[CharlieWednesday]

Battery from eBay arrived (this one), installed quite easily in the Beo6, and I’m happy to say it works.  I left it to charge for a couple of hours then took it off the charger.  I’ve also had it connected to my PC a couple of times to configure it, but after a few hours with a little bit of use, it’s still showing an almost full battery.

I was also quite pleased that once I first configured it and the software was updated to 3.40a, I was able to connect it to my Win11 PC rather than having to use an old Win7 32-bit laptop I had bought specifically for programming my two Beo5s.

I did in fact buy two Beo6, not one, but the other ones does appear to be dead – once the battery was fully charged in thew working one, I added it to the other Beo6, but got nothing from it.  I did get them very cheap though so it was still worth it for the one that I did get working, and the other one can do for parts – they are both in fantastic cosmetic condition.

After I have been using it for a little while and can give a more thorough report on the battery reliability, I’ll post again.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

matador wrote:

Please keep track of the battery you’ve ordered on eBay and let us know how they work.

Will do – when it arrives and is installed, I’ll monitor its performance and leave an update here.  The one I bought was this one.

Stoobie wrote:

You can see here on the original Beoworld :- Removing Beo5 Battery And searching “removing beo5 battery” on google brings up some suggestions for difficult to remove batteries. Once you start programming DO NOT rely on the USB connection to your PC to charge, it is not strong enough. Especially with the Beo6 because if you drain the battery and the remote goes dead, it is very difficult to revive. I always leave the dock plugged into the mains, and only plug into my PC for putting the file on to the remote to test, then connect back to the mains.

I did damage the Beo6 battery in the process of removing it but that wasn’t important as it was clearly dead (acid leakage) anyway.  I do have the service manual for the Beo6 from this site and it shows how to remove the battery.  I used that manual for guidance, but even after removing the base, they keypad and the battery holder, the battery is still jammed in really tight, and very difficult remove.

Still, it shouldn’t matter too much now as the damaged battery is out, and inserting the new battery (when it arrives) should be a lot easier than removing one!

And yes, I do use the mains adapter rather than PC connection to charge my Beo5s, so will do the same with the Beo6 once it is (hopefully) up and running.

I currently have B&O equipment in two rooms but have ended up with 6 remotes! Beolink 1000, Beo4 Mk1, Beo4 Mk4, two Beo5 (one is faulty though, see here), and now a Beo6.  I love all of my B&O stuff but especially the remotes – so unique.

I’ve just realised I omitted to start this post in the Beo5 and Be6 subforum by the way – admins; please feel free to move it, if you can.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Thanks – I realised that the Beo5 and Beo6 have the same charger and the same battery, and I have a faulty Beo5 already (it has a display issue) which has had a new battery in the past, so I thought I would try and swap the battery.

I gotrthe Beo6 open and got the battery out with considerably difficulty – it’s a tight fit and it does not come out easily!  I could see as soon as I removed it that it seemed to be the original battery, B&O labelled, and showed obvious signs of leakage.  Luckijly though, so signs of damage to the inside of the Beo6 itself.

I tried to take the battery out of my faulty Beo5 but I could not get it out – I didn’t want to risk cosmetic damage to that Beo5 (I’m hoping I might one day be able to fix the display issue) so I sat them side-by-side while still opened up, and connected the battery of the Beo5 to the Be06 board.  The display and keypad lit up, so it seems it does work!  I’ve ordered a new battery for it on eBay.

I have been able to figure out the programming for my Beo5s (I bought a cheap Win7 laptop from eBay for that specific purpose), so hopefully I’ll be able to figure out the Beo6 too, once the battery arrives and I get it all reassembled.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Ah, is that what it is?  I didn’t know that a travel charger existed for that, but it makes sense.  I’ve never owned a BS2 so I have no idea where I got this from, must have been in one of the ‘random box of B&O stuff’ that I buy from eBay more often that I really should.

Thanks for the help – appreciated.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Ah, found it!  If you have an audio source already selected, then press the Scene soft button, A.Setup is shown.  It only works if an audio source is  already selected, but then when you do press it, you get Bass, Treble, Loudness and S. Store.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Yes I read that in the Beo5 handbook too, but still, neither S.STORE or SOUND STORE appear as a button you can add in the config tool.  There is just a STORE button available to add, but that has no effect.

