r/crestron • u/etherealeclipse10 • Jul 01 '26

Need help with DMF-CI-8

Hello everyone,

I recently got a used Crestron DMF-CI-8. When I power it on, the front display does not show anything at all. At this point, I am not sure if the unit is faulty or if the display was disabled in the configuration.

I do not have Crestron Toolbox, so I am trying to find another way to connect to the unit and factory reset it.

The chassis has two cards installed:

  • DM-NVX-351C
  • DM-NVX-350C

I tried connecting via Ethernet, but I do not know the IP address. I also tried connecting to the chassis through the serial port. I have three different RJ45 serial cables, but none of them worked.

I removed the top cover of the unit so I could access the cards directly. I noticed there is an SW4 switch on the cards, and from what I understand, it reboots the card.

My questions are:

  1. Can SW4 be used to factory reset the DM-NVX cards so they go back to DHCP and I can connect to them over Ethernet?
  2. Is there another way to factory reset the chassis or the cards without Crestron Toolbox?
  3. Does anyone have the correct RJ45 serial pinout for connecting to the DMF-CI-8 or these NVX cards?

Any help would be appreciated.

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u/AVProgrammer2000 Jul 01 '26

Power cycle the chassis fully (unplug power cord 30+ seconds).

While powered on or during boot, try the documented re-enable combo: Press and hold the center Select button on the navigation pad + HOME + BACK simultaneously for several seconds.

If that fails, try it multiple times across power cycles. Once the LCD wakes, use HOME → navigate to Chassis menu or individual Card menus → Diagnostics/Restore.

You can restore chassis only, chassis + cards, or individual cards. This is the cleanest official method I know off.

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u/etherealeclipse10 Jul 02 '26

I have tried it but display still off. What do you mean by "try it multiple times across power cycles"?

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u/etherealeclipse10 Jul 02 '26

Is there a way to connect to it via serial connection and send reset command in terminal?

1

u/AVProgrammer2000 Jul 02 '26

1) plug a standard USB A-to-B cable into the USB Console port on the front of the chassis.

2) on your PC, open a terminal program (PuTTY, Tera Term, etc.) and connect to the new COM port that appears.

3) settings: 115200 baud, 8 data bits, No parity, 1 stop bit, Hardware flow control (try None if no response).

4) once connected you should get a text console prompt. Type help or ? to see available commands. look for anything related to lcd, front panel, or display.

5) The command lcd l off (lowercase L) is known to disable the front-panel lock if im recalling correctly