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G5 stuck in boot loop

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cinsu

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Over the weekend I added a large system (MOSWIN) to my two unication G5s. Everything was working great in my home area until I switched over to the new zone I had set up. The first pager crashed and got stuck on the boot screen with only 3 dots. I let it sit until it drained the battery and recharged and same thing. I reflashed the current software thinking that could help, now it will boot up, the screen flashes a few times over 10 seconds then it reboots. Over and over.

Meanwhile, I had left the other one while I worked on this one. It died throughout the day and now after a recharge it is also stuck on the 3 dot boot up screen.

Doing some research on here I have found that there may be issues with large systems and/or systems that use both VHF and 800 mhz (MOSWIN) and causing the issue I am experiencing. I also read there is another firmware version, 1.32 that has often corrected this however I cannot find this firmware 1.32 through autoup. I contacted my dealer however they want me to send both pagers in to the east coast and they seem to not know of this version 1.32. I would rather try a software flash myself if somebody has this and is willing to share the file or can direct me who to contact at unication.
 

w2lie

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Did you try removing the battery for 10 - 15 minutes and see if this stopped the boot loop? (Don't wait less)

Unication had to make a chip change to their Gs pagers. 1.32 will only work with the newer chip. 1.31 will only work on older chip pagers. You cannot apply 1.32 to a 1.31 pager and you cannot apply 1.31 to a 1.32 pager. That will brick your pager and cause a boot loop.

Try pulling the battery for the full 10 minutes and see if that clears out the error. This is the only way to do a hard reset on the pager.


Edit.
Would like to add... if you can clear the boot loop, what happens when you go back to to MOSWIN? does it loop again?
If it does, can you then pull the battery and then push the old codeplug? Does it still loop?
 

cinsu

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Yes, I left the batteries on both out overnight and both have the same behavior this morning.

How does one know if they have a new chip or old? They were both purchased in February with the DMR upgrade and drop shipped direct from unication. I went thru autoup entering my serial numbers, is it possible autoup gave me the wrong software version? The boot loop you talk about seems to be the behavior it is exhibiting now. Autoup only gives me 1.31 as an option to download.

I haven't been able to clear the boot loop. It doesn't give me enough time to do anything, including to push any codeplug. It is like it goes into "soft off" after about 3 seconds, does that 3 times and comes back on then does a full reboot.
 

w2lie

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From the notification I received from Unication, 1.32 pagers started shipping in March.

If you'd like, send me the 2 serial numbers via a direct message and I'll pass them along to Unication and find out if they are 1.32 pagers. I am a dealer and own East Coast Pagers.
 

BenScan

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I've experienced that before with large systems. v1.31-11262020(the one I'm currently using) doesn't seem to have the issue. I'm not sure if they ever released that particular version publicly or not. I would definitely try to get them to try a firmware update before sending it in.
 

cinsu

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I've experienced that before with large systems. v1.31-11262020(the one I'm currently using) doesn't seem to have the issue. I'm not sure if they ever released that particular version publicly or not. I would definitely try to get them to try a firmware update before sending it in.

That is the same version I downloaded from unication. It didn't fix the issue. I tried a few tricks to try and obtain this mysterious v1.32 as it can't hurt at this point. All I have are two $700 bricks that I really don't want to have to send across the country for who knows how long.
 

jabbeaux

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That is the same version I downloaded from unication. It didn't fix the issue. I tried a few tricks to try and obtain this mysterious v1.32 as it can't hurt at this point. All I have are two $700 bricks that I really don't want to have to send across the country for who knows how long.
While I know 1.32 is pretty easily available "out there" *waves hand generally into the ether* ...just like 1.4 ...but I'd think just emailing support@unication.com they'd give it to you? Assuming it's shipping w/ pagers. I mean, can't hurt to try?
 

w2lie

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It has to go back to Unication for a factory flash. It can’t be done outside of Unication at this time.
 

jabbeaux

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It has to go back to Unication for a factory flash. It can’t be done outside of Unication at this time.
If it's boot-looping on startup, would a three-button reset followed by connecting to PC and clicking "Upgrade" in Uni Maintain Tool/Firmware upgrader utility possibly work?

My thought is if that tool can send the upgrade signal to the pager before it gets stuck in the boot loop, it'll trigger pager to reboot into program mode, which will bypass the boot looping partition. Then he could push firmware, possibly fixing the boot loop. If boot loop caused by the partition w/ his user profile, a workaround would be push a firmware version that will wipe the profile, kindof of how 1.4 wipes the user profile? Just trying to think outside the box what'll save him the mail-in repair. If they're bricked, it can't get worse...
 

cinsu

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I was able to flash the 1.31 software multiple times but I couldn’t locate 1.32 to try it. At this point they’re in the mail on their way to Texas
 

jabbeaux

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@cinsu just curious, how did you get it to let you flash 1.31 if it was boot looping? similar trick as i mentioned above? Figure will be helpful intel for others.
 

cinsu

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Even though it was rebooting, once it lights up the 3rd dot the flash software detected it and let it flash
 

cinsu

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Well, I sent them two but I only got one back?
And, after putting the battery back in and putting it all together it still only boots to the 3 dots on the boot menu. I’ve taken a step backward from where I was before.
 

BenScan

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Did you re-program it after you got it back?

And, after putting the battery back in and putting it all together it still only boots to the 3 dots on the boot menu. I’ve taken a step backward from where I was before.
 

BenScan

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Put the battery in and turned it on. It won’t even boot to the point that I can program it.

If you have more than one knob position programmed, for different systems, have you tried rebooting with other knob positions/systems? Also, you might try removing the antenna while doing this and performing the battery removal/reboot. When I experienced the problem it was with a particularly busy system. I was able to use other systems, but when I switched to that particular one, after some transmission, it would cause the reboot loop. It's been a while since all of this happened, but I wonder if there's something similar going on with yours. I'm assuming you're not in the area where they were "repaired", so it may be that they did not experience the problem when they were working with it.

In any case, I feel your pain. That's a frustrating problem, and I hope it's solved soon.
 

cinsu

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I was in an area where there are no trunked systems. It is conventional only. I will try turning the knob and turning it on later today but I don’t have a lot of hope. At least I had 2 $700 paperweights before, now I only have 1 $1400 paperweight until they find the other one.
 
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