Sony DVP-CX985V or mega changer dumb ? (1 Viewer)

[Nick Zender]

Just curious I guess this applies to any of the mega disk players or maybe all dvd players?
I have a digital 8 track with built in cd burner and was able to download a patch from their website and burn it to a disk to flash the bios or whateverand it added an updated interface and features?

Could something like this be done from Sony to perhaps fix the autoload problem which seems to be a common complaint or even to add a new snazzier menu interface if they so desired and were pressured by consumers?

Not saying they would but was just wondering if it would be possible?

Thanks for any comments I'm no electronic whiz and just wondered.

Nick Zender
(Ape)

 

[Grant B]

I have the Sony TAE 9000ES Sony Preamp which has a RS 232 port for SW updates. I believe most came with the 1.17 version and the last being the 2.50 version. As far as I can tell that is the last update that will ever be put out.It's expensive to update SW (hence microsoft putting out OS 95 98 2000 ME NT XP XPpro & XP media center) that you cant charge and arm and a leg for. It would also up the price for the player to begin with. They did a great job fixing problems that the intial SW had and I have no regrets in buying it.
I have the sony 300 disc DVD changer and the only problem I have is that I ran out of room. If you turn off the player by the remote, you dont get autoload problems. It took me a while to understand this aspect of the player

Grant

 

[Nick Zender]

I guess my question was can they do a software upgrade to fix a problem and say create a new menu interface.
The only cost would be in the writing of the fix which could then be made available via download off the internet, then burned to a disk, inserted into the player and then perhaps a unique combination of buttons being pushed to start the upgrade?

I would think the costs involved would be minimal and maight then help in selling units which are getting bad reviews for minor glitches which could then be corrected.

I have no clue maybe the chips or whatever are fixed and can nor be flashed but it seems like this would be a nice addition.

Like I said might be a dumb question...

 

[BillPowers]

Some manufacturers do this, but I wouldn't count on Sony doing it. I have a Philips 985 DVD recorder, and they made available an upgrade cd image that you burned to a cdr and updated the firmware to fix some of it's initial bugs. I also was able to do a similar thing with a Canon Powershot G1 digital camera. As for sony, I had at one time their 777ES receiver. It had a severe bug where it go into a mode where it would take audio from one input, and video from another. The only way to get out was to reset the box and you would loose all of your settings. This was a common problem that many people encountered. I lived with it for a year and my dealer let me trade it in because he couldn't get sony to fix it, or acknowledge it was a problem. That unit had an rs232 port which supposedly could be used for upgrades, but they elected to not support a customer, and thus lost one.

bill powers

 

[JackS]

Bill- That was the infamous AV split problem that many 777es users including me, encountered. To my knowledge all 777's with the problem were corrected with the last software upgrade (2.0x). There were a total of three upgrades issued for the 777 and 9000es ,each designed to address a specific set of problems such as center and/or surround hiss which was present on some but not not all receivers.The 3rd and final upgrade was an incorporation of the previous two which(I assume),solved all problems including the AV split. I assumed this because post V2.0x, I've never seen a complaint. I think maybe your ES dealer let you down on this one. The updates were not automatic to end users and most of those upgrading to the newer software either had it done at an ES dealer or they downloaded directly off the net. Anyone buying one of these receivers used should insure that the latest software is included or they may wind up in the same situation that you were in.

 

[BillPowers]

Jack,

Thanks for the update. I doubt my dealer let me down. It probably got fixed after I dumped it. I was following very closely on the flagship receivers forum everyone else that was having this problem. Nobody had fixes when I got rid of mine. I'm glad sony stepped up to the plate and addressed the issues. It worked out for the better for me, as I took the opportunity to upgrade to a Denon AVR5800.

bill powers