Hi everybody,
After reading the helpful reviews on AVSForum, I bought a Pioneer DV-578a and am very pleased with it.

I'm wondering if it's possible to upgrade the firmware from my current vers (2.05) to 2.09, in hopes of adding DivX support. I have the neccesary files...I'm just wondering if it'll work.

I've found a few threads where people come close to saying, but there's always a 'might' or a 'may' in there somewhere. I don't want to fry my machine, so I'm a little anxious about trying it w/o confirmation that it'll work.

Has anybody w/a 578a succesfully ENABLED DivX support by upgrading the firmware to 2.09? Will this work, even though the firmware upgrade floating around seems aimed at the DVD-575?

Any info would be appreciated.

Thanks!

-CS

Had one PM response that was a bit ambiguous about the issue. Can anybody else help? If so, please post to the forum so others can benefit.

Thanks!

-CS

I just upgraded my region 1 dvd player from an old 1.38 to 2.09 with the firmware floating around the net.

Its still region 1 and updated just fine.

how can i check the version of firmware on pioneer??

It's on one of the setup screen. Don't remember which one.

Confirmed! I just upgraded my region 1 578a from 1.44 to 2.09 with the DV-575 firmware posted elsewhere in avsforum.

Still region 1

I have no DIVX to try out

DigiPete

I have a pioneer 578a-s that came with firmware 2.09 already on it (just bought it recently - 139.99 in Canada which is a great price here)

Anyhoo, I tried a divx file burnt onto a cd and it couldn't read it. I don't know anything else to try but am open to suggestions.

Tom

The 578a will NOT be able to play DivX with a firmware option to the best of my knowledge. I believe its a hardware issue, so DivX is a No on the 578a.

Hi Folks,

If you want Divx and region free for your 578a try this link. I don't know if it will work, but I have contacted the owner of the site for its application to the 578a specifically.

http://mtz.softpedia.com/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=70&Itemid=4

DigiPete


UPDATE: apparently MTZ says this will not work for 578a even though the 575a is almost identical to the 578a. Looks like 588a will do it.

Apparently user james-151 managed to upgrade via serial cable:
http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=917&st=65#

NEWSFLASH.......There is no firmware that will add divx support to the 578's, the video chips are different, thats why the 575 has it and the 578 does not..If you want divx in an very inexpensive uni, sell your 578 for $10 and buy a 588

Dude give me region free hack for 588, I'll abide by your kind advise!

I have a 578A that's already region-free, but I'd like to install the latest firmware. Will region-free status be unaffected? Also, using the Pio 575 firmware to update the 578 seems like asking for trouble (or are they really identical units w/different models numbers for the U.S. vs. European markets?).

I updated my 578a with the 2.09 firmware for the 575 with no ill effects.
My unit remained region 1. I don't think this update affects the region.

How did you get your 578a to be region free?

DigiPete

DigiPete, I bought my 578A already region-free hacked from eBay. It was just $125 shipped (seller was "staraudiovideo").

Originally posted by DigiPete
I updated my 578a with the 2.09 firmware for the 575 with no ill effects.
My unit remained region 1. I don't think this update affects the region.

How did you do it? cable or CD?
Did anything get added in terms of functionality and menues?
such as divx-capability?

Hi Rickardl,

I used a cd.

go here: http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dv575/dv575.htm

A link on this page gives you the firmware and instructions.

I don't think you will get DivX on the 578a because it has a different video chip which does not support it. The 588 does have this capability.

After the update in noticed nothing new, except now I had 2.09 firmware.

DigiPete

Originally posted by DigiPete
Hi Rickardl,

I used a cd.

go here: http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dv575/dv575.htm

A link on this page gives you the firmware and instructions.

I don't think you will get DivX on the 578a because it has a different video chip which does not support it. The 588 does have this capability.

After the update in noticed nothing new, except now I had 2.09 firmware.

DigiPete
I was under the impression that using that BIN-file directly didn't work
because the DV-578A didn't recognize the filename B4BA2096 as
a firmware update?

Nothing new? Did you look in the menu 'Initial Settings'->'Options'?
The DV-575A has a menu entry there for 'DivX VOD' (video on demand).

Anyway, If you have the 2.09 firmware for DV-575A, you might want
to try this firmware which enables 'blacker-than-black' and other things:
http://geocities.com/foncreator

Also, I was under the impression that the DV-578A used a Mediatek 1389EE chip? That is the chip which the DV-575A uses.

Hi Rickardl,


Thanks for the link,

Yes I did look in the options but DivX was not there. The firmware must know that this does not work on the 578a, and so it does not give you the option.

All I can tell you is the upgrade worked for my 578a.

Cheers
DigiPete

did it become region free too digipete?

Originally posted by zoro
did it become region free too digipete?

No, the Pioneer 575 2.09 firmware did not affect the region status of my 578a

did it become region free too digipete?

Hi folks,

I found this link: http://www.geocities.com/foncreator/

I tried firmware 4b (which is based on the latest Pioneer 2.09/2.10 firmware) on my US Region 1 DV-578a. I now have region free (but no DIVX)

and I have all the features below: COOL :D

v4b

New feature - DVD Fast Start. Press "Play" to skip any warnings, ads etc at the beginning of DVD video.
DVD prohibited user operations protection removed. Almost :)
New item in the "Video Adjust" menu - Darker Than Black.
SRT subtitles' milliseconds timing fixed.

v3 (a "lazy" release, don't wanna patch v2.10's 8032)

ARM and DSP from official v2.10 - users report on some subtle DivX/MP3 improvements.
41-char subs filename limitation removed.
Subs body is pure white now, an outline - pure black; alignment - bottom.
Screensaver makes the screen totally blank - no "Pioneer" animation anymore.

v2

Region free (player will stay multizone even after downgrade to original FW).
VFD (Vacuum Fluoricent Display) file navigation: while you're in the filebrowser everything under cursor will be shown on VFD (first 10 chars, ASCII only due to VFD limitations). Can be useful for MP3 users.

v1
Changes relative to original FW:

New filebrowser:
8 rows
no image preview
long (50 chars) ASCII/CP1251 filenames
White black-outlined subs (Font2-3, Impact 20, CP1251).
New system font (Font0-1, Font9-10, Impact 14, CP1251).
New items in the "Audio Settings" menu: Equalizer, Bass boost, Super bass, Treble boost.
New "Video Output" submenu - "TV Type" (Multisync, PAL, NTSC. Off/On player after change).
"V.Surround" key now turns on/off a random (shuffle) play of MP3s. "Virtual Surround" is still available through "Audio Settings" menu.

stuid question digipete - the .bin file - only required to be on a normal CD? No renames, etc?

stuid question digipete - the .bin file - only required to be on a normal CD? No renames, etc?

Right, just use the same filename as for the 575. I used Nero to make a data cd. I set the software to disc-at-once, 4x burn speed, and verified the write when done. Label the disc: PIONEER

Two firmwares available:

http://www.geocities.com/foncreator/ I used this one and it works

and

http://mtz.softpedia.com/index.php?option=com_weblinks&catid=70&Itemid=4
has been reported to work

UPGRADING:
1. Turn on the player, and open the disc tray.
2. Put the Firmware Update Disc on the tray, and close the tray(open close button).
3. A screen will be displayed inviting you to push the "play" button to start the update.
4. The player will load the data, and the tray will open again. Remove the Firmware Update Disc from the tray now. Leave the tray open. The update process will complete in few minutes.
5. Wait until the update process finishes, and the Pioneer logo is shown on the screen.
6. Turn off player.

that's it. Now go into the setup to set new features: blacker than black, region free(default), etc, etc

Bingo. One note to other newbies at this - CD name must be PIONEER

And does the player work perfectly, with no weird effects as a result of this unofficial firmware?

Hope one for the 588a comes along soon! :D

And does the player work perfectly, with no weird effects as a result of this unofficial firmware?

Hope one for the 588a comes along soon! :D

I have had no problems, although admittedly I only use this machine to play CDs, SACD and DVD-audio, to my headphone setup at work, and I don't have it hooked up for viewing DVDs. But when I burned the new firmware, I did have it hooked up to a monitor and all looked well, even the blacker than black pluge pattern was visible on DVE.

DigiPete

Just a heads up for anyone trying this. If you have a player with the 2.05 firmware as the base, it doesn't look like a CD upgrade will work.

