The *Official* Onkyo TX-NR414/515/616 Problems Thread

The HDMI has been failing for me even after the latest FW update (1100-6103-0100). I have Monitor Out set to Both but when the HDMI fails I've found that switching Monitor Out to Main will often get things working. If I wait a few hours I can then set it back to Both without the output cutting out. I've turned on the Network Standby feature (even though I don't need it) in the last couple of days and have noticed that the receiver starts up a little quicker from standby and so far the HDMI is working when coming out of standby. Perhaps the problem I have is related to the startup time but it's too early to say whether or not it's consistently improved by enabling Network Standby.

I couldn't agree more guindalf. I have owned too many receivers and audio equipment to even try to count and the customer service that onkyo has supplied is at the bottom - and that is saying something. i can't even get registered into the onkyo forum to ask a question and emails to them are completely ignored.

I have a 616 that is stuck on the second firmware - the one that was pulled - and it won't recognize the new firmware to upgrade. i have all of the problems listed here and elsewhere and my attempts to get even a response are to this point futile.

They need to step up and recognize that this complete lack of effort on their part is going to hurt them down the road. We have a reasonable expectation that problems will be addressed and that our emails and posts are, at the very least acknowledged. To ignore, and allow this to fester is just unacceptable.

I don't realistically know that I can do much about it - but I do know they will never get another penny of my money if they don't step up and show some responsibility and concern for those that spends hundreds on their product.

Keep posting and keep making some noise and perhaps they will show some responsibility.

Update: just found a website called 'cutomerservicescoreboard' and onkyo is rated 31.99 out of 200 possible points by consumers. 22 of 24 comments are negative.
Edited by islandone - 6/12/12 at 6:22pm

I own the TX-NR515 and have had no issues with any of the items you listed, though I am not using Spotify.

Unrelated to this I did have to return two of the 2012 Samsung HDTVs as they had bugs galore! (before this reciever was even installed)

PDH

i just got this last night. i'm having some trouble getting my nintendo's composite video to output over hdmi.

i've owned the 605 and i've used the 609 so i'm familiar with the onkyo setup menus. i had both of those receivers properly outputting video from my n64 by composite over hdmi out to my tv.

i have the n64 hooked up through the "game" input. go to the setup menu for hdmi input, and enter "----" for game. and enter "----" for component input for game.

now, i get sound, but no video. i tried hooking the video straight to the tv and it works, so i know its the 515.

any ideas? is there a new firmware update that is safe to install?

Am having same prob as smashpwnage - can't get composite video to feed through Game.

My composite source is a VCR - yes, some of us have collections of VHS... Tried switching HDMI input for the Game port to IN1 - it cycles through green screen with lines, then black, then video for 5-15 seconds, then green, then black, video again... I don't even know what In1 is - nothing I've found explains it.

But the audio comes through just fine, and connecting the video (yellow) directly btwn vcr and tv works fine. And yes, the TV source is pointed at the right device.

The graphic Onkyo provides re: upscaling composite and component video, showing colored cables and the through line, is pretty, but it doesn't tell how to adjust settings to get the signal through. Frustrating. And then when I'm working on it, and I try to get back to the setup menu on the tv, it gets no signal at all, so I'm back to square 0.

The manual has lots of little key bits of info spread around - this setting affects that - it all feels like "If you want to microwave something, you have to unplug the toaster, and if you want toast, make sure the hot water tap is shut off...."

When it works (other aspects of the rcvr), it's great. But everything I try to fix somehow breaks something else.
Now I'm nervous about figuring out my Zone configurations - it'll probably hose my Blu-Ray somehow...

But I really want to get a composite signal output through an HDMI out, since I have both a projector and a tv that take HDMI, (and I can't run anything else to the projector). I wanna see those tapes projected.

so you are getting sound but no video?

you need to hash out hdmi for the input you want. so, for us since we are both using the "game" input we should go to hdmi input and component input menus and select "----" under "game". the receiver should then take the composite input and output it over hdmi. but it doesnt.

i havent had the chance to see if it does output component over hdmi. i will test that out tonight hopefully.

to hook up component, hook up your component cables to an input, say, "input 1" then your audio red and white to an input, like "game" then go to the component input menu and select "input 1" for "game"

have you updated the firmware? i saw the newest was from the 15th. has anyone tried it? i'm upgrading from a 3 year old 605 which never gave me any problems. still working fine. i loved it, just didnt have enough hdmi inputs. i dont think you can beat the price for onkyos but if this issue isnt solved i might have to get something else

If you have a 616 - the newest firmware (6-26-12) is bricking some 616s. I would wait until Onkyo comes up with yet another firmware update.

change the settings on the wii itself to "480i"
Onkyo will then pass it through

ok, i will try that when i get a chance. thanks

i just tried it, didnt work. think i'm going to return it.

