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Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

post #1 of 20
12/20/07 at 8:52pm
Thread Starter 
Well, I tried to update the thing but failed miserably! Downloaded the file from Toshiba's site, unzipped it and burned it to a recordable CD as per the instructions (i'm using Roxio Easy Media Creator).

I inserted it into the HD-DVD player and after trying to load I got the message..."This disc is not DVD format. Cannot play the disc"

Then I tried burning the file onto a DVD+R and I got a message saying "No Disc"

Just to see if the machine was able to read CDs I popped in a Moody Blues CD and it played fine.

I looked on the Toshiba website and did not find any info on how to get them to send me a disc.
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post #2 of 20
12/20/07 at 9:06pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

OK, instead of just moving the file into the recordabe area. I picked "Burn from Disc Image File" It would never burn. I got an error the 3 times I tried.
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post #3 of 20
12/20/07 at 11:29pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I got my A3 yesterday and there is a firmware update card in the box. Its pink in color. Just filled it out and sent it in the mail today.
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post #4 of 20
12/21/07 at 5:57am
Thread Starter 

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

Thanks Ron. I just looked in the manual and that's where I stuffed the pink card. Now my question is, what happens when there is another update? If the player is working fine now (which it seems to be) maybe I should wait?

I did have a hiccup on Order of the Phoenis... The screen froze for a second (almost looked like a prolonged layer change) and then the lip-sync was off by a second or two. It was very disctracting, especially because it was happening during the climax of the movie. After about a minute or so, it self corrected. But I had company over and had to hang my head in shame at their intro to HD-DVD! After they left, I tried to see if it was a bad disc and repeat the problem, but it didn't happen again.
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post #5 of 20
12/21/07 at 8:32am

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

Ric,
I have EZ media creator and decided to try this method and it works fine:
http://www.hometheaterforum.com/htf/...made-easy.html

No issues whatsoever making discs.
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post #6 of 20
12/21/07 at 8:54am

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

Ric,

Funny to see this message posted.

I tried to burn a copy of a Toshiba AX2 ISO firmware update
to a CD last night.

The player would not recognize it, giving the same error message
you just reported.

I have burnt ISO image files many times via Nero on a PC or
TOAST on a Mac, and have never run into a problem like this.

Furthermore, I can't get the AX2 to connected to my router.
My Denon receiver updates just fine through the router as soon
as I plug the ethernet in. On the other hand, the Toshiba has a
half dozen settings that you need to go through to get your router
to connect, and honestly, I am at a loss.

I ended up having to call Toshiba to get a firmware disc sent
to me which is now on backorder.

Can't win!
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post #7 of 20
12/21/07 at 9:20am
Thread Starter 

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

Ron, sorry to hear that you feel my pain!

Shane, I'll give it a try this weekend!

Otherwise, I guess I'm sending in that pink card!
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post #8 of 20
12/21/07 at 9:23am

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

Ron,
Give the method I posted a try. I don't have any issues with making firmware discs using it.
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post #9 of 20
12/21/07 at 2:33pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I couldn't burn it with Nero, something about the iso image being unique or something like that.

I had to use Deepburner and that worked fine. you might want to try that.
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post #10 of 20
12/21/07 at 2:44pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I plugged my A3 into the ethernet jack in my wall and had no problems updating the firmware over the internet.
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post #11 of 20
12/21/07 at 2:50pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I am downloading via Ethernet.

Found the problem.

DHCP and DNS needs to be turned ON to connect to a router.
By default they are not. Once I turned it on, I connected to my
router and am now downloading update.

Going to watch BLADE RUNNER next week on HD-DVD. Will let you
know if I run into any issues.
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post #12 of 20
12/21/07 at 4:02pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I sent in that pink card when I bought the A2 in June. I just don't trust myself doing the updates using a burned cd. What's nice is that with each firmware update, Tosh automatically sends me a fresh cd thru the mail.
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post #13 of 20
12/21/07 at 4:07pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

So far I have watched 3 movies without any update to the firmware. First I played The Borne Ultimatum and was totally blow away by the picture and sound, the disc played without any problems. Next I watched Knocked Up and that played fine also. Third movie I watched was Blades of Glory it to played without any problems. My question is do I really need to update the firmware if I'm not having any problems and what issues does the new firmware address?
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post #14 of 20
12/21/07 at 4:54pm
Thread Starter 

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I hear what yer sayin... If it ain't broke, don't fix it! Still, I had that hiccup on the Potter film. I thought this may help me avoid more.

Anyway, Shane, I didn't get a chance (yet) to try your method. When I got home from work I got this message from Toshiba...
Quote:
Thanks for writing!