Just a heads up for anyone trying this. If you have a player with the 2.05 firmware as the base, it doesn't look like a CD upgrade will work.


Odd... Did you burn it as a CD data disk, and finalize the disc, label the disc PIONEER, and use the file for the 575?

If not, try going to Pioneer v2.09 firware first, and then the aftermarket firmware:

go here: http://www.avland.co.uk/pioneer/dv575/dv575.htm




DigiPete

Thanks for the response however it didn't work on my unit. It can't recognize any disk with a firmware on it. It will just give a message: "Can't play disc". There are links on another site about this (don't have it on me) that basically say that certain players with certain fw versions can only be upgraded via a serial cable.

After making 3 CD-R coasters, I named the 4th disc PIONEER, and the upgrade went off without a hitch.

jpco,

when did you purchase your player? Mine has a Oct 2004 date. I've tried naming the disc PIONEER as well and my player still could not read the disc.

Why arent you guys using a cd-rw for something like this?

jpco,

when did you purchase your player? Mine has a Oct 2004 date. I've tried naming the disc PIONEER as well and my player still could not read the disc.

I purchased it last week at Circuit City. I'm not home, so I can't check the build date. Before naming PIONEER, I was getting the "can't read" error. I'll check the build date later.

Why arent you guys using a cd-rw for something like this?

I just wanted to make sure the best reading environment was available for the update. CD-Rs are so cheap that I really didn't mind the waste once the update worked.

Maybe you guys are using the wrong filesystem?
These instructions should work:
1. Create a CD-ROM (ISO): (Data mode: Mode 1 File system: ISO9660 + Joliet)
2. Label it "PIONEER" (I think it must be uppcercase)
3. Put the .BIN file in the top/root directory
4. burn it with 'Verify' turned on.
then
5. insert the disc into the player
6. press 'Play' when prompted
7. remove disc when it is ejected automatically
8. wait a minute
9. the player will reset when done so make sure you change whatever
settings you had changed in the setup before.
it works with a CD-RW as well as a normal CD-R.

The one person was having trouble becuase he wasnt creating the cd with the volume label of "PIONEER". I dont think anyone else who has correctly followed the directions has had a problem if I have read all the posts in this thread correctly.

The one person was having trouble becuase he wasnt creating the cd with the volume label of "PIONEER". I dont think anyone else who has correctly followed the directions has had a problem if I have read all the posts in this thread correctly.
What about biznus97 six posts up?

What about biznus97 six posts up?


You are correct. I am still having difficulties. I've tried following the instructions previously posted with no luck. I also downloaded an official ISO and burned that. The player could not play this either. I have read and followed your instructions (thank you btw ;) ) using Easy CD creator (hopefully this will still work). I will give it a shot tonite and post my results.

**UPDATE**

Still no joy with the supplied settings.

jpco,

when did you purchase your player? Mine has a Oct 2004 date. I've tried naming the disc PIONEER as well and my player still could not read the disc.

I just purchased it, but the date is June 2004.

You are correct. I am still having difficulties. I've tried following the instructions previously posted with no luck. I also downloaded an official ISO and burned that. The player could not play this either. I have read and followed your instructions (thank you btw ;) ) using Easy CD creator (hopefully this will still work). I will give it a shot tonite and post my results.

**UPDATE**

Still no joy with the supplied settings.


Ok, here's a wild shot: rename the file to begin with B4EA

Edit: maybe I should explain this "wild shot", the background is:
The upgrade file for the DV-575 is B4BA2096.BIN and for the DV-470
it is B4FA2096.BIN. The DV-470 (also MT1389) is pretty much the same as the DV-575
except that it lacks DVD-Audio and SACD capabilities.
But if you rename B4BA2096.BIN to B4FA2096.BIN, the DV-470 believes
it is an upgrade file and accepts it. After that, the DV-470 can play
DVD-Audio and SACD but it hasn't grown any outputs for it ;-)
but it plays 2 channel high resolution audio fine which it couldn't do before.
After the upgrade, the DV-470 believes it is a DV-575 and then
it looks for B4BA2096.BIN for any new upgrade attempts.

Now, I just looked at the firmware for the DV-578 and it seems to have
the name of B4EA2096.BIN internally...so a simple rename might do the trick.

Edit2: to be picky, DV-575 looks for files with a mask of B4BA***6.BIN
where the '*' represent the firmware version.

Thanks to all involved, especially rickardl! Your "wild shot" was what worked for me. I also had to download software to unzip the file because I have an older computer without a zip drive. I don't consider myself computer savvy but with everyone's helpful post I loaded the firmware with success. Thanks again!

Wow rickardl! Amazing hunch! Good job :D

DigiPete

Ok, here's wild shot: rename the file to begin with B4EA

Edit: maybe I should explain this "wild shot", the background is:
The upgrade file for the DV-575 is B4BA2096.BIN and for the DV-470
it is B4FA2096.BIN. The DV-470 (also MT1389) is pretty much the same as the DV-575
except that it lacks DVD-Audio and SACD capabilities.
But if you rename B4BA2096.BIN to B4FA2096.BIN, the DV-470 believes
it is an upgrade file and accepts it. After that, the DV-470 can play
DVD-Audio and SACD but it hasn't grown any outputs for it ;-)
but it plays 2 channel high resolution audio fine which it couldn't do before.
After the upgrade, the DV-470 believes it is a DV-575 and then
it looks for B4BA2096.BIN for any new upgrade attempts.

Now, I just looked at the firmware for the DV-578 and it seems to have
the name of B4EA2096.BIN internally...so a simple rename might do the trick.

Edit2: to be picky, DV-575 looks for files with a mask of B4BA***6.BIN
where the '*' represent the firmware version.

Thanks for the tips! I was able to successfully upgrade my 578a firmware using the 4b firmware, but I noticed when playing PAL discs, which previously played beautifully (R0, that is) on my old 1.44 version, that the picture is now shifted downward. All of the letterbox on a 2:35 image on my 16:9 screen is at the top of the screen, for example. And the menu options are cut off on the bottom. Am I doing something wrong, or is this the price for multi-region? I don't believe the PAL conversion is as fluid either. Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Ted

Thanks for the tips! I was able to successfully upgrade my 578a firmware using the 4b firmware, but I noticed when playing PAL discs, which previously played beautifully (R0, that is) on my old 1.44 version, that the picture is now shifted downward. All of the letterbox on a 2:35 image on my 16:9 screen is at the top of the screen, for example. And the menu options are cut off on the bottom. Am I doing something wrong, or is this the price for multi-region? I don't believe the PAL conversion is as fluid either. Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Ted
Can't say what it is but please note that the upgrade resets everything to
default, which includes progressive/interlaced/NTSC/PAL settings.
Most new firmware has menu options for selecting NTSC / PAL / AUTO
instead of doing it with the front panel when powering on.
To active it your new setting, you still need to power down/up the player though.

Thanks for the tips! I was able to successfully upgrade my 578a firmware using the 4b firmware, but I noticed when playing PAL discs, which previously played beautifully (R0, that is) on my old 1.44 version, that the picture is now shifted downward. All of the letterbox on a 2:35 image on my 16:9 screen is at the top of the screen, for example. And the menu options are cut off on the bottom. Am I doing something wrong, or is this the price for multi-region? I don't believe the PAL conversion is as fluid either. Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Ted

Ha ha!! That was exactly the prob with out of box Denon 2200, and 2900 , pal to ntsc conversion etc!! Nothing new!! I could not stand it!

Hi folks,

I found this link: http://www.geocities.com/foncreator/
v4b

New feature - DVD Fast Start. Press "Play" to skip any warnings, ads etc at the beginning of DVD video.
DVD prohibited user operations protection removed. Almost :)
New item in the "Video Adjust" menu - Darker Than Black.
SRT subtitles' milliseconds timing fixed.


Does this really enable true blacker than black?
Also the problem reported with the letterboxing, is this a PAL to NTSC thing or does it affect all DVD playback??

I really want to get the Balcker than Black working, and keep everything else in good shape...

I have a mid 2004 US 578a if it matters.

Yes, it does enable true blacker than black.

Does it affect SACD or DVD-A playback?

