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I revisited the faulty Beo4 today. I tried to get away with just cleaning the contact points where the foil is clipped to the PCB, but I couldn’t get it to work reliably so I ended up fitting a contact foil that had been removed from another remote.
Whilst testing I used the following useful picture/diagram to test the remote and prove that it was the contact foil at fault. I got the diagram from one of Peter Pan’s excellent threads on the hifi4all forum here: https://www.hifi4all.dk/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=78664&PN=1&TPN=9
(there are a few of my Beoworld photos in Peter’s thread so I guess that’s a fair swap of copyright, but the diagram may have originated elsewhere because Peter usually annotated his work in Danish)
As before, I’ll be leaving the Beo4 powered up overnight to see if it still works in the morning!
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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There may be a Beo4 SW version that will show both PHONO and N.RADIO – possibly one of the early Mk2s (SAT, DVD version) that was introduced in the early days of N.RADIO.
I am quoting myself from a while back, however I just realised that the Beo4 that I am fixing has both PHONO and N.RADIO (i.e same IR command with two names) available to be added to the LIST button – it’s a Mk2 SAT, DVD version at EE: 6.0 and SW:5.00
(Not relevant to this thread but on a similar note, it also has both A.TAPE2 and N.MUSIC available to be added to LIST.)
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Great solution. With Win 7 you can probably also run the useful Product Configuration Guide, available on site at the bottom of this page: https://beoworld.org/beotech/reference-manuals-beotech/
If you click on the ‘view’ button it downloads the executable file – I’m not sure which version works! I never got it to work on Win10.
(Having got rid of my older laptops, I usually run it from a VM)
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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My Playmaker let out the magic dmoke one day. Turned out it was one of the filter caps in the power supply that exploded It smelled a lot like smoke and the smell was not gone before a week. I can still smell something inside it. Today I replaced both filter caps snd it looks like it is running again
I have a BeoCord 6000 (VHS) that did exactly that while my wife was watching a video – there was a loud shriek as smoke poured into the living room! The smell just never went away so rather than replace the capacitor I simply took it to the recycling centre and replaced with a V8000 from my ‘store’. It’s not like me to dispose of something repairable, and I regret it to this day.
Whilst on the topic of the thread, I did find time to ‘refurb’ a couple of Beo4s yesterday, an AV and a SAT DVD version. I also did a quick audit of my B&O remote spares as you can see in the photo:
As I have said before, repairing Beo4s is not cost-effective: If you want to end up with a perfect screen, a keyboard that hasn’t had some of the rubber picked off (who would do that???!!!) and a battery cover with all the retaining lugs present then it’s a fool’s errand. In the past I have tried to fully restore every Beo4 that I come across but I can no longer get new DTV/DVD (non-navi) keyboards, so I may well start dismantling some for spares and swapping parts around more than I have in the past.
After fixing Beo4s I always leave them powered up overnight, and sure enough one of the two repaired ones had a fault that doesn’t appear immediately – the keyboard defaulted to DVD and then locked up after several hours. It’s probably a faulty contact foil, so I will replace that when I next have time.
Have a great weekend all! 😀
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Great Beocave @Madskp! I am very envious.
I would have commented earlier but I have been very busy domestically, including out looking for a new house in which to create a suitable Beocave! We have been renting now for nearly three years but our landlord recently passed away (died) and his widow has put our rental up for sale, so we may be forced to move. The simple option would be to buy this house but it is just missing that one extra room just for me and my stuff 😀
PS: All the other caves pictured above are equally inspiring!
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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You haven’t said whether it’s the 1978 or 1985 version, but I just had a quick look in the Products library and the service manuals for both are there.
As a Silver Member you will be able to find them here: https://beoworld.org/products/beocenter/
Click on the correct model and then scroll down to the foot of the page to look for the service manual.
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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One of the connectors is a 6 Pin DIN and the other on is a 5 pin, but with the pins in cross formation. Does anyone know what that could be for?
The 6-pin DIN matches the connection for the Beomaster 7000 external IR sensor, but I can’t recall any B&O applications for the 5-pin 270 degree DIN (wikipedia shows DIN 45327, or domino/dice arrangement)
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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To do so I think that your TV will have to have an HDMI-ARC (audio return channel) socket so that it is both receiving and sending audio.
If it does have such a socket, you should be able to use an HDMI-ARC audio extractor. This one looks like it offers volume control through CEC on the ARC: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Extractor-Converter-Support-Digital-Coaxial/dp/B08XV2B6T4?th=1
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Are you sure that the BS2000/Century does not provide an AUX output in the same way as the BS4000? The service manual is a bit confusing, because the connections summary (page 1-2) shows NC (no connection) for aux output pins 1 and 4, whereas if you look at the circuit diagram (page 2-19) it shows pins 1 and 4 connected as an AUX output. Worth testing.
