Innuos Zenith Mk3: Won’t Start Properly!


After over three years of having the Zenith with no issues, today it seemingly randomly decided not to start up fully (I typically leave it on always but had my conditioner’s power switched off for a few hours today). From an off state and unplugged, after reconnecting, the usual white LED turns on, on the front of the unit, but it never goes to the next stage where the LED changes to the user-selected color, after which you can connect to the device.

The server is unreachable from my.innuos.com, from Sense, and when using the link with the model name in it.

The network connection appears to be working. There is a solid orange light to the left of the port and a flashing amber to the right. I believe this is the usual light code indicating that the network connection is working. I also tested the Ethernet connection from the wall with a laptop and there were no issues.

The “startup” white indicator just stays on indefinitely. For this reason I’m guessing that the unit is failing to fully boot up.

I’m running the latest Innuos firmware, 2.2.25 or whatever version it is now - I updated it about two weeks ago and had no issues - until now.

I will send Innuos a support request but it’s the weekend so I thought I’d check here first to see if anyone has had a similar issue. I’m not sure there is much that can be done without Innuos’ help though.

Oh I also tried connecting it in a different room with a different ethernet connection - there was no change.

nyev

For anyone having a similar issue, tech support fixed my problem by remoting in. Problem was my Innuos was logging too much and the log files were too big and expanded beyond the system storage capacity. Apparently this issue was fixed in update v2.3.2 but I was still running something around v2.2.x. I would recommend anyone to keep up with the updates because if you don’t get the fixes, something like this can happen and it can become a brick until support is able to delete the logs for you (or take other corrective action).

 

Luckily my server was still somewhat responding allowing support to SSH into it and take the corrective action. Entire process to delete the big log files and upgrade multiples times to get to v2.4.1 took about an hour over a remote session. Support is excellent- you don’t get some regular support guy, you get a real engineer.

 

@nyev I suspect you ran into the same issue but your having reverted to factory reset deleted the logs. However, unless you update yours to the latest you might run into the issue again down the line.  I suspect you’ve already updated after that incident.

@nyev thanks for taking the time to respond!

 

I was able to get in, but unfortunately mine is an MK2 model and so I don’t seem to have the option of doing the factory reset when selecting an OS.  I have a support call tomorrow morning and will report back my findings in the hopes of helping the next guy.  Appreciate your quick response!

@sandpat, sorry it was a while back and I can’t recall how I got in, but it sounds like you managed.  You might try a factory reset / reset to defaults.

I was able to get into the BIOS by hitting the Shift and F1 key in alternating fashion while rebooting.  From there I tried to boot into a previous stored OS (the one labeled Recovery Mode) and it booted but ended up with a login prompt for the tty terminal.  But still unable to access the Innuos Zenith over the network.  Oh well, will try Innuos support and report back.. if it gets resolved maybe it will help someone looking for a similar problem resolution.

@nyev how did you login to the tty terminal?  It always prompts me for a username and password but I’ve never had to setup a user on the Zenith.

I doff my hat to you: those computer skills of yours way exceed mine! Well done and congrats.

Got you. Did the same thing with a new power distribution device I installed. 

@jerryg123 I don't normally shut it down, ever.  I've been tweaking my system and have recently added Rel subwoofers and was trying a few things.  I had shut the Torus switch off which had powered off my Innuos devices.

 

Bigger question is why do you shut it down?

Only time I shut down is a reboot on an update.

Sorry just read where you shut down your power conditioner? 
I only use 640X other wise everything in into the wall no conditioners. 
 

Glad you figured it out. 

@antigrunge2 , @carlsbad , I applied some of my computer repair skills and fixed the issue.

I connected my TV to the HDMI “Service Only” port on the rear.  As I expected the TV showed the POST (power on self test) status.  An error message was showing indicating that I needed to select an appropriate boot device.  Seems like it wasn’t finding the boot disk. 
 

So I connected a USB keyboard to the DAC output and sure enough it worked, allowing me to reset the device and enter the BIOS.  I looked at the boot devices and I wasn’t sure what the boot device should be.  So, I simply selected “reset to defaults”.  After I did that, everything worked just fine!  I’ve had issues in the past with computers seemingly randomly changing its boot devices and getting confused.  Seems like this is what happened.

One small concern I have is that there was also an option to “reset to user default”, as opposed to “factory defaults”.  I’m not sure if the Zenith ships with general factory BIOS settings, or if there is a “user” set of defaults the unit ships with.   I’ll check in with Innuos to clear that up.  But for now everything is working just fine!

 

Sorry to hear that. Do call InnuOS service. I have found them to be very responsive and helpful.

@antigrunge2 , very interesting about the IEC plug issue.  I’ve tried unplugging and re-inserting the Audioquest Hurricane PC a few times and no success.  When I tried it in a different room with a different ethernet port, I also tried using a different, generic power cord.  

First issue I’ve had in 25 years with any component that actually prevented me from playing music, full stop!  I may have to dig out my 20 year old CD player.  

For all intents and purposes my Zenith Mk3 is bricked, at least currently.  Not sure what Innuos can do aside from me sending the unit to Portugal.

While I do think it could be a software issue instead of hardware, chances are it’s not an issue specifically with the latest version of software.

 

Make sure that the IEA plug of the PC is unplugged and then fully inserted, it solved the same issue for me once. I am on Sense 2.2.5 and that’s not the issue. Good luck!

I have the same streamer and would be glad to check any;thing that would help you.  I leave mine always on as well.

I haven't updated the firmware lately and will delay until I hear back from you what the issue you are having is.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Jerry