I use my 578A for Hi-res audio only at this time... but might use it as regular DVD player at some point in the future. So I'd like to get the BTB, but REALLY don't want to mess up the audio capabilities of this player.

TIA

Does it affect SACD or DVD-A playback?

I use my 578A for Hi-res audio only at this time... but might use it as regular DVD player at some point in the future. So I'd like to get the BTB, but REALLY don't want to mess up the audio capabilities of this player.

TIA

SACD and DVD-A work fine (I use this machine at work to listen to music only)

Thanks to all for making the upgrade available. I flashed my player last night and I am quite pleased to see the below black bar in both interlaced and progressive mode. Also another thing I noticed is that it also seems to affect the color reproduction a little, probably because of the black level change.. But with a few minutes of tweaking everything looks grand.

Ok, here's a wild shot: rename the file to begin with B4EA

Edit: maybe I should explain this "wild shot", the background is:
The upgrade file for the DV-575 is B4BA2096.BIN and for the DV-470
it is B4FA2096.BIN. The DV-470 (also MT1389) is pretty much the same as the DV-575
except that it lacks DVD-Audio and SACD capabilities.
But if you rename B4BA2096.BIN to B4FA2096.BIN, the DV-470 believes
it is an upgrade file and accepts it. After that, the DV-470 can play
DVD-Audio and SACD but it hasn't grown any outputs for it ;-)
but it plays 2 channel high resolution audio fine which it couldn't do before.
After the upgrade, the DV-470 believes it is a DV-575 and then
it looks for B4BA2096.BIN for any new upgrade attempts.

Now, I just looked at the firmware for the DV-578 and it seems to have
the name of B4EA2096.BIN internally...so a simple rename might do the trick.

Edit2: to be picky, DV-575 looks for files with a mask of B4BA***6.BIN
where the '*' represent the firmware version.


rickardl,

Your tip worked great! Thanks again!

Thanks for the tips! I was able to successfully upgrade my 578a firmware using the 4b firmware, but I noticed when playing PAL discs, which previously played beautifully (R0, that is) on my old 1.44 version, that the picture is now shifted downward. All of the letterbox on a 2:35 image on my 16:9 screen is at the top of the screen, for example. And the menu options are cut off on the bottom. Am I doing something wrong, or is this the price for multi-region? I don't believe the PAL conversion is as fluid either. Can anyone help?
Thanks,
Ted


Dear Ted (alias Stu) - Have you resolved your open region problems? Has anyone else managed to change firmware to open region without any adverse side effects playing PAL region coded discs on DV 578A?

Any assistance/reassurance in this regard would be much appreciated

Dear Ted (alias Stu) - Have you resolved your open region problems? Has anyone else managed to change firmware to open region without any adverse side effects playing PAL region coded discs on DV 578A?

Any assistance/reassurance in this regard would be much appreciated

I have updated my 578a and it plays PAL fine.

Thanks ever so much DigiPete,
Are you happy that there are no PAL/NTSC transcode motion artifacts and no picture shift to base of screen with letterbox above using "foncreator" firmware v4 upgrade as reported by Ted/Stu?
Kind Regards

DigiPete,
BTW, do you recommend running Pioneer 2.09 official firmware upgrade for 575 first? mine is 1.44 on 2 machines

DigiPete,
BTW, do you recommend running Pioneer 2.09 official firmware upgrade for 575 first? mine is 1.44 on 2 machines

Honestly,

I just popped in one reg 2 DVD for about 3 minutes. I use the machine for audio mostly.

I did put in official 2.09 first to upgrade my 1.44, until I discovered the ver 4b fontcreator firmware, which I put in afterwards. I would put in the 4b, and if you don't like it, switch to the official 2.09.

Does anybody know where I can find Virgin/Genuine Pioneer DV 578 version 1.44 firmware?Ok, here's a wild shot: rename the file to begin with B4EA

Edit: maybe I should explain this "wild shot", the background is:
The upgrade file for the DV-575 is B4BA2096.BIN and for the DV-470
it is B4FA2096.BIN. The DV-470 (also MT1389) is pretty much the same as the DV-575
except that it lacks DVD-Audio and SACD capabilities.
But if you rename B4BA2096.BIN to B4FA2096.BIN, the DV-470 believes
it is an upgrade file and accepts it. After that, the DV-470 can play
DVD-Audio and SACD but it hasn't grown any outputs for it ;-)
but it plays 2 channel high resolution audio fine which it couldn't do before.
After the upgrade, the DV-470 believes it is a DV-575 and then
it looks for B4BA2096.BIN for any new upgrade attempts.

Now, I just looked at the firmware for the DV-578 and it seems to have
the name of B4EA2096.BIN internally...so a simple rename might do the trick.

Edit2: to be picky, DV-575 looks for files with a mask of B4BA***6.BIN
where the '*' represent the firmware version.

Does anybody know where I can find Virgin/Genuine Pioneer DV 578 version 1.44 firmware?


Why would you want 1.44, when Pioneer 2.09 is available?

Why would you want 1.44, when Pioneer 2.09 is available?


I guess that I'm totally happy with both machines running 1.44 apart from not being Region free and if all else fails would like to return to status quo

I have modified (severely) Pioneer Elite machines in my high end system. The 578's do bedroom and sitting room duty. I travel 200 days a year in my job and go to the US often. Picked up these machines at US$ 90 each on sale at Best Buy still sealed. (Pinole store)

Virgin 2.09 & 2.10 are available on the softpedia site under "firmwares" both for 575 and not 578. If I know our friends at Pioneer I'm sure that there are slight differences

There is original 578 firmware posted on the softpedia site but I don't know what version it is. It has a strange BIN number
Regards

I guess that I'm totally happy with both machines running 1.44 apart from not being Region free and if all else fails would like to return to status quo

I have modified (severely) Pioneer Elite machines in my high end system. The 578's do bedroom and sitting room duty. I travel 200 days a year in my job and go to the US often. Picked up these machines at US$ 90 each on sale at Best Buy still sealed. (Pinole store)

Virgin 2.09 & 2.10 are available on the softpedia site under "firmwares" both for 575 and not 578. If I know our friends at Pioneer I'm sure that there are slight differences

There is original 578 firmware posted on the softpedia site but I don't know what version it is. It has a strange BIN number
Regards

I would just put in the fontcreator v 4b firmware - it works on my 578a, should work on yours too :)

I would just put in the fontcreator v 4b firmware - it works on my 578a, should work on yours too :)

Yeah! I've burned the discs with Nero. I think I will try one machine with the foncreator firmware and pray that I don't have letterbox or PAL/NTSC conversion problems. I would have thought that the PAL/NTSC conversion was in the hardware domain and not firmware effected - might be quite wrong. I'm no technical boffin. I'm a music lover first and home theatre second. The technology is just a means to an end for me. Long history with Magneplanar loudspeakers and Audio Research electronics

Out of interest - does the 4b firmware allow the player to output PAL if a PAL disc is played or are we stuck with everything being converted to NTSC on the 578A? Where I come from all TV sets are multisystem so we don't have the US problem where the majority of sets are NTSC only. I would rather watch PAL as PAL due to better definition & colour rendition although I am very aware that movies are running fast in PAL.

Yeah! I've burned the discs with Nero. I think I will try one machine with the foncreator firmware and pray that I don't have letterbox or PAL/NTSC conversion problems. I would have thought that the PAL/NTSC conversion was in the hardware domain and not firmware effected - might be quite wrong. I'm no technical boffin. I'm a music lover first and home theatre second. The technology is just a means to an end for me. Long history with Magneplanar loudspeakers and Audio Research electronics

Out of interest - does the 4b firmware allow the player to output PAL if a PAL disc is played or are we stuck with everything being converted to NTSC on the 578A? Where I come from all TV sets are multisystem so we don't have the US problem where the majority of sets are NTSC only. I would rather watch PAL as PAL due to better definition & colour rendition although I am very aware that movies are running fast in PAL.

That's a good question! I don't have a PAL set (living in the US) so I can't say for sure. My 578a does play PAL discs fine (on my NTSC set).

In the setup menu, under video options, it has a selection for TV type: NTSC, PAL, or Multisynch TV. So I bet if you set the 578a to PAL, it would output PAL.

Regards
DigiPete

That's a good question! I don't have a PAL set (living in the US) so I can't say for sure. My 578a does play PAL discs fine (on my NTSC set).

