ED6004ME * 4 CH Standalone D1 DVR stuck at "Please Wait..."

I am assisting a customer who has been using this DVR, a generic Model number: ED6004ME 4 CH real time DVR for the past 2 and 1/2 years with no issues set to record at 7 FPS per channel at D1 resolution in High Quality mode.

This DVR was installed by another installer who no longer answers his phone hence why he is my customer now.

The issue that he is having is that after unplugging this DVR from the wall outlet [improper shutdown of the DVR] to perform certain electrical work, then when he plugged it back he noticed that it wont go passed the "Premiere Real Time High Resolution DVR Please Wait..." screen with the H.264 logo.

When I arrived at the premises, this is what I did:

I reproduced the problem by plugging in the DVR and seeing what I saw on the screen, it didn't go passed the Please Wait... screen after waiting about 5 minutes. Then I opened up the DVR, removed the hard drive's Sata power and Data connections and powered on the DVR, same problem.

DVR's Specs:

1. On the Bottom of the DVR, a sticker reads: Model No: ED6004ME

2. The motherboard's center printed label reads: 2308SE V1.02 (first line), 2010.05.14 (second line)

Then I took this DVR to my work shop to further troubleshoot it to see what can be done. In my workshop, this is what I have done so far:

1. I plugged in a new hard drive, same problem.

2. I removed the DVR's CMOS 3.3v battery, waited over 2 minutes, powered up the DVR, same problem.

3. I unplugged all cables from the DVR's motherboard (front panel cable, front USB cable) and powered up the DVR, same problem.

4. I further removed the Alarm interface that was attached to the right side of the motherboard and powered up the motherboard by itself, the only think being connected to the motherboard was my monitor's VGA cable. Same result.

5. After googling "ED6004ME", I found EasternCCTV as a possible manufacturer or distributor of this dVR, the website is http://www.easterncctv.com/download.htm which hosts many firmwares, mobile app, and desktop viewing software for many models, including the "ED6004ME" that I am working on. I downloaded the latest firmware for the ED6004ME, extracted the .RAR archive onto a 4GB USB flash drive, I plugged it into the back of the DVR then proceeded to power on (plug in the DC cable) the DVR. Next I noticed that there were immediate activity on my USB leds, the DVR took 15 extra seconds to display the same H.264 logo and then all leds activity of the USB flash drive ceased and remained solid lit in idle mode, so I think that the DVR may have succeded with the firmware upgrade, but I can't be 100% certain it did anything as the screen with the "Please Wait..." prompt looks the same and still hangs at that splash screen with nothing else happening.

6. I did a reflow on this motherboard in case if there were any bad solder joints. After I re-solidified all solder joints I plugged in the board and same issue.

7. I connected my Sata to USB adapter to this DVR's hard drive and plugged it in my computer which revelated four FAT32 partitions (one for each camera) and the 4th partition contains the 4th camera's videos in addition to a database file that the DVR uses for organizational purposes. I checked this hard drive and found it to be in perfect working condition, no bad sectors and no issues of any kind. So, I can rule out any hard drive based issues and proceeded to connect everything back to the DVR the way it was, and powered up the DVR, same issue, wont get passed the "Please Wait..." screen.

I have attempted to search for a replacement motherboard to no avail.

Does anyone knows where I can find a motherboard replacement for this particular DVR?

I would like to do everything I can to resolve this problem. The ultimate decision would be to sell my customer a new DVR if no progress is made to get this motherboard functional again, or to find a replacement motherboard for this DVR.

Here is a few pictures I took regarding this DVR and the problem:

http://postimg.org/image/kbrg3hor1/

The Problem screen. It stays on this screen perpetually.

http://postimg.org/image/4npkxxkwl/

The DVR (case opened)

http://postimg.org/image/71dii79qh/

The Motherboard.

My customer has assured me that he, or nobody else ever attempted to update the DVR's firmware, so I can rule out a bad firmware upgrade as the problem.

Any JTAG, RS485 work around? Any HACKS that I can try?? Any ways to make the motherboard boot up the operating system off a USB flash drive so that I can see what happens?

Any help I will appreciate it. I am committed to give my best effort at resolving this problem before I suggest buying a new DVR.

UPDATE:

I ended up selling my customer a new DVR (HikVision HD-TVI) and two 2 MP full HD cameras.

I am still interested in repairing the old DVR I have here with me (the ED6004 DVR) mainly to add to my set of my experience on how to deal with this kind of situation in the future shall I come across another customer that happens to have a DVR stuck at a "Please Wait..." screen, etc at no fault to the hard drive or anything obvious that would also cause it.

Did you find any solution to this?

I have the same issue from the same provider easternccv...I got the model ED6008ASL and I still got black screen.

It loads pass the please wait and loads the the Disk and then stays black.

Sorry to resurrect an older thread .. but I have the model ED6008ASL and it seems to be made by http://hdview.us/, who claim "We offer 1 year direct warranty and live tech support". Perhaps they can/will help even thought you have apparently purchased from a 3rd party.??

I happened on this site searching for information about firmware updates.

Note: mine has a sticker on the top specifically warning against improper shutdown, but no other info.... I guess this is why.

I plan to use a UPS but don't see any way to have it shut down the DVR gracefully if the power is out for awhile.

HTH