The firmware can be obtained here (http://www.firmwareupdate.us/)

Note: There is two firmware discs which is available from the site. The older one is the only one which has contains the Denon 1600 firmware 068 and supports fewer models. The latest one supports units listed on the page and does not contain the Denon firmware.

Alright, I'll bite... so what are the "extras"? Just the confirmation of extra models supported?

I updated my XP50 with the disc a while ago, and it seemed to work fine. Why are the XP30/XP50 not listed there?

Hmm, this is why I suggest reading carefully. The answers is already in my start thread!! =)

The XP50 firmware is clearly listed from what I see.

Bascially there is firmware updates for more units.
The disc size is 140M compared to the 94M which was originally proided.

Sango

I wasn't able to upgrade my XP50 using the previous firmware. Tried everything. Have high hopes for the new firmware. I'm hoping the player itself isn't the issue as it had a horrendous time with K19 the other night -- drop outs, freeze ups, etc.

I've downloaded the firmware linked to the above and its 94M. Do you mean its 140M once its Un-compressed and burned onto the CDR?

thanx

:)

Stupid question but what improvements does flashing this new firmware do to an XP30?

cpc:
Yes, once it's uncompressed and burned to a CD-R, it will be about 140M.

doddiedog:
I'm assuming you don't have version 302, if you do the disc doesn't do anything and it basically invokes the recovery portion of the disc and resets your unit to factory settings.

It seems like the new disc solved some member's issue of not being able to update the applicable units from the disc which was originally released out.

Improvments going from the top of my head are the following:
Quicker layer change
Player responds quicker
Color rendering has been re-ramped
Better VCD/SVCD/MP3 playability
DVD+-R Playability (or improved)

Hope this answers your quesion.

Sango

Thanks.

I may have to do this flash.

Well. Its interesting. I may give it a try. My CV51 is listed so who knows.

Yes a lot more units are supposed and CV51 is one of them! =)

I attempted an update to a Panasonic DVD-S35 player. I started the upgrade process and went to a black screen with "Close" on the DVD screen. It stayed in this state for 30+ minutes. At this point I powered the unit off. It will power on and the settings are back to factory default. It will play DVDs as well. If I check the firmware version, it says: F114771B273 . This doesn't seem to be the correct firmware for this player by the list above. If I stick the firmware CD in again, it goes immedaitely (after loading the disk) to the black screen with "Close" on the DVD player. I have left it in that state a very long time (> 1 hour) and it stays there. I have tried the ISO and the NRG images both burned with Nero 6 on two different CD media. Same behavior of both. Any suggestions what might be going on? I'm glad I didn't create a brick out of it though!

For those of you with a Mac, just mount the ISO image on the desktop and use Apple's OSX 10.3 Disk Utility to burn it on to a CDR.

Well, my CP-72 was updated to 302 ( the old firmware was 2xx something). Now, I'll try to see if there is any kind of improvement to a already good player.

Hmm it could get rid of the Y/C delay on the 72.
--

Hi Ricker:

The webpage is slightly typed incorrectly since Kevin T had a slightly different interpretation, but the firmware is in fact correct form what you typed out.

It's suppose to be written as 70B608/70H329/71B273

This is one of the typical problems which some of the units will expereince. After the unit upgrades, for some reason the completed screen never comes up as it displays the blank screen. If it stays like that for an extended peorid of time, just turn off and power it on again. Since you already did it, you now know what happend.

When put the disc in for the second time, bascially what happened is that the unit's firmware was checked and since the unit is already up-to-date, the recovery porton of the disc was invoked. This essentually is suppose to bring up the completed screen but once again you experienced a black screen.

Hope this solves your questions

Sango

Hi Sango
hope you don't mind posting in your thread but has to do with an upgrade
ie
I upgraded my Panny RP-91 dvd player firmware that was hooked into The Sammy 61" DLP via component 2
after the upgrade finished i started getting this message on my DLP ie "NOT SUPPORTED MODE"
after messing around i found the dvd player worked on Component 1 which is 480i/480p
note component 2&3 are 480p, 720p and 1080i

I got my kids progressive scan cyberhome DVD player and used it's component outs and hooked it up to Component 2 and 3 and still got the same message

So are my DLP component 2 &3 dead somehow thru retrograde F/w activation of a dvd plyer
or is this normal behavior?

at least the TV is under warranty
thanks for any help

i posted here also has more people seem to read this thread and may get a similar problem
thanks

From reading, it looks like your TV has an issue. There would be no way a DVD player would of messed up the TV thou.

Did you try 480p on the component 2 and 3 on your TV using the RP91?

thanks Sango for your reply
I got it to work finally
there is no progressive on/off in the menu which is where i first looked
but is rather on the player itelf in the form of a tiny button
the manual is long gone and have never had to mess with my initial settings as my whole system is on a UPS, but the f/w upgrade reset everything

anyway the upgrade went smoothly to help out others the upgrade proceeded with the yes/no prompt but even an hour later the player was still in play mode with blank screen
i just ejected the cd and turned player off and on and did the manual reset and everything was fine exept the above problem

thanks for the program

Good to hear.

Well in the instructions on the website, it does say to set back your user settings. Since I have a RP56, that one has a progressive button too as well.

BTW: You can go to the Panasonic site and view the manual on PDF so you can use it for reference.

Sango

Despite the notes and warnings, has anyone used the update on region-free players? How about non-US players?

Was wondering if there's any damaging effects.

Hi Pixel:

The firmware can be used on the applicable players listed except for the RA61 Euro, so you can use it on non-US players as well. Kevin put the word US based players but I need to tell him to take that out.

One member has already gotten a side effect for using the RA61 on a Euro unit which turned it into a R1 unit and it's sending a NTSC signal instead of a PAL. He is trying to get out of it by obtaining a recovery disc for that particular model which may solve the problem.

Reguarding the firmware being used on region-free players, this question has already been answered on the other thread but I'll only mention it once here. You can't use it on a region-free player because the firmware will be rewritten to stock as it updates. The solution to this is to obtain the modified version of the firmware(which will have a number above the original to differentiate between them).

Sango

Thanks. I burned the ISO image to a CD-R and successfully updated my RP-91 from firmware 250 to 262. Not sure what good it does yet, but it's nice to have the latest version for any improvements, such as faster layer changes, etc.

Before doing the upgrade I went into the menus and copied down all my settings, so I could set them back after update. Also have to repress the "progressive out" button on the unit since it defaults back to interlaced output.

Originally posted by hondo21
Before doing the upgrade I went into the menus and copied down all my settings, so I could set them back after update. Also have to repress the "progressive out" button on the unit since it defaults back to interlaced output.

How do you view the technical menus/settings related to the upgrade?
Or are you referring to the normal menus accessible from the 'menu' button?

The download link is gone. The author claims he removed it until he receives enough donations to help offset hosting costs......

Lovely. Anyone willing to post so I can download?

Originally posted by HD_JUNKIE
The download link is gone. The author claims he removed it until he receives enough donations to help offset hosting costs......

Lovely. Anyone willing to post so I can download?

On 5/27, I posted the ISO of Sango's new firmware to alt.binaries.multimedia.utilities. Depending on your news server retention, it may still be available. Check out this post (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?postid=3852681#post3852681) for more info.

My news server gets only a few things from 5/27 and this is NOT one of them. Could you re-post to the newsgroup please?

Thanks.

Additonal hosts are needed.

If you can make them available, I will edit the start thread to reflect that.

Hi Sango,

I read alot in this forum but I rarely post. I just try to follow the explanations. Thia is the first time I've ventured into the dvd forum and I wasn't aware of firmware upgrades. I have a 1600 that I'd like to upgrade to the current firmware but my original is too old. It's rev. 043. I guess that's why I couldn't watch some other dvd-r discs. Anyway, is there any chance that I could acquire what I need to upgrade my unit to the 068 that is required or am I doomed? Thx in advance.

Vince

Yes you can still obtain the disc. I have 2 copies at home and will make more accordingly when people would like to have one mailed.

$10(including shipping) is reasonable enough for me.

Just PM me and will see how to proceed from there.

Originally posted by Sango
The webpage is slightly typed incorrectly since Kevin T had a slightly different interpretation, but the firmware is in fact correct form what you typed out.

It's suppose to be written as 70B608/70H329/71B273


The list has been fixed.

HD_JUNKIE,

I've reposted the new firmware to alt.binaries.multimedia.utilities. Same name as before, but with REPOST: added to the subject.

Omen:

Thanks, but I cannot figure out how to download with Outlook Express. I see lots of entries, highlighted them all and selected the download and combine option. The result is that OE claims the file type is unsafe and is blocking it.

Any recommendations?

HD_JUNKIE,

I use NewsBin Pro (http://www.newsbin.com) to manage all my newgroup downloads. This software puts all the parts of each post together for you so you don't have to download and assemble them manually.

