Official Pioneer 5070/71 Flashing Blue Light Shut-Down Thread - Page 6

Heh, heh, thank you anyway Juan,
I just re-set the TVGOS as you did, no to cable, yes to antenna.
Now There still is no guide info yet but I am assuming that it will not upadte until I put it in stand-by mode.
I have till Sunday to see if this works so I am crossing my fingers.

On a side note, I called our BB and the gal I spoke to said that the policy for exchange does not give you an additional 30 days just how many days left from original purchase. She did say that they probably would not enforce that policy for my circumstance (I should get that in writing).

Yup, mine did not update right away either, I turned the TV off, went to bed, and when I woke up the next day, the TV guide was there. Hope it works the same for you with no more problems.

Instead of guessing, why don't you try to figure out if it's the TV itself or your OTA reception.
OTA+weak signal= could be the reason the TVG resets itself and shuts the TV off even while watching a DVD or playing games, since the panel is still connected to ANT and receiving its signal.
Why don't you try disconnecting the OTA, turning TV off for few minutes then select "no" for OTA, and keep the OTA disconnected for couple of days, while watching other channels, DVDs and playing games.
If the problem returns while the ANT is disconnected, you'll know it's the TV, if it doesn't come back, it's your weak OTA signal and getting another set wont solve the problem. Getting a bigger/better antenna may do the trick.

Eliminating what it isn't will identify what it is...I like it! Yet another option I can try if what I tried this morning doesn't work.

After re-setting the TVGOS early today to accept the guide information the set has yet to shut off. It's gone at least 8 hrs no shut down. Watched some OTA, DTV, episode of Band of Brothers DVD & Shrek 1 DVD, no shut down.

I'll see what it does tomorrow after it has downloaded the guide info (fingers crossed).

Dang, I just realized that I hate you.

J/K

But I do wish I could have time to watch that much stuff in one day on our great TV's. Glad it has not shut down yet and I hope it doesn't.

I aim to please


lol, my wife normally would never condone this much TV in 1 day but since we also managed to take the dogs to the river for a couple of hours I was "allowed" for testing purposes. She slept through most of Shrek anyway

Well the clock now shows the correct time and there is a show title on the info bar but the guide will probably take a few more days to update completely according to the owners manual. So far, so good.

Lets hope for the best.

Hi all - 1st post although I've been around a while.

My question: I haven't yet taken delivery of my 5070, but I'm hoping my setup will avoid this disturbing shut down problem. I will be using cable & OTA, however through my Sony HD DVR (standalone DVR - not cable or sat) via HDMI to the Pio. My DVR has the TVGOS which I've had good luck with. I plan on selecting "Don't remind me again" as soon as I power up the 5070, then using my DVR (& its TVGOS) for all viewing of cable & OTA. Any thoughts? Is it possible for the Pio's TVGOS to attempt to update even with nothing connected to ANT-A??

Kayook,
If you end up having to return it for a new one and they won't let you start the 30 days over, tell them you want to return it. Then go to the tv section and buy another one - or use one of the forum sponsors.
Good Luck!

It should not if you don't enable it to begin with. I have my OTA run through my DTV DVR and I never enabled TVGOS and have not had a problem.

Your plan of action sounds right.
"Don't remind me again" and no connection to ANT-A should avoid the shut down problem.
Let us know what happens!

Thanks! Will do.

That would be my final option for sure Jeff if...
I hope that's "if" because after re-setting the TVGOS yesterday morning I have had NO shut-offs and no blinking blue lights, amazing!

It's funny that one of the 1st things I read about this model (months ago), was NOT to engage the TVGOS because it will cause all kinds of problems, blinking lights, shut-offs, sound w/no picture, etc...
So I input 0's in the zipcode and tell it not to remind me again & I have daily shut-offs & blinking lights.
So after my last plea of desperation I follow what Juan did & just set it up normally with my zipcode, "yes to antenna" and now 36 hrs later I have had no issues what-so-ever.
My wife & I both are relieved that I just might not have to return/exchange this TV. We have grown rather fond of it (just short of giving it a name, lol).

My planned Sunday run to BB has officially been cancelled, yahoo!

Day 3 no shut-offs...but, the remote (or TV, not sure which), "froze" last night when I was checking signal strength on one of my OTA channels. Had to shut it off on the TV then turn it back on for it to work again.

I think I'll give it another week especially since the wife & I ran over to BB to compare model PQ's with the result being that we prefer the 5071's image better than anything we saw (I will not list them here)

Lets hope that 3 days turns into indefinite.

That is a major assumption. The TVGUIDE will update in the background, regardless of what input you are currently using.

Glad things are working so far. Let us know how it turns out.

After 2 days, my 5070 now has the blinking blue light. It blinks 8 times. Can't get it to do anything else - no picture, just a blinking blue light. I powered it off, unplugged, waited, replugged, powered back on and TA-DA - blinking blue light! Same as before. Pioneer support says ticket referred - 24 to 72 hour response. Suggested unplugging all inputs and unplugging gor 1 hour. Maybe the receiver sent a signal surge (I'm only sending 1 video input to the TV). Will try that. But the 8 flashed looked to be a new number in this thread. Any suggestions?

The service manual states that 8 blinks indicates a failure in IIC communication with the main microcomputer.

If I remember correctly, the IIC is an Inter-Integrated Circuit which is used to attach peripherals to the motherboard. The error is introduced when there is a problem with the communication between the peripheral and the motherboard. Could possibly be a loose cable/connection. You will probably need a service tech to come out to fix it - doubtful there will be any over the phone suggestions from Pio.

1:39 PM on day 4 no shut-offs then...it shut off while watching DTV, 12 blinking blues, repeat...
Panel has 197 hours too

Maybe I should just exchange it, maybe for a 6071 (shhh, my wife might have heard that).