In the setup menu, under video options, it has a selection for TV type: NTSC, PAL, or Multisynch TV. So I bet if you set the 578a to PAL, it would output PAL.

Regards
DigiPete

I'm on a business trip. Will see when I get home. It's going to be interesting and this is possibly where the firmware for the 575/676 might vary slightly from the 578. Both the 575 & 676 do output PAL from PAL.

The 4b firmware & 2.09 (575) firmware obviously provide for selection of "TV Type" under video options instead of front panel fiddling with the skip & standby controls, whereas the standard firmware for the 578 (1.44) does not. The common owners manual for these three machines suggests that you can't set the TV system for the 575 or 578 - only 676 which is patently nonsense for the 575.

Will let you know once I've tried it out.
Regards

I'm on a business trip. Will see when I get home. It's going to be interesting and this is possibly where the firmware for the 575/676 might vary slightly from the 578. Both the 575 & 676 do output PAL from PAL.

The 4b firmware & 2.09 (575) firmware obviously provide for selection of "TV Type" under video options instead of front panel fiddling with the skip & standby controls, whereas the standard firmware for the 578 (1.44) does not. The common owners manual for these three machines suggests that you can't set the TV system for the 575 or 578 - only 676 which is patently nonsense for the 575.

Will let you know once I've tried it out.
Regards

It should work. I will set mine to PAL tonight, and if my set does not like the signal, that's a pretty good sign the 578a is outputting PAL. I assume PAL works over component and S-video?

It should work. I will set mine to PAL tonight, and if my set does not like the signal, that's a pretty good sign the 578a is outputting PAL. I assume PAL works over component and S-video?

Yes, PAL works over composite, component, S-video & RGB SCART (mainly for UK).
You might get a black & white picture with or without sound or any combination of these - or nothing but hash with a PAL signal into NTSC set.

To make matters worse there are a number of different PAL standards - PAL I,D,K,R,M etc. South Africa and UK are PAL I i.e. 5.5 MHz from centre picture to centre sound - That's why outside the US manufacturers usually only market multisystem TV sets to handle and autodetect all the PAL/NTSC/SECAM(French) derivatives (and we thought that the Beta/VHS war was bad)

Yes, PAL works over composite, component, S-video & RGB SCART (mainly for UK).
You might get a black & white picture with or without sound or any combination of these - or nothing but hash with a PAL signal into NTSC set.

To make matters worse there are a number of different PAL standards - PAL I,D,K,R,M etc. South Africa and UK are PAL I i.e. 5.5 MHz from centre picture to centre sound - That's why outside the US manufacturers usually only market multisystem TV sets to handle and autodetect all the PAL/NTSC/SECAM(French) derivatives (and we thought that the Beta/VHS war was bad)


I set the 578a to PAL, turned it off, turned it back on (setting was not effective until I did this) and put in a PAL Region 2 DVD.

I got a black and white picture that oveflowed the boundaries and was offset. Seems like the 578a is putting out PAL.

DigiPete

I set the 578a to PAL, turned it off, turned it back on (setting was not effective until I did this) and put in a PAL Region 2 DVD.

I got a black and white picture that oveflowed the boundaries and was offset. Seems like the 578a is putting out PAL.

DigiPete

Great DP - I get home tomorrow and will try and load 4b. This is encouraging. Now hopefully if one sets it to multisynch it will autodetect and output PAL from PAL discs and NTSC from NTSC discs like most players outside the US. If not, too bad - turning on and off is hardly a chore.

Will revert. Thanks for your considerable patience & help.

Great DP - I get home tomorrow and will try and load 4b. This is encouraging. Now hopefully if one sets it to multisynch it will autodetect and output PAL from PAL discs and NTSC from NTSC discs like most players outside the US. If not, too bad - turning on and off is hardly a chore.

Will revert. Thanks for your considerable patience & help.

I think you will be pleased.

DigiPete

I think you will be pleased.

DigiPete

Hi DP. Loaded 4ba Firmware without having to resort to BIN file designation changes and it achieves everything claimed plus much more. Had no glitches - uploads so fast that I did not think that it had even read the disc.

No problems experienced with letterbox or transcode. This is obviously a a mostly universal chassis much as the Elite 47A (US which I own), 747A (Europe) and 733A (Asia) which are a universal chassis right down to being autovolt which is not claimed in the common owners manual or on the case or box.

Anyway, to the 578A

- Update is everything claimed plus more except for DivX VOD which is not of
consequence to me
- Region free on all disc types and I have all
- NTSC Picture improvement at default setting. Colour not oversaturated and
more like PAL. Excellent skin tones. Not that NTSC is bad off of DVD but PAL
conversion to NTSC involves compromise. Even blacks are more black, without
resorting to blacker than black adjustment. I'll bet default is now 0 IRE
- Some updates are great and some less so, such as DSP. This is personal
- As you suspected and thanks for trying on your machine for me. Once updated
and set to Mutisync TV the unit autosenses and outputs PAL as PAL and NTSC
as NTSC
- The PAL picture is stunning
- If you set the unit to NTSC TV it still converts PAL to NTSC
- This might be of interest to others. When you set the unit to PAL TV it converts
NTSC to PAL most competently - good news if you have a PAL only TV set
- Hi Res audio performance unchanged
- There are many other operational improvements over the 1.44 Firmware but .
they have been mentioned before in different places and I've said enough

All in all, most satisfactory. Thank you for persisting with me. I hope other forum members gain further useful insight. I'm going to flash my other machine tonight now that I have established that there are no glitches.

My next task is to establish whether the 578A is autovolt as with the other universal models referenced above. It has a switch mode power supply so why would a manufacturer in mass production choose to make a 110 volt only unit as stated in the manual? Especially when using a switch mode supply. I did see another thread on the web a short while back suggesting that the 578 could be made autovolt with a minor component change. I really doubt this and would bet on the 578 being autovolt but don't want to fry my machines. Maybe someone will be able to answer this.

Again, thank you and regards

I think you will be pleased.

DigiPete

Flashed my second 578A last night with equal success to above

Flashed my second 578A last night with equal success to above


Good deal! Another happy camper :)

I have a PIONEER DV-578a and wanted to make it region free. I had made some CD-R coasters too until I renamed it with the B4EA then it FINALLY READ THE CD! :)

It said "UPDATE found" Press Play

After it updated....I removed the CD from the tray.....and the PIONEER logo/screen turned black and white and the "screen" started scrolling up and down. I think there is a glitch with the picture. Because I can't read anything it looks like it got messed up. :confused: I put in a PAL Region 2 DVD and it READ it. The disc played and I can hear the music, but its still in black/white and scrolling uncontrollably.

Is there anyway I can reset my dvd's firmware back to 2.05? I'm scared that I screwed up the DVD player. What did I do wrong? I followed all the instructions meticulously.. :(

OT but does anybody know of firmware somewhere for my 563a? I would love to add the firmware myself for this unit, taking it in just so a tech can plug in a cd seems silly and a waste of my time if I can do it.

NEWSFLASH: After all but giving up, as no version would work for me, I just upgraded my 578A-S firmware (1.44) with the one posted here (http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=917&view=findpost&p=10303).
Not only do I have all the additional features listed previously, I now can play DivX.

I did not have to rename (B4EA2106 which I tried first, didn't work). I did have to set back to NTSC (power off then hold ">>" and then "Power" on front panel) and set region to 0 (hold "Enter" on remote until shutdown). (strider213, this is your problem)

It will change your background. It's pretty cool but it does say DV-575A very lightly on the side (didn't even notice it at first). It also changes speaker distances to meters.

One more very happy camper.

OT but does anybody know of firmware somewhere for my 563a? I would love to add the firmware myself for this unit, taking it in just so a tech can plug in a cd seems silly and a waste of my time if I can do it.

I had to send mine in to get it done. $25 for postage plus 3 weeks waiting time. All for a 10 minute upgrade. I dealt with Pioneer Canada, YMMV

I had to send mine in to get it done. $25 for postage plus 3 weeks waiting time. All for a 10 minute upgrade. I dealt with Pioneer Canada, YMMV


will it add divx and make it region free too?

No, there is no divx capability possible on the 563...