My 616 is still in a box as I wait for a few items to be delivered before I open and install it. I would like to get a sense of whether the issues with FW updates are EXCEPTIONS to the nor or the NORM. Any thoughts appreciated!

Guindalf, are you one of those who had posted on Onkyo's support forum and returned your unit?

What I'm attempting to determine is that from a probabilistic and sampling perspective what % of people have problems. That result will be heavily skewed to negative on this thread and on Onkyo's thread by nature. I still haven't opened my unit yet but am trying to learn as much as possible to avoid problems if indeed they are prevalent. I just haven't been able to determine how prevalent these issues are. Is it EVERY unit? Or one out of a 1000? How many of these have been sold anyway? 100s? 1000s? 100,000s? If it is 100s then the fact that many people have posted to these 'problem' forums does not bode well for this unit. if it's in the 1000s or 100,000s then I'm not so sure anymore. I'd also like to point out, that even in the support fora or problem fora there have been a few that have indeed been able to successfully update their units with the latest FW and resolve these issues. This too pushes me to investigate further and possibly 'dig in' rather than return the unit. But, again, I am in the process of deciding my next action.

Ugh. Got this model last week from Crutchfield. Things seemed to work OK, had some initial issue getting any picture on the screen from HDMI source, but I think that was a cable thing. That all seems to work now.

Noticed I could turn it on with the remote. Being a new unit, I thought there might have been some button operation thing I wasn't getting with the remote.

Then I started with the firmware updates. I'm on the second update now, 1110-8106-0300

Unfortunately I didn't see this forum entry until after I started the updates.

One thing I have had a problem with is the Onkyo Remote 2 app for iphone. It seems to drop the connection to the receiver. The receiver seems to stay connected to the network.

Update appears successful, HDMI survived.

Remote works in standby, and when fully powered down!

Will report over the next few days, but so far, this update looks good.

Thank you for the info. What medium did you use for update?

Used ethernet to do the update; took about 45 minutes the first time. That took it back to factory default settings. Right after turning it back on and going through the set up, it said I needed to update again. That one was shorter, maybe 20-30 minutes, and didn't reset back to factory.

Also noticed remote still doesn't work to power it up from full off, but does seem to work from standby, which fortunately I wanted to use anyway.

Never had HDMI-outputs die fortunately.

I'll update if anything else weird happens

Mine did not work either. I thought it was an error on my part but later realized it was the receiver.

I returned my 616 after the latest firmware bricked it and they told me to mail them the receiver for a replacement. I only had a few days left on my 30 day window to return it so it is back at Best Buy. My primary problem was that I would have to unplug the power and plug it back in to get HDMI output. This started only after I turned on the network mode so I could use my android with it. Support was horrible and didn't call me back like they said. I loved the value of the unit on paper but it is worth zero if it can't consistently output over the HDMI.

 

I have been playing around (little over a week) with a 515 and so far I haven't had one issue where it wouldn't turn on or HDMI was flaky. I have both HDMI control and network standby turned off. So I'm thinking the receiver shouldn't be in standby mode nor is the standby light lit when it's powered off. It also has had the two firmware updates. I keep trying to figure out how I can break it during my return period... another poster states it won't power correctly when in standby and you state it only works correctly in standby... perhaps different firmware versions might explain it. If so, we should really stop reporting/addressing older firmware issues as they will only confuse people (like myself :)) and not let anyone get a true picture of how things are panning out with the receivers.

Turn Network Standby ON and test for a few days. This is when my HDMI issue started.

 

Sure, give me an iPad to control it and I'll be all set. :) I just turned it on and the orange standby light is glowing. I'm playing around with it before an install and it would be used as such so I'll see... last Onkyo I tried (609 I think) the scaler would freeze/become corrupt a couple times a week on average and I got tried of that... it was way after the release date and never addressed/fixed.