Oh well, had a great 4 day run at least.

Edit; 45 minutes later it did it again when I went to access the TV Guide.

4:10 PM, once again while DTV was on, 12 lights...

Thanks Jeff. After letting it sit for 6 hours, I decided to power it back up with no connections. No blinking light! So, I connected the video feed from the cable box (not the receiver) and the picture appeared. Left it connected and turned off for the night. This morning, turned it on and everything seemed to be OK. Crossing my fingers. I still want the tech to take a look. You think the AV receiver video output was causing a problem and I need to use separate video feeds from my devices? I find that hard to believe but anything's possible.

My 2 cents, a.k.a. more data points for my fellow stakeholders:

I set my 5070 up six weeks ago with OTA to ANT/CABLE A IN. Went through TVGOS set-up entering 00000, then said no to cable and antenna. I've had the 12-blue-blink/shut off problem occur about 3 or 4 times since then. Only one of those times was there a delayed start-up, with the "please wait" message (for about 45 seconds). TV Guide has seized control of my clock, and it's got the wrong time.

On one separate occasion, I was changing OTA channels quickly, and the set shut off. There was no response to the remote, so I cycled the front-of-set power button. That cleared things up.

Now, here's the interesting part (to me): I'm pretty confident that the 12-blink problem does not happen when I leave the tuner on a station with a strong signal (over 50%). I've been making a point to do this for a couple of weeks, and the problem hasn't come back.

I think that we may just have to conclude that those of us who use OTA will just have to accept this quirk, and try to leave the tuner on a strong station.

I respectfully disagree. It should work as advertised.

I just moved to a new town and signed up with TWC and got their DVR package. I am using HDMI. I have disconnected my OTA all together.

I tried telling the TVGOS that I had neither cable or antenna hooked up, and actually disconnectred the antenna and poof, no more blinking lights. I have been running almost 2 weeks with no blue lights or shut downs.

Although my problems are not over yet. Since having it "repaired", it will not display a picture over the RGB cable. (PC input) Looks like another call to tech support. I think this will be number 5....

I'd still have a tech come out, but before they do I'd make sure I could reproduce the problem. That'd be a big help in troubleshooting if you find that it happens when connecting your receiver.

You may also want to leave it like this for a while and see if it acts up again. It's possible the tv reset and it may happen again.

One question though, how was the receiver connected to your tv? I'm guessing HDMI? If so, have you connected something else to the same HDMI input? I don't think it'd be the actual receiver causing the problem, but instead the input itself. If the service manual is correct, the problem should be internal where one of the inputs are not connecting well to the main microcomputer.

Receiver was connected via composite as my receiver is limited to the worst of my devices input. The helpdesk just called and they're sending out a tech.

Good. Let us know what happens.

Now here's where I'm on the fence, I fully agree with digitrip but at the same time I'm torn between just taking it back and finding a way to live with it wholly due to the image quality this set produces. We are still undecided and I have only 10 more days to decide if we'll keep it.


This is what I did last night before turning in and so far no problem.

But how un-freaking-fair is this? My wife & I checked out our local BB, looked at the Sammy's, looked at the Pannys and a couple other assorted brands and she still kept gravitating back towards the 50/6071.
The only one she thought was even close was the Panny 75U (though I wish I could have seen a 77U).

I think what appalls me most is Pioneer's "official" stance on this whole subject. One tech admits there's a problem, one tech says this is normal behavior, one tech states that this should not be happening and needs to send a service tech and one tech told me that the reason there is no firmware fix planned is due to contractual agreement with TV Guide.
I guess this "stance" is what upsets me the most.

That would piss me off too. I wonder if you could get in touch with a higher up at Pio tech support and get any resolution?

WARNING: The following post contains light sprinklings of Swiftian cynicism!

Here's the thing: I live in the real world, and I have read this entire thread. Pioneer is not going to fix this problem. It's not even on their radar. Consumer electronics companies operate on such narrow margins that they do not care about fixing quirks in their entry-level or mid-range products. This stuff is obsolete once it's RTM. IMHO, they are obviously doing one (or both) of two things:

(A) Running interference and throwing up smoke screens about this issue, because putting a fix in is not and will never be on their project list. They are busy working on the 2008 models. I am not holding my breath for a firmware update.

(B) Relying on incompetent tech support people, who improvise BS answers to things, because they have not been given up-to-date training on the known issues with this product. "Crappy, substandard customer support from an internationally known company? How could this be possible?!?" Welcome to the 21st century.

Look, the fact is that I absolutely love this TV. But I am not naive enough to believe or expect that I will be absolutely 100% satisfied with any complex gadget that I own. My laptop needs the occasional reset. My iPod has locked up once or twice. My 11-year-old Toyota's ABS light comes on once in a blue moon, but goes out when I re-start the car, and the ABS has always worked perfectly. These phenomenally complex products are just occasionally quirky, and I live with that. I'm pretty quirky myself.

Now, if this problem was killing my enjoyment of the product, you'd bet that I'd be raising a ruckus. But all that have happened are a few little issues, and I believe that those of us who've been paying obsessive attention to this thread have landed on some ways to prevent the problem:

(1) Don't use an OTA antenna.

or

(2) If you do use OTA, leave the tuner on a strong station when you shut off the set.


Another possible solution: Try the "re-set" procedure described earlier in this thread, and then pray.

I know this may not be the norm, but in Pio's customer support's defense, they really are above average and pretty knowledgeable. Not to say they wouldn't offer canned answers or make a mistake, but if you were to deal with them like I and others have, you would find for the most part they are pretty good. Especially when compared to other CS departments out there.

Now to the issue of whether they plan to fix this bug, I don't know. But that isn't a CS issue either.