I gave up on using Outlook Express a few years ago, so I'm not sure how/if it can now handle multi-part posts; it sure couldn't handle them (in any sane sort of way) when I was using it. NewBin Pro has a 10-day fully-functional trial, so you might want to download it and try it out.

I figured out how to download the 6 RAR files and 7 PAR2 files using OE. Now I suspect I need to extract the 6 RAR files before burning a CD??? What do I do with the 7 PAR2 files? I'm not familiar with a PAR2 extension.

Thanks

It appears that the 6 RAR files all have the same ISO inside. So, do I only need to use one fo the ISO's to burn the CD? Its 144MB??

I'm a bit clueless here.....

HD_JUNKIE,

I'm glad you got OE to download the files.

The PAR2 files are only needed if parts of your downloaded posts are incomplete or missing. Instead of people having to upload missing/damaged parts over and over again, the downloader can use the PAR2 files to repair the posts. I use QuickPar (http://www.quickpar.org.uk/) to process the PAR2 files. It's freeware.

I got it. My RP56 has been updated. Thanks.

Originally posted by HD_JUNKIE
It appears that the 6 RAR files all have the same ISO inside. So, do I only need to use one fo the ISO's to burn the CD? Its 144MB??

The 6 RAR files (*.part01.rar thru *.part06.rar) all make up the one ISO file, which is about 141 MB. The ZIP of the ISO that I got from the web page could not be posted in one file (well, it's possible, but that large of a file would most likely not propagate completely to the other Usenet servers). RAR is an accepted way of compressing files AND splitting them up into manageable pieces. RAR also contains integrity checking, but so does PAR2, which I mentioned in a previous message.

You would use WinRAR (or another utility) to rebuild the one ISO file from the 6 RAR pieces. Whatever program you are using would know how to reconstruct the file(s) inside the RAR's.

Originally posted by HD_JUNKIE
I got it. My RP56 has been updated. Thanks.

We're playing a great game of post-tag :)

I'm glad you got your RP-56 upgraded.

Hmm why not make it 6 seperate downloads they the one they want instead of downloading mega one then figuring out which one they want. Seems more efficient and less pull on the bandwidth.

Sango,

The ISO file is the only one I included for Usenet upload, since it's more compatible with various burning applications. The 6 RAR files MUST be combined to recreate the 1 ISO file. The 6 RAR files (compressed) are a total of 77.36 MB, while the 1 ISO file (uncompressed) is 141 MB. The reason why I made 6 RAR files instead of just 1 is that Usenet convention is to break extremely large files into several pieces, so that if one piece doesn't propagate correctly to the other Usenet servers, a person can just upload that one piece instead of having to upload the entire large file again. Also, dial-up users need smaller files so they can plan their downloads to process a couple of parts per day.

Originally posted by pixel8
How do you view the technical menus/settings related to the upgrade?
Or are you referring to the normal menus accessible from the 'menu' button? I meant the normal user setting menus, like display type, audio options, etc.

If you're talking about the RP-91, there is some information on the service menu here (http://home.cogeco.ca/~hdtvguy/A_%20FAQ_RP91.htm#MAINTNENANCE_INFO), from which you can see some more technical information.

Ahh that makes sense now. I thought 6 rar files, which were in 3 different formats in two formats, zip and rar !! eheheh!! my bad. =)

As least peopel will be happy to download. =)

Originally posted by Sango
As least peopel will be happy to download. =)

I hope so, it takes me about an hour to do the upload :D

Apart from the burn taking a long time, the upgrade went smooth. Burnt the CDR using Blindwrite. Had no options available, but it went slooww. Thats fine. Inserted it in my Panasonic DVD CV51 and it said "This player (or your player) needs the update. Update? YES NO". I pressed yes and although you're supposed to wait 5 or 10 minutes, it didn't take very long and the player re-started.

I'll report back on my findings in terms of the firmware revision.
My player went from 67 to 103.

Right off the bat, one of my biggest pet peeves has been fixed!!! With my CV51, I used to press OPEN to turn it on so I could insert/remove DVD's/CD's and it would take like 16 to 20 seconds to spin the carousel and look at each of all the discs first before finally opening up. The first thing I did after this firmware upgrade was turn the player off. I waited a second and I hit the OPEN button. It turns on and opens the carousel in one second! Yayy! I'm happy. Now I'll check out the rest of its operation and see how it is now.

What sort of improvements should I keep my eye open for again?

Enjoy folks :)

Call me cautious or sceptical .... but don't you all think you are a little too hasty or careless to simply jump onto this 'new firmware' bandwagon, without ever considering the possible damage or consequence to your already-working-fine players? There is yet a first report to be heard, for virusses or bugs that may be imbedded into those firmwares, which is been shared/transferred around but it is possible, I'm sure.

I'm sure some, if not all aren't even sure what new features/benefits are available from the new firmware, judging from posts that mention "same problems exist but what the hell, it's nice to have the latest firmware".

Originally posted by pixel8
There is yet a first report to be heard, for virusses or bugs that may be imbedded into those firmwares, which is been shared/transferred around but it is possible, I'm sure.

I appreciate your being cautious downloading PC files from the internet. But my *set top* RP-62 won't get a virus from the firmware image.

thanks I was able to update my player.

Can anyone tell me the buttons to push to tell the hours used on the Panasonic player? I seen it listed before but can't find it in the serch.

Hi Lucius:

Depending on the unit, the scaling is different.

DVD/CD Laser: PAUSE + FWD-SKIP + 5 (two different sets of numbers, one for DVD, the other for CD)
Spindle: PAUSE + FWD-SKIP + 6

I just flashed my RP62 and the upgrade did exactly what I had hoped it would do:

1. I can now read DVD+RW (HP 4x is the only type that I have right now)

2. I can now read about three or four of those cheap generic dvd-r brands that I could not previously read (Supermedia is one that I just got - about $40 for a spindle of 100).


I have yet to make any video quality observations and I still need to see if my dvd-rw 1x media flakes out near the end (stutter/skip/lockup) but hopefully this will be fixed as well.

Thanks to all for getting this patch out!

Thanks for the firmware Sango. My RP62 is good now.

I burnt it using 32X and the upgrade went in just fine; took about 5 minutes altogether.

Doesn't look like JVB has the latest firmware for code free upgrade.

Hi kindianspring:

Usually burning at a lower speed is better because some of the units may not like it. I would normally recommend 4x to be on the safe side or 1 if unit unit supports it.

JVB does have the patched firmware for the latest version but it's useless without the JVB mod chip so you basically have to purchase the mod kit. Modifying the firmware isn't enough because so much can be done so this is why the chip is required, which is the way it should be modified.

Sango

You are right about the speed, Sango. 4X/8X is safe and would recommend the same. I believe those were the original speeds suported by DVD/CD drives (when they introduced the combo).

For other regions I just use my DVD-ROM drive. I have it flashed to RPC1.

I did this update on my panasonic s25k and now the colors are all wrong. all the flesh tones are green. i checked all the user settings, and they are all correct. it almost seems like component out isnt enabled even though the menu says it is. any suggestions???? btw the firmware version after the update is 80b227.

Mike

That I'm not quite sure but did you try the reset sequence.
The official disc does say the S25 is supported.

i did the reset shown on the website, but it still looks the same. is there any way to set it back??

Well unless the TV wasn't set right and the unit is sending out the correct colors which would explain the green flesh tones.

Setting the firmware to a previous version is going to be a bit difficult because you need to get it patched one with version override to do it.

the tv settings and hookups didnt change, it was right after the update that it happened. ill play around with the setting some more, and if that doesnt fix it, ill return it (its still under warranty)

Hi Mikaru:

Good good. Well I guess you're lucky. Just don't tell them about it. BTW: I would use this return as a good oppertunity for you to consider purchasing the DVD-S97.

I do apologize for the inconvience you had.

Sango

Hi there.....
Can someone tell me where I have to go to Download the panasonic rv32 firmware.
Thanks

i ran the firmware again, and everything is ok. i just something didnt take the first time......so all is good.

Mike

sakic007,

If you can't download it from the web site, I'll upload the firmware to alt.binaries.multimedia.utilities . I can probably do that sometime today.

Sango,

Do you have a specific list or documentation of the improvements/changes for the XP30/50. All of us XP30 owners would like to know. Maybe we should get hometheaterhifi.com to retest the XP30 with this latest 302 firmware to see exactly, as well.

I need to find the layer change in one of my movies so I cna see just how much that improved. Hmmmm....

Hi LightUp:

There isn't a list specific the units however there list various lists which includes them in the other firmware thread(the official one) of mine several times. It's up for the people to read them because it's already been covered.

I probably agree the units should be retested, but we all may have to write a proposal.

Sango,

What other thread? Can you post a link to it here?

Thanks.