The firmware upgrades are currently on back order. I believe your burning problem is the program that you are using. Please burn the .iso file to a cd using the program at the following link.Active@ ISO Burner.. Once on the site, click on 'Download' (to the right of iso-burner.exe). When prompted, choose 'run', specify the path to the .iso file, and execute the burn directly from the internet.


For further assistance, please write back or call our Customer Solutions Department at 1-800-319-6684. They are available Mon-Fri, 8AM to 7PM Central time.

Well, my player accepted the disc that I burned and now appears to be about halfway thru the update! I'll certainly let you know if there are any problems!

And congrats on your new player Ron>E!
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post #15 of 20
12/21/07 at 7:23pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

Quote:
I hear what yer sayin... If it ain't broke, don't fix it!
What I've learned is they are releasing these updates to keep you from having issues. I view firmware updates as a safety valve. There's a reason they put "upgrade your firmware" on almost every disc these days inside the case.
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post #16 of 20
12/21/07 at 8:16pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I remember having problems downloading the file onto a disc or even downloading from the internet.. sometimes neither would work or sometimes they both would work. if you call toshiba, they will put you on the list to get the disc for the machine. I get them every once in a while..probably a month or so after they have been out. I know that the internet download can be difficult when it first comes online.. everyone is trying to download it.

I am not sure if many people like the idea of downloading it to a cd for that matter or know how do to that.. I know enough to get away with it.. but still have problems.. I prefer the xbox 360 and ps3 way.. very easy to download the file.

Jacob
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post #17 of 20
12/23/07 at 12:48am

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I didn't have any problems with the 1st release, and it's on my list of things to do to install 1.3. Burned CD, not ethernet.
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post #18 of 20
12/30/07 at 1:52am

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

One thing I remembered, and one thing I just discovered.

1) When I tried to go from 1.0 to 1.1, I found out that the CD burning software included with my Dell PC didn't work for ISO files. But here's the detail: it works just fine for regular music CDs, and it didn't give me any kind of error that it *wasn't* working correctly for ISO files. I eventually found a freeware standalone program that worked. Took me a while to figure that out.

2) Just now going from 1.1 to 1.3, I kept getting a couldn't find out the server error on the player. I burned the CD 3 times thinking something was different. (I don't have my player hooked up to the ethernet, and I didn't have this problem with 1.0 to 1.1.) So I watched the movie, and what the heck, just tried again, and it worked fine. Detail here: sometimes I have handshaking problems between the player and plasma (I have HD DVD and BD players going through a switcher with my DVD player). I haven't tracked down the problem completely, but when this happens, I get about 10s of a picture, and then it goes blank. If I power cycle the plasma, that usually fixes it, although this time, the Toshiba crashed too (had to yank the power cord). All this was after I had tried the upgrade a few times, and it was actually while I was trying to get the movie started. So maybe that's a culprit sometimes.

I have the Sharp BD player, and let me tell you, it's a heck of a lot easier and faster to do upgrades with a USB drive!
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post #19 of 20
12/30/07 at 3:33am

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

I was watching "Transformers" tonight on my A1 and had a "hiccup" similar to the one that you described on your A3. I can understand it happening on my machine since the firmware version is pretty old and Toshiba hasn't provided a firmware update for the A1 in ages; however. it is really ridiculous that a third generation machine is still suffering from the same glitches as the first generation machine.

It is a good thing that you were able to burn a disc, because if you had to get one from Toshiba then you would be waiting until hell froze over. I updated my machine once over the internet, and also sent in the card to register for updates on physical media. I have received one update disc from Toshiba in the entire time that I have owned my A1, but I was informed not to use it as the firmware update contained a bug that could make the operation of the machine worse.

I have bought a lot of Toshiba equipment in the past, but considering their lousy customer support, I doubt I will buy any of their products in the future. The fact that you are reporting glitching on their third generation machines just makes me hope that someone other than Toshiba will be putting out HD DVD players when I need to replace my A1.
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post #20 of 20
12/30/07 at 6:21pm

Re: Toshiba A3 Firmware snafu

Well I purchased Transformers last week from BB and after reading the posts about the problems it had playing with the old firmware I decided to plug in my eithernet cable[b] and upgrade to the 1.3 firmware. So I go to setup to update and to my supprise I find I already have the Latest firmware. I got myplayer on 12/19/07 so I guess it shipped with the new firware. I put in transformers and I had no issues or problems. I have viewed nine movies so far and the only proplem I have had is that the second time I loaded the Borne Ulimatium it keep on loading and would not stop, I hit the ok buttom on the remote and then it started to play. I wonder if its not bad disc pressings that are cousing the problems?
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