Bravia KDL-42W705 - Netflix only works if TV is factory reset each time.

[Droverunner]

Bought TV new in Jan '15 and everything about it has been great until a couple of weeks ago. Now Netflix will randomly stop working and only comes back with a full TV factory reset. Sometimes it will work throughout a day then need a reset to work the following day. Sometimes you only need to come out of Netflix for a moment and it will not work if you go back in minutes later.

It will always come back for a full TV factory reset but that's an absolute pain.

The TV is networked to our BT Home Hub via wi-fi and Youtube etc still works OK so I assume the wi-fi is OK.

We have a Youview PVR connected to the TV via the same home hub and Netflix works fine on this playing to the TV via HDMI... but that's not the point as it's a feature of the TV we want to work without additional equipment.

The TV has the latest firmware.

My problem seems different to most Netflix issues on this site as the usual complaint is it just doesn't work at all. Any thoughts appreciated.

[Droverunner]

Thanks for the update. Sadly Sony have failed to meet their promised 48hr deadline in responding to my case. It's only that I don't want to mess about with TV swaps so close to Christmas that's stopped me carrying it back into John Lewis to get another brand.

Sony support have so far been utterly shocking once it progresed beyond the first call I made to them when I believed the "we want to help you" spiel.

For the sake of total accuracy... my menu's in that "resolution" from Sony I posted a few days ago were slightly different but I could find the items they wanted reset. I was fine setting the "remote start" to off but have to admit I couldn't change my auto date/time to off as it was a greyed option set to on.

I do try Netflix every couple of days just in case but hold out little hope.

[Droverunner]

Oh they've just mailed again.... trying to resolve blah blah. Check your router parental controls and so on. They know I don't have parental controls enabled.

[Cicero46]

Ho Ho, it's the season of goodwill. I've just had my support contact (Michael) on the phone telling me he would send me an email with instructions that he was sure would fix the problem. Taking a quick glance at the instructions, I said I was sure I'd done it all before, but said I would follow them exactly. He would call me back tomorrow morning. Well, I can report that it all had no effect. Here is my emailed reply:

The main body of my email:

Thanks for your phone call and email. I have followed the instructions below exactly and have not been successful. I have inserted comments within your email. Please read my comments and the following paragraph.

For information, I also have an LG TV with a Netflix app. I received a similar error at about the same time (1st Dec) and was able to resolve it immediately by selecting a Reload Netflix option on their very similar diagnostic screen. Your diagnostic screen does not have this option. Is there any way that I could do anything equivalent, e.g. Remove and Reinstall the Netflix app?

The annotated email which Michael sent me and my comments delimited by three asterisks.

If you experience the error code UI-113 while watching Netflix on your device, it typically points to some information on your device that needs to be refreshed. Follow the troubleshooting steps below to resolve the issue.
*** I don't experience the UI-113 error while watching Netflix. I experience it while Netflix is trying to start up. That is, about one minute after pressing the Netflix button on the remote or selecting Netflix from the list of Apps. During this one minute, the red Netflix banner is displayed and a red circle is rotating. When Netflix has successfully started, before the latest Firmware update, the red circle rotated for only a few seconds. ***

Restart the device

1. Unplug your device from power for at least 1 minute.
2. While the device is unplugged, press the power button on the device to discharge it.
3. Plug your device back in.
4. Turn your device on with the power button.

*** OK, turned off TV using remote and then did all the above ***

Sign Out then Sign In

Most devices can be signed out of Netflix using the steps below. If you are still unable to sign out after following the steps, please search our Help Centerfor device-specific instructions.
*** I cannot find any device-specific instructions to guide me when all these instructions fail to enable me to sign into or out of Netflix ***
*** I have tried deactivating Netflix on all devices, from my account on netflix.com, and this succeeds in doing so for all other devices, but it has no effect on my two Sony W705C TVs (even after 48 hours) probably because I can never reach the Netflix home screen on these devices ***

Sign out of Netflix
1. Begin from the Netflix home screen. ** I don't see a Netflix home screen, as it displayed UI-113 error after one minute of the rotating red circle. When I check the network I get the four green ticks, and it makes no difference if I connect directly to the Hub via lan and setup the network connection accordingly ***

2. Navigate up and select Settings or the Gear icon .
3. Select Sign out.
4. Select Yes to confirm.
5. You will now be given the option to sign in as a different Netflix member.
*** Can't do steps 2 to 5 ***

If you cannot locate Settings or the Gear icon:
1. From within the Netflix application, use the arrows on your remote to enter the following sequence:
o Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Up, Up, Up, Up.
*** I can only do this while the red circle is rotating and it has no effect. If I try it a second time, it still has no effect. If I try it while the UI-113 error screen is displayed, it has no effect. ***

2. Select Sign out or Deactivate.
3. You will now be given the option to sign in as a different Netflix member.
*** Can't do steps 2 to 3 ***

Sorry it's so long, but I thought I would be precise as possible. Michael did say that I was welcome to share this with the Sony community website. Does anyone at Sony ever read it? And weep?