LiteUp:

The other thread is in the fourm if you either used the search function or look through manually to page 5(using default) to see it. I just bumped it back up to make it easier.

Sango

I've just completed uploading the 5/2004 firmware in ISO format to alt.binaries.multimedia.utilities. The titles of the posts are:

Panasonic DVD Player Firmware ** UPDATE 2004-05 **

There are 6 RAR's, 7 PAR2's, and 1 NFO. All the files should be available shortly.

I'm thinking of updating my Panny Xp30 (currently ver. 268 firmware).

My questions (hoping I'm not breaking any forum rules):

I searched for a region fix for this player as there are some region '2' DVD's that I would like to play in my region '1' XP30 (these dvd's are not avail in the U.S.). I'm trying to keep my loved XP30 and want to avoid a separate player just to play a couple of region '2' dvd's.
In anycase, I could not find a solution to this online. I think I did notice some places that sold a region free modded Xp30, but you had to buy the whole player?

Anyways, I'm guessing a firmware upgrade will not unlock my region 1 XP30, but would upgrading it prevent me from unlocking the region 1 in the future? Or, is there anything I can do 1st (regarding the region free)?

Or, are my only options for this player is a firmware upgrade w/o any region free options?

fleaman

Hi Fleaman:

Your question doesn't violate the rules.

Unforunately, there isn't a region fix which would enable region free capabilities, so you will need to purchase a mod kit. You can purchase the mod kit for the XP30 here (http://www.jvb.nl/jvb.asp?level=modifications&curpage=&page=title&searchtype=&searchstring=&title=446&cur=2) from JVB.

The firmware update is original so everything will be at the factory specs. You can update to the latest firmware if you want. If you do get the mod kit, you will be asked to provide the region and current firmware of the unit so they can create the patched version of the firmware(it will be a version number higher to differentiate between original and modified) to be able to communicate with the mod chip.

Hope this helps

Sango

Originally posted by Sango
Hi Fleaman:

Your question doesn't violate the rules.

Unforunately, there isn't a region fix which would enable region free capabilities, so you will need to purchase a mod kit. You can purchase the mod kit for the XP30 here (http://www.jvb.nl/jvb.asp?level=modifications&curpage=&page=title&searchtype=&searchstring=&title=446&cur=2) from JVB.

The firmware update is original so everything will be at the factory specs. You can update to the latest firmware if you want. If you do get the mod kit, you will be asked to provide the region and current firmware of the unit so they can create the patched version of the firmware(it will be a version number higher to differentiate between original and modified) to be able to communicate with the mod chip.

Hope this helps

Sango

Yes, this helps greatly!! Thanks Sango!

So, if I do this mod, should I do the mod 1st then the firmware update? Or?

Also, I noticed the region mod only allows say a region '2' to play through the interlaced out, not progressive? Oh, well, that is still better than nothing...
Maybe there is something about the progressive out on multiple regions that may not be compatible with the display device one might use (I have a Optoma H30 if that matters).

All in all, you have answered my wants that I have been searching for! Thanks…and when I do the firmware I certainly will donate a little!

Fleaman

Hey Sango,

I just noticed that the region mod seems to have a 3.03 firmware already on it? Is this correct?

Geez, I hate to cut your service out of the loop, but I'm guessing that with the region mod I don't have to update the firmware?

Well, if so, I think I will still donate a little to you for your integrity!

Let me know, Thanks,

Fleaman

Hi Fleaman:

Reguarding the mod, yes that is true it will enable PAL interlaced and not PAL progressive because I do believe it's hardware related. Here is a pic of the R3 which does say 576i but not progressive which probably explains the reason why.

http://home.comcast.net/~fu_family/dvdp.JPG

The 303 version is the patched 302 which allows the unit to be able to communicate with the mod kit.

You can update to 302 first if you want to get an experience of what the update firmware provides. Then when the mod kit arrives, it comes with the 303 version which you need to update to complete the modification.

That's basically what happened to me first when I didn't know at the time. I updated my R3 which has the JVB mod kit with the official firmware which resulted in losing the mod capabilities until I contacted them to explain what happened.

They said the firmware needed to be patched but they didn't have that firmware so then I mailed them a copy(that's how they have the latest patched now). After they received it, they patched it up right away for me and I got my mod back up and working.

Sango

Anyone actually believe this improved layer change. Mines clearly worse, heck it almost stops or studders on my CP-72. Have'nt really checked for anything else . although it may be faster responding.

hdtv00:

It really depends what you're watching. All units will have a slight stop/pause on the layer change. The firmware update makes the layer change slightly quicker and it varies from very short to non-existant. It doesn't eliminate it 100% if that is what you're trying mention.

Try reading the official firmware thread and look through all the responses.

Sango

Of course I know it does'nt get rid of it. I'm just saying it made it worse as far as I can tell. I noticed it before as it was'nt very good. Now it almost stops in a way that I say is worse. At least for a cp72.

Im saying before it was a hicup, now its a hickup..stop..go. Maybe it's all in my head but I've had the player long enough to know I liked the old one better. Just my observation , no more , no less.

One good thing at least. My player recovered from the HO2 error on its own after me opening it up and messing with it. Well I should say it's still playing for now....

hdtv00:

Which firmware version did you have previously? I maybe able to obtain a patched downgrade if you want to change it. It may not be the same version as you had before but it's something.

Did you notice any PQ improvements on your unit?

Sango

Oh it's not that big a deal really. I mean I swear it's slightly worse but the player was never great at the layer change anyway. PQ I'm not sure yet. I'm still at the point I pray it works every time I turn it on. I know one day it'll HO2 on me again. But who knows maybe I'll get lucky and it'll last awhile longer. Thanks for the offer of help though.

Hi Dear Friends
I have a Panasonic RV32 DVD player bought in Iran.It is "Region 2 PAL" and based on Its ID tag at rear of the machine , it is Panasonic RV32S-E.
I have tried all the region hacks I could find on the web for this player but non of them worked for me.
My last chance is the "Panasonic DVD Firmware Update R006 Nero" which I have downloaded with your help in this forum .But although the RV32 player is included in the list of players which can be upgraded by that disk,I am not sure if it is applicable to my machine because the "firmwareupdate" site says that it is for North American Panasonic DVD players -which expected to be NTSC- but mine is a PAL machine.So the question is:
Can I use that disk to upgrade my RV32 and change it to a Multiregion (Region-free) machine, or using that disk may cause permanent and irreversible damage to my player?.( based on [Pause]+[Open]+7 my machine has : ST5519 version 6A0104 and FLC version V147 )
I am looking forward to reading your kind answers soon.
Your concentration in this matter would be very much appreciated.
Regards.

Are you able to double check the firmware version because by looking at what you typed, that doesn't look like a firmware to me. Use the last 6 characters for the full firmware version. There will be a bit more information I can go on before I can assist.

Sango

Originally posted by Sango
Hi Pixel:

The firmware can be used on the applicable players listed except for the RA61 Euro, so you can use it on non-US players as well. Kevin put the word US based players but I need to tell him to take that out.

One member has already gotten a side effect for using the RA61 on a Euro unit which turned it into a R1 unit and it's sending a NTSC signal instead of a PAL. He is trying to get out of it by obtaining a recovery disc for that particular model which may solve the problem.
Sango

Hi Sango,

updating the RA61 Euro works fine for me: V100 50S027 to V100 50S050.
Using "Panasonic DVD Firmware Update R006.iso" (12/16/2003).

It is still a R2 player and it's sending a PAL signal.

My problem is that I want to convert it into a R1 unit, I have no R2 discs.
Does anybody have other ISOs to try?

Thanks, biko

Just curious, where did you get the firmware from?

I never released a R006.iso.

You're probably lucky on that one because with using the disc which I released, that can make your unit turn into a R1 and it will send out NTSC signal.

Sango

I got the R006.iso from FirmwareUpdate.us after I donated today.
Isn't this your site? Where can I find your disc?

Thanks, biko

Hi biko:

The firmware update website is Kevin's and my firmware is there. Apparently he named it incorrectly so it should of been R005 which is why it didn't make sense to me at first - I informed him about it and it will be corrected.

That seems very odd because the person who did the update on his RV31 Euro, it actaully ruined his unit by making it NTSC and R1. If you look at the official thread, you'll see about it.

Sango

Hi Sango,

hmmm... I read a thread where another German guy has done an update on his RA61 Euro and changed it to R1. Perhaps he wasn't using the R005 iso.

Is it possible to downgrade with R004? I'll try everything to get a R1 player.

Besides that, what are my options to change it to R1 without installing a mod chip? The Australian Service Disc? Modified Firmware?
Does anyone know the contains of the RA61 eeprom? I modified that om my A-350.

Thanks, biko

That's a possibility because speaking with Kevin, I have no idea that my previous and current versions of the firmware were being posted.

According to the official documentation of the R005 disc, it saids explicitly not to use the latest disc with the Euro.

