[REDGUUZ]

Hi Antun,

I do not exactly understand what you ask from  me.
Should I give regular updates that the BDP-1 's still work?
That's quite impractical!

The BDP-1 's could fail due to many causes e.g.


1) Software

With the old S0 firmware "Candian Beaver"and the BDP-1 's not hooked up to a NAS or the Internet, there is very little chance that the software gets corrupted ( The 4GB CF disk being the most likely candidate).
But the latter would be no problem because I have back up Trancend CF 4 GB 133X cards, with the S0  firmware installed.
It would be simply a matter of replacing the existing  4 GB CF card by a spare CF card with the same S0 firmware.


2) Hadware

The BDP-1 player is very well made and uses top notch components (see picture)

However hardware can fail , of course, as well:

AA) Power supplies (5V, 12V , 3.3 V).

These consist of
- 1 Meanwel PM05 5  ,  5V 1A switched power supply (SPS)
   (https://www.koningenhartman.nl/nl/webshop/industrie/industriele-voedingen/medical/mean-well-ac-dc-psu-pm-05-5-modular-5v-1a )
- 1 linear 12V Power supply.
- The 3.3V is derived from the 5V power supply.

If any of those Power Supplies would fail, any competent technician could repair those.
The weakest points are iIMHO, the Meanwell PM05 5 SPS and the 2  big  6800 uF 25V Chemicon electrolytics (but these are Hi Quality and survive > 35 years in Amps)..
NB I do not think that the Toroid transformer will ever fail, but this  is also easily available.

BB) PC Engines ALIX  1D (2007) industrial PC Board.

In case of internal  failure (no beep upon start up: most likely indicates a broken circuit) the BDP-1 is IMHO Totall Loss.
Bryston might stilll have spare ALIX D BOards , but the costs of repair will be prohibitive!

CC)  PIC, USB Front Panel, VDF circuit and switches boards

If the PIC Board would fail, a similar story to BB) above : much too expensive to repair and not repairable if the PIC programme is not available.

- It might however be an sensible idea to stock a spare VFD display  : 
 
  FUTABA GP1184A01A
  NORITAKE GU140x16G-7003

You might inquire with Bryston Ltd, whether they would be willing to supply a VFD board  to a Private Client.

So, in your case, I mostly would address the software side of business : make an image of the HDD (SSD?) or CF card of the operating system.

For the rest: do not change anything, if not required:  Enjoy your BDP2 (and BDP-1?).

Regards,

Martin  NL

[R. Daneel]

Hi Antun,

I do not exactly understand what you ask from  me.
Should I give regular updates that the BDP-1 's still work?
That's quite impractical!

The BDP-1 's could fail due to many causes e.g.


1) Software

With the old S0 firmware "Candian Beaver"and the BDP-1 's not hooked up to a NAS or the Internet, there is very little chance that the software gets corrupted ( The 4GB CF disk being the most likely candidate).
But the latter would be no problem because I have back up Trancend CF 4 GB 133X cards, with the S0  firmware installed.
It would be simply a matter of replacing the existing  4 GB CF card by a spare CF card with the same S0 firmware.


2) Hadware

The BDP-1 player is very well made and uses top notch components (see picture)

However hardware can fail , of course, as well:

AA) Power supplies (5V, 12V , 3.3 V).

These consist of
- 1 Meanwel PM05 5  ,  5V 1A switched power supply (SPS)
   (https://www.koningenhartman.nl/nl/webshop/industrie/industriele-voedingen/medical/mean-well-ac-dc-psu-pm-05-5-modular-5v-1a )
- 1 linear 12V Power supply.
- The 3.3V is derived from the 5V power supply.

If any of those Power Supplies would fail, any competent technician could repair those.
The weakest points are iIMHO, the Meanwell PM05 5 SPS and the 2  big  6800 uF 25V Chemicon electrolytics (but these are Hi Quality and survive > 35 years in Amps)..
NB I do not think that the Toroid transformer will ever fail, but this  is also easily available.

BB) PC Engines ALIX  1D (2007) industrial PC Board.

In case of internal  failure (no beep upon start up: most likely indicates a broken circuit) the BDP-1 is IMHO Totall Loss.
Bryston might stilll have spare ALIX D BOards , but the costs of repair will be prohibitive!

CC)  PIC, USB Front Panel, VDF circuit and switches boards

If the PIC Board would fail, a similar story to BB) above : much too expensive to repair and not repairable if the PIC programme is not available.

- It might however be an sensible idea to stock a spare VFD display  : 
 
  FUTABA GP1184A01A
  NORITAKE GU140x16G-7003

You might inquire with Bryston Ltd, whether they would be willing to supply a VFD board  to a Private Client.

So, in your case, I mostly would address the software side of business : make an image of the HDD (SSD?) or CF card of the operating system.

For the rest: do not change anything, if not required:  Enjoy your BDP2 (and BDP-1?).

Regards,

Martin  NL

Hi Martin!

It would be nice to know that the BDP-1 you have purchased recently works, that is all.

Not being an average user - which basically means I am very critical of equipment that doesn't work as advertised - I am familiar with what can and does go wrong with this equipment.

Now that spare parts are no longer privided by Bryston, it is all that more important to know what the actual users are doing to keep the equipment operational. Also, because you are not buying new equipment and spend several thousand Euro on it, I assume that budget is a factor for you, as it is for almost everyone, and that makes your experience valuable.

Cheers - Antun

[REDGUUZ]

Two 2011 BDP-1's : Firmware S0.98 2011-04-01 interchangable?

