Audiolab CD8200 - software 'update' - now dead box

Discussion in 'Hi-Fi and General Audio' started by goldnet, Aug 19, 2015.

  1. goldnet

    goldnet

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    I turned on my wonderful Audiolab CD8200 last week to be greeted with what looked like a software update message. I was 'invited' to press and hold a button (Play? Stop?) for a few seconds as it counted down, and then... the display then went blank and I am now the proud (and distressed) owner of a black metal box with a red pilot light - I can't even remove the disc that was in the unit.

    I contacted Audiolab, thinking they could send instructions to upload the software via the USB port - no such luck. To return the unit to working order apparently requires two visits to Huntingdon (or trust couriers not to sling it around), £45 per hour service time plus VAT. Counting the cost of taking two days off work, that's about what I paid for the player when I bought it direct from Audiolab.

    Dilemma - pay for my player twice? throw it in the bin? buy a perfectly functional other brand player for half the cost of repair? :confused:

    What's most galling is that there was no warning of the consequences - it surely shouldn't be this easy for a user to totally wreck a very expensive piece of kit. We're so used to accepting updates on TVs, satellite boxes, phones, computers and so much of my sound kit is network-connected, I completely forgot that the Audiolab wasn't! :mad:

    So, I am an idiot - but is this really the end? any Audiolab experts out there? Can anyone offer any sensible suggestion?

    Thanks for listening! :)
     
    goldnet, Aug 19, 2015
    #1
  2. goldnet

    WarrenMmmmm

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    I don't have a solution, but I do have a suggestion which might help a bit.

    Disconnect the power. Switch the unit on and off a few times (may help dissipate power). Leave it 24 hours so that power in the capacitors can dissipate. Now plug in and switch on. You MIGHT find some parts of the circuitry engaging which did not after the bios debacle. How much this helps is anybody's guess, but there is a small chance that the situation will improve.

    Cheers
    Warren in Sydney
     
    WarrenMmmmm, Sep 7, 2015
    #2
  3. goldnet

    DancingPloughBoy58

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    Hello, It is a longtime since you posted this but I feel a reply is valid lest other Audiolab CD8200 owners face this problem (as I myself have). In my own case, the CD8200 displayed 'Error #01' followed by 'No Comms with Mainboard'. My eventual solution (this happened on a number of occasions) was to switch on the CD player and,
    if the error message was displayed, I would leave the player switched on for around 15 minutes. Next, I would turn off the player for a couple of minutes before switching back on - and that worked - and for the remainder of the day even if I needed to turn off the player at some for any reason.
    Of course, not what you would expect from this standard of hi fi but it has meant that I have not had to lose or even return my beloved Audiolab CD8200. I hope this reply helps anyone who is in the same situation and reads this thread.
     
    DancingPloughBoy58, Apr 16, 2019
    #3
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