Seems odd that it would be missing in the Beo5 config tool – there must be a way to add it, surely.

• This reply was modified 2 months ago by CharlieWednesday.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Ah, that was it, thanks!  I did have a video source selected when I tried (but only because I use one of the inputs on my BV7 TV for an audio source).

I selected Radio first, then I was able to get to A.Setup.  It worked and I have stored my new volume and sound settings using my Beo4.  Still can’t figure out how to do the same with my Beo5, but at least it’s sorted, thanks.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

That’s the trouble – I can’t seem to add A.Setup successfully on the Beo4.  I have added it, but then when I use the List button to cycle through extra buttons, it doesn’t come up.

If I go back into List settings I can see that A.Setup is there (available for me to move or remove), so I know I added it successfully, but I cannot seem to get it to appear in the extra buttons when I click List.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

I should add – I connected a network cable and the B&O app was able to find the Moment, and it’s visible in the app, so it’s ‘working’ in a sense, but no display.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

A yes, I’d forgotten about that (having tried and failed before to run it in Win11). I’ve tried v2.7.0, it installed fine.  I ran it for my setup and it recommended the exact configuration that I have, but nice to have it confirmed!

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Just FYI – My ‘main’ PC is about to get a new motherboard and hard drive upgrade, which will mean a new install of Win 11.  I didn’t really want to have to go to the trouble of reinstalling VirtualBox, setting up a virtual Win7-32 machine again, and fiddling about with the settings to get it all to work, so I thought of an easier solution – get a Win7-32 laptop!

I got one of eBay for £25, and the Beo5 config tool (as well as the 3rd party XML generator I found on the old forum) were easily installed on that – I’ll use that cheap laptop as my Beo5 programmer, as I have two Beo5s (one not working, but I’m hoping to fix it – see here if you can help!), and I know what I’m like – I’ll want to keep altering it.  Having a Win7-32 laptop specifically for that purpose seemed the best option, and it was a cheap option too.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Hi all

Yes, I got it working.  In VirtualBox (with Win7-32) I found that adding the USB port was quite easy.  The problem I had was adding the connection between the virtual C drive and my host computer’s actual hard drive, so I could copy the installer program onto the virtual machine itself!  I got a lot of help from google searches but eventually figured it out.

The configurator is installed and working now – I installed the 5.12 version first, updated the firmware on my Beo5, and then installed the 6.84 version.  It seems to be working fine, and I have been able to create a nice setup for my various devices, including link room devices.

I haven’t tried to set up any third party devices yet, which I know can be more complicated, but I’m most of the way there.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Thanks – yes I thought that might be the problem but wasn’t 100% clear that I had understood it right, thanks for clarifying.

I have installed VirtualBox and installed Win7-32 within that, but I’m having trouble with it.  I can get it to recognise the USB, but I cannot get the file transfer to work, so I can’t get the Configuration Tool’s exe file on to the virtual machine in order to install it!

I’ll keep trying and post here how I get on.  I’m also considering the option of juts getting hold of an old, cheap Win7-32 laptop, as I’m sure it will come in useful again – I’m bound to want to reprogram my Beo5 in the future.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Just for info – since posting this yesterday I found this page on the B&O site which explains how to set your Beoplay A8 into other options, including A.Opt 4 where it would only respond to link commands.

Sinc the little round remote that comes with Beosound 8 / Beoplay A8 has no Link button, I can only assume that those two models were set up to respond to standard Beolink IR codes but also the separate codes from the little round remote.  Those codes must be unique to that little round remote – surely that’s the only way it could work.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Thanks

I’ve ended up with one of these remotes in a package of B&O stuff, which is why I ask.  I don’t have a Beosound 8 or Beoplay A8 and have no intention of buying one, but it’s a nice little remote, and if it would have controlled my other equipment, I would have kept it.

However when I test it, it does not control my Beosound 4.

