In case anybody else has the problem - I've a Sony HDD/DVD recorder, RDRHXD 970.
It's basically not working, wouldn't display any TV channels or the EPG. I fiddled about with it and eventually it got stuck on "UPDATE".
I just saw my pal down the road who asked if I would look at his for him - it's a similar HXD995, his is also unresponsive with the same message.
Not a coincidence thinks I, and a look at the Sony consumer support forums confirms it. They have all died, 870s, 890s, 970, 995, 1095s,
Somebody has found a work around, which is to set the country to France. The EPG doesn't work at all, but with a retune the channels and other functions are restored. Looks as if it's something to do with a change in the Freeview EPG data.
I'm hoping Sony can fix it with a firmware update if the EPG change can't be reversed.
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Hmm, a very misleading headline although the story makes the true picture clear.
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According to this:
forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1857171&page=3
the issue may be over.
Try turning the recorder off, and then on again.
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A mains power off reset fixed mine.
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>> A mains power off reset fixed mine
Yes, now seems to be fixed.
I reset to UK, the only problem then being I had to change the EPG type. Seems to be OK now with EPG present.
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This happened to me, luckily I saw this thread because I was on the verge of looking for a new recorder, come Sunday night it seems to have reset itself and is OK now.
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>> This happened to me, luckily I saw this thread because I was on the verge
>> of looking for a new recorder,
That's why I posted it - pleased it was worth it.
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playing "catch-up" a bit....
Updates to the broadcast epg and related data is/was almost always done early in the week - a Friday update would be under duress, or to roll back to the previous version in the event of a problem caused by an update earlier in the week.
As far as I can judge the epidemic this thread relates to was down to a Sony firmware update, presumably rolled out by them when they wanted.
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Technically a Pioneer update since these PVRs were made by Pioneer. Hence Sony perhaps not be able to offer a fix quicker.
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>> As far as I can judge the epidemic this thread relates to was down to
>> a Sony firmware update, presumably rolled out by them when they wanted.
The firmware on mine was the same version 1.70 I updated it to a few months ago - that entailed downloading it and burning a CD to load it. I don't believe they do firmware updates off air.
It has been stated that the problem was caused by an out of spec string in the Sky channel data (provided by Sky to the party responsible for compiling the EPG). Other makes than Sony and Pioneer were affected, not all as badly as the Sony machines which didn't handle it well.
No fix has been deployed by Sony.
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@Manatee
I stand corrected about Sony updates.
I'm still surprised EPG data changes were made that late in the week though, but as I got that wrong I shouldn't speculate as to what actually happened, as I don't actually know these days.
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I think Sony may well update the firmware, though these are old machines (and there is no equivalent now). They really shouldn't crash when if the EPG data are corrupted, should they?
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you'll not get an update, they have been "sunsetted" and its not Sonys fault.
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>> you'll not get an update, they have been "sunsetted"
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I just had to buy a new BD player for that reason. No more updates and the number of newer discs it was having serious trouble loading was getting ever larger. Final straw was one it wouldn't even sniff at.
The problem with these new "smart" devices is manufacturer support. Anything reliant on manufacturer firmware updates (smartphones, tablets, TVs, players, etc ad nauseum) becomes ever more useless, starting around 6 months after that product ends its production life.
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>> Other makes than Sony and Pioneer were affected
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Er, that would be "other makes than Pioneer".
The affected Sony devices are all made by Pioneer.
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Non-functional Sony PVR/DVD epidemic - Zero
