HD-A2 upgrade is now available for download. Now version 2.5! (1 Viewer)

[Paul.S]

Jesse:

The problem with waiting until you have a problem to upgrade is that you may inadvertently create problems by attempting to play back discs with advanced content. I'm of the (informed by experience) opinion that the problems I experienced trying to playback Bourne Identity--the first disc I rented with advanced content--were because I had not updated the machine to the latest fw first. "Older" HD DVD titles like Apollo 13 still played fine, but Matt Damon shut my HD-D1 completely off during attempted playback. Since last year and the advent of more U Control and more advanced IME, Tosh has (IMO quietly, slyly but wisely) added a caveat to their Web pages with the fw instructions, encouraging you to upgrade before attempting playback of newer discs:

 

[Paul.S]

Adam B.:

Thx a ton for all the terrif info and links.

Why the admonition about not using this fw for the XA2, but rather only the A2? Doesn't each generation of players use the same firmware/take the same upgrade?

 

[Paul.S]

In any event, Adam, thank you for the repeated suggestions to try different media. I was just FINALLY able to burn a disc that the Tosh would accept. Leapt from 1.5 to 2.5 on my new XA2. Now, after nearly two months of drama and a player switch, I'm actually going to go hopefully, you know . . . watch a freakin' HD DVD at home!

{Edited to attribute correct specific thanks to the right persons!}

 

[Paul.S]

Thanks, Alfonso. There was some issue between Tosh's ISOs, Nero and my prior player, too. It was that NTFS.com program that worked like a charm for me and my XA2. Simpler, too.

 

[mitch]

Robert,

Thanks for the heads-up on firmware update version 2.5. After trying numerous times to download the ISO image to a CD-R, I finally got it to work and updated my A2 [thanks to the helpful suggestions of so many of my Forum brothers]

One question that I had was: do the settings on the A2 change back to the original factory settings when you update the firmware? If I had the time now I would check them myself.

What a great day for me and my A2 today! I finally received my five free HD DVD's after nine weeks and I successfully updated the firmware!

Thanks again,

Mitch

 

[Jari K]

I always update the latest firmware, with PS3 and my Toshiba also. I don´t want anything "old" in my equipments..

I just updated my (Euro) XE1. First attemp failed for some reason (downloading just "stopped" for some reason, so I had to re-boot the machine and start over), but the 2nd time was a success. It was 2.2, but apparently 2.5 is also coming to Europe soon (with 24fps).

Any ideas that can these (future) updates make the player faster? I mean XE1 is quite slow at the moment.. They should also fix some other issues (e.g. the annoying lack of "resume" function). I would also like to see bitrate meter etc. Well, perhaps in the future updates..

 

[Marko Berg]

This is a software problem, not a firmware problem. The HD DVD itself has to be authored in a manner that allows the resume function to work, therefore Toshiba can't really help you there.

 

[Jari K]

Ah, ok. Thanks for the info. So why they don´t "allow" the resume function? It´s just annoying that basic thing like this one doesn´t work in 700Euros player..

 

[Jeff Gatie]

It has to do with advanced features like extra soundtracks, pip, etc. If the DVD is authored with advanced content, it cannot be resumed unless you bookmark your place (for those that have bookmarking enabled). The resume for SD DVD's works fine.

 

[Paul.S]

The "ADV" light on my XA2 would tend to confirm that, Jeff. At first I thought that light would only come on upon invoking, say, U Control on a disc with that content. Instead, as soon as the initial read of Bourne Identity takes place, that light comes on.

 

[Jeff Gatie]

Yes, I would imagine that because advanced content is heavily dependent on the HDi API, implementing a hardware based resume would be difficult to impossible. Though why the HD DVD spec for HDi doesn't require a software based resume function be programmed for each HD DVD authored in advanced is another question entirely.

 

[Neil Joseph]

I updated mine to 2.5 yesterday. Just one question, how do you check the firmware level already installed on the player?

 

[Patrick_S]

Go to the Maintenance section of the Setup menu and then go into the Update Firmware section. It will show you the current firmware levels.

 

[Chris Atkins]

What would I do without HTF?

Just wanted to thank everyone in this thread who has posted links, files, instructions, etc. I just got my HD-A2 and thanks to you I quickly got the latest firmware, etc.

 

[Bart Goldberg]

Hi, I just got my A2 today. I've tried hooking up the lan connection and everything seems to be working so far. The TV says "Updating, Do Not Turn Off" and the DVD player says Downloa d 28/35 (and counting). I assume that if I'm seeing these progressive numbers, then everything must be going okay. BTW - how does one verify the version of firmware that is currently installed?

Can't wait to try this player on my FP system.

Regards
Bart

 

[Jeff Gatie]

To check the version, go to Setup->Maintenance->Update and the screen that asks if you want to proceed has the current version listed.

 

[David_Jr]

Just updated my WalMart special A2. It took longer to make the disc than to do the upgrade. Tips here were especially helpful. Always nervous doing a firmware upgrade.

 

[Bill Barrington]

A quick thank you for this thread!

Walmart made my decision Friday as to what format to choose with their $98 HD-A2. I am going to need to connect to TV with HDMI DVI cable. Reading this thread I was able to see that I will most likely need the firmware update to address potential issues with HDMI DVI cables. I downloaded the firmware, burned it and installed it yesterday. Went without a hitch. HDMI DVI cable arrives tomorrow so hopefully it will work with no issues.

Thanks again!!