AXHD61 running Openvix stopped showing up on my Samsung QLED

Hello all, I have an axhd61 with aerial and satellite working fine for almost a year, just using USB flash drive for recordings. The other day I unplugged the HDMI cable (and all other cables) from the axhd61 briefly to install a new HDD, and when I plugged it back in, I get "no signal/check device power" on the HDMI source on the Samsung QLED (from 2022). The axhd61 is powered on and seems to be working correctly. What I tried so far to fix:

- tried all recommended actions by Samsung to determine the tv is not at fault. A laptop shows up fine on the tv using same cable, and a computer monitor shows the axhd61 working fine when I plug in using the same HDMI - so neither tv nor cable faulty - it must be to do with the box, though it seems to be working fine on another screen

- tried removing new HDD and plugging box back into tv

- tried (using computer monitor) updating Openvix, and then plugging back into tv

- tried reflashing the box with the newest Openvix build from 12th Nov 2023 and plugging back into tv

None of these have worked, and so far I can't find a solution using a search engine. Maybe someone here can help me or give an idea I can try?

Thanks.

Unplugged everything and examined the HDMI port on the back of the AXHD61 and the left side of it looks a little messed up