Sony SAT-HD100 patches

333 Views 12 Replies 9 Participants Last post by kraigk, Aug 24, 2001

TomKemp

Discussion Starter · Aug 17, 2001

I have a couple of questions regarding the available patches for the HD100 and how they are actually applied:

1) I bought my HD100 on 07/13/01 and after seeing the post about 10 days later by RZ on 06/01 regarding "Sony HD-100-the news you've been waiting for!!" I decided to go in and see what patches had been applied to the box.

The following three patches were indicated as having been applied:

256

1543

2049

Given that 953 didn't appear, I called DirecTV to make sure that they had properly indicated what type of receiver I had which I went through in great detail when I signed up for DirecTV. Well they had it wrong. They then supposedly corrected it and I though that I would wait a few days to see if 953 got applied automatically. It didn't. So, as of today, 8/17, when it still hadn't been applied I decided to call Sony at their DSS number which is 1-800-838-7669. After talking to an uncooperative person who wanted to argue he finally agreed to "transfer me up the line". I then sat on hold for over 20 minutes before I spoke with someone. This guy was very helpful but said that all Sony people had been instructed not to discuss anything related to the patches because it is proprietary information. I said that all I wanted to know was what I had to do to get 953 downloaded to my HD100. He said that he could not help any further basically.

I have been having video and audio dropouts which I thought that patch 953 addressed. What the second Sony person did say was that 953 was specifically related to dropouts on the hour and on the half-hour and unless I knew that that's when my problems occurred then #953 not would address my problems.

Now, I can appreciate a Sony employee being told by Sony management not to discuss the patches but IF I still have this dropout problem (it's very infrequent, maybe 2 or 3 times during a 1 1/2 hour movie)I'd like to get if fixed with a software patch that sounds like it fixes my problem.

This is VERY irritating. Has anyone else had similar problems? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Tom

See less See more

Save

Status: Not open for further replies.

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

artshotwell

· #2 · Aug 17, 2001

Tom,

I don't think DirecTV needs to know what receiver you're using for patches to be applied. Patches are transmitted by DirecTV on a regular schedule (like daily). The patches are broadcast, not sent to individual receivers. A receiver can only receive patches which are appropriate that that receiver. If a receiver receives the patch, it applies. Sony patches for the A-60 are applied to A-60s. Sony patches for the HD100 are applied to the HD100.

Art

Save

TomKemp

Discussion Starter · #3 · Aug 17, 2001

Art:

Are you saying that these updates are all broadcast and your receiver picks out which one it needs via some type of logic at the HD100? If that's true then DirecTV doesn't know that and it doesn't explain why my HD100 hasn't picked up #953.

Are you also possibly suggesting that the HD100 can somehow determine if if actually needs #953 and has determined it didn't and therefore it wasn't applied?

Thanks,

Tom

Save

markrubin

· #4 · Aug 18, 2001

TomKemp The 953 patch does not show up - I think everyone has those 3 patches as you on the HD-100. The 1/2 and 1 hour dropout problem did get fixed- I have not seen any dropouts since that fix on 4 HD-100's which was several weeks ago.

Save

HiDefGuy

· #5 · Aug 18, 2001

Quote:

Originally posted by artshotwell:
Tom,

I don't think DirecTV needs to know what receiver you're using for patches to be applied.

Art;

I'm not totally certain that's true; I needed to correct the bad info DirecTV had on their computer about which STB I was using before I was able to receive the patches. When I first signed up with DirecTV they didn't even list the HD100 as a possible model, so they used the wrong receiver model.

------------------

"You can't argue with a confident man"

- Napoleon Wilson, Assault on Precinct 13

See less See more

Save

Shawn O

· #6 · Aug 18, 2001

I thought I read somewhere that one could get the downloads without even having your access card activated.

Shawn

Save

markrubin

· #7 · Aug 18, 2001

Nav Sandhu I have a reset occur sometimes when I give a remote command-see my other post this forum

Save

Scott MS

· #8 · Aug 18, 2001

Do some searching on old threads. All SAT-HD100s have those three patches and the rom version is 9.53. I don't belive that 9.53 is a specific patch number but system revision number. There are specific codes to display this stuff.

Save

artshotwell

· #9 · Aug 18, 2001

Tom, I believe the 953 patch is actually made up of the three patches which show up as having been applied to your HD100 receiver.

And, yes, I think all patches for all receivers are all sent out every day. Each receiver brand & model can only 'see' and receive the patches which are appropriate for it. Sort of like, on your computer...open MSWord, then do a file open...not all files are visible...only files which end in .doc (unless you change the file open criteria).

It makes sense to design the system this way so all receivers getting the satellite signal are updated whether or not DirecTV has the correct information. The updates are a service of the receiver manufacturer via DirecTV.

Art

Quote:

Originally posted by TomKemp:
Art:

Are you saying that these updates are all broadcast and your receiver picks out which one it needs via some type of logic at the HD100? If that's true then DirecTV doesn't know that and it doesn't explain why my HD100 hasn't picked up #953.

Are you also possibly suggesting that the HD100 can somehow determine if if actually needs #953 and has determined it didn't and therefore it wasn't applied?

Thanks,

Tom

[This message has been edited by artshotwell (edited 08-18-2001).]

See less See more

Save

Nav Sandhu

· #10 · Aug 19, 2001

Where can I find details about the patches and if they were applied to my HD100?

Has anyone noticed the locking up of their HD100? It happens occasionally and I need to unplug the unit to reboot it.

Regards,

Nav

Save

Stanton

· #11 · Aug 19, 2001

To sum it up: the patches get broadcast to everyone and D* doesn't have to have your correct receiver info for it to work (I think I bought my HD-100 before they even had it in their database, also). The original poster is up to date on the patches; the menu code to view them has been published in other "patch" postings.

One thing wasn't made clear by the original poster: are the dropouts on satellite or OTA channels? I haven't had a satellite dropout for weeks, but OTA is obviously (highly) dependent on the weather, the antenna location, etc.

Save

TomKemp

Discussion Starter · #12 · Aug 22, 2001

Stanton:

I have only noticed the dropouts on the DirecTV feed. Sometimes the picture and sound will freeze for a second. Sometimes the screen will go totally blank for a second or two and then the picture and sound will resume. On a few rare occasions I see square pixelation (dropouts) on the screen. The amount of pixelation increases for a second or two and then the picture resets itself and all is fine again.

I don't have these problems frequently enough for it to be anything but a very minor inconvenience.

The only reason I have been looking for patch #953 was the earlier (06/01) post from RZ which very specifically said that Patch # 953 took care of several similar problems.

Does someone have a more detailed list of maintenance-type codes required to display other information on the HD-100?

Thanks,

Tom

See less See more

Save

kraigk

· #13 · Aug 24, 2001

I am having the same video freeze and and 1 second picture drop problem. I have sent this unit in to Sony service and they returned it saying there was nothing wrong.

How do you access these codes? I would like to find out what updates I have.

As for previous threads regarding getting the specific 953 update I can confirm for sure what others are saying about updates being in the data stream of DirecTV all the time. This is true - they do not have to know about your specific receiver to send the update.

Save

1 - 13 of 13 Posts

Status: Not open for further replies.

Top Contributors this Month