|
|
|
Panasonic DMR-E85H error U99
|
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
3. October 2005 @ 12:53 |
Link to this message
|
|
IMPORTANT!!!
Just got off the phone with a local guy, (TV REpair) he's going to get me some info in bout an hour, will upload it the, but it appears (acording to him) it is a panny problem, more details when I get home in an hour, ......
daughn, .... unless you're really computer literate, can flash rom, burn cd's comfortably, go with what they said, it's apparently a known issue, like I said more details in an hour or so, depending on the tech I spoke to.
RX7Fan
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
3. October 2005 @ 14:21 |
Link to this message
|
|
O.K. just got home, still waiting for e-mail from the tech, .. but what he told me (abridged of course) PAnny was one of the first touse the TVGOS for auto recording, and Gemstar set up the data format, .. RCA, and others were having a few problems with the format, so. .... majority rule .... Gemstar "tweeked" the data format, leaving Panasonic in the cold, .... now my guess is that Panny knows this, and are willing to bite the bullet on the hardware replace (digital board in the E85H, if need be), but don't want to do a recall on the thing, 'cause it works otherwise. I'm guessing what the tech is going to send me is a firware flash for the TVGOS firmware, ... hopefully, he says if this doesn't fix it, it's digital board replacement time.
If he sends me a firmware upgrade for the TVGOS, you'll get it here as soon as I can, if it's a procedure, ditto, if it's a board replace, I'll post the info on that also. (I hope) keep your fingers crossed, (if my wife hears about this, she'll bring up the "asking for directions thing again, ya know how that goes!! :) )
RX7 Fan
|
|
vulcanusa
Member
|
3. October 2005 @ 15:18 |
Link to this message
|
|
daughn,
In My Humble Opinion, you'll be wasting your time and $$ (gas or shipping) to submit your DVR to Panasonic for surgery. Panasonic is in denial about these problems. Perhaps I am more stoic about the TV Guide problems because I knew when I bought my machine that there was a very good chance I would opt not to use the TV Guide due to the problems I read here and elsewhere. I do not use the TV Guide. Yes, the machine is not very user friendly to begin with and is less so without the TV Guide functions, but I accepted that going in.
If you only found out about these problems after the fact, and perhaps only bought the machine primarily based on having an EPG that did not require you to hook the unit up to a F$*@#$&% phone line or subscribe to a service like TIVO, I can understand why you might consider surgery.
|
|
daughn
Junior Member
|
3. October 2005 @ 18:27 |
Link to this message
|
|
I really do appreciate your help and opinions on this matter, RX7Fan and vulcanusa. I'm going to wait on any info you get, RX7Fan, before I do anything further. Sending the unit in to Birmingham, AL, for repair will be my last option, and then only "just in time" to be covered under the warranty. In the meantime, I'm manually scheduling any recordings. Eagerly awaiting further info!!
|
|
Mossler
Junior Member
|
3. October 2005 @ 20:59 |
Link to this message
|
|
Well my luck finally ran out. It's been a little over 2 weeks but I finally got another U99 tonight. I guess the reset didn't work.
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 04:19 |
Link to this message
|
|
Teusday morning update, sorry it took so long to get back, tech called last thing last night, spent about an hour on the phone with him. no good news here, but read on. After checking the firmware version I had, and assuring me that errors in the flashing process (firware updating precess) would cause the unit to require hardware replacement. (I used to work in electronics manufacturing for a while, ... I've trashed a few eeprom in my day) we then took a look at the TVGOS diagnostic screens, .... IMPORTANT STUFF
on the first screen of the TVGOS Diag. the second or third(usually) line down is a sequence of numbers, min read:
07.01.26/07.06.11
he told me that they were looking at the second set of numbers, they are dates, if I remember right, he said June, So, I'm guessing June 7, the "11" is the revision number I guess, he was looking for "9", when he heard "11" he said, "they must have made 2 updates since the service bulletin came out".
Again, .... This all boiled down to "you've done all you can do, there is no hardware fix to this problem, unless you get U99's while powered up, that could mean a bad digital board.
Recap of his troubleshooting steps :
1. Flash latest firmware 970DL
2. Check for latest TVGOS "Patch" 07.06.09(or better) on the first screen of the TVGOS Diag. Screen.
3. Sit back, wait for downloads.
looks like we gotta either jump all over TVG (Gemstar) to fix there data, or learn to use the VCR+ codes.
|
|
daughn
Junior Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 05:22 |
Link to this message
|
|
It's after 8am, and I had no U99 this morning. In fact, I turned the E85H on and was asked to choose between 2 lineups -- hadn't seen that for a LONG, LONG time. To my surprise, I had a filled out TV listing, although I didn't check for the days ahead. Also, I checked the dignostic screen and I had exactly the same numbers you have, RX7Fan. Some time ago I had checked the firmware number and is was 970DL. So, as you say, I guess I'll just wait and see what happens. If it is like Sunday, I'll get the U99 between 9am and noon. But, be positive!! - maybe it won't appear. By the way, I'm usually at home since I work at home as a computer software consultant.
