I’m not sure where to post this question, but my Apple TV 2 isn’t turning on. I recently had a pretty bad lightning storm in my area and I had a power surge. Everything else came back up fine, except for the Apple TV 2. I have it plugged into my Cyber Power UPS (just surge protector side). It’s been jailbroken for months, and I’m not sure how to proceed since it’s jailbroken. I have a refurb unit from Apple, firmware 4.4. I used Sn0wbreeze to jailbreak. I tried plugging it into my computer and it was recognized, so I know it’s not a software issue. Could it be an internal power supply issue? Is my unit a goner?
[quote="nolegrl"]
... my Apple TV 2 isn't turning on. I recently had a pretty bad lightning storm in my area and I had a power surge. Everything else came back up fine, except for the Apple TV 2. I have it plugged into my Cyber Power UPS (just surge protector side).
[/quote]
Power supply is only one in a list of suspects. To have damage means the surge entered on one wire. And exited via some other wire to earth ground. For example, so that surges do not enter on cable, then cable would be well earthed. A surge incoming on AC mains might find the best connection to earth via the Apple;s coax cable connection.
First that current is flowing everywhere in that path (at the same time). Much later only one or a few items in that path fail. Easy to fix once the failed part is identified. So what inside your Apple was in that path to earth? Only then can someone really point to a suspect.
Most often damaged parts are not a supply. That typically has protection better than a CyberPower. But near zero protection in that CyberPower could have compromised a power supply’s internal protection. Meaning something else inside the Apple causes a good supply to not power on. But again, nobody can say more without hard facts from a meter and some sort of schematic.
Often the failed part is where that surge current exited outgoing to earth; not on the incoming path. But that is only a trend. And insufficient to answer your questions without additional hard facts.
You really need someone who knows electricity and can access its internals with test equipment.
Ya…and that would be hard to do since it’s jailbroken (or was) and I don’t want it updated, which is what Apple will do to it if I bring it in. Since it’s getting power now, I still wonder if it’s the power supply because it’s getting power.
The guy who has electrical knowledge probably is completely independent of Apple. He could also identify which points to measure with some rather primative test equipment. And say with major certainty whether the supply is good or fubar.
Did you by chance disconnect the Apple from an AC receptacle, reconnect it, and then it suddenly worked? Even that tidbit is a significant hard fact.
Yes, I did. I had it disconnected for about a day and a half, and then when I plugged it back in today, I saw the light go on. I’ve had that happen to my Wii where after a power surge the light turns off and you have to unplug it for about 30 minutes and then plug it back in and it works. The same thing appears to have happened to the ATV except that it’s not displaying anything on my TV even though it appears to have power.
Then you probably did not have a surge. If it was a surge, then you have hardware damage. Apparently another electrical anomaly caused the Apple to trip its safety lockout. Remove power for a few seconds (or sometimes up to ten seconds) to reset the safety lockout function.
Meanwhile, if you did not properly earth only one ‘whole house’ protector, then everything remains at risk from a rare and destructive surge. An event that occurs maybe once every seven years. An anomaly that can ovewhelm the superior protection that is already inside every appliance. Or that may have been too tiny to overwhelm protection in the Apple but did damage (or overstress) some other appliance.
I’ve tried, but there’s still no picture on my TV. Any ideas? Did I ruin it by running the jailbreak restore?
Sorry. I thought it was restored. Again, the useful help will be someone local who has electrical knowledge and can implement some basic test equipment to learn what you cannot. Without facts from those simple tools, then every reply, at best, would only be wild speculation. The missing hard facts and numbers are essential.
Alright. Thanks for your advice. Unfortunately, I don’t know anyone that has the electrical knowledge that you recommend. I guess I’m going to have to call it dead and see if I can find a replacement.