Since I added the original post I have done the ‘phone camera test’ to check that the IR LED is blinking when a button is pressed, and it is, so I would have to assume that it is working, but it does not send the same signals as a Beo4.

Shame, but not a major issue for me, I’ll just sell it on eBay.  Thanks for your help.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Madskp wrote:

I think the idea from the developers is to keep ML products alive with streaming possibilities more than being used together with NL products

That’s exactly what I liked about it – at the time that the Kickstarter was started, I only had ML (or earlier) equipment.

I have since bought an Essence Mk2 and a Beolink Converter NL/ML, so those two together are effectively doing the job that the ML Streamer would have done for me.

It cost a bit more than the ML Streamer would have cost, but at least this way I’ve finally taken the plunge into the NL age.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Madskp wrote:

When you say that you were not able to control anything how did you activate the Essence in this case, via app?

I don’t remember for certain, but pretty sure I activated it with the app.

Madskp wrote:

I would think that the Penta’s would display something, but i might not be the case with the MCL2AV in stand alone mode, but only work if the MCL2AV is connected to a Beomaster/Beocenter.

I didn’t think the Penta displays would ever work through an MCL2AV.  We’re having work done in the house so my Beocenter 8500 is in storage, but when I get it back, I’ll have to test that!

 

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

Oh I should add that while I did change the options in the BS Essence so it was no longer in ‘Integrated Setup’ mode, the remaining items in my ML/NL network remained connected (Beolink Converter NL/ML, Beosound 4, Beovision 7), and I noticed that my BS4 continued to display the selected source (either N.Radio or N.Music).  I didn’t think to check if the display on the BV7 was also displaying the source.

Location: Liverpool
My B&O Icons:

[CharlieWednesday]

My RJ45-to-DIN fully wired powerlink cable arrived today from Sounds Heavenly (thanks Steve!), so I’ve started performing some tests.

To begin with, I went into the settings of my BS Essence and turned off the Integrated Setup option, then I connected that new PL cable to the PL1 socket.

Test 1 – BS Essence > BL Penta – Pass

This passed, with sound and display.  The Penta’s came out of standby when I selected a source, and went back into standby when I put the Essence into standby.  The displayed first showed LOAD TAPE when I powered it up, and also did that when I switched source between N.Radio and N.Music, but then after a few seconds displayed A.TAPE2, and the volume.  It didn’t matter if I was listening to N.Radio or N.Music – both displayed as A.TAPE2 on the Pentas (Of course, I forgot to change the sound level settings in the Essence before I tested this, so now my entire village know the true power of the Penta!).

Test 2 – BS Essence > BL Passive > BV CX50 – Pass

Just a quick test to ensure that the new cable was able to power up the BL Passive, and drive the speakers.  I connected a pair of CX50s.  When I selected a source on the Essence, the BL Passive powered on and the source was heard.

Test 3 – BS Essence > BL Passive > MCL2AV > BL Penta – Partial Pass

When I selected a source on the Essence, the BL Passive powered on and the source was heard.  No display on the Penta’s here, but I wouldn’t have expected that.  I was not able to control anything via the IR Receiver (the old rectangular type) with my BEO4, but the Mute button on the IR Receiver did toggle the sound on and off, but you had to press it twice each time to toggle!  The LEDs in the IR receiver worked, including the Timer LED, but I didn’t test if the timer was having any effect.

Test 4 – BS Essence > BL Passive > MLL2A > BV CX50 – Fail

In this test I got no response – the LEDs did not light up on the IR receiver and I got no sound.  BUT: this is an MCL2A that I have only just got my hands on, and this is the first time I have tested it – it might be faulty, but I used this one as it is already fully wired up.  When I have more time I will wire up another working MCL2A that I already had (but it is not currently wired up) and perform the same test again.

Test 5 – BL Essence > BL Passive > BL 3500 Mk1 – Unable to test

I have a BL 3500 Mk1 which has a DIN input for MCL, but I don’t have the right cable to test this and not enough patience or skill to create one myself, so this one will have to remain untested!

Location: Liverpool
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[CharlieWednesday]

What music server do you use, Carolpa?

Location: Liverpool
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