EDIT: I notice in the official firmware list is does list the version you updated to thou.

It is possible to downgrade to R004 provided that it's been modified to override the firmware version, otherwise it will not allow it.

The SVC Disc is applicable to the RA61 which can make it region free.

I'm not quite sure what you're last line is saying since it isn't typed yet so you can retype it again.

Sango

Many DVD players do store their setup parameters in an electrically erasable memory (EEPROM), which is connected to the i2c bus.

If you do an initialize/reset the player, the default parameters are copied from flash memory (firmware) to EEPROM. If you change the setup parameters (eg. language, subtitels, video output), the memory of this EEPROM are modified.
Modchips are also connected to the i2c bus, they read the infrared signals from the remote to change the EEPROM or the video chip (Macrovision).

The Panasonic DVD A-350 reads its region code from an EEPROM register. The position was public, so I changed it from 2 to 1 and I was able to play R1 DVDs, until I did a reset.

My question was:
Is there any information about the RA61, if and where the region code is stored?

biko

@ Sango
Dear Sango
Thanks for your kind reply to me.
I checked it again.When I press [Pause]+[Open]+7 , a menu opens,its title is Service Screen and in 2 successive lines, it says:
ST5519 version : 6A0104
FLC version : V147
and on the player's panel I can see:
V147 6A0104
So what is your opinion.Is that R006 useful for me or it just changes my player to a useless Region 1 NTSC machine?
But I did find an advertisement which said their RV32 is Multiregion and it could also play WMA files, a feature which is not officially mentioned for this machine.You can check it by yourself:
h**p://w*w.mindlogic.com/MSDVD_PNSC_dvd-rv32_DTL.shtml
I am looking forward to reading your reply.
Thanks again.
Shahram-K

Biko:

Unforuantely, I'm not sure where the region code will be stored but most likely it's in the rom chip itself, in otherwards, the firmware.
-----

Shahram

I don't think it would be recommended to update your unit at all because it will change it to stock unit and could possibly change it into a NTSC unit. Also that it's been modified that is also taking a risk. You need to talk to the place where you got it from to obtain an update as I explained at the start thread.

Reguarding the firmware version, yes the way to determine the version is by reading the player's panel. However I still find it a bit suspicious about the firmware because all units report them as this.

XXYZZZ (ie. 12D642)

X = Number
Y = Letter
Z = Numer

Hello Sango. You have a PM. Thanks.

hi,
i have panasonic sc-ht75 dvd player
which firmware would be the best for it ? where can i find image with firmware update ?
what languages are included in that firmware ?
thanks for any help

regards

Hey Sango,

I downloaded your firmware, burned it to disc, checked my dvd-rp91d-k
for firmware version and it was 250.

i put in the disc and it said "player not applicable"

thanks

Dan

idagon:

The firmware works fine on the RP91 as lots of people have already upgraded their units, including myself.

Something didn't work right on your burn. Download the current and previous image to burn from the site and give it another try.

Sango

at the same time i downloaded the blindwrite and the neo images.

i burned both images to a disk using nero and blindwrite
burning went ok

both images say same thing

images were 006

That's strange that your unit isn't accepting the current. Can you provide me full firmware information (the 6 character ie. 65D302)?

Have you tried the reset sequence on your unit first as well? If not give it a shot to see if it fixes it.

The numbering system is actaully incorrect on the site. As of two days ago Kevin has elminated the numbers and change them back to the dates since there were assumptions which I wasn't aware of which has now been corrected when I found out.

5/04 is the latest which is 005 (incorrectly listed as 006)
3/04 is the previous which was listed incorrectly as 005.

Sango

ok , still no go

I re downloaded the 20045 files created another cd. Same outcome

the firmware version on the dvd player is:

HO98 50G250

also initialized the player before hand

idagon:

There seems to be something fishy with the firmware onboard with the unit.

I have uploaded a downgrade version with version overrule which will force the unit to ask for the update screen to appear to downgrade to 227. Hopefully this will be the solution.

Download here (http://home.comcast.net/~fu_family/downgrade.rar)

It's compressed in RAR format and the image is Nero.

If this works, you should be able to update to 262.

Sango

EDIT: I tested the overrule version personally and did updated back to confirm that it works.

will give it a try

thanks

it is only 5-6 megs , is this right?

Yes that is correct because this only contains 3 firmwares instead of a whole bunch.

It contains downgrade overrule of RP56, RP82 and RP91 which explains the small size. When extracted it's about 22 megs.

Sango

ok the 227 downgrade worked fine,
but the upgrade disc still dont work

now i'm at version 227

Weird!

I find it very suspicious. Where did you get your RP91? Hopefully it's not modified which could be trigger it not to like it.

Are you able to go back to up to 259? You can obtain this from the AVS forum.

Maybe one of the update versions could allow you to go up to 262, otherwise I'll try to get a version overule to 262 which will take a few days.

where on AVS do i obtain the 259 version

by the way i was at 250


I bought it used from a guy in arizona

I edited the previous post. Link above.

i downloaded the 259 firmware and it is working as I type

so i am able to upgrade from the 250 version

thanks for the help


also, since you own an rp91 , can you tell me if it can incrementally zoom in watching a 16x9 movie on a 4:3 TV?

if so how?


thanks again,

Dan

Hi idagon:

That's great to hear. Are you able to update to 262 from 259?

Reguarding the 16x9 zoom, it can zoom but there isn't increments when I used it. It's probably better off leaving it in it's 16:9 form to not distort the aspect ratio.

I haven't really used the RP91 that much since I mainly use my RP82 and RP56. I bought the RP91 because several members told me to get it and I wanted to see it for myself - It's a very good unit. I tend to like the interlaced better on the two units than the RP91, however, they do have their differences and they pretty amazing.

How does the unit feel to you now since you can compare with the S35?

Hmm btw: Any plans on getting a RP82/56 or XP30/50? =)

Sango

Yes now i can upgrade to 262!!


Honestly , I did not compare the 2 side by side, but my whole family has a very hard time telling the difference between the 35 and the 91 , picture wise.
maybe side by side would prove otherwise

of course the 91 can do more things and im certain the progressive on the 91 is much better

I like the incremental zoom on the 35 (1% at a time) so i can fill a little more of the screen and not cut off much horizontally

im not sure what the xp or 82 will give me that the 91 does not?


thanks again,

Dan

BTW how do you zoom?

Hi Idagon:

The player doesn't have a incremental zoom. They are sort of set as the ones listed in the manual.

The way you can zoom is by pressing the display button until you see one of the option which saids one of the things selected like Nor./Shink/Box (only one will be seen). However, you won't see it unless you enable progressive scan and you also need to be using component otherwise, there is no effect.

RP82/XP series will give you Faroudja power when you go progressive. Panasonic's best MPEG decoder is used in these units as well. They are not a scaler unit like the RP91 but these are one of the kind units to have. I've seen people bid on auctions like crazy. Even if you don't have progressive, the interlaced just as good as well. As you know, I do have 4 RP82 units at home.

Did you look at the shootout (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=5)?

Here (http://www.hometheaterhifi.com/cgi-bin/shootout.cgi?function=search&articles=all&type=&manufacturer=6&maxprice=0&deInt=0&mpeg=0) is a custom search of the Panasonics compare the rankings between the other Panny models.

Sango

thanks Sango, I'll read up

It seems like you have to pay for the firmware. I was wondering if anyone could send me the firmware over email? That would be very cool. Thank you.

Email: JeetJShah@gmail.com

I have a question. I am very new to newsgroups and can not figure out how to connect to them. I downloaded Newsbin as suggested but still cannot figure it out. Can someone please help me? Thank you.

I got skinsfan687 taken care of.

Hey Sango,

I just got me an RP82 for $50 shipped, it has the HO2 error just like my RP91 did!

now ive collected an s35,cp67,rp91 and rp82

I may sell the rp91. Use the cp67 in the bedroom, and the rp82 in the living room

also, since you own an rp91 , can you tell me if it can incrementally zoom in watching a 16x9 movie on a 4:3 TV?

If you have a 4x3 TV, the scaling function does you no good. The scaling function is designed to take 4:3 letterbox DVD's or 1.33 aspect ratio dvd's and scale them to 16x9 so that you don't have to use the aspect ratio modes, AKA zoom modes, on your 16x9 television.

The RP82 and XP30 are very nice, but they do not have the flexibility or scaling feature of the 91. I have an XP30 and an RP91. If I put the 91 into interlaced mode and let my Pioneer Elite RPTV perform the 480i to 480p conversion, the 91 performs equally with the XP30, and is some ways outperforms it. The 91 definitely gives a sharper image. Plus when I want to scale non-anamaphoric, I just put it in progressive mode. The only advantage the RP82/XP30 has is the faroudja deinterlacer, and that isn't as important if your display device has a quality deinterlacer.

