2011 LG XXLV5500 SMARTTV / Impressions - Page 9

So far i've tried 40gb (usb powered) and once i hit initialize dvr, it starts then it reports that it failed initialization and to contact CS. Then I tried 1TB outlet powered usb drive and the same thing happened. I'm using the newest version 4 firmware. Do you think there's something blocking the dvr function in the firmware? or am i doing something wrong here?

I'm going to try another HDD and see if the initiation step works. I can see the DVR list as you have in the pictures. It just failed to initialize 2 of my HDD so far (both are at the capacity limits as in the document). I'll report back later today with a third HDD.

Is anyone able to get the espn3 plugin for Plex Media Server to work on this TV? I see all the events but get "cannot play media"

Your ISP has to be an ESPN3 affiliate to stream on your PC/Mac. I'm sure it's the same for the plug-in.

Ok I've tried a third USB drive (500gb usb powered) and got the same message. Initialization failed contact customer service. I need to get over this initialization and I'm the DVR will work. Any suggestions please? I really want the DVR to work.

I'm helping my SIL in Canada shop for a TV there and have been really confused by the LG lineup. I've been recommending a Sony 46NX810, but she's interested in a LG LV5400 because it's several hundred less than the Sony. I can't find a whole of of info on LG's TVs.

Anyone know if there's any difference between the LV5400 and LV5500?

I looked on the LG web site and the sets are very similar. The LV5400 could be the previous model to the LV5500. Just a guess. Don't know for sure. Here is a link to the LG TV lineup. Both the 5400 and 5500 series are listed. You can select the Compare box for each model and check any differences.

I did see that it was on sale at Best Buy in Canada through 08/18/2011. Hope this helps a little.

Big help, thanks. The only difference I saw is the 5400 lacked "Magic Motion Remote Compatible" - other than that they seem like the exact same TV.

Thanks for going through the menus to figure this stuff out!! Why in the world did LG disable this stuff on the TV from the factory????

Hi
You mentioned that when activating the DVR capability the attached usb hard drive is formatted. Does this mean that all the contents of the HDD are wiped as well or does it create a partition and then format that? I have a usb hard drive but have alot of stuff stored on it that I don't want to erase. Any thoughts on this?

Thanks

yes everything will be wiped out and the pc will not recognize the drive. You have to reformatted to be recognized throught the admin tools. I've tried it and it failed to initialize but still my pc was not able to recognize the drive until i reformatted it.

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Hi all, i read this post yesturday and i was having the same problem on my 10 day old LG TV its a 55LW9500 (55LW). Note i was able to read and play files off the drive but i could not timeshift record. Any movie i copied onto the drive with my computer was playable. But when i hit the record button on the remote ( this activates the DVR function) i was prompted to confirm that the drive was about to be initilaized for use with the LG TV.

Contacted LG and after going through all the motions with them re:

* What format is the drive formatted in?, it was NTFS, they said it should be FAT32 or FAT16. They were not really sure but informed that it had worked for some people.

* There must be a problem with the HDD. What kind of drive was it? a WDD 2.5inch drive. I tried a Maxtor drive and got the same problem.

When i tried to read the drive again on the computer - i could not. It appears that when the LG TV tried to initialize the drive it puts its own structure onto the drive and the drive will no longer be readable on any standard computer. There is a prompt before this happens on the screen. Something like Warning the drive will no longer be readable...etc.

To read the drive again on a normal PC you have plug it in and go to the admin tools of your software delete the LG partitions that were created and lay a new format onto it.

So all in all - i was not able to initialize the 55LW and ended up with the same fault message all the time... failed to inialize contact customer support.

Then it occured to me I also have a LG 42LV5500 TV (42LV) with the same timeshift (DVR) feature. So i pluged the drive into this and it initialized as it was suppose to. And importantly the time shift prompt comes up to confirm that you want to do this ie: It worked on this TV. Now i go back to the the 55LW9500 and plug that initialised drive into this TV and timeshift is working on that too. So it appears that once the drive is initialized it will work on a LG TV but my LW55 has a problem doing that.

