Update 3.885 problems

[lgcebr]

I have a Sony KD-55XD9305 TV which has worked fine until this week.  I held off the above update but applied it last week and now have three problems:

1). I can no longer play video files from an attached USB stick.  These same files on the same device played perfectly before the update.  Now the TV states no device and no files.

2). Random error message flash up on the screen saying various features have stopped.  These can be dismissed by pressing OK but did not happen before, are annoying and clearly not right.

3). Often when starting up from standby the TV goes into the Amdroid logo animation screen.  

I have c facets Tech Support who emailed me instructions but these state that it is possible that the TV might stop working and not start up.  It seems to me to be risky to follow these iinstructions if my TV might end up bricked.

has anyone else come across these problems introduced by the 3.885 update?

Thanks 

[lgcebr]

John Lewis Nottingham

We were looking for alternatives to Sony and one of the more expensive Sony 2017 televisions had indentical "service closed" type message on the screen.  We pointed this out to the sales assistant who dismissed it.

Cheers

[Kuschelmonschter]

You have to give them credit for showing the people what they have to expect when buying Sony...

[lgcebr]

I think what has really been frustrating as I've stuck with Sony since the 2015 TVs is the contrast between the image processing & 4K panels which are superb and the buggy, bad software updates which should never pass internal beta testing.  I've spoken to many knowledgeable TV sales people who say that it is difficult (unless you upgrade to Loewe who are in another league) to get a better panel and processing than Sony's.  Side by side comparisons show that so Sony clearly has a potential winner.

Yet what do they do?  Release product with functions not working - hardly ethical or within ASA guidelines.  Release software which has bugs obvious from the first moment - over  a period of two years consistently demonstrating poor beta testing.  

I even saw their flagship OLED TV demonstrated with a few tweaks to colour and  sound settings, put into standby then started again but it had forgotten the sound and picture settings the user had chosen.  How is that a usable £3000+ TV?

I have worked with computers and I am used to turning up somewhere to demonstrate something only to find strange incompatibilities and error messages.  I can understand those to some extent.

What I can't understand is the level of poor quality where you advertise a product in 2015 with playback of files from USB - but it takes months before that actually works.  Advertising and selling a TV with non-functioning feautres is pretty dire.  Then that feature works for 18 months before the next update knocks it out.    Back to square one!

Sony have admiited to me that they know that some TVs have had the USB playback knocked out by the latest update.  Yet playback from USB is hardly a complicated function.  Almost any device with a USB connection can do it if the formatting and file type are correct.

So Sony's proiduct decriptioon states:

Yet the TVs can't play an mp4 video file from an exFAT formatted USB drive.  This happened on my TV and in store when I asked someone to show me it working.

Basically it boils down to the following facts:

1)  You can't necessarily trust Sony's product description as working on your TV;

2)  You can't always get the advertised functionality;

3)  If you do get the advertised functionality Sony might inadvertently dsable it on some TVs;

4)  If that happens Tech Support can't assist;

5)  If Sony need to fix what they broke you will have to wait an unspecified time - probably months - for a fix if one ever arrives;

6)  If and when a bug fix update arrives it will probably cause other problems.

I do not understand how Sony senior managers and CEO reconcile their high quality panels and processing with the farcical situation described above.

I'm now lookign to replace my Sony using my refund but knoweldgeable, independent shop assistants recommend Sony for its professing and panels.  Catch 22?

Sony just don't seem to care!

[Kuschelmonschter]

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Side by side comparisons show that so Sony clearly has a potential winner.

---

You never watch something side-by-side. Most people don't care about those nuances in quality. Most are not even willing to pay the extra for local-dimming or OLED which would really make the difference. I truely believe that the functional aspects are much more important to the average user, which is where Sony fails miserably. That's why I can't understand why some sales people still recommend it. They are probably geeks themselves who connect tens of boxes and use Sony as pure display. However I have heard quite the opposite. Dealers who are really fed-up due people's feedback, some of which even banned Sony from their shelves.

You can tell from market share that Sony is going down the *****..

This does not happen when you make good products.

[Jecht_Sin]

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lgcebr wrote:

Yet the TVs can't play an mp4 video file from an exFAT formatted USB drive.  This happened on my TV and in store when I asked someone to show me it working.