The 91 is truly a great player and the scaling is very good. You don't hear any RP91 owners complaining about non-anamphoric dvd's ;)

RP82/XP series will give you Faroudja power when you go progressive. Panasonic's best MPEG decoder is used in these units as well.

The 91 uses this same chroma bug free mpeg decoder.

hi,

any firmware upgrade for panasonic sc-ht75 ????

regards

Hi idagon:

Seems great!! Are you planning to repair the units as well?

Sango

The 91 is truly a great player and the scaling is very good. You don't hear any RP91 owners complaining about non-anamphoric dvd's ;)

This is true; I didn't even realize my new restored version of Vertigo was not anamorphic due to it's great picture. JR

Yep Sango,

They are already fixed

Cool!

So I assumed you put the firmware updates in too! =) What have you observed so far looking at the RP82?

Oh yeah you forgot one more unit in your collection!! The RP56!!

Sango

Yes they are all updated with the latest firmware.

I compared the RP91 to the RP82 and IN INTERLACED MODE the RP91 has a better picture, in fact when calibrating with the 'Video Essentials' dvd, the RP82 wont go below black.

Now this is in interlaced mode, progressive would probably prove different.

a couple things of note:

the RP82 will do SVCD, the RP91 will not(without header fix)
the RP82 will read ID Tags on Mp3's and will display a nice menu on screen, the RP91 will not.
the RP82 will zoom with 4:3 mode, the RP91 wont.
the RP82 has cinema and a.srd the RP91 does not


the RP91 does scaling the RP82 does not(only in progressive though)

the RP91 picture is INCREDIBLE in interlaced mode

for now i have the RP82 installed(mostly because of the features and svcd compatibility)

Going back to the S35, i think the picture is very close to the RP82 (interlaced of course)

Im sure in progressive, the 82 will have the best picture

>Oh yeah you forgot one more unit in your collection!! The RP56!!

i cant think of any reason to own a 56? the cp67 is as good -IMHO

Now this is in interlaced mode, progressive would probably prove different.

RP91 passes blacker than black in interlaced mode only. It will not in progressive.

The RP82 only passes blacker than black in progressive mode, not in interlaced.

Oh yes gtaylor 74 is correct reguarding the blacker than black for the RP82 and RP91.

Reguarding the CP67 and RP56, I believe the 56 is better built. Also you can perform the SVC Disc trick on the RP56 as well so that will be an advantage for unlocking capabilities.

Sango

thanks for the info, gtaylor74


Sango, what is the SVC Disc trick?

nevermind Sango (svcd)

can you do that to the 91?

The SVC Disc trick will work on several units (naming the common ones off my head): RV31, RP56 and RP91.

With the trick, you can have Region Free + Macrovision Free in no time!! Hurrah!!

So are you considering to get the RP56? =)

what will it do that the 82 wont?

Where do i get the trick?

RP82 doesn't qualify for it so it will be of no use. You're going to have to get a mod kit to do that.

To get the trick, you need to get the disc first.

what will the 56 do that the 82 wont?

where do i get the disk for my 91?

thanks

I think I mentioned it in my initial reply. I'm referring to the unlocking capability, not the actual features both units have.

EDIT: Just curious, don't you have a progressive scan TV?

No i dont have HDTV
thats why I have been so interested in the interlaced quality

Sango,
Just downloaded the upgrade. My RP82 says someting to the effect "this disc cannot be played, please insert another disc".

One thing I noticed when burning is that my Mac truncates the last 3 zeros off the disc name, so the disc name ends in 000001 instead if 000001000.

Any thoughts?

Don't use a MAC to do it. The screen shots sort of hint that and the site doesn't reference anything about using one.

gtaylor74
When I got my RP91, I didn't check to see if it passed below black signals in interlaced mode (via composite). Since I've just loaded the update (version 262), there's no way to check its previous capabilities. I checked it after the update and all I know is that it does pass below black signals in interlaced mode via composite. Has your RP91 always passed below black or did it take an update to get this to work?

It appears that a few members are not reading and asking me if the firmware can be sent via email which is a pet peeve. Since it's already been answered, so please look it up.

Just tried the update on my Panasonic RV32 (European Model). It says on the screen that this player is not applicable to the up-date.

Any suggestions for a workaround for me?

Hi Joe,

As far as I remember, it has always done blacker than black via interlaced. Whether or not it did it via composite I have no idea as I've always used component connections. Both of my RP91's are also at V262.

ale_andy:

The first thing overlooked is that the firmware list doesn't list RV32 EU, it lists RV32. The second is the big heading in bold on the top in the website.

Sango

gtaylor74
Thanks.

Originally posted by gtaylor74
Hi Joe,

As far as I remember, it has always done blacker than black via interlaced. Whether or not it did it via composite I have no idea as I've always used component connections. Both of my RP91's are also at V262.

My RP91 has always passed the blacker than black interlaced but never in progressive. I think my original firmware was v227. Every firmware update has behaved the same way. It doesn't matter whether you use composite, component, or s-video (I used it to set up my NTSC video inputs too).

One confusing thing is that the pluge patterns in the old video essentials disc are not "blacker than black" in the chapters that teach you how to calibrate your set. The patterns in the test library at the end are correct.

Joe

The reason for the "boosted" levels is to show what's being clipped if a player doesn't pass below black information.

Originally posted by Joe Murphy Jr
The reason for the "boosted" levels is to show what's being clipped if a player doesn't pass below black information.

Right. Unfortunately, it is difficult for "beginners" (me at one time) to figure this out. If I remember correctly, there is nowhere on the disk where this is explained. It is very confusing if you use the step-by-step instructions to set up your system, only to find out that your player does not pass the below black information. They should have put a step in where you determine whether your player passes the info or not -- and then what to do if it does not.

I don't know if this problem still exists in the new version of VE.

This is really an aside from the topic (the RP91), I just threw it out as something to watch out for when determining whether or not the RP91 is passing the below black info.

Later,

Joe

No problemo.

The original Video Essentials had a one page paper that came with it. It explained, in short, about a player's ability to pass below black information. There were two pictures on the paper -- one showing the below black stripe and one with the stripe missing. My paper is long gone, but I seem to recall the paper mentioning what title/chapter to access on the DVD to determine if the player was capable of passing below black information and what to do if it didn't.

I believe the VE site has some mention of the "boosted" levels in the FAQ section.

Since Secrets doesn't really go into detail about interlaced quality, I thought that the RP91 (mine is a recent purchase) clipped below black just like its predecessors did. Obviously that's not the case. Why Panasonic chose to handicap the RP82 (Denon DVD1600), XP30/50 models in interlaced mode is beyond me. What I was hoping for with the new firmware was a fix for this flaw in those players (I have a Denon DVD1600): sadly, it's not.

I keep getting a "cant read disk" message on my xp50. What am I doing wrong? I downloaded the file and saved it to a CD R disk. Please help, Thanks

Originally posted by Joe Murphy Jr
No problemo.

The original Video Essentials had a one page paper that came with it. It explained, in short, about a player's ability to pass below black information. There were two pictures on the paper -- one showing the below black stripe and one with the stripe missing. My paper is long gone, but I seem to recall the paper mentioning what title/chapter to access on the DVD to determine if the player was capable of passing below black information and what to do if it didn't.

I believe the VE site has some mention of the "boosted" levels in the FAQ section.

Since Secrets doesn't really go into detail about interlaced quality, I thought that the RP91 (mine is a recent purchase) clipped below black just like its predecessors did. Obviously that's not the case. Why Panasonic chose to handicap the RP82 (Denon DVD1600), XP30/50 models in interlaced mode is beyond me. What I was hoping for with the new firmware was a fix for this flaw in those players (I have a Denon DVD1600): sadly, it's not.

The (new) copy of VE I purchased (three?) years ago did not have the paper. I had to figure out on my own -- it took me awhile to find/digest the references that were on the VE website FAQ. Maybe they are clearer now than they were then. I have been hoping, to no avail, for the progressive blacker than black passthrough to be fixed in every RP91 firmware version since version 236 came out. No dice.

Joe

Hi vneally:

Did you read the instructions on the website?

Sango

I did read the instructions several times. Excuse me if I cant figure it out.
Do I have to burn it with one of those programs? I have sonic and burnt it using that. I did this at 4x speed. Please help if you have time, I understand if your to busy. Thanks

When incorrect assumptions are taken, it's going to create problems.

You need to use one of the 3 programs and the image file which corresponds to them, which is why they are listed on the website.

I can help, but I want to make sure we're on the same page before progress is being made.

Sango

Anyone know if any other Panasonic player besides the RP91, can pass below black in interlaced?

