I just had the Sony STR-ZA1000ES 4K receiver delivered early this week. Worked great with good sound for about 4 days and then abruptly it failed yesterday.
First symptoms were the receiver would not switch input sources. Although the display panel showed it had moved from one input source to another, the signal shown on my TV was from the wrong input. Went through all settings to make sure I did not misconfigure something but nothing I did would switch the input source. And again note the front panel display of the receiver showed it was "switching" the input source.
I turned the receiver off and unplugged the power cable for about 30 seconds, then plugged it back in. Now I was getting absolutely no video. The receiver was on, the front panel display showed it was responding to remote control inputs, and it was switching from one input source to another, but my TV was not detecting any input data coming from the receiver (ie. it was showing the no source input detected message).
I again turned the receiver off and unplugged the power cable for 30 seconds. Plugged it back in and this time I got video/audio feed coming from the receiver and it was correctly switching between input sources BUT now I had strange box and circle artifacts all over the TV screen. Random pixels were turning on and off. Switching input sources showed the same boxes/circles (unchanged) so it looks like the HDMI output feed is being corrupted.
At this point I removed the Sony STR-ZA1000ES and I swapped it with my trusty Onkyo and everything worked great. Ruled out my input sources and my TV. Switched back to the Sony STR-ZA1000ES and same problem. Random boxes/circles all over the screen.
I checked the firmware on the Sony and it said it was on 1.033. I went to the Sony website and saw there was a newer firmware (1.050) and the release notes stated it improved HDMI stability. So I downloaded the firmware onto a USB stick and followed the directions on updating the firmware.
The receiver display showed "UPDATING... 33%" ... slowly increased in 3% increments (36%, 39%, 42%, 45%, etc...) taking forever. About 30 minutes later got to 78%.. at which point I hear the "click" inside the receiver -- same click you normally hear from receivers when you turn the power on -- and the display changes to "UPDATING.... FINAL PROCESSING". And then it's stuck there. Given the rest of the update took forever, I decided to just leave it alone heeding the warnings on the firmware upgrade instructions saying not to turn the power off until the unit restarts itself after update. Left it on overnight and in the morning, still stuck with "UPDATING.... FINAL PROCESSING". No chance it's still updating after 8 hours. So I unplug the unit and let it sit for 60 seconds and plug it back in.
Display then automatically says "UPDATING.... 0%".. then jumps to the main screen but no buttons respond and the display changes to "UPDATE FAILED. PLEASE INSERT USB AND PRESS POWER BUTTON TO RESTART". So I plug the USB stick back in, push the power button to restart. The unit restarts and begins updating again. 33%, 36%, 39%, 42%... all the way to 78% and then stuck on "UPDATING.... FINAL PROCESSING". And stuck there again for the past 5 hours.
Looks like the unit is bricked. Called Sony support but apparently the STR-ZA1000ES requires the pro support and they are closed until Monday. Hoping they have some solution over the phone otherwise it looks like it's going to be an RMA.
Anyone else seen this?
For the 4 days it was working, the sound was pretty good. I was surprised. But it's dead now.
First symptoms were the receiver would not switch input sources. Although the display panel showed it had moved from one input source to another, the signal shown on my TV was from the wrong input. Went through all settings to make sure I did not misconfigure something but nothing I did would switch the input source. And again note the front panel display of the receiver showed it was "switching" the input source.
I turned the receiver off and unplugged the power cable for about 30 seconds, then plugged it back in. Now I was getting absolutely no video. The receiver was on, the front panel display showed it was responding to remote control inputs, and it was switching from one input source to another, but my TV was not detecting any input data coming from the receiver (ie. it was showing the no source input detected message).
I again turned the receiver off and unplugged the power cable for 30 seconds. Plugged it back in and this time I got video/audio feed coming from the receiver and it was correctly switching between input sources BUT now I had strange box and circle artifacts all over the TV screen. Random pixels were turning on and off. Switching input sources showed the same boxes/circles (unchanged) so it looks like the HDMI output feed is being corrupted.
At this point I removed the Sony STR-ZA1000ES and I swapped it with my trusty Onkyo and everything worked great. Ruled out my input sources and my TV. Switched back to the Sony STR-ZA1000ES and same problem. Random boxes/circles all over the screen.
I checked the firmware on the Sony and it said it was on 1.033. I went to the Sony website and saw there was a newer firmware (1.050) and the release notes stated it improved HDMI stability. So I downloaded the firmware onto a USB stick and followed the directions on updating the firmware.
The receiver display showed "UPDATING... 33%" ... slowly increased in 3% increments (36%, 39%, 42%, 45%, etc...) taking forever. About 30 minutes later got to 78%.. at which point I hear the "click" inside the receiver -- same click you normally hear from receivers when you turn the power on -- and the display changes to "UPDATING.... FINAL PROCESSING". And then it's stuck there. Given the rest of the update took forever, I decided to just leave it alone heeding the warnings on the firmware upgrade instructions saying not to turn the power off until the unit restarts itself after update. Left it on overnight and in the morning, still stuck with "UPDATING.... FINAL PROCESSING". No chance it's still updating after 8 hours. So I unplug the unit and let it sit for 60 seconds and plug it back in.
Display then automatically says "UPDATING.... 0%".. then jumps to the main screen but no buttons respond and the display changes to "UPDATE FAILED. PLEASE INSERT USB AND PRESS POWER BUTTON TO RESTART". So I plug the USB stick back in, push the power button to restart. The unit restarts and begins updating again. 33%, 36%, 39%, 42%... all the way to 78% and then stuck on "UPDATING.... FINAL PROCESSING". And stuck there again for the past 5 hours.
Looks like the unit is bricked. Called Sony support but apparently the STR-ZA1000ES requires the pro support and they are closed until Monday. Hoping they have some solution over the phone otherwise it looks like it's going to be an RMA.
Anyone else seen this?
For the 4 days it was working, the sound was pretty good. I was surprised. But it's dead now.