Vero is not powering on

Wiki Vero 4K
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Vero 4K / 4K + has proved to be very reliable in more than 4 years since its release. If you do, however, think your device is not booting, here’s what you can do.

When Vero is powered on, the LED will shine red and you should see ‘Please stand by’ on your screen. Then the LED goes out or (on early models) is replaced by a blue LED and you should see the OSMC splash screen.

Red LED does not show and you don’t see ‘Please stand by’ on your display

There’s most likely a problem with the power supply. Try this:

First remove all USB peripherals (disks, DVB dongles, etc) from Vero in case they are drawing too much power.

Check the voltage on the barrel plug of the PSU - it should be 5V. If it’s not 5V then obtain a new PSU. A suitable PSU is 5V, 2A with a 5.5mm x 2.1mm ‘Type M’ (the one with spring contacts inside) barrel connector. Make sure you get the correct voltage - these barrel plugs are often used for devices needing 12V or more which will probably damage a Vero beyond repair.

Even if you do measure 5V when it’s not connected to anything the voltage could still be low when it’s plugged in to Vero, so if you have one, try another 5V PSU.

If you don’t have a suitable PSU with a barrel connector, Vero can also be powered via one of the USB ports. For testing, a USB port on a computer should provide enough power (especially if USB3), or use a powered USB hub. You will need a USB A-A (male-male) cable to connect the supply to the white USB socket on Vero. If Vero starts under USB power, this indicates you really do need a new PSU or else the Vero’s power circuit is faulty.

Note that PSUs designed for charging devices may not provide enough power. They may be limited to 500mA unless they are connected to the particular device they are designed to work with. Veros can draw more than 500mA instantaneously while booting and that could cause the voltage to drop.

Red light stays on forever (may flicker)

This is also most likely to be due to low voltage from the PSU. Do the testing recommended above before trying other solutions.

If you are confident Vero is getting enough power, but is stuck at the ‘Please stand by’ screen, you should reinstall OSMC.

Reinstalling didn’t help

This may indicate corruption in the bootloader. That needs a low-level formatting that the standard installer does not do. Flashing can be done via the white USB socket. Try connecting the Vero to a PC via USB while holding in the reset button with a toothpick or similar. If it shows up in Windows Device Manager or in linux listed under lsusb it should be possible to re-flash it. Please open a topic on the forum or contact support@osmc.tv with your order number for advice.

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If the USB power test works - For a replacement power supply, I’ve found a decent USB plug, in combination with this USB to barrel connector cable works very well -
StarTech.com USB2TYPEM 3 ft USB to Type M Barrel 5 V DC Power Cable, Power Cable, USB (Power Only) (M) to DC Jack 5.5 mm (M), 3 ft Moulded, Black
by Amazon
Learn more: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B003MQO96U/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_1W5T77MY3QBWFC3W486A?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
and frees up the USB port :slight_smile:

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The following has happened twice in the past few weeks:
I switch the Vero 4K+ on at the wall and my TV screen goes from grey to black and there is a red light on the 4K+. There is no “Please Stand By” message appearing on the screen and the red light stays on. The screen remains black. The light will stay red until I switch off at the wall, wait 30 seconds and switch it on again.

This time I get the “Please Stand By” & the red light goes out. The 4K+ starts normally.

What is happening when there is no message and the red light stays on & the 4K+ does not finish its boot?

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If the red light stays on it’s not completing the boot sequence. Could be for a number of reasons. I hope you are not just switching off at the wall but using the power menu to shut Vero down properly. Cutting the power is generally safe but if you do that a lot your chances of corrupting the memory increase.

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I always eject the attached HDDs (connected to a powered hub) through the menu and then shut the Vero down through the power menu. It happen a second time tonight. I will take note of how often it happens from now on & if it starts to happen regularly, I will report it here.

