Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 624

Thanks, wajo. I guess it's safe to assume that someone would have posted if there was a problem with a direct update to 727V. I'll give it a try. Really looking forward to having titling.

hi 234...

do you think Funai might provide a ' maintenance ' load firmware for situation where someone mistakenly did this ? i believe that when Funai would receive a unit for this kind of repair, Funai would simply do something like this to make the hardware accept to restore the correct firmware, and then re-load it. this would save a lot of time and money for the consumer, and reduce headaches for Funai.

regards,
Ron G

Even better, if you get a copy of the latest 2160A firmware and make a CD, you can go back if the 515H features bother you too much. But nobody would do that......

More than once anyhow.

Ron, if Funai thought keeping the USA market happy and continuing to produce and enhance the great DVDR product line, you would have good chance of getting your wish. It's only a programming issue, and I thought the same thing when I read of your problem.

But I feel you better take the easy road and accept what cards fate has dealt to you. Really, I don't blame Funai. It's the American consumer that needs help.

Amazon is having a sale on the 515H. Only $500. The word vampire comes to mind.

Yes there is a way:


For more info click here:


Hard Disk File System investigation for the Magnavox 2080/2160/513/515

If a Funai USA factory owned service center received a unit with a defective firmware EPROM/EEPROM, they would need a copy of the original firmware in order to reprogram the replacement EPROM/EEPROM. Therefore, your best source for any "original firmware" would be either Funai's Torrance, CA or Groveport, OH service centers. (Refer to address and/or telephone number on back cover of your units User Manual.)

Another source may be one of Funai's Authorized Service Centers, who's name & address is obtainable here: http://funai-corp.com/support/asc.aspx
________________________
PS: Perhaps one of our more knowledgeable electronic specialists has an EPROM/EEPROM reader and might be talked into accepting a challenge to come up with the original FW.

Interesting about the "72A" firmwares in the newer 513s; wouldn't that be a NEWER firmware (in hex) than the 727 everyone wants to upgrade to? (since hex counts up -- 1,2, .. 7, 8, 9, A, B, C, D, E, F..)

Just concerned the cross-flashing might result in a unit that can't be upgraded in the future... hrrm. (still waiting for my 513 to get delivered to Walmart so I can pick it up, and trying to decide what to do once I get it!)

I don't think Walmart will repair your 515(probably just exchange it for a new one and if no new ones are available they'd give your money back, at which point you could purchase a 513 which I believe would be cheaper). Another option is to call Funai and get a list of local authorized repair dealers. I did this with a warranted Magnavox and a authorized repair shop was only 5 miles away. I took it to the shop, they determined the DVD drive was bad, ordered it from Funai, installed it and ~3 weeks later called me for pickup, no charge. This is NOT the fastest alternative but you do get your original unit back and working like new

I just checked the link http://funai-corp.com/support/asc.aspx for an authorized repair center near me, and there is one 15 miles away. If I can find one in the black hole of Jacksonville FL, I'm sure you'll find one close by too.

Sounds complicated



Thanks for the info, sounds like another alternative.


Thanks for the link. That helps.

Thanks advice, Ron,

We had never received such trouble unit from user, we did not have any solution.

But recently, as I heard of it here, we made solution in our service center.
Now they can recover this problem.

If you involved in it, you may order to Funai service center or Authorized Service Center.
But it costs you some dollar. (I am not sure the cost.)

234

I can't take credit for that. Stapler provided that link a few posts above.

Well, if 10$ is what the need to keep'em coming... so be it.

But any major price increase would probably seal their faith

Originally Posted by rkg22
hi 234...

do you think Funai might provide a ' maintenance ' load firmware for situation where someone mistakenly did this ? i believe that when Funai would receive a unit for this kind of repair, Funai would simply do something like this to make the hardware accept to restore the correct firmware, and then re-load it. this would save a lot of time and money for the consumer, and reduce headaches for Funai.

regards,
Ron G




Joe, I think that it was me who had this problem (I can't imagine anyone else being so bumbling to make this mistake.) Anyway, the 513 has the 2160A 715 firmware on it, it seems to function normally much as a 513 would, so I am no longer looking for a solution.

hi jimlely....

based on 234's response, it's possible that Funai would be willing to supply an interim firmware load if you were to request it, although not sure what they might want to charge for it. if one is careful, this kind of thing is not that difficult to accomplish, and could be done ' in the field ', as opposed to shipment of a unit back to Funai. typically, the interim load would be performed just like a normal firmware upgrade, followed by a re-boot, followed by an upgrade to the correct firmware.

were i in your predicament, i would persue it with Funai, just to safeguard your 513's future, if nothing else.

depending on cost, of course, the other solution would be to order up a 513 replacement DVD with companion main PCB for 68 bucks, which would have the correct firmware in it to begin with. this would assume that this is the cheaper of the 2 alternatives.

thanks to 234 for responding to this one...

best regards,
ron g...

Ron,

The replacement drive and PCB are an interesting suggestion. Here's why:

The burner in my 2160A won't burn DVD+Rs so I'd like to replace the drive anyway. If the "correct" firmware is on this accompanying PCB then I could put the PCB in the 513 and the burner in the 2160A, all for $68. The only downside is the loss of warranty on the 513 (which is new, not a refurb).

Comments are very welcome.

Jim

Wajo,

Thanks. What do you think of the $68 double "fix"?

Regards,

Jim

Thanks. Yes, I meant the 513.

Hi Ron,

Is it likely that the FW really is on this PCB?

Regards,

Jim

hi jimlely....

based upon what i've done so far with both my 3576 and my 513 units, i would say that the majority of the smarts, including the firmware, are located on the main pcb that is shipped as a companion with the DVD burner unit.

the small PCB located on the DVD burner unit, itself, is esentially a ' dumb ' interface for the optics, the spindle motor, and the stepper, etc....

the ' motherboard ', appears to be the primary component interfacing the front panel, the tuner electronics, the power supply, etc, however, it does not appear to have much in the way of ' mainstream ' intelligence.

the companion PCB that comes with the DVD burner unit interfaces to the DVD burner unit, the HDD unit, and the motherboard, and possibly even the front panel ( i haven't fully disassembled either of these machines )...

perhaps 234 could confirm that the firmware is resident on the DVD burner's companion PCB. i would bet that it is. i do know that the 513's DVD burner unit, itself, is indeed compatible with my 3576 ( through testing ), and would bet that it's also compatble with the 2160, assuming that it is a good physical fit.

Is there an easy way to replace the dvd burner in a 515? I was just wondering if it comes down to needing to replace just the dvd burner instead of exchanging the whole machine?

one more note, here... installing the burner unit by itself into the 2160 will likely NOT make it read DVD+R discs, unless the 2160 is specified that it can indeed do so. the ability to support a given disc technology lies not only with the burner unit hardware itself, but with the electronics and firmware on the companion board.

if the 2160 is supposed to be able to read +R discs, though, then the burner unit should work in concert with the 2160's main PCB.

hi avsusername...

yes, the burner unit is easily replaced... essentially 4 mounting screws and a couple of ribbon cables. however, Funai only seems to sell the burner unit as an ensemble that includes the companion main PCB...

rgds,
ron g

Page 9 in 2160A and 513 manuals is identical. Page 40 in 2160A's matches page 41 in 513's exactly. 9 & 41 in 515's matches 513's. IOW, media support in the whole lineage is unchanged.