RDR-HXD890 19th July 2013 No digital EPG and keeps freezing

[Amanda-Jade]

I have just joined this forum in order to post regarding the above issue. I don't usually do these forums, but need to share this to show others that they are not alone in this problem.

Like everyone else on here, on Friday 19th July 2013, my Sony hard drive recorder lost all channels.

I thought it was just me and spent all night trying to fix the problem. I tried re tuning several times, and it kept saying it had found 118 channels but none would come up. The menu on the digital download screen also appeared in a different format to usual.

Eventually my recorder froze on TUNING at first, so I had to switch it off from the mains and then back on again. It then froze in UPDATE. I eventually went to bed at 3am having spent hours trying to sort it out.

I have to work this weekend and rely on the recorder to record the programmes I want to watch whilst working.

When I got up in the morning (20th) the recorder was still stuck on UPDATE so I turned it off from the mains again.

I phoned the Sony retail shop in Ealing Broadway and the sales assistant didn't know anything about it, but he did say another lady had phoned up with the same problem. He gave me a phone number for an independant store which fixes Sony equipment. I telephoned them and they knew nothing about it and said to bring the recorder in so they could take a look and order parts from Sony if necessary. Just for them to take a look would cost £33. They said they closed at 2pm but would keep it over the weekend and look at it on Monday.

I decided against taking it in on Saturday as they weren't going to look at it anyway until Monday.

I googled and found out about the Firmware download. I had no CD's so had to go out to the shops before starting work and buy some.

I downloaded the firmware and then put the CD into my recorder following the instructions. (My recorder was initally 1.15) It started the download but became stuck on Download 5. I was worried about turning it off (as per the warning instructions) so went to work and left it. On my return 10 hours later it was still frozen on Download 5.

Eventually I had no choice but to turn it off from the mains.

It then froze on UPDATE again, After several times of switching it on and off from the mains, I eventually got it to turn on and I checked my download which now showed 1.24.

I tried downloading the digital channels again but still nothing.

It's just totally unacceptable. When I got to work I was talking to another female colleague about it and the same thing had happened to her Sony recorder as well, at the same time!. I then googled the date of '19th July 2013 Sony recorder problems' and found this forum.

It sort of makes me feel better that I'm not alone, but it's shocking that a large company like Sony can run their business like this! I'm not a technical minded person and neither is my colleague and both of us thought it was our machines. Had I taken it into the repair shop, that would have cost me £33 minimum - which would have been wasted money. I even thought that my machine which is about 3-4 years old was knackered and I would have to buy a new one!

 I know this seems trivial to some people but when you work long hours, you would like to come home after and relax and watch yr fave programmes you have recorded. I have to work later today as well and will not be able to record the White Queen which I love.

I'm working Monday as well, and due to the nature of my job, I won't be able to hang around on the phone for ages trying to get through to Sony.

Does anyone have their correct support phone number? The ones I found through Google are: 0905 0310006 & 0800 25 25 60 60 but who knows if they're the right ones!

I hope this problem is sorted immediately. Weekend or not, Sony should be working on rectifying the problem which no doubt has caused countless people a great deal of inconvenience and difficulty. This problem should be treated as a priority. I am guessing that Sony have probably made money from this as I expect that many people have thought that the fault is with their recorder and have gone out and bought a new one!

I think I'd be interested to know their sales figures on dvd recorders this weekend!

SONY PLEASE FIX THIS PROBLEM IMMEDIATELY AND UPDATE YOUR CUSTOMERS AS TO WHAT IS HAPPENING IN THE INTERIM. COMMUNICATION IS KEY!

[cjsiegmund]

My RDR-HXD995 has the same problem. I first noticed it on 20/07/13 and it is still stuck in UPDATE mode.

Initially I could not turn the unit on from standby, Once I achieved this, I could not use it as it was in UPDATE mode. After waiting well over 3 hours for the UPDATE to complete, I did try turning the unit off and on again at the mains . On turning the unit back on the UPDATE soon completed, but the channels refused to display on my TV. The programme guide (EPG) displays, but contains no programme information. My saved programmes are still in the TITLE LIST and seem to play OK. My timer list also seems to be still intact.