Originally posted by vneally
I keep getting a "cant read disk" message on my xp50. What am I doing wrong? I downloaded the file and saved it to a CD R disk. Please help, Thanks

vneally,

The files on the web site are disk IMAGES. The burning programs take the image and recreate the proper directory/file structure on the CD-R. As Sango said, your best bet is to download a demo of Nero or BlindWrite (depending on the image you downloaded), and use that program to burn the image to a CD-R.

Thanks for your help! I will try again tonight.

vneally, let me know how things go.

Don't save the image on the CD-R, you need to burn it. The pictures on the website does show what is a good and bad burn references.

Also, the other way to test the disc after a burn is to use a DVD player program on the PC. If it plays and gives you a purple screen saying the player is unapplicable, it works.

Sango.

Hi Sango, Unfortunately I have tried and still no luck. I have went through at least 10 disks. I downloaded Nero 6 and tried to follow the instructions. I kept getting an error message at 4x so I moved it up to 8x and got one to burn but it still wont play. What do you choose when you first open nero 6? Maybe I am chosing the wrong thing. Sorry for all the trouble but I really would like to learn how. Thanks again, Joel

Do you have AIM/ICQ/MSN? If you do PM me the info, I can help you online live.

Well I gotta run. Won't be back until 10:30 pm PST.

Passes below black in interlaced mode using the MEI MN67753IKA MPEG decoder:

NO
Panasonic: RP82, XP30, XP50
Denon: DVD1600

YES
Panasonic: RP91

?
Yamaha: DV2300, DV2300 mkII

Originally posted by vneally
Hi Sango, Unfortunately I have tried and still no luck. I have went through at least 10 disks. I downloaded Nero 6 and tried to follow the instructions. I kept getting an error message at 4x so I moved it up to 8x and got one to burn but it still wont play. What do you choose when you first open nero 6? Maybe I am chosing the wrong thing. Sorry for all the trouble but I really would like to learn how. Thanks again, Joel

I'm not Sango :) but maybe I can help. If you downloaded the .ISO or .NRG image, you can burn it with Nero Burning ROM. I use Nero SmartStart and choose CD/Copy and Backup/Burn Image to Disk. I have this option set to use the Nero Burning ROM program instead of Nero Express (the default). Nero Burning ROM then presents an Open dialog box, where I pick the .ISO or .NRG file. I then get the Burn Compilation dialog box, where I press the Burn button to create the CD-R.

That's basically all there is to it using Nero to burn the .ISO or .NRG file. You can check the Info tab in the Burn Compilation dialog box - mine says Track #1, Data (mode 1), Size of track 141 MB (this is for the .ISO). The Foreign Image tab has nothing checked. The Burn tab has Write checked, and the Write method as Track-at-once. My write speed is 8x (the lowest I can go).

Good luck!

Thanks for your help. I burnt it right this time,it looks like the example given. Evey time I put it in the player it tries to read it but it just keeps saying "reading". Any sugestions? I have a xp50. Thanks, Joel

Vneally:

It shouldn't say reading for too long. Basically what the player will read the disc and it will reset itself to factory settings and it will read again before it saids play. By then you should already have your TV on and follow the instruction on screen.

Did you select "Disc-at-Once/96" as the write method? The unit may have issues if you choose something other than DAO/96 or DAO.

It's a lot more easy for me to talk to you if you have an online contact to make things easier.

Sango

thanks for the info Joe.

I imagine that a few denon players may go below black as well

Well, I just got done setting up a cp67.

It DOES go below black in interlaced.

weird, since my rp82 wont.

The players that I mentioned use the top of the line MEI MPEG decoder. Numerous other players do pass below black information, but don't use this decoder.

Thanks for all your help but I'm giving up on the firmware install. I did everything again tonight and I even got it to burn at 4x but it still wont read in my player. I am pretty sure I did everything correct but no luck. I must be doing something wrong but I have triple checked all of the settings and it is a good burn by sangos example. Thanks again and I will check back every once in a while. Thanks, Joel

vneally:

I can only help you if you can provide me with the online contact for me to assist you live, otherwise, there isn't much I can do. Without me knowing exactly what you are doing and me guiding you hands-on, then you will be running into issues with the firmware being unsuccessful.

Another member did the same thing. I offered online help but they never gave me their online contact which I asked and they kept having unsuccessful burns unforunately they gave up after using a lot of CDs because they are not doing it correctly.

Sango

Where are you guys getting the firmware from? I went to the listed webpage but received a page not found message

Mancubus:

The webpage is fully functional on my end. The site may of timed out earlier but it is working now.

Sango
======================

Just a reminder to people - members including myself are not obligated to assist with how to burn the image because it is implied they are familar how to do so. This forum is about DVD players; Software burning issues belong to a completely different forum. I've already provided the image already so it's up to those people who are unfamiliar how to burn an image, need to spend time and learn.

I've also have two personal recommendations which I mentioned before in the past which is BW 4.57 and the Nero 6 Ultra which are both guarenteed to work.

Is there any firmware updates for a North American Panisonic RV60 dvd player. I cannot read CDR's


Thanks

Kelly

I downloaded this firmware update and burned it to a CD... I put it in my RP91 and selected Yes when prompted... but after it was done, I checked and I still have firmware version 236... and the player says that my machine is not applicable... what do I need to try next? Thanks.

There seems to be a tiny little issue with some of the firmware on the RP91 which are unable to go directly to the 262.

Try updating to version 259 which will allow you to go to 262. If it does'nt work, you're going to have to jump to intermediate versions going to 259 then finally to 262.

Sango

Where can I get the intermediate versions? I assume that they're not available from the firmwareupdate.us site? Thanks.

Matthew Eagin

You can get them from here (http://home.cogeco.ca/~hdtvguy/firmcheck.htm).

I was getting some static pops from the audio from my RP91. seemed to be getting progressively worse. a search led me to this thread.

i downloaded the upgraded firmware and, after a few 'mistake' cd's, got the firmware updated. the static was MUCH worse. i also checked all the cables.

more troubleshooting. NO static via headphones. so, i swapped the coax audio out with an optical out. no more static. i think the coax output jack is bad.

anyway, i got the new firmware - word to the not so wise (like me). you don't want a cd with an "ISO" file on it. i used Roxy CD Creator, and had to go to the File menu and select the "Create CD from CD Image..." option. this unpacks or whatever the ISO file correctly.

thanks again for the assistance provided from the members here at AVS.

Red

Hi Red:

For burning, I would only recommend the Blindwrite or Nero, everything it's more of a risk.

For your RP91, it sounds like the motherhboard (REP3096C) is defective and it will need to be replaced. Unforunately you cannot just change the coax part because it's part of the motherboard itself. If you're willing to spend about $122.35 for the part, you pretty much put a new heart into the unit.

Sango

Hello Sango,

I am having a problem with my RP-56 player. I burned a good image with Nero and started the upgrade. The player stated that it needed the upgrade, I selected yes to perform the upgrade and it showed the "please wait a moment" screen. After 5-10 min the player restarted but hung up. It displayed "READ----" in the display box and I had a black screen on the TV. I left it like this for 20 min with no change. I tried to push "stop" and "eject" but the buttons would not work. I waited another 20min trying to decide if I should press the power button which I did. The player restarted with the usual "Welcome to DVD World" and then displayed "Welcome". The CD is stuck in the player and will not eject. I tried the reset sequence which displayed "INT" and "RESET" but after that it just displays "Welcome". Do you have any ideas as to what happened?

Thanks for any help,
PAB

Hi PAB

If it's just stuck on READ, I believe that the unit did sucessfully update because the unit must of said PLAY before the unit restarted after the update.

It sounds like the spindle motor could of just went out on you if the CD is just stuck inside and could be causing the unit to not function appropriately.

Sango

Hello Sango,

I understand that I did this at my own risk and have no problem with getting another player. With that being said, is there anything I can do retrieve the CD and verify that the spindle motor is not working? The unit has been perfect up to this point and I would like to keep it if possible.

Thanks,
PAB

Hi PAB:

As long as you are not getting an error code of some sort, then it sounds like the unit is functional.

To get the disc out, you need to pop the cover off (have the unit unplugged!!). If you look on the clamper, there is a break-away gear jig. You need to use the gear jig and use it put it on the underside of the unit where it saids open(with the arrow) and turn the gear in that direction to open the door manually.

Sango

Thanks Sango, I will do that when I get home.

Paul

Hi Sango,

I'm ok using the optical output for now. hopefully it will work indefinitely.

If i wanted to get the motherboard, how do i order that? from Panasonic directly?

Thanks again.

Red

Hi Red:

You can get it directly from Panasonic or you can get it cheaper from another place which I know which goes for 110.12. You may want to get a the SVC manual so you know what you're doing as well.

