Mag-256 MAG 256 Locks Up with Black Screen, remote unresponsive?

Rustynuts

Newbie
Hey guys and gals.

I bought a Mag 256 about 6-8 weeks ago and everything has been hunky dory but lately last week or so it has been locking up.

The picture goes black and the box is totally unresponsive to the remote, the power like is a white. The only way round this is to kill its power and start it back up again.

This is totally random sometimes it might happen after 10 minutes of been on other times it will be a couple of hours.

I googled the issue and found a page saying these boxes have an issue been in PAL mode but mines not in PAL its set too 1080P-50, iv tried other settings to no avail.

Any idea's?

Thanks
 
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1080P-50 is PAL..1080-60 is NTSC..
Try changing your settings on inner portal/Advanced settings/HDMI-CEC to disable..then save and reboot.
 
Oh right, I didn't know that. Thank you for that.

The HDMI-cec is already disabled, it was disabled from factory. Not sure what it was so left it alone.
 
It`s difficult mate..go through all your settings and google your problem.
I`d make sure your using a quality hdmi lead..Heat is the biggest problem with
electrics.Feel your box and see if it gets over hot..mine stays fairly cool.
I unplug the power lead when not in use.I use the latest firmware.
 
I originally had it hooked up to the hdmi I have used for years that was plugged into my blu ray player but since this have swapped it for the one that came in the box and still no different.

The box is hot, Iv noticed this for a while now. Even when been in standby all night it's warm. The box is Sat by itself on an open shelf.

I believe it's upto date as when I go on update the system shows same firmware as what the updater shows.

I have changed the settings too 1080p-60 now to see how if any difference, It was OK for an hour earlier but I'm out now so will test later.
 
Just got home and the box is nice and cool to the touch, its woke up perfect from standby and started playing as it should.

Did setting it too NTSC do the trick? Fingers crossed! I suppose only time will tell. The kids are currently watching Kung Fu Panda so I'm sure ill find out shortly lol

Thanks everyone so far.
 
Well a few days have passed since my last message and its no better. The unit defo crashes less in NTSC mode, still crashes at least ones a day as apposed to PALs few times a day. Spoke to the company I got it off and the recommended I change the power supply to a proper UK plug which I did but that didn't help now they have stopped responding to me. :( The quest for decent affordable tv continues.
 
I have the same issue with a new 256, very intermittently.
I have noticed that it is VERY susceptible to power fluctuations e.g. if using an iron on the same ring, or operating a kitchen extractor it seems to knock the MAG into this sort of behaviour. Sometimes it recovers often a hard reset is required.

Power supply design issues I wonder?
 
I think it defo is a power issue, when I swapped out the original US plug for a UK one with similar Amps and Volts it seems to be a little better but still not totally fixed. Maybe ill try a bigger supply to see if I can stabilise it. I'm limited to the power location though as my entertainment suite is no near a plug I have to use an extension lead.
 
I think it defo is a power issue, when I swapped out the original US plug for a UK one with similar Amps and Volts it seems to be a little better but still not totally fixed. Maybe ill try a bigger supply to see if I can stabilise it. I'm limited to the power location though as my entertainment suite is no near a plug I have to use an extension lead.

i keep my mag cool. by using a usb powered cooling pad..
i bought it origionally for my lappy but
works a treat .
just looked on eBay pretty LED lights 4 silent running fans . £10. lots of cheaper ones . mine myst be 3 years old..still runs perfect..
 
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I think I have found my issue (hopefully!)
I have my MAG 256 connected to a HDMI switch ( a Kinivo 501BN)
What seems to have been happening is every time something is switched on connected to the same ring main for example an iron, the kitchen extractor (something with a big current draw) the HDMI switch senses the "spike" and tries to switch.
The MAG was set by default to react "immediately" to a "HDMI event" and was switching into standby.
I changed the setting to "ignore" (in the inner portal)
I still see the switch trying to change over, however the MAG is not going to standby, so now looks like it is recovering.
Although all it is doing is not turning off!

I am not sure if what you are experiencing is a similar issue?
 
Iv tried that before but didn't like the fact it wouldn't switch into standby, this was the reason I got rid of the switch and went direct to the TV in the end. Iv currently moved the box to another room onto another tv with a different power supply so see how that goes.
 
Bit of an update on the quest for a crash free Mag box.

On Saturday I played about with a few other power supplies I had knocking about. iirc this particular one came off my old Openbox v8 and it seems to have fixed my random crashes/lock ups.

The original plus was 12v - 1.0A / 50-60htz @ 0.4A
New Power Adapter has 12v - 1.5A / 50-60htz @ 1.0A

The box has been on now for roughly 57 ish hours and it hasn't crashed or locked up once, it also feels cooler to the touch. It goes in standby when tv turns off and wakes back up straight away when tv is turned back on.

So far its a win for me which is a good thing as the seller of the box is ignoring me lol
 
Bit of an update on the quest for a crash free Mag box.

On Saturday I played about with a few other power supplies I had knocking about. iirc this particular one came off my old Openbox v8 and it seems to have fixed my random crashes/lock ups.

The original plus was 12v - 1.0A / 50-60htz @ 0.4A
New Power Adapter has 12v - 1.5A / 50-60htz @ 1.0A

The box has been on now for roughly 57 ish hours and it hasn't crashed or locked up once, it also feels cooler to the touch. It goes in standby when tv turns off and wakes back up straight away when tv is turned back on.

So far its a win for me which is a good thing as the seller of the box is ignoring me lol
Hi Rustynuts,
I am having the same problem as you but unfortunately I don’t have any old power supplies I could use.
Do you know where I could find the one that worked for you? Or what does it look like?
Many thanks,
Muneer.
 
Hi all I’m a newbie and just want to share my problem, I bought a mag256 and it kept shutting down after 5 minutes I tried everything even a new network. How I solved this problem was by going into system settings, then network
,then wireless which I was and down to “ Auto (DHCP), manual DNS and set it to 8888 Problem solved it has stayed on ever since and believe me it was about to go out the window, hope this helps anybody with the same problem.
Regards Raymond.
 
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