Official LG LHB326/336/536/976 Owner's Thread - Page 3

I did a few updates. Updated to .211 fine. When trying to update to .245, it froze twice. The third time, it worked (after 40 minutes) but the DivX TV app was not working. I downgraded to .211 via the USB and DivX TV worked again. Then, I updated to .245 again and it only took 5 minutes. I have no idea why it took 40 minutes one day (after freezing twice in a row) and then took 5 minutes a couple of days later.

Sometimes, the player will freeze while checking for updates.

Where are you guys getting your updates from? I'm wondering if I'm getting the wrong file.

There were two things listed on the 336's support page. They are 8.62.245, a 136MB(!!) file dated 3/24, and version H90358, a 634k file dated 3/22.

When I downgraded to the .211 firmware, I got it from the support page. Any time I updated, I got the update from the player itself, using WiFi and checking for a new update.

The firmware update you want is the 136MB update (.245). You should also install the H90358 driver update if you don't already have it.

anyone using this app accedo? I checked it out on my computer but I don't see much except games. It says they offer video art like aquariums etc but it does not tell you how to access it.

I guess my question is, I've tried the updates about 10 or so times, and each time I've gotten "Update Failed". Is there something else I need to do to make it work?

Edit: Never mind, the update finally worked. Sitting at .245 and H90358 now.

What I find annoying is sometimes it locks up and wont shut off unless I pull the plug out of the outlet.
I was watching Netflix, so I switched the tv av input back to cable because if i dont, im accused of breaking the tv... then realized i still had the 336 on, turn off, nothing, home button, nothing, etc. av switched back to 336, nothing.
this is 4th time its just locked up on me.
And I wish we could put some of the premiums into the my apps as shortcuts.
I only use netflix so far but I have a bunch of empty spots for those bootleg LG apps.

I had one lockup so far. I was trying to duplicate Mike's issue with losing the center channel, I didn't have a problem going between the same video with DTS on a network and a USB, then I re-read the post and saw it was going between DD and DTS, so I played some video with DD from the network and stopped it, and it locked up on me at that point.

I got it to shut off by holding the on/off button on the unit for 5 seconds or so. I don't know if that's documented, I just tried it from computer habit. I don't really plan on using the video playback for this unit, I'll stick to my HTPC for that. I did try out the internet radio app and that worked well, so I'm happy with that.

(ah, I see the 5 second thing is mentioned in the troubleshooting section of the manual)

There really isn't any mention about the Speaker Level button in the manual, other than there's a button marked "speaker level" on the remote. Luckily the settings you make aren't per input, so you can adjust them when watching a video from the unit and it sticks when watching something from a HDMI input. Luckily I found a trick accidentally while watching my DVR through HDMI 1, if I held down the Speaker level button, it would display info on the LCD and I could scroll through them, so I was able to make an adjustment.

Now I gotta get my Harmony One setup. I noticed the problems with the 535 settings too, guess if Logitech hasn't updated them yet, I'll just have to have it learn some commands from the remote.

Damn, can you give it another try? Try from DTS to DD, both on network, and/or DTS from network to DD on USB, and whatever other combinations you can. Thanks.

Yeah, my player sometimes locks up when checking for updates. Holding down power for 5 seconds shuts it off and it works fine after that.

I'll try it today. I see there's a SW update when I went into Premium and they added Amazon now! Woohoo! And a new SW .276, so updating that too.

Edit: Well it looks like I won't get to the test today. One of my drives in my media RAID just decided to poop itself. Guess it's off to Fry's to pick up a spare drive. On the plus side, tested the Amazon VOD and after registering my Amazon Prime, it played back the free videos fine.

The YouTube app has been updated too. Now, it plays videos in their highest quality possible (finally), but it lost "suggested searches" as you start typing in a search. Bummer. I hope that comes back.

I bought and set up the 536 yesterday, just found this forum, and I have some questions. Bear with me! I don't see anything in the manual about why the various "sound effect" modes and video modes mean. On the sound part, what exactly is natural plus for example? When playing a bluray movie, what's the "right" setting that doesn't process sound to the wrong speakers, over-widen the surround, or whatever?

On the picture mode side, all I see is the selector when you're in the movie an you press info and you can select standard, vivid, movie, and some other.. What the heck do these do? There's nothing in the manual that says whether any of these do sharpening (for example), softening, color changing, noise filtering, etc. Nothing! Oh, and there's a "user" mode, but I can't see where you'd actually make user settings.

'Natural Plus' is basically 'Bypass' for 5.1 audio and it does some artificial mixing for 2.0 sources. If you want no artificial mixing for any sources, just use Bypass. But, if you find that you don't like your 2.0 sources only coming out of the left and right speaker, use Natural Plus and it will make 2.0 sources sound a little better, while leaving 5.1 sources alone.

As for the picture mode, Standard should be fine. 'Vivd' makes it brighter and turns on sharpness, 'Movie' makes it a bit darker and uses noise reduction. I don't like any artificial processing for my video, so I leave it on Standard.

Mike, you'll be happy to know I confirmed your issue with the latest firmware. I played a DD video off the network, played a DTS off of USB, then played the same network video again and the center channel was missing. Changing sound effect brought it back.

On natural plus, I did notice music coming from the center I think, softly, so it sounds like those channels still come through, it's not a total shutoff of the center channel. I wonder if it happens if the default sound was on bypass.

Thanks for confirming it! Yeah, it doesn't completely shut the speaker off. It just gets... really low. It's hard to explain. I've tried it with the other Sound Effect options, so it's not limited to Natural/Natural Plus. I've told an LG engineer about this problem, but I'm not sure how fast it will be fixed unless others complain about it.

