Official Pioneer 5070/71 Flashing Blue Light Shut-Down Thread - Page 12

I had my Pioneer 5071 main board replaced and firmware updated about 2 months ago because the tv was turning itself off right after I would turn it on and it was unusable. It fixed the problem and also the firmware update fixed the TVGOS DST issue. Yesterday I saw the 12 blue blinking lights and feared there would be a problem when I turned it on, but there wasn't and everything including TVGOS worked fine all evening. Apparently the 12 blinking lights isn't always a sign of bad news.

As long as your tv doesn't shut itself off I'd say your situation is better than most. Everytime mine shuts itself off and the blue lights start flashing I never have any problem turning the tv back on. Seems like if the flashing blue lights were just standard operating procedure then it would mention it in the book or one of the many pioneer reps that I and others have talked to would have said something. Every rep I've talked to said the lights are an indication of a problem, they have never said that the twelve lights are normal and that the tv is just updating the TVGOS or something along those lines. I wish you the best but for me this is not good news. If mine would just quit shutting itself off I could live with flashing lights.

Last time I was on the Pioneer website, they specifically stated that the flashing 12 times is normal. Normal????
Anyway, my unit does shut off once in a while, and goes into the 12 blinks. I can always turn it back on, but it takes about 20 seconds before a picture appears.
I am not even at 2 years into my 4 year warranty, so I will not worry for now. But please, everybody, keep updating us with progress.
-Scott

Does everyone who suffers from the 12 blinks syndrome also have the TVGOS in use on their TV? Since I took the TVGOS back to day one and left it that way I have been 12 blink free. But that's only two days after four consecutive days of having the power cut off.

Not sure what problems you expect it to fix, certainly unlikely to fix many of the things you mention in your several posts.

Hi, just a quick update on the status of my mainboard replacement: looks like Denver Downtown Radio won't be able to get somebody out here until Mar-31. So far the chronology goes like this: Mar-11 discovered problem and scheduled tech visit; Mar-14 technician arrived, diagnosed problem, and submitted part req to WarranTech; Mar-18 WarranTech approved part; Mar-21 part arrived.

I'm really glad I found this thread. I bought a 5080 around Christmas and have gotten the flashing blue lights with the TV turning off 3-4 times so far. I have OTA hooked up but don't use it because of my poor reception. I couldn't care less about the TVGOS, so I'll try turning it off to see if that fixes it.

I really don't want to get any parts replaced, because the buzz on my set can't be heard from more than 2 feet away in dead silence. I'm worried that replacing parts will give me that dreaded buzz that many people complain about.

Edit: FYI, I don't use a cable card.

In case you haven't read my posts I own a 5080 and have had flashing lights with the shutoffs. I currently only have an OTA antenna hooked up with marginal reception. My question is does anyone have cable hooked up with no OTA antenna and still have the shutoff flashing lights problem? I'm getting cable installed soon and was just wondering if this would most likely solve my problem. Thanks.

I had shutoffs with the 12 blinking lights and I use cable only. If you read my posts you will see the main board had to be replaced.

Hello all. The technician showed up today and replaced the mainboard. Only took him 30 minutes or so. Afterwards the TV was back to normal. Keeping fingers crossed.

Many thanks to wtbrowN for the insight (see his threads for more detail on the problem and fix). There was one difference though between my fix and his: my new mainboard included the latest firmware -07K, so no download was necessary. The technician also mentioned the mainboard part was hard to find, although not sure what he meant by that. They had ordered the part, got it approved by the warranty company, and had it delivered to Denver Downtown Radio, all within a week or so.

So, after 20 days I'm watching TV again. Good luck to everybody who has this problem!

The technician showed up for me last Friday and took one hour to replace a circuit board. He said that this is the fix for my 12 blink power off problem.
Tonight,Monday April 7th, I regrettably must report, my 5080 just powered off leaving me with 12 blue lights flashing and a blank screen. I'm speechless.

Did he do the firmware upgrade? Mine also replaced the main board but did not do any firmware upgrade and low and behold it's shut off a couple times since with 12 lights.

Now that the problem still exists, Pioneer is shipping me the firmware with instructions as it's not difficult to insert it into the cable card slot. Why I replaced the board first and the upgrade second is beyond me. Both could have been done simultaneously, or since there are cases previously of my situation, you would think the upgrade be done first, (easy enough) and then(if that doesn't work by itself) spend the cost of the board plus labor.

Hey...when you get the firmware, can you upload it somewhere with instructions for others to download? Seems as though many have got the run around from Pioneer stating that a firmware does not exist.

And just how would he transfer it from a cable card to a method for everyone to download? And how would you then transfer it back to something to use in the form of a cable card?

I don't think there is anything to "repair" on this. I think it's a Firmware issue. I've had this exact problem on my PDP-5060HD. Since the last time they upgraded the fimware (which is like 3 times now). It happens very rarely. And when it does if I unplug it and plug it in it will be ok again for months.