NEWSFLASH: After all but giving up, as no version would work for me, I just upgraded my 578A-S firmware (1.44) with the one posted here (http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=917&view=findpost&p=10303).
Not only do I have all the additional features listed previously, I now can play DivX.

One more very happy camper.

I thought 578a could not do DIVX. Have you actually played a DIVX on your 578a?

Glad you got your rig working.

DigiPete

I thought 578a could not do DIVX. Have you actually played a DIVX on your 578a?
Yes, I have.
Thanks again for your help, DigiPete.

NEWSFLASH: After all but giving up, as no version would work for me, I just upgraded my 578A-S firmware (1.44) with the one posted here (http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=917&view=findpost&p=10303).
Not only do I have all the additional features listed previously, I now can play DivX.

I did not have to rename (B4EA2106 which I tried first, didn't work). I did have to set back to NTSC (power off then hold ">>" and then "Power" on front panel) and set region to 0 (hold "Enter" on remote until shutdown). (strider213, this is your problem)

It will change your background. It's pretty cool but it does say DV-575A very lightly on the side (didn't even notice it at first). It also changes speaker distances to meters.

One more very happy camper.

What is a .rar file and how would I open it?

What is a .rar file and how would I open it?
Archive file like .zip. WinRAR can be found here. (http://www.rarlab.com/download.htm)
or just email me for the .bin file.

NEWSFLASH: After all but giving up, as no version would work for me, I just upgraded my 578A-S firmware (1.44) with the one posted here (http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=917&view=findpost&p=10303).
Not only do I have all the additional features listed previously, I now can play DivX.



It also changes speaker distances to meters.



Oh, crap. Now I'm going to have to learn the metric system? :D :D :D

Oh, crap. Now I'm going to have to learn the metric system? :D :D :D
Nah, lots of converters online. :)

bw191,
I'm just getting around to doing this. Do I just burn that .bin file to a cd or do I need to convert to .iso first? and are the instructions the same for the other firmware? and finally, should I upgrade to the 2.09 first or go straight to this one?

Do I just burn that .bin file to a cd...? Yes.
and are the instructions the same for the other firmware? Yes. should I upgrade to the 2.09 first or go straight to this one?Straight to this one.
I must mention again though, that my experience seems to have been different than everyone else that posted here as none of the other firmware versions or names worked for me. So something must be different about my unit.

...Never had any complaints though. :D

I have a PIONEER DV-578a and wanted to make it region free. I had made some CD-R coasters too until I renamed it with the B4EA then it FINALLY READ THE CD! :)

It said "UPDATE found" Press Play

After it updated....I removed the CD from the tray.....and the PIONEER logo/screen turned black and white and the "screen" started scrolling up and down. I think there is a glitch with the picture. Because I can't read anything it looks like it got messed up. :confused: I put in a PAL Region 2 DVD and it READ it. The disc played and I can hear the music, but its still in black/white and scrolling uncontrollably.

Is there anyway I can reset my dvd's firmware back to 2.05? I'm scared that I screwed up the DVD player. What did I do wrong? I followed all the instructions meticulously.. :(


strider 213, did you come right with your black and white scrolling problem? As alluded to below this is almost certainly as a result of feeding a PAL signal to an NTSC only TV set. You need to set your TV type to NTSC
Regards

Hi there I have a 578a-s, I live in Brasil, my 578er is from Brasil too, if that matters, and I have a feeling it does!! The question has been asked before, but I did not have any luck, so I will ask again: how do you check firmware/version number, I tryed to look everywhere, outside the dvd, and on the screen with and without media, playing and not playing, but absl. nothing, I really need to know the ver.nr. to know where to go from, right?

I want the dvd to play divx, and there is atleast one inhere that have done it, I wonder if he is from brasil?

and just one more question for now, What is ´Blacker than black´?

I have allready tryed to update, (bad boy), with cd , but... can´t read disk...

btw. Todo bem Brasil

Hi there I have a 578a-s, I live in Brasil, my 578er is from Brasil too, if that matters, and I have a feeling it does!! The question has been asked before, but I did not have any luck, so I will ask again: how do you check firmware/version number, I tryed to look everywhere, outside the dvd, and on the screen with and without media, playing and not playing, but absl. nothing, I really need to know the ver.nr. to know where to go from, right?

I want the dvd to play divx, and there is atleast one inhere that have done it, I wonder if he is from brasil?

and just one more question for now, What is ´Blacker than black´?

I have allready tryed to update, (bad boy), with cd , but... can´t read disk...

btw. Todo bem Brasil

Hi,

Take remote with machine switched on and no disc present:
Go to HOME MENU and select (push ENTER)
Go to INITIAL SETTINGS and select
Scroll down to OPTIONS on INITIAL SETTINGS screen - DO NOT SELECT !!!!!!!!
Press DISPLAY button on your remote and you will see your firmware version on screen

For Divx see the Softpedia site. It is apparently possible with Gufiak firmware. The 578A is a universal chassis and is capable of Divx. I'm not interested in VOD MPEG4. I have loaded the Foncreator 4b firmware update and I am happy.


Regarding your BLACKER THAN BLACK query - please note that I'm doing my best to explain in layman's terms. I am not a technical boffin, I am a music and film lover.

BLACKER THAN BLACK is a confusing misnomer

For reasons best known to the manufacturers/DVD forum/NTSC DVD standards. Almost all players have their black level set to 7.5 IRE (Institute of Radio Engineers - IRE is an arbitrary scale from 0 to 100 denoting video signal brightness - possibly set to default to 7.5 IRE to enhance brightness?)

7.5 IRE is not black, it is very dark grey. 0 IRE is BLACK

TRUE BLACK is the cut on/cut off (ie conduction point of your display - in the case of CRTs 160 volts - you cannot get BLACKER than the display cut off point. If the display is off you have the best BLACK LEVEL it can achieve)

So called BLACKER THAN BLACK settings on your DVD player allow you to take the BLACK LEVEL down from 7.5 IRE to 0 IRE - TRUE BLACK.

I come from a PAL area and terminology used by the Americans for NTSC etc is quite different to most of the rest of the world.

So - there is no such thing as BLACKER THAN BLACK - it purely means that you can adjust your DVD Player's video output down from DARK GREY 7.5 IRE to TRUE BLACK 0 IRE - the point at which you loose conduction.

I hope that this helps. If someone else with greater technical knowledge wishes to comment - please do.

If you are still confused, take a look at a few Web Sites such as Joe Kane's Video Essentials site.

Is your 578A a 220/240volt model? I,m interested because I am sure that they are all autovolt models, never mind what the case or owners manual says. This is certainly true of some of the Elite models for USA and Korea. They say that they are 110 volt models but work just fine on 220/240 volts
Regards

The manual says 110v , and that´s what I have, so I am stuck with that !
Allright!! I have "Region 1" "Rom Version 2.05"
where do we go from here?

The manual says 110v , and that´s what I have, so I am stuck with that !
Allright!! I have "Region 1" "Rom Version 2.05"
where do we go from here?

Hi, Pleased you are having success. Both of my players had Firmware version 1.44 but many people have been successful updating from the newer Firmware 2.05 to modified Firmware 2.10 without trouble. The Brasilian model is not different. A friend of mine in Rio has one. They are a universal chassis built in the China plant.

All the information you need is in this thread but I will repeat the basics to make it easy for you. I am going to show you how to load Foncreator 4b which gives you open Region and many other enhancements. If you want Divx go to the Softpedia site and find the latest Gufiak firmware. I have no experience of this or whether it works

Go to http://geocities.com/foncreator and download Version 4b - Then uncompress it

Using Nero 6.0 full version:

1. Create a CD-ROM (ISO): (Data mode: Mode 1 File system: ISO9660 + Joliet)
2. Label it "PIONEER" (the PIONEER must be in uppcercase or the machine will not recognise the disc)
3. Put the .BIN file in the top/root directory
4. burn it with 'Verify' turned on.
then
5. insert the disc into the player
6. press 'Play' when prompted
7. remove disc when it is ejected automatically
8. wait a minute
9. the player will reset when done so make sure you change whatever
settings you had changed in the setup before.
it works with a CD-RW as well as a normal CD-R.


