Help! My trixbox won’t automatically power on!

We have seen a few issues with trixbox appliance power recently, and have found a quick fix.

The Enterprise trixbox appliances ship without a power button…they are configured to power on as soon as they detect a power source bring plugged in.  This feature is great in many case, because you never have to worry about bumping a power button, and in the case of a power outage, the unit will turn itself on once the power is restored – meaning you won’t have to drive into the office or a remote site in the middle of the night.  But the one drawback is that sometimes the Gods of Technology spite us, and the BIOS settings that enable this feature have problems.  Sometimes computers just do what they want to do.

But like I said, there is a quick fix.  If you are having issues with your unit not powering on once you plug it in, follow these steps:

• 1.) Remove the top of your trixbox appliance.
• 2.) Once the cover is off, you will see a group of jumper pins on the front of the appliance.  Just below the pins, you will see a small pin map, showing you what each of the pins are for.  Locate the +PWR- pins, they will be pair on the top row of 8 pins, to the right of the +MSG- pins.
• 3.) Using a screwdriver, touch the two +PWR- pins together.
• 4.) Your unit should power on.

This whole process should take about 5 minutes.  I know some of you may be weary of touching a screwdriver to open pins, and may think this seems a little weird, but rest assured, this is totally safe.  Normally, if you had a power button, the button would be connected to those 2 pins.  One pin always has a 5 volt Logic charge present, the other has no charge.  A line would run from the charged pin, to the button, and another line would run from the button to the other pin.  When you press the button, it basically closes a circuit, and that 5 volts would connect from one pin to the other, signaling the appliance to power on.  So essentially all  these steps do is simulate a power button.

Once the unit is on, you can enter the BIOS and reset the power management settings to turn on when power is present.  Just these few quick steps can save you the hassle and cost of replacing a box!

NOTE: Opening your box can void hardware warranties depending your reseller/distributor.  I recommend checking with them prior to opening your box.

Related Links:
888VoipStore Product Page: trixbox PRO
Manufacturer Page: trixbox

Tags: VoIP Education, VoIP Hardware, VoIP Phones, VoIP Systems