---

I have seen in a previous post that you use "Apple OS". macOS or OS X, I imagine. I had to hit my head myself badly on this, until I realized, as @Kuschelmonschter wrote, that it should be a matter of partition tables. In macOS/OS X when we format a device using the GUID partition table the OS actually makes 2 partitions:

1. An "EFI" partition 200MB in size and FAT32 (or FAT?) format
2. The main partition (then formatted with the file system we like. exFAT in your case)

This causes big confusion, especially with Android TV, because Android TV does recognize the USB device, but what it actually recognize is the EFI partition, not the 2nd, main one. If you check in the Memory settings, you should see that the size of your USB device is 200MB indeed. The EFI partition gets mounted and it is empty, thus making us thinking it doesn't see any of our files.

The solution, if using macOS/OS X, is to re-format the USB device using MBR. The PS4 falls for this as well. It is how I descovered it. And that leaves me a bit surprised since the PS4 has a Unix Free BSD variant.

I am not sure who is out of standard. Indeed I have seen that when the TV formats the USB device as memory extension it formats it in ext4 using the GUID (GPT) partition table, thus making a small FAT32 partition as well, just much smaller (57MB if I remember correclty). But on this last point I should check it again, take it with a grain of salt.

[lgcebr]

Hi and thanks for your advice which sounds liek it could be a solution.  Sorry if I'm turning this into USB 101 but I tried to follow the stps to get the USB formatted as you suggested with no luck.

I tried to erase the drive with ExFAT and MBR selected.

This process failed and the Mac said the USB wa snot readable any more by the computer.

"Partition" was greyed out so I coulnd't try making a partition.

It sounds like I'm missing a stage out here to follwo your advice.  I'll keep trying but if you can tell me where I'm going wrong I'd be very grateful.

Thnaks again

[lgcebr]

I'm beginning to wonder if this problem with playing USB video files isn't actually  a format issue.

First before the update the files in my USB stick played perfectly for over a year so I must have got the stick formatting and file format right.

Secondly I am reading more and more reports of USB problems after v3.885.

Finally Sony stated to me that they are aware of some USB functionality being knocked out by the update.

Even some of the new OLED Sonys can't play from USB - and that's a £3000 TV not working as per product description.Yet they are still being sold as capable of doing so.  I wonder what the Advertising Standards Authority would make of that!

Sony would do us all a favour by acknowledging what won't work any more and putting out a time frame for a fix.

It's no use having three USB ports on the TVs when they are all useless!

 Surely when they produce an update they test this sort of thing?  Not to do so would be at best careless and at worst ..........  Supply your own word!

[MiCal1967]

Unexpected_Reboot :

(Questions)

Q1 – What is your TV Model Number?

KD-55X8508C

Q2 – Since when did you experience the random reboot issue?

• Since TV Purchase?
• Since Software update? (Please state exact software/firmware version) Since v3885
• Not Sure?

Q3 – How often does the random reboot issue occur (i.e. once a day, twice a day, once a week etc.?)

Happened 3 times. Twice during power ON from STBY, once by simply pressing Home button on remote

Q4 – Are you able to consistently reproduce this issue?

• No, the problem is totally random
• Yes – Please describe the step-by-step procedure

Q5 – How does your TV receive its broadcast signal?

• Digital TV by terrestrial antenna
• Digital TV by satellite dish (state satellite system)
• Digital TV by cable (state cable provider name)
• Analog TV
• Other (please describe)

Q6 – Is a CAM card necessary to reproduce the reboot problem? No

Q7 – What other devices are connected to the TV? Logitech K400 plus keyboard

Q8 – Does disabling Interactive Applications help avoid the reboot problem? (Instructions: HERE) Can't check since random and very few times

Q9 – Does turning OFF “Update Guide in Standby” help avoid the reboot problem? 

(HOME > Settings > Channel setup > Digital Setup > Guide set-up > Update Guide in standby > OFF) Can't check since random and very few times

Q10 – Any other additional information to add?

Browsing or editing Satellite channels on v3885 results TV Unresponsive and many many others from the past.

[sadrobot]

I also have issues with the 3885 update - mainly with features stopping at regular intervals. Never happened before until this update. A small selection of failures can be seen below. But I've also seen Netflix, YouTube, Bluetooth and more cause failures. I've done a factory reset and a soft reset, but it still happens. Nothing causes it - we can be just watching Sky/a blu ray/gaming and it will just randomly happen. And it happens a lot!

This is on a KD--55X9005C. We're not sure what else to try!

[Anonymous]

Hi @sadrobot

I have esclated your issue to Sony Support as there is not much we can do on these forums once a factory reset doesnt solve a problem such as this.  They should be in contact with you in the next couple of days.

Cheers