topping DX5 MQA out of service

[patumpf]

Hi,

I was very happy with my DX5 until it suddenly displayed an 'incorrect FW version' message. The unit does'nt respond, the only available action of the knob let me enter de DFU mode.
No previous attempt of upgrading was made, the message appared juste like that out of the blue, after turning the device on.

After asking people at topping, i have upgraded the FW, trying on a WIN and on a Mac os pc, both times with no succes. Topping tell me that is a sign the DAC is brocken and require hardware manteinance.

What are my options? it is out of warranty, i am in central germany.
thank you all,
p

 

[RandomEar]

Where did you buy it and when? If you got it from a European seller, it might still be under the mandatory 24 month warranty.

If not, how exactly did you update the firmware and what happened? Did the update finish? Was there a message in the flash software or on the device after the update?

 

[respice finem]

Nicht gut... Maybe there is a way to reset the unit (hoping it's a software glitch)?

 

[patumpf]

thank you for reply

i bought it through amazon marketplace, but more than 24 months ago.....26 to be exact :-(

the install software see the unit and - in both occasions - sucessfully installed i the FW; I mean by that that the procedure ends and the software output is positif. First time from 1.06 to 1.48 (if i'm not wrong), second time it rewrote the same up to date date FW..... inspite the positif message of the installer software, the unit is still not responsive and don't show any message other than the same "incorrect FW ver". at this point the guys at topping answerd the following



If that’s the case, it means the DX5 likely has an internal fault and will need to be sent back for repair.

 

[respice finem]

It seems, the only chance is to consult a local repair shop, for maybe it is just a bad PSU cap or so...
or discard the device. Bad luck indeed.

 

[RandomEar]

That sounds like corruption of the flash memory to me. I could not see any EEPROM on the mainboard, but it's likely somewhere. The flash of the microcontroller (MCU) which looks like an STM32G030C8T6 is far too small to store all the UI graphics. If the EEPROM or even the MCU failed, replacing the defective chip would be relatively easy for a local repair shop.

The difficult part would be to flash the firmware onto the blank EEPROM or MCU. But the shop would need the right flashing tool and they would need to extract the firmware from the package provided by Topping. You could ask a local shop about this - maybe they've got the experience and can offer the repair at a fair price.

Sending it back to Topping would likely be expensive due to the postage. It may also not be the EEPROM or MCU - that is just my best guess based on the given information. If there is a Repair Café close by, you could also pay them a visit to further diagnose the issue.

 

[patumpf]

Thank you, i'll give it a try, i have indeed a repair hero in my vicinity. I m waiting also to hear from topping what they propose.