Saif Barry

Final update. Box was defective. BuzzTV replaced it. Replacement box has been rock solid for the past week now.

Nope. That's the 1st thing I removed back in June. Still haven't plugged it back in yet.

Just received the new UK power supply sent by BuzzTV. Unfortunately there's no change in behavior of the U5 with the new power supply. The U5 still goes into a bootloop for several minutes before eventually reaching the launcher and it still randomly reboots even when it does start working. So I guess it wasn't the power supply after all. For anyone who's interested, here's a video recording of my last test. It took around 10 minutes for it to reach the launcher. Around 9 minutes later it rebooted again. https://youtu.be/MMFvQOJRvSg

@allaboutbuzz power supply shipment canceled. Not sure why, trying to follow up with support to find out what happened.

Correct @allaboutbuzz, I received the shipping confirmation on Wednesday. It takes around 10 to 15 days for stuff from the US to reach me here in Saudi. Will confirm what happens with the new power supply once I get it. Also, I'm currently visiting my parents in another city. They live in a newer, code compliant apartment complex. I brought the U5 with me to test it here. Disconnected their Android TV box from their TV and replaced it with the U5 using the power supply that came with the U5. No change in behavior. The U5 still goes into a bootloop. So this pretty much rules out the electrical system at my apartment as the cause of the problem. Now it's between the power supply and the U5 itself.

Thanks for the info @allaboutbuzz.

@Tlr appreciate the feedback. Glad to hear you were able to resolve your issue. Unfortunately, the update didn't help in my situation at all. By the way, can the veterans here let me know what the typical response time is from BuzzTV technical support team?

Unfortunately no I don't access to a UPS here. I think I've jumped through enough hoops with this box. It shouldn't take this much effort to get a TV box working. Everything else here works, and this should too. I've got 2 other TV boxes working in the apartment and several more that I have purchased for friends and family all tested and setup here in this very apartment. From MAGs to Formulers to no brand cheap Chinese boxes. Never had a problem with any one of them. I may not be an expert but I don't consider myself a novice either. On @nbs. suggestion I will give BuzzTV customer support one more try on Monday to sort this out otherwise I'm done. I'll take hit of buying the U5 and having it shipped to Saudi. I can't return it now considering I'd lose even more money shipping it back to Buzz and then paying more shipping and customs to have another one shipped back to me here. I bought the U5 based on rave reviews and past experience with the XRS 4500 looking for a new reliable box. The BuzzTV 5 app is great when it works. However this whole thing and nearly 2 months of poor post-sales service has left a sour taste in the mouth.

No, I don't have anything like that on hand. However I would suspect if the electrical system at my place was improper I would see other devices malfunctioning or getting damaged. Apart from the typical household appliances, I have the usual battery of electronics at my place, a router, a modem, several wifi access points, PCs, laptops, TVs, TV boxes etc. Never had a problem with anything. The U5 is the only thing misbehaving. I was able to test the voltage on the outlets and the power supply, both of which check out. 227v and 12.58v respectively. I also tested the U5 with a different TV, in another room using a different outlet, (replacing a working 12v Android box) with no change in behavior. Still goes into a bootloop. Actually the U5 doesn't even have to be connected to a TV, you can tell it's in a bootloop looking at the indicator light on the front. Goes red after after 30 or so seconds. It does eventually boots to the launcher but then will reboot again after a random period of time.

I have a voltage tester if that's what you mean. I'll check the voltage and report back. I will also check the U5 on another TV and room altogether.

The 3 power adapters are the only ones I have tried. One of them is what I got from buzz which is the EU version rated for 100v to 240v and 50-60Hz. I'm in Saudi Arabia where the standard is 230v and 60Hz. The electrical system in Saudi claims to follow the UK standard which is 230v and 50Hz. As far as I know, the EU and UK power adapter is the same except for the plug on it. If this is not true please correct me.

At present neither one does.

Yes I am. I have tested the box with 3 different 12v power supplies with no change in behavior.

@Tlr Yeah, my box does the fast stutter and reboots too. Unfortunately I don't have anything positive to report on this. I still have what seems to be a defective box and zero support from BuzzTV. I was able to get through to support on WhatsApp. After a lot of troubleshooting, changing of power supplies, power outlets and sharing of video recordings of the problem, I was told they need time to review and would get back to me. That was on July 25. I followed up on August 2 and my message was read but was not responded to. My original ticket #20217 from 11 July is still open and unresolved. At this point I've accepted my losses and given up on expectations of any kind of customer support. Lesson learned, don't buy BuzzTV.

@Ryu I used a 2amp power supply because that's what I had lying around. I was trying to rule out the OEM power supply as possible source of the problems. AFAIK, using a higher amp rating should be a problem. I checked my junk folder, nothing there and sent a follow up email as you suggested. @nbs. Thanks for your reply. I haven't given up on BuzzTV support yet. I've had this box for about a month now and it's been glitchy from the start. Spent a couple of weeks trying to fix it on my own and then reached out to support when I couldn't. However, truth be told, I was expecting a bit faster response time. The reasons for posting the issue here were, 1. Thats what their website and support number say to do, and 2. I figured there are a lot of experienced users here who might have run across the same or similar issue and could provide guidance. Kinda getting frustrated with not being able to watch TV without having to deal with random reboots and freezes. On another note, how do you quote someone's message when replying?

Hello fellow BuzzTV users. I'm experiencing stability issues with my U5 where it will either reboot itself or feeeze at random intervals. I have done a hard reset through the boot loader twice now. Please see the video recording to see what is happening after a hard reset here: https://youtu.be/UeQ3x4nhS_g I can eventually get past the remote setup screen before the U5 reboots again by quickly getting the remote into pairing mode before the pairing screen even appears, where it will detect the remote and continue with the setup process. The U5 will randomly reboot multiple times during the rest of the setup process as well. I can complete the setup process eventually and configure the U5 with a couple of servers. However it still randomly reboots when I'm watching something. Sometimes, the U5 will get stuck in a bootloop, going through 8 to 10 reboots before it will reach the launcher again. See here: https://youtu.be/Ho3_BihGREw So far I have done the following to resolve the issue but nothing seems to be helping. - Updated the device to the latest firmware. - Removed the hard drive. - Tried an alternate power supply rated at 12v 2a. - Tried an alternate HDMI cable. - CEC options are disabled. I already have a support ticket open for this since the 11th of July. Got an initial response asking for a purchase receipt and MAC address for the device which I replied to the following day. Haven't heard anything back since then despite a follow-up. Hoping someone here can help.