Sango

I downloaded the ISO version, to update my Panasonic RV32. I burned the ISO image to CD, using Nero. The Panasonic says it can't play this format, and tells me to insert a different disc.
I downloaded the "Nero" version - the .rar file. I looked at the instructions for burning, using Nero 6. The illustration shows three files -- two ".BWI" files and one ".nrg" file. But all I have is one ".rar" file. I double-clicked on the .rar file, which brought up Stuffit in my computer, but Stuffit says it's unable to expand the file - wrong format.
I tried opening the .rar file from within Nero -- error message says "Unexpected File Format."

AH -- 4TH TIME IS THE CHARM.
I finally tried an experiment that isn't described in the instructions -- I opened the ISO file (as opposed to the rar file) directly from within Nero, then burned that to disc, and now my Panasonic says it is updating.
The instructions for burning with Nero 6 should be updated, to say to use the ISO file (not the .rar file), and to open the file from within Nero as opposed to "adding" that file to a Nero compilation.

UPDATE COMPLETED -- and alas, the Panasonic RV32 is still incapable of reading DVD-R's that were burned on Prodisc 4x blanks. (Our two other DVD players read them just fine; I hoped this update would fix the Panasonic's problem, but it doesn't.)

I got a private request to post the firmware again to alt.binaries.multimedia.utilities. I've just finished the upload. The files are called "Panasonic DVD Firmware Update 2004-05.xxxxxxxx" yEnc. One nfo, 6 RARs, and 6 PAR2s.

I post to the Verizon newsgroups, so they should propagate pretty quickly to the other news servers.

Hi all;
After reading throught this thread, I downloaded the firmware update, extracted the BW files from the RAR, burned the CDR, and updated the the firmware on an RP56 from version 45 to 62 - no apparent problems. The one thing I have not seen referenced in the thread is a list or pointer to what updates or changes have been made to the player for this update. This is probably ignorance on my part but I was trying to get some idea what did get updated so I didn't overlook some "feature" because I didn't know any better. I have seen some references to "region free" and other changes - I am presuming no changes of this magnitude were in the "normal" update. Any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks.

BTW, the trial version of Nero appears to be temporarily disabled at the moment - FYI

Mike
----------------------
Never mind - found enough in the other thread on DVD firmware updates to see this question doesn't have a direct answer, just some general improvements including PQ. Didn't find the other threads immediately. Oops.

Hi all. Want to report findings with my CP67

All went very well, although I DIDN'T check the firmware code, I don't have to.

The player now plays DVD+R Booktype! A DVD I Tried before the update would not play, now it does. Enough convincing for me!

Although.. I was hoping for better playback of some DVD-R's of mine which were blocky. I think it has a problem reading them when burnt at 4X or higher. This didn't improve. Probably a hardware limitation.

BUT - Even CHEAP DVD+R's, as log as they aren't obviously loaded with errors, play perfect! (They did before too - but I needed to change book type.)

PD

Disregard- see below.

An obvious question but have you turned off subs in the DVD setup?

Disregard- see below.

Sango, if you're reading this in time - DON'T SEND ME THOSE DISCS!!!
I'm an idiot. Last night, I figured out that the subtitles were actually coming from my TV and not the DVD or the DVD player. I must've accidentally turned them on when programming my MX-500 I got a couple weeks ago. However, this has led me to an interesting, though somewhat useless discovery- my TV's own subtitles will NOT display when receiving a Progressive Scan signal. Until just recently updating the Firmware on my DVD player, none of the sources coming into my TV have been (480)Interlaced, which is what my RP82 defaulted to after completing the update. I only realized this when neither the DVD's nor the DVD player's subtitles looked like the subtitles found on Interlaced mode coming from my DVD player.
Yeah, me dumb.

Anyway, FWIW, I do believe this firmware update has slightly improved performance on my RP82; colors do look slightly better, layer change is quicker, and problematic VCD's/SVCD's/DVDr's play a LOT better (where some wouldn't play at all!) I haven't had an opportunity to try DVD+r's, though.
THANK YOU, SANGO! :)

If anyone wants a FREE copy of this firmware update just email me.

No Donation Needed or Accepted!!!

Sango.. Thank you. The firmware upgrade on my RP82 went flawlessly..

Thanks =)

Hi,

I have a Panasonic DVD-RP56 with firmware version 45W0045 and would like to know if you are aware if the 062 version corrects issues with CD-Rs, occasional skipping of original CDs and some other minor things.

I e-mailed and called Panasonic Canada, but they seem adamant on not supporting their product by insisting that there is no new version of firmware. He specifically stated that there was no CD, or posted version of a firmware available.

With that being said, I am skeptic about downloading this CD based on what Panasonic told me. How come you have these firmwares (I don't need to know where you got them from, but need some assurance). I am essentially worried about turning my RP56 into a door stopper.

Regards.

Hi Bayne:

Unforunately Panasonic Canada and US doesn't know their stuff - the main reason because the people being talked to are not technical.

I gotten the update directly from Panasonic by talking to the right person(it wasn't that easy) who was able to foward my request to the proper area to obtain the answer.

What makes the firmware hard to find is that it's not known as a firmware. The authorized tech have this as well but most likely it's an older version while I have the latest.

Sango

I'll add that you can easily read over this thread and see that many other RP56 owners updated their firmware without turning their players into doorsteps.

Also, typically Panasonic will respond that to have firmware upgraded you must send the player to an "authorized service center" -- they don't want consumers upgrading their own players due to liability concerns. You can, however by "recovery" discs from Panasonic which have firmware, and as Sango says, many Panasonic Authorized Service Technicians have discs for upgrading firmware.


Joe

Thanks guys, will download and update my RP56.

Can someone give me the name of the file that contains the update? I downloaded it at some point, but I have no idea which PC it's on. I'm looking for the file that is downloaded, not the file used in the update, but the zip of the iso or the iso or whatever it's called.

Thanks

bump, anyone know? I suspect the different versions all had a common part of the name. I've searched for any files containing "Panasonic", but that came up empty.

Try a searching for a file name consisting of "MEIA". This search can conly come up if you downloaded the BW version of it since I left this file name intact.

If you changed the file name there is much that can be done.

Sango, thanks. I tried that, no luck. I'm pretty sure I would have downloaded the iso however that was packaged. If there was a .nrg version that may have been a second choice. Would it have been .zip or .rar or .gz?

There is a ZIP and RAR version, but the MEIA would only be found if the file is extracted or your file search is able to go into compressed files and look for file names there.

So, there's no idea what the names of the files located on the download site are? =(

You can always contact the host. I'm assuming you downloaded from the site before, so you should be able to download from the site again instead of performing a file search.

Hi All,

I realize that this might be a repeat, but I thought it might be valuable information for those with a DVD RP-91 that are 'hesitant' to perform a firmware upgrade.

When I recently upgraded to a new television, I began to notice a vertical black bar along the right-hand side of the screen. This bothered me a great deal, and after some investigating I noticed that it only exhibited itself with certain movies - also ONLY in Progressive mode. (One such movie is Disney's "Home on the Range")

I donated the $1.00US to firmwareupdate and was rewarded with the lastest firmware for the RP-91. Following their relatively simple instructions, I was able to create an update disc which very quickly (and quite slick!) performed its magic on the player.

The update seems to have repaired a host of issues - there is no more black bar, my player responds faster and (perhaps my imagination) the picture seems improved.

I would invite and recommend all RP-91 users to look into this update - it has rekindled the reasons I purchased this excellent unit in the first place.

Are there firmware upgrades available for the old Panasonic DVD-A310 model? (I have a newer model now, but keep the old one hooked up in a bedroom.)

Upgrade my F65... no longer does progessive...anyway in getting progressive to work. Set progessive in setup on the F65 but my Sammy ID's the source from the F65 after upgrade as 480i.:confused: The Sammy does id's correctly the source since I tested the same DVD on a JVC DR-M10 recorder and the disk is progessive 480p when set as progessive.

Is this one of the Panasonic's that you must enable the progressive output via a switch/button on the player and in the setup menu? The upgrade may set all options to the factory settings (which would be interlaced).

Originally posted by Joe Murphy Jr
Is this one of the Panasonic's that you must enable the progressive output via a switch/button on the player and in the setup menu?
No switch on unit , only via setup. Its a 5 disc changer.

Sango...


Any suggestions... or any way of getting any other FW for the F65 so I can get progressive back?????

Hi Tinker:

There are two places you need to change to enable progressive mode - setup and picture menu.

Sango

Originally posted by Sango
Hi Tinker:

There are two places you need to change to enable progressive mode - setup and picture menu.

Sango

Sango,

Mucho thanks...totally forgot about the picture menu. Been playing around with a lot of players lately. So embarrass.... :o

Thanks
Tinker

Sango,

I currently own a Panasonic DVD-RP82, and I never had any problems. What does its firmware do?

Hi megamii:

Basically the firmware improves the PQ, performance of the unit, and additional media support.

The exact detials are in the thread but I just kept in short to give a general idea what's it about.

Sango

Thanks Sango for the reply. I did not know that a DVD player can "download" the information found in a firmware.

