK.  I bought my PB on ebay and can't get a refund.

Anyone got any ideas that might help?  The DMS cart is fine and works with my PC.  When I connect the PB to the HU I get no lights, no noises - nothing at all.

I've looked at the Hardware FAQ and have tried the trick of changing JP1 position but no luck.  Have I got a very expensive paperweight on my hands?

Any thoughts would be warmly received!

Thanks

[markbowen]

Did you just buy the Phatbox and it was DOA??  Paypal and ebay have buyer protection.  You should contact the seller, and if that doesn't work, escalate to Paypal (if you used it) and/or to ebay.  Don't just sit there with a lemon.

[LloydDobler]

If all else fails, there's another guy on ebay who is selling barebones phatboxes for like 30-40 bucks plus shipping, so it's not prohibitively expensive if you already have everything else.  

Here's the sale listing, you can bid on them though, so that price isn't rock bottom.  I don't want to piss on this guy's sales but let me just say he sold me one for a lot lower than $50.  He was good to work with as well.

http://cgi.ebay.com/NIB-PHATNOISE-PHATBOX-FOR-VOLKSWAGEN-OR-AUDI-NEW_W0QQitemZ9720943381QQihZ008QQcategoryZ73839QQssPageNameZWD1VQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

[SRKEEVIL]

Hey Guys,

Thanks very much for the replies!  

Mark, it's a long story but I bought the unit ages ago, had a couple of attempts at getting it installed but with no luck.
It's only recently I've been able to get an audi garage to have a look at it for me, FOC, and confirm my doubts about the unit.
To be honest, it's possible it could've been fried by wrong cabling from the 1st install attempt.  Don't think I could successfully claim DOA!

Lloyd, cheers for the link to the guy selling PB units on ebay.  I'll definately give him a go.  For $50 I can't really go wrong.  I know my DMS is OK, the PC cradle is OK, so if I can get a PB unit on it's own I'm back in business!  Nice one.

Thanks again!  I've been waiting ages to get this thing running.  

Knowing my luck i'll get it going, then hack the DMS and break it!!  

Cheers...

[sbingner]

to ease your mind, the hack process itself has never managed to cause any permanent harm to a phatbox -- everything is verified before being updated and it is coded in such a way that in no point during the hack is the phatbox completely unbootable

[zero cool]

What did you even end up doing with your dead phatbox??? I might be interested in it for parts, testing etc.

 Please email me at tetech2@doitnow if you or anyone wants to donate or sell a dead PB. I might be able to help someone else get there PB running with parts from yours!


Please email me with specifics of what you have. is it just the PB, are there accs with it, does it work or power up etc and with YOUR asking price. i usually dont make offers.


Zc

[sparky2002]

mine was dead when i installed it in my a3 with a symphony II. However it fired up when powered up with a PSU on my bench at work. Tried all sorts to get it working. I ended up running an extra Ground cable and screwing it directly into the phatbox chassis.  Been working fine ever since.