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 05:36 |
Link to this message
|
|
daughn,
Did you have the channel line up, and no listing for a while, and new data today? Have you reset the TVGOS recently?
What I'm getting at is that they may have changed the data, like we are hoping for, what you're seeing, if you haven't made any changes is the new data format.
Software consultant, .. hmmm, could you make anithing out of the Diagnostics pages? ... other than info about the database, no data, perse.
RX7 Fan.
|
|
kossello
Junior Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 05:36 |
Link to this message
|
|
Got home last night around 6:00 pm and had a U99 on the display. Started the unit up went through the checks everything OK.
Had the unit on until around 10:15. Turned it off and it was in standby mode. After about 10 minutes I looked at the screen and the U99 was back on the screen. Again started the unit and everything OK.
Got up this morning 7:00 am and sure enough the U99 was their again.
Up to this point I did not have any programs scheduled to record so there was no loss. I did set it to record this morning on the manual mode not from TV Guide. I will advise if the recording is OK or if I have another U99.
Do they do major uploads the first of the week for TV Guide?
Does this happen more on one day verses another?
I'm now concerned that this has happened so often that if I set it up to record I will miss the show.
By the way I only have around 10 hours recording on the hard drive at the LP setting.
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 05:42 |
Link to this message
|
|
Keith,
Have you already checked you firmware version, and the TVGOS diagnostic data like I mentioned earlier. other words, is your 85 in the same state as mine, and still getting U99's, ... I haven't seen a U99 on mine since saturday morning. albeit, just a channel line-up and no data, but no more U99's for me since sat.
RX7 Fan (Paul)
|
|
kossello
Junior Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 06:15 |
Link to this message
|
|
RX7 Fan
I have installed the latest update that was downloaded through a link at this site.
I have not done a TV Guide reset or anything like that. As far as I can tell the TV Guide listing is there and everfything looks good.
Keith
|
|
daughn
Junior Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 06:22 |
Link to this message
|
|
Just checked the TV Guide Screen again. Today and tomorrow's data seems to all be loaded, but nothing from Thursday and later yet. On the promotions page, there were nots of choices to look at. I don't remember seeing all those before, but never really intentionally looked for them. So far, so good, but I really would not be surprised to see a U99 before the day is over (pessimist!). I reset the TVGOS yesterday noon, and did some manual programming after that -- those worked fine yesterday eve. They are still listed in the schedule. My expertise is in programming application software, so the diagnostic data didn't mean anything to me either. Also, before bedtime last eve, there was nothing on the TVGOS, not even a channel lineup. This morning, 2 days worth were there.
|
|
kossello
Junior Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 06:30 |
Link to this message
|
|
On a second note I have purchased some Panny DVD-RAM discs from Best Buy.
The first 5 pack and 10 pack I bought, the discs themself are gold on the front side and the transfer rate to write to these RAM disc's is good.
The last 10 pack I bought were on closeout and they are Panny and everything on the outside looked the same but the discs themself are white on the front side.
When I transfer video to the later white face discs the transfer time is about twice as long. The gold take about 20 minutes and the white disc's are over 40 minutes. I have not done an exact time calculation but this it was it appears to be.
Is anyone aware of a difference in these DVD-RAM discs?
On the discs the gold say they are 2~3x Speed and the white do not. There is a bar code of 0-37988-01340-1 on the gold pakage.
My guess is that the white discs are older style and do not have the faster transfer rate.
Other than the transfer time the disc's seem to work OK.
Also since I did do the firmware update I'm now able to use DRD-R 8x discs that I could not use before. Before the update I had to use DVD-R's that said 1x - 8x and were getting harder to find.
Sorry for the rambling I hope that this will help someone else buying discs at close out prices.
Keith
|
|
BudinMA
Junior Member
|
4. October 2005 @ 07:20 |
Link to this message
|
|
I am so glad I found you all! I bought a Panasonic DMR-E85 in May of this year. I read all about it but still liked Panasonic. All was well. Got all the TV channels, didn't expect to like the TVGuide but I ended up loving it and using it often. Never had a problem until around August 15th. I went away for the week and came back and none of my programs were recorded. At the time I still had the channels but no information on the programs (no data available). I called Panasonic and was told to reset the whole thing. I did that and I ended up with "no data available" not even the channels. I called Panasonic again and was told to download some updates. Did that. Then I started getting the U99 error. Called panasonic again. They told me to have it serviced.