By the way, are there any problems I should know about the RP82 firmware? I do not want to install it knowing that it has "side effects."

Hi Megammi:

The firmware installs on a DVD is more like a standard because other manufactures, like Denon, Philips have them too.

In reguards of installing the firmware, just make sure yours is a stock unit only since it's emphasised on the firmware website. You may experience a gltich after the installation and it's also mentioned there on how get around it.

Sango

What does the firmware for the RP82 covers? When I successfully installed it, I do not see any improvements immediately.

As mentioned in the thread, there is no specific documentation on what the update unit does on any of the units. Bascially most of us have seen the dfferences by observation and have posted it here.

I can tell you that since I do own the RP82, the difference is noticable right away using analog or progressive setup after the update.

Hey Sango... Have you been watching the price of the RP82 on Ebay these days?? Last one went for $350.. It seems like ever since you posted this firmware update the prices have been going through the roof... :-)

Hi Frank:

Yes I have, pretty amusing too!! With DVD-S97 comming around the corner, will have to see what happends from that point on.

Sango

Thanks Sango!

I can report success with my RP56. I hope this helps the value when I sell it on ebay in a few weeks. :) Although once I get a chance to check out the improvements I may not want to part with it.

All the best,
Ricardo

Sango, you sound like the expert here. I am feeling a little stupid right now. I went to the site and downloaded the firmware from pan. I have nero 6.6 demo right now. I must have missed it but there are no directions for the 6.6 that I can see. What do I need to do to get it to burn right. I tried but it just won't read the disc. Help. Thanks.

I can confirm that the firmware does improve the layer change time on the RP82. Thanks for the updates.

Successfully updated my RP62 last night....no problems with the upgrade process.

But I *still* could not read a Ritek G04 disk burned on my Panny E100 Recorder. It is not just a media issue, since I can rip the disk that is unreadable by the RP62, re-burn a Ritek G04 using my PC's Pioneer A105 recorder and *that* disk works fine.

Anyone with any ideas on this?

Does upgrading the firmware affect your TV's calibration? I have had my TV ISF calibrated and would not want to upgrade the software if it would cause me to have it recalibrated.

Thanks.

Scott

Hi, I have a RP82.
Does anybody know how to use these update discs to go back to an old firmware version?

I have a region-free firmware right now that displays 65D398 as its firmware version. I want go back to the stock firmware 65D302, but whenever I put the disc in, it reads and then the screen flickers and turns the player off and then on. Then a screen comes up that says completed, but the firmware has not been updated.

Thanks for any help you can give me on this.

The discs are only designed to upgrade from a previous version. If the version number is higher of that on the disc, only the recovery portion of the disc will be activated and not the firmware portion.

I do have one which is modified with version override which will bring it down to version 279 stock. Then you can use the 302 disc.

My assumption is that you have the patched firmware disc for your 398? Just curious why you want to change it.

Thanks

Sango

Sango, you sure about the "roll back disc"? I've seen reports of it working, but in the cases I tried the disc gets further in the upgrade, it actually appears to do an upgrade, yet the firmware doesn't change.

Have you tried the techique you described?

Hi Jeff D,

The downgrade disc I have does work. This one is specifically made for me since I was looking for lower firmware versions for the RP56, 82 and 91.

This greatly have in handy because my RP56 jumped to R2 after the SVC Disc #2 trick for an unknown reason and the reset sequence didn't work. After downgrading it back to the original firmware version, the region returned back to 1. I then updated back to the latest firmware and SVC Disc #2 and the unit didn't jump which wasn't suppose to happen intially.

Basically the disc I have is only for the RP56, 82 and 91 and they do work the way they intend to be used for.

Sango

Originally posted by Scott R. Scherr
Does upgrading the firmware affect your TV's calibration? I have had my TV ISF calibrated and would not want to upgrade the software if it would cause me to have it recalibrated.

Thanks.

Scott

Not that I can tell. My set was ISF'd pre-firmware update on my XP50, and I saw no negative effects after I went to V302.

Thanks, Sam. I will upgrade my RP82.

Scott

I downloaded the firmware disc for my pana RA82, as i also own a panasonic dvd recorder i would like to know where to find a firmware update for the DMR-E55 and how to check the firmware version. there is no "pause" button on the player so the way i can check it on my player does not work.

I just updated my RP-91 with the 2.62 software. It took me a couple of burns on my G4/500 running Toast. The trick was dragging the .iso file into Toast, once it was set to "disc image".

Are my eyes deceiving me, or is the 480i resolution just a little better.

I took a scene in Fifth Element, and looked at it with full zoom on my projector. Then after the RP-91 update, I looked at it again. I think I am seeing just a little less alaising on rounded/diagonal edges.

I did a quick check with AVIA after the upgrade, and nothing moved.

The RP-91 still produces such a very solid 480i image.

Thanks for the update files.

RJ
...

Bytehoven,

I thought you updated your unit long ago!!

Originally posted by Sango
Bytehoven,

I thought you updated your unit long ago!!

Hi...

I did update my (2) RP-91 players with V2.56 with discs you sent me, as well as the Service disc #2.

However, I have not downloaded and tried the latest V2.62 software until now. Mainly because of my perceived road block in burning my own CDR update disc.

Now that I have figured out what I was doing wrong with the x.iso files, I will probably be a little quicker on the trigger next time. ;-)

Thanks

RJ
...

Someone find a way to make the Panny S97:

- region-free
- MB-free

Since its european versions are region-free, I am sure there is a hidden menu out there....

do a search on "panasonic service disc 2". You will find a way to bring up a secret Panasonic menu. If your player has that menu then obtain a copy of the Service Disc 2 and you can go region free and macrovision free. The player still won't play PAL. If your player doesn't have the menu, then you are SOL -- I believe the European firmware is a different version than the US (If you read over this and other firmware upgrade threads, you will find people have lost their European firmware upgrading using Sango's disk).


Joe

Originally posted by DrJoe
do a search on "panasonic service disc 2". You will find a way to bring up a secret Panasonic menu. If your player has that menu then obtain a copy of the Service Disc 2 and you can go region free and macrovision free. The player still won't play PAL. If your player doesn't have the menu, then you are SOL -- I believe the European firmware is a different version than the US (If you read over this thread, you will find people have lost their European firmware upgrading using Sango's disk).


Joe

Do we know for a fact, the Panny #2 service disc will work on the S97?

If true, that is very interesting.

We don't, unless someone else tried to find the password window. He won't know if it can until he sees if the screen pops up (which is why I said he should check).


Joe

Sango already tried his method on the panny player. that did not work. If his is the only method for getting to the secret menu, we need to keep looking.

Yup correct, S97 it didn't work. They changed the whole software =( !!!

So, can anyone post this to usenet for me?? I'd like to update my F85.

thanks!

Just downloaded the file yesterday and updated my recently purchased new in box RP62 without a hitch (the earlier one with the Faroudja chip).

I also took the time to update my aging but dependable RV31 as well. I'm amazed...it works even better now. The firmware update fixed an annoying bug I was having: it would never read nor eject a disc left in the player at power-up that was playing when the unit was previously turned off. The work around was to a) gracefully power down the unit by stopping and ejecting the disk prior to shutting the power off, or b) power off the unit again, then turn it back on....then the player would read the disc left inside.

Well, whether or not you understand that problem, the firmware update fixed it. It's like having a whole new player again. Thanks!

np!!

Seem like a strange glitch because a player wouldn't normally do that.

The website shows 2 firmwares for my model (RP62), and my player shows the first one listed (62H073). Does this mean I don't need to upgrade? Or will it upgrade to the other firmware (66B386). FWIW, I have the model with the DCDi chip.

The reason I ask is that I am having a TON of trouble getting the player to read DVD;s I burn using my Liteon411S and DVD-r discs. Thanks.

ianeicher: Where do u see the firmware upgrades. Nothing pulls up for the dvd player on this page: http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/SupportModelDetail?storeId=11251

The link on the first page of the thread.

Thanks!

Sango: How can I find out what the DVD-CV51 firmware upgrade shall do (improve/fix)?

ianeicher:

The unit will automatically selects the correct firmware to update the unit since the disc contains all the units listed in there from the official documentation.
-----------

mallu2u:

Since Panasonic doesn't document their updates, the way to tell what the improvements are is from observation.

Sango

Originally posted by Sango
ianeicher:

The unit will automatically selects the correct firmware to update the unit since the disc contains all the units listed in there from the official documentation.
Sango

What I mean is since I already have the first firmware release listed by my model, is there any point in going to the trouble?? Is the second release listed for the non-DCDi chip models (therefore no help to me)????

ianeicher: I noticed subtle improvements on my RP62, especially during layer changes. My player had version 54, now it reflects version 73. If I recall earlier in the thread, that it helps reading DVD-R's as well. Trying the update couldn't hurt....right, Sango?