Yep, my bridge is dead after about a month worth of use. I’ve been having all sort of bridge related problems such as random disconnection, bridge going to sleep after long period on (ie it’s connected and can be seen but can’t play anything to it).
well today it finally gave up and gone to bridge heaven. The Dac can no longer see the bridge at all.
guess I have to do a lot of installing and uninstalling of firmwares to see if I can wake it up again.
does any one have any idea on how to fix it?
how can a product made the USA for $800 be so unreliable?
I could do a Skype call with you but it might be a bit late Aussi time? probably about 11pm your time] or tomorrow.
First question is "what was happening when you lost it?"
changing firmware? power failure? turning dac on after an overnight?
I would turn off PWD and unplug ALL power, interconnects etc and Remove the Bridge.
Reboot PWD WITHOUT the Bridge.Clean carefully the contacts on the Bridge.
Replace the bridge and reboot it WITHOUT the ethernet wire connected.
If PWD now sees the Bridge it will show up on the front panel.
If it does, check the IP address and reconnect the ethernet wire and enter the IP address in your internet browser address bar on the computer.
If it shows on dac but not pc, then reboot EVERYTHING. router pc, dac, switches, etc. and check again.
If still nothing then we can go to the next step.
Are your cables/wires good? not bent at the connectors? if you have spares then swap them temporarily to make sure.
Next step will be firmware but do not do ANY “bridge rescue” operations till we do the firmware.
G
Below was a process on firmware that was for someone else .
@johnjen
While you are waiting you could try something that has worked for some.
**** Best to download FRESH sets of the firmwares first and save them on your desktop.
1/ turn off PWD and unplug the power cord,SD card, USB and anything attached.
2/ remove the bridge and carefully clean the contacts.
3/ reboot the pwd with NOTHING re-attached.
4/ clean the sd card and load a different version of the PWD firmware that you run currently.
5/ reboot PWD to install the “different” version.
6/ remove the sd card, clean it and load your preferred firmware [2.2.0]. Reboot PWD to install.
7/ turn off PWD and re-install Bridge. Reboot PWD with NO sd card. Bridge should install.
8/ install Bridge firmware [different version like with PWD] and reboot PWD. Then reinstall your preferred Bridge firmware [2.14b]. reboot PWD.
All this WITHOUT any cables connected EXCEPT ethernet in the last 2 Bridge installs if you need to use the Web page file installer.
Do a test now to see if there is no or less freezing of the front panel before connecting USB etc or the sd card.
Later you can clean the sd card and insert it “blank” into the DAC and it will rebuild cover art only on it’s own.
This has worked for some with “frozen” panels and also cured connection losses and drops.
Good Luck.
G
@gordon Thanks for your response.
To answer your questions, it wasn’t doing anything when I lost it. I’ve been having some issue with a Netgear switch that I have, it keeps losing connection. So I was resetting the Netgear switch a couple of times without touching the bridge. When the switch issues were sorted I went to play some music and noticed that the bridge had a “disconnect” message on it. I tried to reconnect it but was unsuccessful so I switched it off at the back. And that was it. Turned the dac back on and the bridge was gone.
Did everything you mentioned above, disconnect everything, removed the bridge, cleaned the contacts, turn the dac on without the bridge, then switch off (at the back), reinsert the bridge, turn back on again. Nothing. the Dac have no connection to the bridge whatsoever. Did the same thing with a firmware change as well but same story.
I think we have to go to the next step 
p.s. music playback via usb was no where near as good 
Ok
Do u have Skype?
My Skype address is Grobec
Your next step is a "bridge network fix"
NOT THE RESCUE.
Details on how to do this are in the PSA support/FAQ area under "bridge"
By the way… You can also ref lash Bridge firmware with a USB memory stick. Details in the bridge FAQ. This since you cannot see it from the browser.
Good luck, guys. I hope you get it fixed.
Go, Gordon, Go!
Could you check that your router is able to assign an IP address to devices.
It might be that the Bridge has defaulted to DHCP and that the router has not assigned a new one to the Bridge.
Reboot your router while PWD is on to make sure it is discovered.
Check the mac address of the Bridge and look for it in Fing.
frode said: frode
good tip.
If the dac is not discovering the Bridge though and it does NOT show on the front panel then it still will not play. If it does show on the dac then set bridge to DHCP and reboot PWD and router to see if it will assign an address.
If the bridge does not show on the DAC display, there is a communication issue between the DAC and bridge. The first thing I would try is a reset via the front panel. Power the PWD off then on again, after a few second touch the display. This will bring up the version screen. After about 30 seconds the bridge version and Reset button should display. Press the reset button. If the bridge reset button and version do not show then there is a problem with the bridge.
good thinking Dennis, thanks!
Not necessarily a problem with the Bridge itself, but a communication problem between the Bridge and PWD. I think that Gordon’s change firmware process is the most likely route for Bridge recovery - and not just because it is an elaboration on the process that I used in the past and have suggested.
Losing the Bridge really sucks, particularly when it is your (almost) only path to your music library. If I lost my Bridge, my only recourse would be to set up my netbook with a USB connection to the PWD. I don’t think that is any kind of match for the Bridge when it is working properly.
J.P.
From my perspective [ non techie dealing with owners all over the world and occasional linguistic challenges] I just start at the beginning and reset almost everything. Given the PWD is a computer, sometimes just the reset and reboots can mysteriously correct a problem.
I have a long list of symptoms and possible remedies on a cheat sheet but the same medicine does not seem to always work for the same ailments.
It is a great way for the owners to get to know their equipment and networks and while some of them do it kicking and screaming they are generally proud of themselves when it all begins to work as required.
The ONLY part that makes me want to KILL is when after an hour on the phone or chat, they finally admit that they DID make a change somewhere in their system just prior to the problem.
That is ALWAYS my FIRST question!!!
I charge double the beer when that happens.
Your description well illustrates how difficult it is to provide good customer service and to solve others’ problems remotely. It also requires a great deal more patience than I possess. We are all fortunate to have you on the job.
Damn! An organized approach… 
What will they think of next. 
J.P.
Elk said: It also requires a great deal more patience than I possess
I hear ya.
All depends on the perspective.
I met great people and now have many dinner and wine invitations all over the world. [no air tickets yet though].
I have learned a lot about the equipment and more importantly how to better [ I try] communicate fixes with a wide variety of tech savvy and non tech savvy people.
And, it is in fact a great way to develop more patience, which was never my strongest attribute.
So, all in all, it is a Win/Win.
I get really bummed out though when the occasional problem prompts an RMA back to PSA.
It is rare though.
A perfect mindset.
Or you can wait overnight after endless attempts and then try reset again, like I did - and Voila, there was the Bridge…(!)
Almost like a capacitor that discharged and suddenly initialization became possible.
@frode
Yup.
And one of my resonators is only 5 feet away from PWD/Bridge so it must help.
I hope to be proven wrong but I see no other solid solution than a “dedicated” sender-receiver protocol technology that does nothing but “lock” in and secure the stream. Players will come and go but the stream should not have to rely on 3rd party routers, wires and software.
There I said it… Again!.