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PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Why so many minutes to reboot SA4250HD set top box?

As the title says....

I am not an engineer, so this is as much a request for information as a complaint.

After a split-second power drop last night, the Scientific Atlanta cable box needed to reboot.

It seemed to take upwards of 5 minutes this time.

Kept flashing things like HOLD, WAIT, BURP, WAIT MORE.

My question:

If all sorts of computers, tablets, smartphones, etc, can boot in 30-90 seconds, why does this thing need several minutes??
dm145
join:2009-12-12
Clifton, NJ

dm145

Member

Well for starters it is a lot older tech than tablets and smartphones. Less memory and CPU speed.

gambitNJ
join:2012-11-15
Your Mom

gambitNJ to PX Eliezer1

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to PX Eliezer1
It's archaic and belongs in the scrap heap

EliteData
EliteData
Premium Member
join:2003-07-06
Philippines

EliteData to PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

to PX Eliezer1
use a small UPS on it.
TheWiseGuy
Dog And Butterfly
MVM
join:2002-07-04
East Stroudsburg, PA

TheWiseGuy to PX Eliezer1

MVM

to PX Eliezer1
Let's see. Do all sorts of devices need to sync the downstream and upstream on their Docsis Modem? Do all sorts of devices need to authorize service? I remember when there was an off and on power outage some years ago and my boxes took a lot longer than 5 minutes. They would go on and by the time they had synced the power went back off. Still I agree the wait is frustrating.

momcat1
No Relation To The Bobcat
join:2002-10-21
Wappingers Falls, NY

momcat1 to PX Eliezer1

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Our boxes are all SA4250HD's. They are all on UPSes. They all take a minimum of 20 minutes to recover from a reboot. They take a long time to recover guide data as well. Hence, why we avoid a reboot at all costs.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1 to TheWiseGuy

Premium Member

to TheWiseGuy
said by TheWiseGuy:

Do all sorts of devices need to sync the downstream and upstream on their Docsis Modem? Do all sorts of devices need to authorize service?

And in fact----the Optimum Internet modems (such as the older Motorola Surfboard or the newer Arris TM822) reboot MUCH faster than the Optimum Cable TV SA4250HD box.

So this adds to the discrepancy, rather than explaining it.
TheWiseGuy
Dog And Butterfly
MVM
join:2002-07-04
East Stroudsburg, PA

TheWiseGuy

MVM

They also download data from the headend to use and they need to authorize much differently then just a modem.
PX Eliezer1
Premium Member
join:2013-03-10
Zubrowka USA

PX Eliezer1

Premium Member

Appreciate the information.

DownTheShore
Pray for Ukraine
Premium Member
join:2003-12-02
Beautiful NJ

DownTheShore to PX Eliezer1

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to PX Eliezer1
The Samsung box is just as slow.

MuDvAyNe
Premium Member
join:2002-03-02
Brooklyn, NY

MuDvAyNe

Premium Member

I would say the samsung box is about 2 mins faster.

actor90
Never a dull moment
Premium Member
join:2003-07-21
Jackson, NJ
·Verizon FiOS
Wistron NeWeb CR1000A

actor90 to PX Eliezer1

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At the price we pay for cable these out dated dinosaurs of set top history should have been upgraded years ago. They take forever to boot, to load guide data, and will freeze up if a fly farts. Hopefully they will be upgraded sometime soon, but I'm not holding my breath. The Samsung boxes are buggy, and there have been mentions of possible new boxes a year ago, but nothing has seemed to come of it.

andrewc2
join:2011-06-05
Matamoras, PA

andrewc2 to PX Eliezer1

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I'm surprised they chose Samsung for their new boxes and not Cisco, my Grammy just got a new Cisco box and its tiny compared to the monstrous box the Samsung is.

Thinkdiff
MVM,
join:2001-08-07
Bronx, NY

Thinkdiff to PX Eliezer1

MVM,

to PX Eliezer1
said by PX Eliezer1:

If all sorts of computers, tablets, smartphones, etc, can boot in 30-90 seconds, why does this thing need several minutes??

As has already been pointed out, the processors in cable boxes up until very recently have all been pretty low performance.

According to this, the SA4260HD has two 250MHz SPARC processors. It's unlikely that the boot-up process is highly multi-threaded, so you're comparing a ~10 year old box with a 250MHz processor to devices released in the last couple years with multi-GHz processors, 5+ years of progress in multi-threaded optimizations, fast flash storage, and over 10x more memory. Add in the DOCSIS handshaking, authentication issues, and guide downloads that have already been mentioned and it's not really a big surprise the boot times are long.

The next generation of cable boxes will be based on ARM, multi-GHz processors similar to today's smartphones/tablets. And in 10 years, somebody else will be complaining about those boxes taking 45 seconds to boot up as way too long

mbernste
MVM
join:2001-06-30
Piscataway, NJ

mbernste to PX Eliezer1

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First of all, get a Samsung box, they are faster. Secondly, I don't know why people are saying the Samsung boxes take so long. Mine not only boots quickly from a cold boot due to either a software update or power outage (maybe 2 minutes) but the guide is very fast. My TiVo Roamio, which has a lot more going on under the hood takes a good five minutes or so to boot up and even longer if there was a software update.

MuDvAyNe
Premium Member
join:2002-03-02
Brooklyn, NY

MuDvAyNe

Premium Member

The Samsung boxes were buggy when they first came out. It took them a while to fix it but now they are excellent. I have no trouble with those boxes now.

pjsutton
join:2013-06-25
Kempton, PA

pjsutton to PX Eliezer1

Member

to PX Eliezer1
Directv boxes take just as long, if not a bit longer because it tests all the satellite signals first.

It takes that long to turn back on, yet always surprises me it remembers what channel it was on when it shut down.