When I first had the problem and it was very bad, if I shut TV-Guide off it would be fine. I don't even use teh TV-Guide that much because I usually watch on a Sony DVR with it's own TV-Guide that works fine. But I like having TV-Guide in TV as backup if the DVR is recording something I can't watch something else because it only has one tuner.

Another way to clear the problem for an extended period is to wipe the TV-Guide data. If I recall if you put all 0's for your zip code it will wipe it. This is what I used to do when I first had the problem.

Two times I got firmware updates nobody had to come out and was done through a cable card. On the third time they came out and updated two sets of firmware (one in the TV) which required a laptop connection.

I would not bother having them swap hardware or bring it into the shop.

I think it's location dependent and it's when some junk in TV-Guide get sent out.

Oh yeah, another important thing that effects TV-Guide is rescanning your channels now and then. There was a large change in TV-Guide that made my Sony DVR TV-Guide all messed up even though it still worked it was goofed up. Wiping TV-Guide and rescan for channels fixed that. This problem may have been more critical to the DVR recording, but it won't hurt.

Doh....Yeah, good point. I had a brain cramp. I am so smarter than posting that. I guess I just got excited at the idea.
I have talked to those Bozos over at Pioneer a few times. They have denied everything.
mswlogo,
How did you manage to get someone to come out? I do have an extended warranty with Worst Buy. 2 1/2 years left. So far, my problem has been manageable. But I sure would love to get the firmware update.
Thanks in advance.

Upon hearing from mswlogo that this issue (12 Blinks) has been around for years affecting different models tells me that Pioneer is either just fishing for answers or stalling for time.If they had a solution, such as 'firmware', they wouldn't be replacing motherboards first. Most of the 5080 owners have isolated the TVG from the situation already. After hearing mswlogo's results, I'm afraid this issue will never be 100% gone, unless the TV turns into a Samsung. And yet to hear it from a Pioneer spokesperson, each remedy taken will certainly fix the problem.

I'm a little confused on your choice of words above. Are you saying 5080 owners isolated it to TVG also or isolated TVG to not be the cause of the 12 blink thing?

I have been able to eliminate the TVG from the situation to the best of my knowledge yet the 12 blink problem still occurs.

I received the firmware card this morning and proceeded to download the new version. Took just a few minutes. So now I'll hope for the best so I can enjoy my $2000 purchase the way it was intended. I really don't have a clue as to what the firmware is all about. No news from me is good news.

Be nice if you could copy the files off the firmware card and zip them up and post them.

Also note the memory size of the card and brand.

I'm sorry if I missed the chance to help other sufferers when I shipped that card back right away in their prepaid envelope. Not that I had the ability to do anything in the first place. All I have are the before and after numbers that come up after pressing display. Previously, the first line, left side read -05K. It now reads -06K. Previously, the last line on the right side read 060807. It now reads 100407 11:14. That my friends is all I got!

The firmware update is provided in a cable card format, so just how do you plan to copy them and then also duplicate it back onto a cable card?

I'm sorry to report that my TV has cut off again with the blue light flashing 12 times. In addition, my clock was changed to the wrong time and it is now commandeered by the TVGOS. There is no way whatsoever to eliminate the TVGOS as it is embedded into the system. Another brilliant design flaw by our friends at Pioneer.

1. Having been through this myself, I don't think TVGOS is the culprit. I believe you said a tech has replaced a circuit board and you did a firmware upgrade yourself, apparently to no avail? I use a cablecard and TVGOS, and had a tech replace the main board and do two firmware upgrades, one to the digital circuity and one for the analog circuity. It solved my problem for the time being anyway, which has been over three months. Not sure if the right board was replaced in your case, or if the entire firmware upgrade has been done. Both were suggested by a Pioneer tech named Tony who my local Pioneer service tech called for advice.
2. As far as disabling TVGOS, this is what Posting 270 from Kayook said that Pioneer customer service told him to do to disable it: "Press TV Guide, go ahead and enter your own zip code, on the next screen when it asks you if you are connected to cable say no, on the next screen when it asks if you are connected to OTA, say no. That's it. Basically you have to lie to your TV to get the TVGOS functions to quit working."
Try it and see if it disables the TVGOS for you. Even assuming it does, I doubt it will fix your problem which is a bad board probably.

Just today my 4 months old Pro 150FD began to have the "turn off/ flash LED" problem for the first time. My firmware is

-05K
07.00d
2.4.2527
04.13d

I will attempt to follow the recommendations above but will also be calling Pioneer tomorrow.

My Pioneer technician was here yesterday performing firmware updates which should be the final touch. The powering off/blue light flashing 12 times is directly a result of the TVGOS obtaining information and an error taking place during this procedure. Here are the results now when doing the display process:
-06K
07.00d
2.4.2527
04.13d

09.01.46
-07KX_1
-05H
100407 11:14

why can't we download this firmware update off a pio site/server, drop it on a thumb drive, and pop it in the usb port on our sets? shouldn't be so hard!? why are they sending people cable cards? does no one else think this is weird?

The firmware update didn't work. The problem reappeared. The next technician replaced my motherboard for the second time. That was last week. We shall see.