This will give you all as follows from v1 to v4 inclusive:

v4b

New feature - DVD Fast Start. Press "Play" to skip any warnings, ads etc at the beginning of DVD video.
DVD prohibited user operations protection removed. Almost
New item in the "Video Adjust" menu - Darker Than Black.
SRT subtitles' milliseconds timing fixed.

v3 (a "lazy" release, don't wanna patch v2.10's 8032)

ARM and DSP from official v2.10 - users report on some subtle DivX/MP3 improvements.
41-char subs filename limitation removed.
Subs body is pure white now, an outline - pure black; alignment - bottom.
Screensaver makes the screen totally blank - no "Pioneer" animation anymore.

v2

Region free (player will stay multizone even after downgrade to original FW).
VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display) file navigation: while you're in the filebrowser everything under cursor will be shown on VFD (first 10 chars, ASCII only due to VFD limitations). Can be useful for MP3 users.

v1
Changes relative to original FW:

New filebrowser:
8 rows
no image preview
long (50 chars) ASCII/CP1251 filenames
White black-outlined subs (Font2-3, Impact 20, CP1251).
New system font (Font0-1, Font9-10, Impact 14, CP1251).
New items in the "Audio Settings" menu: Equalizer, Bass boost, Super bass, Treble boost.
New "Video Output" submenu - "TV Type" (Multisync, PAL, NTSC. Off/On player after change).
"V.Surround" key now turns on/off a random (shuffle) play of MP3s. "Virtual Surround" is still available through "Audio Settings" menu.

It will also allow your machine to convert PAL to NTSC and NTSC to PAL by setting new TV Type screen that comes with 4b (See my comments earlier in the thread about my findings after changing to 4b)

I am sorry that this does not give you Divx on a 578. It does on a 575. If you want Divx you are going to have to cut a CD in the same way as I explain above but using the Gufiak Firmware from the Softpedia site. I have no experience of this so you do so at your own risk. I am not interested in poor quality MPEG4 Divx VOD. Both of my machines operate perfectly on Foncreator 4b and do what I want.

Let me know if you have success. Some people have had to change the BIN numbers on the CD they cut. This is not my experience.

If you still have trouble with your machine accepting the upgrade disc after doing what I say above then look back in the thread where Rickardl tells you how to change BIN numbers and what to change them to

Regards

Ok, here's a wild shot: rename the file to begin with B4EA

Edit: maybe I should explain this "wild shot", the background is:
The upgrade file for the DV-575 is B4BA2096.BIN and for the DV-470
it is B4FA2096.BIN. The DV-470 (also MT1389) is pretty much the same as the DV-575
except that it lacks DVD-Audio and SACD capabilities.
But if you rename B4BA2096.BIN to B4FA2096.BIN, the DV-470 believes
it is an upgrade file and accepts it. After that, the DV-470 can play
DVD-Audio and SACD but it hasn't grown any outputs for it ;-)
but it plays 2 channel high resolution audio fine which it couldn't do before.
After the upgrade, the DV-470 believes it is a DV-575 and then
it looks for B4BA2096.BIN for any new upgrade attempts.

Now, I just looked at the firmware for the DV-578 and it seems to have
the name of B4EA2096.BIN internally...so a simple rename might do the trick.

Edit2: to be picky, DV-575 looks for files with a mask of B4BA***6.BIN
where the '*' represent the firmware version.

B4EA

Very good shot, worked for me, now I have 2.10.xx.xx, with divX, and many other features, I don´t know what to do with all these features!

I took the FW here: well well well, I can´t make url, ok but you probably all know softpedia

Pioneer575_1252_v7.1_Mtz
I guess any FW will work with the correct "bin-name"
B4BA2106.bin
and changed the name to:
B4EA2106.bin

Label disk: PIONEER--CAPS

No more "can´t read disk" for me!

I have dv578a-s Brazil

I´m "up" for more "downloads" and "down" for more "uploads"

PS. only now I read your (Glyn M RucK) post to me, thanks, it is not easy to know which FW to choose "original", "foncreator", "gufiak", "mtz", or anyone else, with all those features floating around!!

B4EA

Very good shot, worked for me, now I have 2.10.xx.xx, with divX, and many other features, I don´t know what to do with all these features!

I took the FW here: well well well, I can´t make url, ok but you probably all know softpedia

Pioneer575_1252_v7.1_Mtz
I guess any FW will work with the correct "bin-name"
B4BA2106.bin
and changed the name to:
B4EA2106.bin

Label disk: PIONEER--CAPS

No more "can´t read disk" for me!


I have dv578a-s Brazil

I´m "up" for more "downloads" and "down" for more "uploads"

PS. only now I read your (Glyn M RucK) post to me, thanks, it is not easy to know which FW to choose "original", "foncreator", "gufiak", "mtz", or anyone else, with all those features floating around!!


Hi,
Good News - Can you please confirm that the v7.1 Mtz Firmware gave you - Open Region and DivX VOD capability?
Does DivX VOD now show on the menu?
Does it work?
Are all previous features such as DVD A & SACD working properly?
What new features do you have that are not in the owners manual?
Your reply to this will help others in the forum to decide which Firmware to choose
Regards

Just installed foncreator 5a firmware into my DV-578A.

It made the unit Region 0, enabled many new settings in menu including Blacker than Black, and claims to use newer DSP code version from DV-585 (DV-588??).

On the first FW loading, I had to rename .BIN to B4EA or I got the "Can't play disc" message. On subsequent loadings to try different FW, only B4BA .BINs seem to work now. I suppose this is because the unit now "thinks" it is DV-575....

Any thoughts on what feature/benefit/improvement should come from the DV-585/588 DSP code?

Just installed foncreator 5a firmware into my DV-578A.

It made the unit Region 0, enabled many new settings in menu including Blacker than Black, and claims to use newer DSP code version from DV-585 (DV-588??).

whoaru99,

How is the PAL-->NTSC conversion? I know the 578 does a great conversion on R0 PAL, but I tried a firmware upgrade a few months ago, and the PAL->NTSC became horrible.

Ted

Sorry, can't answer that because I don't have any PAL discs; only R1 NTSC.

There are so many versions (different authors/modifiers) of the 575a firmware mentioned in the web that it is difficult for a new user (like me) to decide on which one to use. Are there any "comparison" postings that one can read? My interest in the 578a(US) player is primarily to get entry level capability for audio sacd/dvd-a listening with 5.1 analogue connection. Are there known compromising issues for multi-channel audio playback from these fw upgrades (of course I appreciate having the expanded flexibility in video features as well)?
TIA.

http://geocities.com/foncreator/

Installed this one Region free, pass's blacker than blacks!

And alot of other items I never used yet.

I've also used the foncreator one with success

The geocities site seems to be down, here is an alternate: http://foncreator.boom.ru/

Dazog,

I'm going to ask my question again from above:

How is the PAL-->NTSC conversion? I know the 578 does a great conversion on R0 PAL, but I tried a firmware upgrade a few months ago, and the PAL->NTSC became horrible.

Any info you have would be appreciated.

Ted

I flashed 578a-s with 5a firmware, but it came with some awful video settings. I had to re-zero all the settings to make the video look normal. Are these preset settings there for a reason?.. BTW, I downloaded mine from "boom.ru" site since the foncreater site was down.

I've had to reset some settings after flashing the firmware, so I don't think it's that unusual. I think the default settings are just whatever the firmware writer chooses to put in there...the one that annoys me is that the angle indicator is turned on by default.

Wow - I've been going crazy the past week or so trying to get my 578A ROM Version 2.05 upgraded to be able to play the new Talking Heads DVD-A discs. Changing the filename to B4EA2096.BIN worked. Now I have Region 0 ROM Version 2.09/2.10 XXXXX.

Going through and resetting the settings was a little scary as when I switched to progressive, the screen went to a green gitter and did not fix itself until I switched flipped back and forth between TV input settings (e.g., DVD to satellite to DVD again) with my universal remote. This fixed the non-centered screen that I had right after the firmware update as well. Talking Heads in high-rez surround....MMMMM...So far so good....

Thanks everyone.

Anthony

Dazog,

I'm going to ask my question again from above:

How is the PAL-->NTSC conversion? I know the 578 does a great conversion on R0 PAL, but I tried a firmware upgrade a few months ago, and the PAL->NTSC became horrible.

Any info you have would be appreciated.

Ted


Ted,
I have two 578As that I have flashed with the foncreator firmware. They work impeccably and the PAL to NTSC and NTSC to PAL conversion is excellent. No jerks or other transcode artifacts. In fact very close to my high end machines.

