Beosound 5 dying (again) :(

[Stan]

For about the last month or so, my BS5 goes catatonic after a few days of working. If I unplug it and plug it back in, it usually recovers for a day or two. It is unresponsive in the state.  The red light is on, but otherwise the UI and reset button on back of BM5 is unresponsive.  Sometimes (at least once), it still works as an audio master – I can stream music from a NL device to my BL3500 via BLC.

Does this mean the main board is failing (again – I had it replaced ~10 years ago)?  Or, hopefully, that maybe my SSD is on the way out?  I still have my HDD and a backup from when I installed the SSD so it is easy enough to test, but if it’s the main board why bother?

Can main boards be sourced anywhere? I’m in the US so service and dealers are few and far between. I also sort of remember needing a service tool which requires a vintage computer (which I must might have…. but does it still work?).  I thought they had fixed the main board when I got my new one, but maybe not… maybe it’s time to put her out to pasture…  🙁

Any pointers would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[T.W.G]

same problem here. Mainboard was exchanged by B&O a few years ago, too.

Mainboard: VIA EPIA EX15000G

BeoMaster 5 motherboard

In the old forums there was a discussion to somehow port the B&O stuff to a newer plattform (x86 mainboard or Raspberry Pi…) and this should be a future proof product where – in an ideal world – B&O would participate to help.

https://archivedforum2.beoworld.org/forums/t/49594.aspx

[Jan]

Hi,
I happened to buy a Beomaster 5 and Beosound with the intention of converting them into a Beomaster 5c using a Raspberry Pi. To my surprise, I managed to restore the unit to its original condition.
The biggest challenge was accessing the service menu—I believe the sequence was < >< > go. After that, I was able to connect an old PS/2 keyboard and mouse to the USB port using a USB adapter. I managed to install older drivers via a USB stick. The system runs on Windows 95 Embedded (32-bit).

[T.W.G]

Restoring the system only works with a working motherboard 😉

The Raspberry Pi route recreating the original interface would be the best… maybe some people in Struer like the idea, too and add support 🙂

[Author]

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