Just to make sure, i tried the other drive too, and also run multiple scenerios formated them to NTFS and fat32 and the drives initialised on the 42LV in all cases. But importantly the initializing of the drive on the origanial TV would not work.

I called LG back and informed them of this. They spoke with a Tech and informed that they think its a problem but were not sure. They asked me to go to a retail store and try the NTFS formated drive on another 55LW9500 TV in the showroom. So i returned the drive back to the computer formated state, went to the store and did what they wanted and it worked.

Conclusion I had a fault with my 55LW. The store will send a brand new TV to me tomorrow "The Good Guys" in Taylors Lakes (Australia) had no hesitation, pretty good service from the Good Guys.

I hope this helps people who also encounter this problem - I spend far too much time on this yesturday, i wish LG had of know. But i understand. They were not too bad - one suggestion for them is to offer to call me back rather than have me try different things and call them back and wait to speak to other people. One Customer support person said he had the same problem yesturday and the guy didnt call back so the problem must be fixed. Thats a strange thing to say - wouldnt you want to know what the fix and cause was.

UPDATED POST

I have updated the firmware 04.01.08 and the problem is back again. Unfortunatley I updated it on the other TV too so when i run Try to initialise the drive on that TV it gives me the error. Its obviously firmware related. ( thanks for asking the question spooni).
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UPDATED POST 23/7/2011

LG has provided the update (version 04.01.09) to fix the Hard drive initialisation problem down loaded it last night and all good - well done LG, thanks for the repsonse to this. all fixed for me.



Thanks

great info whitepointer. Here in the US they don't advertise the DVR function and it is actually intentionally disabled in the system, so calling customer service is of no value since it is something that they don't support. Australia LG has this function enabled and as you found out it is something that you can get it resolved. One question, was your TV updated to a newer version before you tried the DVR function?

This TV is $969 at Fry's right now. It's on Fry's.com too , that's where I got it, paid about 120 in shipping. Really good deal for those of you on the fence.

http://slickdeals.net/forums/showthread.php?t=3093738

Just ordered it today and I will share my impressions next week when I get it.

Hello to everyone.
i have to share my experience with 32LV5500.
I was really happy when I bought this TV 2 motnhs ago. Especially when our provider started to sell Conax CA modul. I was happy because KAON digital receiver was a nightmare.

But the real nightmare started then.
I installed CAM.

TV has no support for Slovakia digital cable TV - UPC. I had to choose different country to be able to tune all channels (Spain or Slovenia).
The result was I have no channel names not mentiong that EPG is not working.
I have 119 channels with no names, the only thing I can do is to place the channels to favourites. But I have many favourite channels so the mess is the same.
I decided to choose CAM because KAON digital receiver is the nightmare.

I really recommend all users to check if your TV is supported in your country when you plan to use it for digital cable TV.
I am very dissapointed and if it wasnt so expensive I would defenestrate it.

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Ahhhh, i just updated the version and the problem has returned !!!

Its version update related and notably the DVR in EZ Menue is set to 1 too. I will let LG know about this problem.

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23/07/2011 update
LG has provided the update (version 04.01.09) to fix the Hard drive initialisation problem down loaded it last night and all good - well done LG, thanks for the repsonse to this. all fixed for me.


Spoke with LG on the Phone 11 July, they have asked for the update number and will follow it up. - now we wait and see what they do.

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Email from LG confirms they are working on a fix:

Thank you for emailing LG Electronics. LG are aware of a small issue with some TV’s whereby the unit may not recognise an external HDD device after a software update has been performed. LG are currently in the process of developing a software fix for this issue which should be made available to customers within the coming weeks.

We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will aim to rectify the issue as soon as possible

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You can also access the menu using a Kameleon one for all remote using instructions posted by Darthchaffinch in the section "How to activate your USB player on your LG without firmware upgrade/downgrade" on AVforums

Whitepointer, you confirmed the issue. It's unfortunate that both of your systems are not able to initialize for dvr, and thanks for letting LG know about the issue, becuase we can't here in the US.
Crkpot has his device updated but he is still able to to initialize for DVR. There could something that makes his tv able to do that even after the updated version.