[Cicero46]

After that disappointment, I contacted John Lewis technical helpline via the store I bought the 40" model from. The helpful lady took down the details and arranged for an engineer to visit (third party specialist company) on Tues 5th Jan, with a view to confirming that there is by then still a problem that means that the TV is not fit for purpose. Would have been about a week if that had suited us. JL will then ask Sony what they intend to do about it and replace the TV under their 5yr warranty if their is no immediate satisfactory resolution. The engineer will also take a look at our other TV so that I can then take it up with the insurance company that provided it to us. That's what you call "customer service".

[Withnail77]

Hello all, anyone got a fix yet? Any news on a firmware update?

[Cicero46]

Well, at Sony support's request I tried another factory reset before Christmas. Tried Netflix several times and got a series of different error codes. On the second attempt, Netflix actually started and ran OK. All other attempts failed with nw-2-5 or ui-113. On Monday, after 5 days on standby, I got error code nw-8-17 several times, but eventually got ui-113.

The John Lewis engineer (from Peterborough specialist PVS) called to test the TV and I sent details of my case to their technical manager. Later he called me and suggested that the problem could be a communication failure between the Sony firmware and BT Hub 3. He said there is some evidence that replacing the hub with Hub 5 might avoid the problem. He said that eventually Sony will probably fix the problem. He knew of multiple problems with the current firmware version and he had heard of an email from Sony talking about a firmware upgrade in February.

Does anyone else with this problem have BT Hub 3?

N.B. Netview works fine on BT TV Youview via Hub 3 because this is BT firmware and not Sony firmware. BT would have tested it on all their hubs.

Yesterday, my Sony support engineer called to ask whether I still had the problem and then said he would send me an email asking for more technical info. I asked whether this was the same info as I had sent him in mid December. He checked and said it was. He then said he would escalate to the technical team and report back in 2-3 business days. This is exactly what he said he would do in mid December. Deja vu all over again!

[Droverunner]

Christmas and New Year means I've not had the time to sort this out further since my last post.

I've lost all faith in Sony tech help because, as with you, they just go round the same loop every time you phone as if you've never tried any of the steps before.

We are pretty well back in the groove now though after New Yeart and I will not deal with the Sony hlepline again... I'll start the process of John Lewis swapping the TV.

Oh BTW I regard the possibility that the problem is more likely with a Home Hub 3 (yes that's what we have) as a side issue. The TV worked fine for 9mths with this Hub and it's the TV that has been altered by Sony with that new firware download to cause Netflix to fail. There are thousands of Home Hub 3 users out there and Sony should have tested the firmware update will all common Hub types.

[Droverunner]

Well an update...

Decided to try and give this one last go for a resolution today with the info that BT Home Hub 3's could be prone to this and want to see if BT will send me (FOC) a home hub 4... still think Sony's update (if that did cause the Netflix failure) should cope with all hubs/routers but hey ho... anything to try and sort it.

So speak to BT who get me through to the wrong person twice then the third person can barely understand my problem then says they have a special Netflix department who can help and gives me that number. Damn me it just turns out to be Netflix themselves. So call BT again and get a 4th person who refuses any tech advice and keeps trying to sell me an upgrade to BT Infinity on a new contract. I decline this and she tells me I don't understand that the problem will be our broadband speed and a replacement hub has to have a new broadband to go with it... I kid you not.

So John Lewis customer care next...

After updating them that there was no further progress they are polite but backtracked from being responsible from the full operation of the TV saying that smart functions and third party apps were beyond their control. I could not accept that in regard to Netflix functionality so they phoned Sony for advice. Sony would not confirm or deny the possibility their firmware update had caused the problem but did mention a further update was due in March.

I told John Lewis this wasn't satisfactory but they were still reluctant to swap an 11mth old TV. Finally they offered a £50 refund that we could use to buy a smart TV device that we could plug into the Sony. Despite not being a total answer I've accepted this and we've called the issue settled between us and John Lewis.

Then I went on Ebay and have bought an unused Home Hub 4 (£10) locally which I collect soon as it's worth that long shot a newer hub might work.

I'll report back.

By the way I spent 2.5hrs on the various calls and call waiting today!!!

[Cicero46]

Hmmm, you have my admiration, @Droverunner, for such dedication. This morning, I sent the following email to my Sony support contact:

"This is a follow-up after an investigation by the company that has inspected my TV. It seems that the current firmware version may not work correctly with BT Home Hub 3 and that this is the reason for these 'network' related errors.

Can your technical team confirm whether this is true and whether any testing for these problems has been carried out on BT Home Hub 3? Are Sony and BT in contact over this matter? There was no issue with BT Home Hub 3 for several months before December". No answer yet.

If BT and Sony are indeed in contact, do we imagine that the BT support people would know anything about it? Not likely. So if any of us phones to ask for a Hub upgrade, we'll only be offered a re-contract for a year and a reduced price hub 4 or 5, unless we can speak to someone more knowledgeable. In my case, I already have BT Infinity, so the problem is definitely not caused by a lack of broadband speed.

[Withnail77]

Great persistence Droverunner. For the record I also have a Hub 3.0 and i'm still waiting to hear back from Sony.....

It occured to me that another workaround might be to manually upload an older version of the firmware (if these are available?)