The only thing that I noticed on both was that the picture at default without any touch up was more saturated.

I'm of the opinion that the foncreator default takes black level to 0 IRE from 7.5 IRE. I have left my machines at default setting because on my Panasonic & Sony displays I prefer the picture that way.

I am not sure that this helps you - you may have some undesirable display/player interaction taking place and I would experiment with settings. Your frame hold on your display might be on the edge of it's setting range or similar.
Regards,
Glyn

BTW - foncreator version 4b

Thanks, Glyn.

What happened when I previously tried it last summer (I think it was 4b; not sure) was that my PAL picture became off-centered (either shifted up or down) and stuttered. After reading some more recent upgrade instructions, I may not have let the machine "do its thing" completely or not have "reset" the machine afterwards. While trying to get back to original firmware, I killed the machine and had to buy another. I think I'll be brave and try it again soon. At worst, I'll end up with a 588.

Ted

Has anyone tried this firmware with the 563a?
I have a 563a with the original firmware and don't want to send it in for a firmware update so it will play all the DVD-Audio disks I have.
I've been searching for months for someone to put this file on the internet.

I've been thinking of playing with a 588. While it is assembled in Thailand rather than China (578) and has different cosmetics, It appears to be the same generic universal chassis as the 578 but loaded with different firmware enabling DivX VOD etc. which the 578 can do with a firmware change.
G

563A owners will be the last on the list to get a firmware....


I figure a few more years and some old disk will get leaked. :(

Has anyone tried this firmware with the 563a?
I have a 563a with the original firmware and don't want to send it in for a firmware update so it will play all the DVD-Audio disks I have.
I've been searching for months for someone to put this file on the internet.

Thats your choice not to send it in...after all this time don't expect to see the update leaked anywhere

I expect exactly the opposite. eventually it will be.

There are threads saying that the audio in 588a is better than 578a (575a). It has also been
pointed out that the fontcrest 5a firmware uses a newer dsp code from somewhere (588a?). I am wondering if the better audio performance is due to dsp codes (I am ignorant about whether the dsp code can affect the quality of audio, or video only) or internal audio hardware (dac and opamps). Do people who had switched to fontcrest 5a notice any improvement in audio? Are the audio opamps different for these models?
TIA.

Thats your choice not to send it in...after all this time don't expect to see the update leaked anywhere

Leaky leaky :)

I have the 1.90xx (whatever it is) 563a upgrade disk in an .iso. I abused Pioneer support into sending me the CD.

What I want to know is, is this the most recent firmware available for the 563? It *still* won't play Queensryche - Empire DVD-A. Tried with 2 different disks, before and after the firmware upgrade. no good. Matter of fact, it's *worse* after the firmware update.

Some comments:

The DV-585 is the 2005 successor of the DV-575 2004 model, both European.

The offical firmwares for the DV-575 from Pioneer that circulates are:
- 2.09
- 2.10

There are basically 3 modified (of the above) firmwares in circulation:
- Foncreator 5a
- Gufiak 2.10.05.01
- Mtz 7.1

any others are based on the above and usually just implements different
fonts, backgrounds etc, just cosmetics to the OSD basically.

Foncreator 5a firmware for the DV-575 uses, the supposedly better, DSP
code taken from the DV-585.

Reflashing with Foncreator 5a resets all values to the default,
any other effect must be due to flashing on a non DV-575 machine.

There is a page which covers the DV-575 and DV-585, http://pioneer.wassberg.info
It is not entirely in English and it is not that well structured but it
contains a lot of useful information and links and downloads of
the firmware versions.

Leaky leaky :)

I have the 1.90xx (whatever it is) 563a upgrade disk in an .iso. I abused Pioneer support into sending me the CD.

What I want to know is, is this the most recent firmware available for the 563? It *still* won't play Queensryche - Empire DVD-A. Tried with 2 different disks, before and after the firmware upgrade. no good. Matter of fact, it's *worse* after the firmware update.

Mine and 2 others I've tried play that disk in pure silence. How could silence get better or worse with different firmware versions?

;)

There is something really wrong with that disk as far as I'm concerned. Have you gotten it to play on any player?

If you havent posted the 1.906 firmware on the net, then its still not leaked....or you would have already helped the guy above that refuses to send his in....

;)

Mine and 2 others I've tried play that disk in pure silence. How could silence get better or worse with different firmware versions?

;)

There is something really wrong with that disk as far as I'm concerned. Have you gotten it to play on any player?

If you havent posted the 1.906 firmware on the net, then its still not leaked....or you would have already helped the guy above that refuses to send his in....

;)

Let me be more clear: I have it, do you want it?

:D

I have no need for it, my player was upgraded by Pioneer, took a couple of days...quick and painless...

;)

If people dont want to send their players in, thats their business, but no more whining about it...

:D

I have no need for it, my player was upgraded by Pioneer, took a couple of days...quick and painless...

;)

If people dont want to send their players in, thats their business, but no more whining about it...

:D

My understanding is that your experience is atypical. I and most people I have discussed this with have been told by Pioneer that the typical turn-around for this work, even at a local shop, is 3 to 6 weeks.

Pretty lame if you ask me for a procedure that takes 5 minutes, max.

I'm never buying Pioneer again, and would advise others to do the same.

It doesnt matter if the procedure takes 5 seconds, 5 minutes, or 5 days, almost all shops operate on FIFO, unless they are waiting on parts....if they have a repair backlog, you wait...or find a shop thats not that busy...its your choice to not buy from Pioneer for something as small as the firmware update not being downloadable. You have yours fixed now so I have no idea what your beef is now, besides maybe you like to hear yourself complain...

;)

While I have been happy with my 578 todate, I am not happy that it won't play my new Talking Heads Brick set. I am on Vancouver Island, in Canada and they will only update it if I ship it 3000 mi east at my expense.

Not fair as far as I am concerned and my complaint is only to make others think twice before supporting a company that has seperate policies for US and Canada.

Regards

It doesnt matter if the procedure takes 5 seconds, 5 minutes, or 5 days, almost all shops operate on FIFO, unless they are waiting on parts....if they have a repair backlog, you wait...or find a shop thats not that busy...its your choice to not buy from Pioneer for something as small as the firmware update not being downloadable. You have yours fixed now so I have no idea what your beef is now, besides maybe you like to hear yourself complain...

;)

My "beef", as you call it, is Pioneer's complete "screw the customer " attitude regarding the (obviously defective) 563a product. Pioneer had several chances to get this right:

1) Make the product operate properly in the first place. Pioneer, as far as I can tell, is the only company that has released a product that has this problem. Everyone else managed to get it right.

2) Don't give paying customers the run-around when they're trying to get their product fixed under warranty. When the problem first came to light, Pioneer first tried to play dumb, claiming they were unaware of the problem. Once it became clear they could no longer deny the existence of the problem, their strategy turned to a combination of "blame the customer/manufacturer of the disk/Elvis" and "let's bounce our customer from one department to another until they give up." Only legal action forced Pioneer to make their product operate as represented to the customer.

3) Once there was a fix for the problem, in the form of a firmware update, Pioneer for reasons that STILL are unfathomable to me, refused to make the fix available on the Internet. AFAIK most every other DVD player manufacturer makes these updates available for free download. They insisted that their paying customer give up their player for weeks in order to apply a 5 minute patch. Even more inexplicable is the fact that, by making the fix available on the internet, they would save the repair centers significant amounts of time and effort, and save themselves non-trivial amounts of money inf the form of reimbursement to those same service centers.

This thread says much more than I could: http://www.quadraphonicquad.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3020 .

The fact that there was a flaw in the player is irrelevant at this point. The problem is Pioneer's completely unreasonable (and unexplained) attitude towards remedying a problem that, under the terms of Pioneer's own warranty, is their responsibility.

Compound that with the fact that said firmware correction does NOT completely solve the issue (I still cannot play all of my DVD-Audio disks on it), and Pioneer has lost me as a customer. I refuse to support a company that treats its customers like cash-bearing cattle.