One problem that is limited to the latest firmware is that when DVDs switch chapters, there is a slight audio dropoff for a second. This happens with the 2010 models, too. Since it's happening to all 2010/2011 players, it should probably be fixed soon.

I have noticed that when I am watching High Def Tv that there is no sound from the center speaker on some shows but on other shows there is sound. For example last night i was watching the Amazing race in HD and I felt like I have to turn up the volume but then I went over to the center speaker and I could hear nothing. When I changed the channel to masterpiece theater then I had to turn down the volume because the sound WAS coming from the center speaker. Anyone noticed this? I forgot to se where the sound effect was set but i will check it today. I had noticed over the past 2 weeks this lower and then louder sound but I thought it was because my center speaker is behind a small door with a cloth cover in my wall unit. So i adjusted the speaker level higher on the center speaker than the others but it did not seem to made much difference. Everybody please check this issue on your systems.
Also one other issue I have noticed, infrequently when I change from watching a premium app back to TV the video color is not clear and sharp. I have to turn off the system and then turn it on again to get it to clear up.

This will be hard to comment on until you tell us what Sound Effect you are using. If you're using Bypass, then it makes sense for the center speaker to be off when you are watching 2.0 stereo stuff. If the Sound Effect is Natural Plus, then the center speaker should always be on.

Haven't seen that happen yet, I'm running Natural Plus all the time.

A quick question. I've been looking at the LHB336 and was near ready to purchase it but am confused on the number of HDMI inputs. Different sources are saying different things. Even the Sony site contradicts itself and says 1 HDMI input in one spot and 2 in another. Does it have 2 HDMI inputs or just one?

The 336 has just one HDMI input. A bit of a bummer, but it fit my price range.

yeah, I looked more into it and found the manual. Yup, only one. I ended up ordering it anyway. I just couldn't justify the difference between the 336 and 536. I was hoping for at least 2 HDMI inputs, but can live without one. I need one for my HTPC and can use other inputs for my cable box and Wii.

Yeah, I could have lived with one really, I bought a new HDMI switch from Monoprice and have all of my main items on that. My hasn't-been-used-in-a-while HD-DVD player is on the other HDMI.

Why did I do it that way? Didn't have a direct input code for my Harmony One yet to switch between the inputs, but there's a code for the HDMI switcher.

Plus I wanted the extra tweeters. And actually I got a damn good price, I happened to snag it when the price was down to $374 for the 536.

I didn't know a HDMI switcher was remotely controlled. Which one did you get? Any complaints?

Oh yeah, most of them do. I'd been using a cheapy 3 port one marketed for gaming systems, and most of the ones you'll find on monoprice have a remote. I ended up getting the 4 port one they have that they market as having a CEC engine, its kinda hard to tell the difference between all the choices. But this $30 switch works fine. It says on their store page you should use it with 24awg HDMI and some reviews from people said they needed it, so I picked up a few cables at the same time, but I don't know if they were really needed. Not all of my cables are 24awg and I didn't have any problems.

Anyone else with an iPhone 4 (or any i device) try to play music through their 536 using that dock that comes with the system? I can't get it to shuffle. It seems like I can only play music for a particular artist, or album, or whatever. I try selecting shuffle by hitting the "repeat" button on the remote until it goes past the repeat options onto the one that looks like a shuffle icon, but all it does it keep playing the songs in the album for whatever song is currently playing.

Useless! Absolutely useless. (unless i'm doing it wrong). Otherwise - useless.

my 336 arrived yesterday. A whole day early. I just love Amazon. free two day shipping and it's here a day early. How cool is that? I ordered mounting equipment for my projector (Optoma HD66), speakers, and Extended HDMI cable. I hooked up the system in a make shift fashion to test out and all seems to be working and the sound was great. Can't wait to hear it with everything in place.

Just bought the LHB536. So far it's great. I have a question regarding the wiring method. I was wondering if you have the TV, this Blu-ray home theater, and a cable set-top box, is it better to :
a. Run an HDMI cable from the box's out to TV HDMI IN and,
Run an HDMI cable from the LHB536's out to the TV HDMI IN and,
Run an optical cable from TV's audio out to LHB536

OR:
b. Run an HDMI cable from the cable box's out to the LHB536 HDMI IN and,
Run an HDMI cable from the LHB536 HDMI OUT to the TV's HDMI IN and,
Run an optical cable from the TV's audio out to the LHB536's optical in.

The reason I need an optical cable from the TV to the LHB536 is because the TV is internet ready for VUDU, etc. which I like to use in addition to the internet apps the LHB536 has.

I've read both a) and b) a couple of times now... and I really don't see the difference between the two.

I guess my confusion is : do I use an HDMI cable from the cable box into the TV'S HDMI in or an HDMI cable from the cable box into the LHB536? Or maybe it makes no difference?

Is anyone else having issues with Netflix being unresponsive to the remote controls with the LHB336? The Netflix interface seems to work fine for me, but when I play a movie the audio takes several seconds after the video starts to kick in. Also, if I try to pause, FF, stop, etc. it takes forever for the player to respond. I have an LG BD550 in the house also that has no problems whatsoever with Netflix. I'm on a FIOS connection. It's not my connection as the other player works just fine, seems to be the software in the LHB336. Setting a static IP on the player seemed to help a little. I've had the player either completely freeze up, or reboot on me several times now too, usually right after I've tried to fast forward, pause or stop a video while on Netflix. Haven't seen any issues while in other functions of the player.

HDMI from cable box to LG HB536 HDMI IN, another HDMI cable from the 536 HDMI OUT to the TV's HDMI IN, and an optical cable connecting the TV and the 536.

I've experienced all of this, too.