I re-tuned the TV in case that was the problem and it found all my usual channels, but still refused to display anything on the TV. I then restarted the update via the SYSTEM MENU and the unit is still in UPDATE mode some 9 hours later. Whilst the unit is in UPDATE mode, it remains unuseable as it does not respnd to any commands from the handset.

I was concerned to read the warnings when I looked at the update information on the SONY website, and surprised that there is no information about this problem as there seem to be a few others experiencing the same issues.

I cannot find a list of updates on the SONY website other than one dates 09/02/2010.

I trust this issue can be resolved promptly.

[pewrigh38]

no it doesnt respond to the handset, but in common with ereaders and tablets and laptops etc it DOES respond to use of the POWER button on the unit itself, it has several buttons on the unit and sometimes you need to use them and not the remote control handset, as in this case

its actually unlikely to be a sony fault, it seems its actually corrupt data on the epg transmission, which is why its stuck in the epg UPDATE mode (UPDATE is not a machine update but is actually an epg UPDATE which it does several times a day)

now try this

Stuck Update:
"If your recorder is stuck with UPDATE in the display you will need to hold the Power button for more than five seconds to perform a "soft" reset. It will switch off for a few seconds, then quickly and before it powers itself back on again , TAP THE POWER BUTTON 2 OR 3 TIMES , and it should say WELCOME and will then go to a black screen with no freeview channels

now use easy setup and change the location to FRANCE or BELGIUM to fool it into thinking its not in the uk

it will now work for freeview, but the epg timer is no longer available, no epg , and it wont record from stanby either, but at least most of the functions will now work

maybe sony will issue a firmware update to try to stop lockups caused by corrupt epg data, and its not just sony machines that had the problem either, but its definitely the sony/pioneer machines that were dominated in the feedback and news by other customers like you and me

the friday thing is just bad timing, probably some employee made a typo in the epg data he or she had to input prior to the weekend, and it appears to have been on the sky channels epg where that problem may have occurred

if I received a bad batch of petrol from a texaco garage, I cannot really blame ford for causing my car to have problems, although it may well be a ford dealer who has to fix the problem at a later date. this is a similar analogy. I also wouldnt rush out and buy a new car either, nor would I rush out for a new recorder. it was a wise decision not to take it in for repairs or testing

its always worth gooling for answers. I did so friday but didnt find much, by yesterday lunchtime several sites had the required info and  feedback from owners including myself, so have a read of the other threads here and you will see temporary solutions and comments etc

good luck

[gerry1047]

I understand what you say about probable cause of the problem and don't just blame Sony.

I for one will never buy Sony again, not because of the problem but because of their total disregard of it. Two days all over the internet and not a word.

What proportion of affected users will look and comment on line. 1%....more like 0.1%....so how many people affected country wide.

My parents would just think their machine was on the blink and go out and buy a new one.

Maybe this is what Sony want...more sales.

Well I think they have made a misjudgement, it's we commenters who buy most electronics.....but not from Sony in future.

STUFF THEM

[kamilbu]

I have had the same problems listed by so many others, the stuck in update, with all other operations locked out, and eventually once i had found a way out of the update loop, the loss of all digital channels, I found the work around of disconnecting the arial lead and turning off the automatic software updates, and then retuning with France set as my location, has worked, however the EPG will not work in this mode, all recording have to be done manually, remember to set the EPG type to digital and not EPG plus, I hope Sony intend to fix this properly very soon, as I will probably no buy any Sony products in future if this is how they operate .

[alergy]

Hey thanks for the France / Belgium suggestion - that worked for my RDR-HXD995.   I hope that the issue can be sorted (by whomever) soon so that the EPG can be restored.   

Was thinking for a while that it had bricked, so very glad that it's not terminal.

I'll keep an eye on here for updates - hopefully they'll get posted here.

[Vpassony]

I cannot get a stable list of forthcoming items so that I can record them

[pewrigh38]

until a permanent fix is issued, you wont

[jra505]

Yep, same problem here in Watford. Thought I was going mad! Glad I found this page.

Sony or whoever had better fix this.

[wrduff]

Yes, like everybody on this forum I spent a few hours going around in circles. This is typical of large firms putting out updates and screwing peoples systems and wasting precious time. I bet a lot of people have went out and bought new cables or even new hardware.