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I've seen lots of posts from people who have been having sudden and unexplainable problems, incl. freezing, non-response, channels lost, shows not recording, clock haywire, etc...so far, mostly Pannys and some Philips, but may be others, that have clock set auto and DST ON.
I've suspected a "DST bug" (not official...my term only) is causing many of those problems, and I finally found some technical explanation of the bug, officially called the "Year 2007 Problem" or Y2K7.
This Wiki entry explains how devices that have clocks need a TZ (Time Zone) ref. and that ref. must be updated in the SW/FW if the TZ rules changes, as they did for this year's DST start and end dates. That update is prob. what some DVDRs need to track time properly if set for Auto-Clock-with-DST-ON after the change?
Here's another Wiki entry that ref. "synching between devices that are aware of the changes in DST and those that aren't" in the 1st para. Example: people with a Sat or Cable box that gets updated to correct the Y2K7 Problem but the personal DVDR still has the old FW and clock/DST timing.
Here's one more entry that says this:
"There are two options for updating clocks. If your computer [ed. or DVDR] uses a time server to set the date and time automatically, you can simply adjust the time zone (in the Time Zone pane of the Date & Time system preferences) to a zone that is an hour earlier or later, as appropriate. If your computer does not use a time server, you can simply adjust the time in the Date & Time pane of the Date & Time system preference. Either way, there may be problems with software that calculates time internally using Coordinated Universal Time (UT, also known as Greenwich Mean Time or GMT)." (We know all TVGOS systems use GMT, so a problem there means timer recording problems.)
Here's a world map of the countries that use DST, no longer use it, and never used it. Note that Japan, China (essentialy all of Asia) either no longer use DST or never used DST. Might be a clue as to why they might not have programmed at least all of the 2007 NA units for the correct DST timing?
Lots more stuff in the Wiki entries to read if anyone is interested.
Final suggestion: People having inexplicable problems with their DVDRs should first try setting their clock manually and turning DST OFF to see if their unit has the dreaded "DST bug" (or "Y2K7 problem"). This problem could have started after the DST change or before, or whenever an STB or a host-station's DST SW received an update in DST instructions.
Note: Some machines, like Toshiba, call DST "Summer Time" in their menu system.
UPDATE... 5/18/07:
Several people have added a step that might be important: they first reset their units to factory default settings (pulled plug for >30 sec or used actual "reset" routine), then set their clocks manually and made sure DST was OFF.
If your unit is "frozen" or non-responsive, disconnect any inputs from cable or a Sat/Cable box, turn unit off then on again, and see if that releases it for your reset/clock changes. (If your signal source is creating the DST bug, this has a good chance of returning control to you.)
This might be worth a try if the simple manual-clock/DST-OFF changes don't work by themselves?
I've suspected a "DST bug" (not official...my term only) is causing many of those problems, and I finally found some technical explanation of the bug, officially called the "Year 2007 Problem" or Y2K7.
This Wiki entry explains how devices that have clocks need a TZ (Time Zone) ref. and that ref. must be updated in the SW/FW if the TZ rules changes, as they did for this year's DST start and end dates. That update is prob. what some DVDRs need to track time properly if set for Auto-Clock-with-DST-ON after the change?
Here's another Wiki entry that ref. "synching between devices that are aware of the changes in DST and those that aren't" in the 1st para. Example: people with a Sat or Cable box that gets updated to correct the Y2K7 Problem but the personal DVDR still has the old FW and clock/DST timing.
Here's one more entry that says this:
"There are two options for updating clocks. If your computer [ed. or DVDR] uses a time server to set the date and time automatically, you can simply adjust the time zone (in the Time Zone pane of the Date & Time system preferences) to a zone that is an hour earlier or later, as appropriate. If your computer does not use a time server, you can simply adjust the time in the Date & Time pane of the Date & Time system preference. Either way, there may be problems with software that calculates time internally using Coordinated Universal Time (UT, also known as Greenwich Mean Time or GMT)." (We know all TVGOS systems use GMT, so a problem there means timer recording problems.)
Here's a world map of the countries that use DST, no longer use it, and never used it. Note that Japan, China (essentialy all of Asia) either no longer use DST or never used DST. Might be a clue as to why they might not have programmed at least all of the 2007 NA units for the correct DST timing?
Lots more stuff in the Wiki entries to read if anyone is interested.
Final suggestion: People having inexplicable problems with their DVDRs should first try setting their clock manually and turning DST OFF to see if their unit has the dreaded "DST bug" (or "Y2K7 problem"). This problem could have started after the DST change or before, or whenever an STB or a host-station's DST SW received an update in DST instructions.
Note: Some machines, like Toshiba, call DST "Summer Time" in their menu system.
UPDATE... 5/18/07:
Several people have added a step that might be important: they first reset their units to factory default settings (pulled plug for >30 sec or used actual "reset" routine), then set their clocks manually and made sure DST was OFF.
If your unit is "frozen" or non-responsive, disconnect any inputs from cable or a Sat/Cable box, turn unit off then on again, and see if that releases it for your reset/clock changes. (If your signal source is creating the DST bug, this has a good chance of returning control to you.)
This might be worth a try if the simple manual-clock/DST-OFF changes don't work by themselves?