Bad Gollum: I would very much appreciate the 1.90 ISO firmware for the pioneer 563a, please.


so much for it not being leaked eh ? lol

1. Create a CD-ROM (ISO): (Data mode: Mode 1 File system: ISO9660 + Joliet)
2. Label it "PIONEER" (the PIONEER must be in uppcercase or the machine will not recognise the disc)
3. Put the .BIN file in the top/root directory
4. burn it with 'Verify' turned on.
then
5. insert the disc into the player
6. press 'Play' when prompted
7. remove disc when it is ejected automatically
8. wait a minute
9. the player will reset when done so make sure you change whatever
settings you had changed in the setup before.
it works with a CD-RW as well as a normal CD-R.



Thank you for the help and information as well as the information provided by others such as DigiPete. I did the upgrade Saturday and it worked with no issues following the directions found in this thread. It would have been not so easy had others not made the mistakes from which I was able to learn.

The enhanced bass works well for SACD and DVD-A, but the super bass is over kill for me.

Buck

I just want to share my experience. I spent a few hours scouring this thread and the thread located at http://board.softpedia.com/index.php?showtopic=917&st=280 making sure I took all the right precautions.

I own a DV-578A that came with firmware version 1.44.

First I tried to burn Gufiak 2.10.06 for 578 with the supplied file name B4EA2106.BIN. This resulted in a "Can't Read Disc" error. I then proceeded to make 3 cd-r coasters.

It just so happens I needed to use the file name B4BA2106.BIN. After I did this the firmware made specifically for 578 worked flawlessly. I couldn't be happier. Dvix/Xvid playback WITH AC3 (Dolby Digital 5.1), PAL/NTSC conversion, Region Free (after holding enter). Amazing.

In this whole process I had loaded the DV-575A Gufiak 2.10.06.01 on my DV-578. This made the player region free BUT messed up PAL/NTSC conversion royally. Plus Xvid/Divx was not enabled. Not sure why this would happen, but BE ADVISED: load the Gufiak firmware made specially for the DV-578. If you do it wrong it is easy to fix, just reload the firmware.

The correct firmware and directions can be had at http://www.pioneerfaq.info/english/dv575.php?player=DV-575A&question=Firmwares , remember in my case I needed to rename B4EA2106.BIN to B4BA2106.BIN. Scroll to the bottom and download the Gufiak 2.10.06 (2 Jun 2006 07:16)

DVD-Audio and SACD still work excellent. (This was a major concern of mine, as that is what this player is used the most for)

Hope this helps! My DVD player is now 10x more awesome!

I got a refurb 578A today directly from Pioneer. It came preloaded with firmware 2.10. I burned a couple of the Gufiak 2.10.06.01 just to try. Unfortunately all came up with "cannot play disc" error. I followed all the steps, including renaming, using PIONEER as disc name, etc. I suppose one of the only things I'm missing out on is DIVX playback. All of the DVD-A discs I tried today worked fine.

Since this is mainly an audio player, I'll probably stick with the official 2.10 firmware.

I just installed a new firmware (Gufiak 2.10.06) on my DV-578A. After the update, my screen is black and white and contantly rolling. I think its been changed to PAL and I have an NTSC tv. Can you guide me through the steps to change to NTSC, since I can't see the menu functions?? It would be much appreciated!

I just installed a new firmware (Gufiak 2.10.06) on my DV-578A. After the update, my screen is black and white and contantly rolling. I think its been changed to PAL and I have an NTSC tv. Can you guide me through the steps to change to NTSC, since I can't see the menu functions?? It would be much appreciated!

I installed the Foncreator v5a unofficial firmware (from http://www.geocities.com/foncreator/?200725) on my North American Pioneer DV-578A player, connected to a NTSC only TV, and had exactly the same problem at first. After installation of the new firmware, the player apparently started up in "PAL only" mode, which causes a rolling black and white display on an NTSC TV, so it is impossible to see the menu functions clearly. (You can sort of see the menus, but you will barf if you try to read them :eek: :( :mad: )

In fact, the default "TV type" with the Foncreator v5a firmware is, sensibly, "Multisync TV", which (I think) will send a viewable signal to any type of TV. But, after installing new firmware, the Pioneer DV-578A does NOT automatically start up with the default options of the new firmware.

To set the firmware to the default options (you probably need to do the following from front panel, i.e. won't work from remote):
(1) If player is on, press the Standby/On button to turn player to "Standby" (which most people think of as "Off")
(2) While player is in "Standby", HOLD DOWN THE STOP BUTTON (button with solid square symbol) (located below the Tray Open/Close button)
(3) Continuing to hold down the Stop button, press Standby/On button
(4) Player should reset to the default options of whatever firmware is installed

Also, here is a procedure that I think will set the Pioneer DV-578A with the Foncreator 5A firmware to "TV type = Multisync TV", which should produce a readable display with any type of TV. This is much more complicated than the procedure in my last message, so you should only try this if you are getting an unreadable display due to PAL/NTSC problems and my last message didn't help for some reason. Further, this procedure is only designed for the Foncreator 5A firmware.

The procedure depends on using the Enter and "arrow" keys on the remote to reliably get to a certain menu function even if you can't see it. The asterisk symbol (*) at any point means, the procedure should still work if you press the listed key more times than advised.

Press Home Menu
Press "left arrow" one time (*)
Press "down arrow" two times (*)
Press "Enter" one time (should go into Initial Settings menu)
Press "left arrow" two times (*)
Press "up arrow" five times (*)
Press "down arrow" one time only (should be at Video Output line)
Press "right arrow" one time only
Press "up arrow" two times (*)
Press "right arrow" one time (*)
Press "up arrow" two times (*)
Press Enter (should set "TV type = Multisync TV")
Press Home Menu
Turn the player to "Standby", then "On" again

I just want to share my experience. I spent a few hours scouring this thread and the thread located at ] making sure I took all the right precautions.

I own a DV-578A that came with firmware version 1.44.

First I tried to burn Gufiak 2.10.06 for 578 with the supplied file name B4EA2106.BIN. This resulted in a "Can't Read Disc" error. I then proceeded to make 3 cd-r coasters.

It just so happens I needed to use the file name B4BA2106.BIN. After I did this the firmware made specifically for 578 worked flawlessly. I couldn't be happier. Dvix/Xvid playback WITH AC3 (Dolby Digital 5.1), PAL/NTSC conversion, Region Free (after holding enter). Amazing.

In this whole process I had loaded the DV-575A Gufiak 2.10.06.01 on my DV-578. This made the player region free BUT messed up PAL/NTSC conversion royally. Plus Xvid/Divx was not enabled. Not sure why this would happen, but BE ADVISED: load the Gufiak firmware made specially for the DV-578. If you do it wrong it is easy to fix, just reload the firmware.

The correct firmware and directions can be had at , remember in my case I needed to rename B4EA2106.BIN to B4BA2106.BIN. Scroll to the bottom and download the Gufiak 2.10.06 (2 Jun 2006 07:16)

DVD-Audio and SACD still work excellent. (This was a major concern of mine, as that is what this player is used the most for)

Hope this helps! My DVD player is now 10x more awesome!

I followed the link to the Gufiak site and the link will not download for me. I'm trying to get the one for the dv-578: Gufiak 2.10.06 (2 Jun 2006 07:16)

Can someone mail this to me, I tried to Google but can't find it posted anywhere else.

Thanks

Switched to Firefox and was able to download file.

Firmware: Gufiak 2.10.06 / Pioneer DV-578a

Made the plunge today, thanks for all the informative information.

I'm having one issue:

• If I play a DVD movie the volume can be left at my normal listening level, -30.
• If I play a music CD, DVDA audio disk or Divx movie I have to crank the volume way up.

Before doing the firmware upgrade the volume could be left around -30 for everything.

Is there something in the setup audio menu I should be changing?

Thanks in advance,
Roger

Firmware: Gufiak 2.10.06 / Pioneer DV-578a

Made the plunge today, thanks for all the informative information.

I'm having one issue:

• If I play a DVD movie the volume can be left at my normal listening level, -30.
• If I play a music CD, DVDA audio disk or Divx movie I have to crank the volume way up.

Before doing the firmware upgrade the volume could be left around -30 for everything.

Is there something in the setup audio menu I should be changing?

Thanks in advance,
Roger

I was reading the connection section of the Pioneer manual and it says that the analog outputs should also be connected, right now I only have an Coaxial Digital Audio cable connected to my Yamaha receiver.