Hmmm, as I'm weighing which medium to use to update, it seems, with some not so scientific polling from various owners, the ethernet medium is the least risky to perform a firmware update. This is interesting, considering Onkyo's support forum circuitously implied to use the USB if "you believe your network connection is unreliable." BTW, to be clear, there have been bricks in both USB and ethernet update modes it seems but, again, the ethernet medium seems to be marginally more successful. Any thoughts on this?

 

I haven't seen devices (for years) that don't verify the contents (download) of the firmware before it starts the actual upgrade process. As such I think the deliver method is irrelevant.

Why and how is this verification done using a USB? There is no network connection and it should be, by nature, self-contained. Can you clarify?

I hope I understand you correctly and you're referring to a USB that has the proper bits downloaded on it and plugged in the amp's USB port. As such, it would be deemed as 'self-contained' for various reasons and it should not require a network connection through the amp when updating via USB to do content verification at that point. If this is the case, it would be highly problematic for a large portion of the customer base who don't have their amps networked. That said, comparing the firmware update instructions between the firmware update instructions on the Onkyo website Support link (implying requiring being in 'NET' mode regardless of update medium) and the user manual asking for 'Get from the NET" only during an ethernet update medium there is a conflict. On the surface, the 5-82 'timeout' errors people are getting using the USB MIGHT mean the firmware is doing a check across the network when there *is* no network. Then again, people get this too,, it seems with an ethernet update which might mean the same thing: missing/unreliable network. Of course it could also mean faulty hardware which is a distinct possibility..

If misunderstand please clarify what you mean about "verify(ing) the contents". At what point? It is very possible the actual firmware has bug in it where the behavior between ethernet update and USB install differ ESPECIALLY if the code is identical (missing 'paths', etc). Or the USB install is checking for something over the internet when none is there.

Thanks!

 

The update file contains a checksum. Which is a unique number thats verified to the actual firmware file once it's obtained. Sort as once UPS or FedEX delivers a package it's opened and inspected (via the checksum) once it's verified it's irrelevant how it got delivered. The device doesn't begin the actual upgrade process until then...

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Checksum

With standby active I have that it freeze the image and audio will be fine after turning it on. I can switch inputs and then the video works fine. This is with my TiVo (which continues to send an image even when off) and only happens after x period of time. I haven't tested it with other sources although I'm presuming it will act the same.

OK, received my new amp last week. Only got round to unboxing it on Thursday evening. Had absolutely no problems running all the suggested firmware updates (over ethernet). Took two installs/reboots and worked exatly as expected

However, this morning (Saturday), no video over HDMI from my Satelilte box. Audio over HDMI was working fine. Tried a different input (PC over HDMI) with same result. Audio but no video

Hard reset (pulled power from amp) and the HDMI video reinitialised

Now, after reading the above thread, I am still not quite sure what might be causing this. Is this likely to be because I have Network Standby ON? And what does this setting do? Is this purely so I can turn the amp on over the network from standby (egvia iPad/iPhone etc)?
If so, dont really need this functionality, so would be happy to turn it off if it makes HDMI work! If they fix the issue at some point in the future, I might enable it

Worth pointing out at this point that I don't think the picture quality is as good as it was on my old sr506. Never had a problem with that amp though in the 4 years I owned it, which is why I took another Onkyo when I upgraded. I seem to get a bit of a shimmer and can sometimes almost,almost, see the screen refreshing a big block of scan lines (if that makes sense)? Weirdly, this is more obvious on straight 1080i input>1080i output rather than when upscaling SD content
Edited by tmacca - 7/7/12 at 1:17am

tmacca, this may be off the wall, and it has not been mentioned as a solution to this ongoing problem with some 616s, BUT do you have CEC enabled on your HDTV? Here: http://denon.custhelp.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/439/session/L3RpbWUvMTM0MTU1MDE1MC9zaWQvSEt6aUxxKms%3D

Again, since this hasn't been brought up and people are clearly more knowledgeable than me, this may be a wild goose chase. But, please let us know nonetheless!

Thanks!

I have just setup a TX-NR515.
The only issue was with the Spotify account. The Spotify web site says that a device like Onkyo needs a real Spotify account, not a Facebook account. However I have been unable to setup a Spotify account anywhere yet.