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Earlier today I noticed that the B&O Store in Bicester Village were offering new/boxed/warranted Beoplay M3s for half price – £140. I happened to be passing so I popped in to buy one. They only have the grey version (sold out of black), but there are a few more in stock and they expect another 30 tomorrow.
Other offers include Beoplay M5 for £275 – full list of offers here (scroll down past the ‘refurbished’ section): https://www.thebicestercollection.com/bicester-village/en/brands/bang-and-olufsen/
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Great information – many thanks for starting the thread and posting the data above!
My BC9500 works the same as BC2300 – turns Passive* on/off but no muting – see here . I haven’t driving MCL, nor have I tried the modified (pin 4 to 1) PL lead but will do so next time my BC9500 is set up.
My Essence Mk2 turns Passive on fine – fully wired RJ45 PL lead used. Hopefully @CharlieWednesday is testing MCL compatibility.
* EDIT: Was actually tested with MCL2P.
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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You could try using an RJ45 to RJ45 cable to connect the Playmaker directly to your router, which should allow you to find it and set up further.
That what also what I had to do when I setup mine last year. As far as I remember you can select the wireless network to connect to from the webinterface when you get acces to it from the cabled network.
Yes that rings a bell with me. Although I am not sure of its relevance here, the Mk1 Playmaker had to be connected hardwired to carry out firmware upgrade, whereas the Mk2 could do so over the wireless network.
Playmaker mark1 = type number 2930 – 2931
Playmaker mark2 = type number 2970 – 2971
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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If blinking white then the Playmaker is still searching for your network.
You could try using an RJ45 to RJ45 cable to connect the Playmaker directly to your router, which should allow you to find it and set up further.
From experience, the Playmaker has never been particularly reliable when connected wirelessly, so if possible try to use it hard-wired to your network.
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Great news about the Win11 music now being visible!
One annoyance for me – when you view an album in the B&O app, it show the tracks in alphabetic order according to track title, rather than by track order. That’s just rubbish!
I have the same problem but am not at all sure about the cause. I thought it was a limitation of my NAS server because I think it also happens on other music ‘clients’ (eg apps on Apple TV) – it could perhaps be linked to the way the tracks were ripped, or the music library organisation/indexation – more investigation needed!
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Update – I still have not been able to get my shared music folder on my PC to show on the B&O app. It shows the device (a tablet PC running Win11), but not the contents. I’m sure this will be a Win11 issue (who is surprised!?). I think I’ll look on eBay for a cheap NAS and see if I can get it working that way.
It’s strange that mine worked. I still have a couple of Win11 laptops here so I can experiment further if required. I can’t remember, but is your B&O app running on android? If so, perhaps the problem is specific to Win11 to android? If so, any chance you can try the app on an iPhone?
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then asked myself if i connect the Beomaster 7000 with my Sonos Connect can I just listen to Sonos music since it is an input or does it work also the other way around.
If the Sonos has an auxilliary (aux) input then ‘yes’ it should work the other way around. The Tape 2 socket will always output (at line level) whatever is playing on the BM7000, so this will also include the Beogram if that is what is selected. The connector that you linked to will be fine.
Additionally, how can i have Digital Radio on the Beosystem and can i still operate the Radio with the Beo4 Remote?
For digital radio I suggest that you have a look at OneRemote (I have purchased their products in the past and been very pleased): https://shop.oneremote.dk/shop/69094-digital-radio-solutions-for-bo/
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Great news that shorting the battery worked – and I am happy to have helped!
Ref remote: You want something like this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/306008041159 EDIT: Not sure I would bid on this one because there are no photos showing the screen working, and the screens can fail partially with gaps/lines showing.
Be patient and you should find a good one that goes for under £50.
There are a few versions but all will work with your BC9300:
These are arranged with the oldest on the left – look at the second row of buttons to see the main differences, apart from the last on the right that also has a joystick (which you don’t need)
(click on photo to enlarge)
Any of the oldest three Beo4 versions will be fine for your BC9300, or you could buy an older BeoLink 1000 such as this: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/286240774803
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Forgot to ask, do you have the service manual? You could try putting the Beocenter in test mode (page 5-1) and resetting the tuner presets. You could also do a RAM test, but I am not sure how to interpret any results!
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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Bugger, the battery is good and has power to the board.
What voltage was it reading? – it may not be good when under load and could have dropped sufficiently to confuse the microprocessor. If it has never been replaced it would be worth doing (it will be 25+ years old!)
You could try temporarily shorting out the battery to see if that resets the microprocessor (whilst mains power disconnected) . Or disconnect/reconnect battery for hopefully same effect.
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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And the white pads were probably to hold the battery proud of the PCB surface whilst fitting – the design of the battery’s soldering pins should hold it above the surface anyway. If in doubt, leave the pads in place when you fit a new battery.
If you decide to fit the socket instead, you need to check that there will still be room to close the metal cover of the board.
Location: Warwickshire, UK
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