Spooni, thanks for the reply again. Yeah i am not sure what is going on with Crkpot. I was hoping that my problem was in the service menu but alas the DVR is is set to 1 already. I dont think he is using the same firmware either - 04.01.08.

Hello, I've been looking around at new TVs for the past week since my current 42" Westy is on the decline (as of right now it has stopped turning on for the 2nd time and has been "crashing" a lot recently). From the reviews people seem very pleased with the overall features/picture quality/price of this series, which has me interested. I'm mainly interested in using this set as part of a pseudo Home Theater PC setup. Basically as a computer monitor for gaming/movies through a HDMI<->DVI cable directly to my PC. I also have DirecTV. Does anyone have experience using this set as a PC monitor?

Thankyou Crkpot, it looks like my firmware is a different version, obviously Australian specific.

Cheers

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23/07/2011 update
LG has provided the update (version 04.01.09) to fix the Hard drive initialisation problem down loaded it last night and all good - well done LG, thanks for the repsonse to this. all fixed for me.

Received my 42LV5500 just the other day -- happily, it was a AUSY-version with chevron-confirmed panel (three-time's the charm, apparently) and I'm impressed enough to consider it a 'keeper'. My review forthcoming, after I've opportunity to fully test.
For now, some initial questions and a concern:
When applying 2/10-point settings in ISF/Expert, and then clicking "apply to all inputs", does that just apply to all/any Inputs used while in that particular Expert-mode, or does it alter how these extended color-settings (otherwise inaccessible) are handled in other Modes -- like Game/Vivid? [One would guess only applicable to Inputs, but then why the separate setting for 'Apply', when that should follow whenever choosing a given Picture Mode, regardless the Input?]
I now can set the Local Dimming to Off-or-Low, instead of hidden-default of Medium...thanks again, crkpot, for 'easy-EZ'. I've also found that I prefer TrueMotion set to 1/1 or Off [as a plasma>lcd-convert, I had no idea how much I would be bothered by the 'SOE' of 120mhz processing]. Regards that, I paid for 120mhz functionality primarily because I wanted true 5:5-Pulldown when playing dvd/blu-ray from a player capable of 24fps (presumably including the free BD640 Amazon included with my 5500). So, can one set TM to Off in selected Mode/HDMI, and still benefit from 5:5?
Lastly, a 'concern' -- given the EULA in factory-firmware, the size of firmware updates, and the recent spate of 'policing' from many manufacturers of software and hardware that are media&internet-capable: can enabling 'features' from service-menus possibly trigger an eventual 'issue' with my warranty/extended-warranty -- should LG ever build-in a firmware checking-app as a 'feature' that feeds-back during subsequent internet activity (similar to M$ and their WGA-'update/feature')? More paranoid-still, but given the history of Sony 'activism' and the tone of the warning that came on my screen during Setup I'm inclined to also ask -- could an 'internet/interactive-tv' ever legally 'snoop' regards owner playback, usage-patterns, or otherwise compromise average expectations for privacy?

Is there a max file size for streaming over LAN or WiFi? And is there a separate max file size for playing moves off of USB HDD? I have some 13 GB MKV's, that's why I ask.

Here's my update. Crkpot and I had an experiment similar to what whitepointer reported. Crkpot formatted 1tb powered usb drive and shipped back to me. My tv has the same new version 4.00.14 and originally failed to initialize the usb for dvr functionality. Now, the formatted usb drive works perfectly on my TV even with the 4.0014 version. So this version fails to initialize but an initialized usb drive works just fine. One observation is that the regular remote does not support the record function of current tv (you can't move the curser to the record button), however the wand works fine. I'm using the dvr with ota antenna, and it can pickup the tv programming for about one day and the dvr can setup the scheduling and recording (daily, weekly etc). Pretty sweet functionality. 1TB drive gives about 109hrs of HD recording.

Great stuff, thanks for the update.

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23/07/2011 update
LG has provided the update (version 04.01.09) to fix the Hard drive initialisation problem down loaded it last night and all good - well done LG, thanks for the repsonse to this. all fixed for me.