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No doubt, that sounds like a perfectly correct handling. So, my first idea is that the PSU has reached the end of its life cycle …

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The PSU is 14 months old.
The PSU for my other Vero is 4 years & 8 months old and still going strong.

Note that the PSU’s are not left on 24/7 but turned off at the wall when the Veros are not being used.
Both Veros are used for aproximatly 20 hours per week.

What is the expected life span for the PSU for the Vero 4K+?

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I don’t know. What about to exchange the PSUs of your both Veros? If the problem moves with the PSU, you know where the devil is.

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Good advice. I will do that. Thank you.

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Swapped over PSU’s. Just turned on the 4K+ and there is no “Please Stand By” message appearing on the screen and the red light stays on.

So, it is not the PSU.

Switched it off at the wall for 10 seconds & switched it on again. Powers up normally.

Can you give me a list of reasons that may cause this so I can work through them please?

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Are the 2 veros otherwise identical? Any USB devices plugged into the one that won’t boot (other than remote dongle)?

Can’t think of any user-fixable reasons other than power. It might be instructive to know if an installation image on SD boots (you can pull the plug within the 60s count-down to avoid actually installing).

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Both the Veros have a powered hub connected. The two powered hubs are of the same make & model.
When I turn on both Vero’s, nothing is plugged into the hubs.
I will keep the hub disconnected from the 4K+ when I power it on, while we work through this problem & only plug it in once it has booted OK.

This is from my long-winded thread “Rhythmic Freezing Of 4K Movies/TV Series After November Update”.

“SATURDAY 01/01/2022.
Installed 2021-12.1 from SD card. Now on Linux 4.9.113-60 -osmc Kodi 19.3”

Tomorrow, I will try installing it again from the SD card.
Now that you mention it, I do recall that 60 seconds message.

You know, I am wondering if the switch-on problem, the orange screen lock-up I got on 02/01/2022
(from my thread: “Backed out of the video and got an Orange screen. No response to the remote control. Had to power off at the wall.”) and the stuttering when playing 4K movies, is somehow connected. I may never know.

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I haven’t been following that one.

If this is your standard procedure, sounds like a faff! But just to be clear, are you getting this red-light problem from a vero with nothing plugged into its USB ports? Reason: your powered hub and vero may be suffering some weird earth-loop glitch.

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I am not conversant with the word “faff”. What do you mean?

I will leave the hub disconnected and see what happens over the next few days when I switch the Vero on.

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Don’t you have that word in the colonies? :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: Means bother/trouble.

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So, next logic test to me: Exchange the hubs including their PSUs to verify the problem moves with the hub. If not, I agree this seems to be isolated to the specific Vero.

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A post was split to a new topic: No picture on start-up

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Switched on at the wall with no hub attached, The only thing plugged into a USB port is the remote dongle. Starts OK. Switched off at the wall, inserted the SD card with v2021-12-1 on it, switched on and got the 60-second count-down. Switched off at the wall. Removed the SD card & switched it on, starts OK. I will leave the hub disconnected for a week, switching on each day. If it starts OK over that week, I will do the same with the hub connected and if it does not boot, I will swap over the hubs, for another week.

@grahamh

You were not too far from the cause when you said “weird earth-loop glitch.”

I started experiencing a loss of picture on my TV and my receiver playing up, all around the time the 4K+ was having its booting problem.

My receiver has two HDMI outputs. One to my lounge TV and the other had a 15 metre amplified HDMI cable plugged into it, which went under my house to my bedroom 43" 4K TV. The cable has been there for nine years, used regularly. With that cable unplugged, my electronics returned to normal.

We had an unprecedented amount of sustained rain over three days and, for the first time, water went under my house. I discovered that the amplifier, which is in the middle of the cable and is powered from the HDMI port, was laying in a puddle of water, which must have shorted it out.

There has been no further boot problem with the 4K+ since I unplugged the amplified HDMI cable, with the hub connected or not.

I am just so happy that the rest of my electronics did not go up in a puff of smoke!

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