Hi Antun,"

Thanks for your feedback!

In short:

The "new" BDP-1 Player #000487 , ( if started up properly), works flawlessly on the original firmware of my other  BDP-1 #000410. Selecting nicely and playing without Hick Ups.

However, I have had one occasion, that the player did time out (after 120 sec, preset by the PIC) with an error 09 fault message, but  it again rebooted OK after powering down and immediately powering up again.
I try to understand / diagnose the circumstances at which this happens.

So the new BDP-1  is not fully OK yet.

I have tried an 8GB "WD Silicondrive II"  CF Card  instead of a 16 GB Sandisk Extreme Plus CF Card, but this was most likely not the cause of the slow boot process.
(I'm awaiting a Transcend 4 GB133X CF Card from Ebay, just to be sure (to be delivered monday).

Causes:

- I suspect either the CMOS battery (CR2032) although I already replaced that one (albeit  by a new "Cheapy" candle light battery).

- But I see a that if  a USB stick has already been previously recognized, the  next boot up is successful in 1 attempt.

- So still searching : I f you have other idea's could you please help?

So, either , it looses settings (but I have replaced the CR 2032 COS MOS battery) or there is miscommunication with the USB Board at the front.

I will update you, if I definitely could find the cause.

At any case, I can use the "work-a-round "of "renewed booting.

BB) Application of the BDP-1

You are right ( I can enjoy Bryston Sound and quality (Bryston 2B-LP , Bryston 4B) because these amps are relatively easy to repair.

However, I bought the "old" Bryston BDP-1 player new in Dec. 2011 and used it unaltered upto Jan 2016, without any glitch.
I used  along the design brief  as postulated by James Tanner in the original BDP-1 Brochure.

Before attempting to upgrade / try new  firmware (Loony Loon, Manic Moose) and going on the Internet, I made an Image of the original Kingston 4 GB CF Card.

I did this, such that I could go back to the original operation.
In the end I liked the original standalone ("mancave" or "Luddite") operation much better than relying on NAS or Internet Sites, which constantly change behaviour.

Recent comment of a respected HiFi Reviewer:  "Digital Equipment nowadays has the LifeTime of a Banana". 
A pain in the Neck for Suppliers and Users alike (see Windows 11 problems!).

Looking  forward to suggestions and wishing you already a Merry Xmas

Martin

[R. Daneel]

Hi Martin!

Yes, my BDP-1 used to display the Error 09 too. I discussed this at length with Chris Rice (not certain whether he is still with the company) and the solution was to have a USB stick plugged into one of the ports before powering the machine ON. The way I understand it, it has to do with the power supply - a certain draw of current helps not to "trip" the CPU in case there is an anomaly in the mains - which there always is. The BDP-1 seems to be sensitive to these variations in the mains voltage.

One other peculiarity that my BDP-1 had was erratic behavior with certain USB sticks. Some of them were simply not usable and this seemed to have nothing to do with the capacity or manufacturer of the USB stick. I think this was a consequence of inadequate optimization of system firmware, possibly the serial bus interace which includes the USB controller.

A lifetime of a banana, eh? You can say that again!

To take your BDP-1 project further, you could upgrade the RAM - from 256 to 768 MB. Some precision soldering would be required to add the additional RAM chips but it is not impossible. The machine would run a lot smoother and would give the BDP-2 a run for its money - with a lot less heat involved.

Thank you for the kind wishes! I wish all the best to you and yours for the holidays and the upcoming New Year!

Cheers - Antun

[REDGUUZ]

Hi Antun,

Glad to report that the BDP-1 Player Serial 000487 from Romania is now fully working again, as it left the factory in 2011.

Reason for the earlier need to reboot it, for "kickstarting"  the player:

A Simple  cause with a grave consequence:  The RTC CR2032 Battery was NOT correctly installed.

At de + side of the battery holder the 2 golden Lips should point upwards, at the - side they should be flat (horizontally).
As a matter of fact, they were both lying  flat on the + and - side and as such, the battery was disconnected.

I had already a strong suspicion:
On could reboot within 3 minutes after appearing of the Error 09 message; 
If you would reboot after longer times (  > 5 minutes), the BDP-1 would again stop with an Error 09 message.

Thus it must be the RTC battery.
As a matter of fact it was wrongly installed (by me!).

Problem solved!

Some more remarks:

1) Enhacing DDR RAM currently (256 MB)

The ALIX 1D manual nowhere states that the CPU board could handle higher RAM values.
But also since the RAM is soldered, enhancing RAM by desoldering and resoldering larger RAM is a tricky if not impossible proposition (certainly for me).

2) Handling of Various SSD sticks SSD's or HDD's

- I have not come across USB sticks which could not be handled (128 GB maximum used)
- A Toshiba 2T SSD could be read but Loading the SSD took +/-   0.5 hour, quite impractical!

Therefore, I remain with the "Luddite"operation:  use singe USB sticks, No NAS or Internet connected, control with BR4 Remote Control.

3) Spare Parts:

- the VDF display is still available at Mouser, but relatively expensive at € 100.- ex VAT
- ALIX 1D Boards are still available on Ebay, but also expensive.

Hence, generally, if your BDP-1 player would fail by a severe hardware problem,  it is a write - off.
It is by now a quite antique device and technology has moved on, but for me these players ( I have now 2 ) still fulfill their original duty.

Again, many thanks to James and Alan Tanner, who took  the time to steer me in the right direction!
It is a marvelous service, which no other Co. would have provided!

Happy X-Mas and a Good 2026! to EveryOne