I have Comcast Cable in Boston, MA
I bought it at Best Buy and got the extended warranty, however, I'm afraid they won't be able to fix it. Sometimes I go a whole week without a U99 error and other times (like last night) I get it in the evening, turn it on and it goes back to the last channel recorded and then when I get up in the morning its U99 again.
I have noticed that it usually gets the U99 error after thumbing through the channels, i.e., starting at 2, 3...but it gets stuck on 98 or 99. I know things are better when it changes the box to 37 (that's the MSNBC channel that it used to update from when I first got it.) However, I still do not get any program listings in the TV Guide. I get their "promotions" but no information on the programs. All I get is the channel lineup.
I'll keep posted to see how you all make out. It seems like this is a big problem for Panasonic and they are not addressing it.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 4. October 2005 @ 07:21
|
|
timdf
Newbie
|
4. October 2005 @ 08:25 |
Link to this message
|
|
Looks like I've joined the U99 club :-(
Was having a trouble getting the EPG loaded, but no U99's. Did the firmware upgrade and got the EPG loaded ok, but now suffering from U99 errors every couple of days or so.
Running on Time Warner digital cable connected to L3 input.
I've been following all the threads and trying different ideas solutions but to know avail. I doubt it's a hardware / hard drive problem - more likely a nasty sw bug between Panasonic and TV guide provider.
It's a shame as it's a great box and one of the reasons we bought it was for the EPG and ease of recording....
|
|
anncoates
Newbie
|
4. October 2005 @ 09:50 |
Link to this message
|
|
I'm rather confused about this U99 error. For those of us who have never received this error, what's the difference between my machine and those that are getting the error? Is it the TV Guide data or is it the e85? I still use the TVGOS on my E85 every day with no trouble at all. Have I just been lucky and should I expect the U99 error sooner or later? I'm not sure I follow the reason that people are receiving it. Seems like no one really knows either way.
Anyway, thanks for all your work on this Rx7Fan. Sorry you guys are having all this trouble.
|
|
lawsuit
Newbie
|
5. October 2005 @ 03:00 |
Link to this message
|
|
My luck just ran out. I have been using my e85 for 11 months w/out any problems. Last week it failed to record Arrested Development on Monday and My Name is Earl on Tuesday: although, it recorded The Office which comes on immediately after Earl. This was the first problem I had had with tvgos. I kept an eye on it this week and noticed that my tvgos had no listings for Monday or Tuesday, but had listings before and after these days. On Sunday, the listings for Monday filled in and I set Arrested Development to record regularly. I checked tvgos Monday morning and I still had listings but Arrested Development was no longer set to record. I set it to record regularly again and when I got home that night it had done so. By this time, tvgos had filled in the listings for Tuesday. The tvgos had The Office marked to record regularly but not Earl even though I had programmed it to before. I programmed Earl to record regularly again. When I got home Tuesday night, I was greeted for the first time with the infamous "u99". I powered up the unit and it did a self check. My programs had all been recorded but I now had no tvgos program listings.
Sorry this isn't more succinct. I am just wondering if anyone else has noticed a correlation between: the e85 erasing program recording instructions and the u99 error.
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
5. October 2005 @ 05:04 |
Link to this message
|
|
Morning folks, .... no new news here, still no listings, channel line-up is still there, .... will try a "Factory reset" on the TVGOS tonight and see what happens.
Looks like some people (daughn) are seeing some days of data, and some still no listing, that is about what mine looked like going into the total loss, this may be the looks of coming out of the total loss also, not sure.
Keith (kossello) : sounds good on the DVD's, the firmware update was supposed to address incompatability with some of the new media, it may have "mal-adjusted" some of the old media, but as long as it still works, .... albeit a bit slower .....
BudinMa : it may be possible if you are going through a cable tuner before the E85, that you need to leave it on a certain station (Somebody correct me on that, I don't use a box, I'm direct into the E85) (I'm pretty sure I'm wrong, but it's a possibility)
timdf : the U99 according to the tech I spoke to the other day is a "communication error" ... this may be caused by faulty hardware (bad harddrive, not communicating cause it can't) or it may be caused by faulty data being stripped out of the TVGOS data. If the board that reads the TVGOS data sees something bad, it has no way of knowing if it's a problem in the E85H, or outside of it. (taking liberties in the explanations for any other techy types out here) overall, the U99 is a horribly generic error that has to be "guess Diagnosed"
anncoates : teh U99 is horrible, in most cases when it's related to the TVGOS, you wake up in the morning and it's there, no apparent reason, but, it's apparently a problem between both the data and teh E85, the data is in a format that the e85 doesn't understand, but should, .... what cable company do you have ann, and your saying that you schedule recordings by just hitting the record button in the TVGOS?
lawsuit : (counselor)? read back through the posts, there is a firware upgrade, ... well check the firware first, and see which you have, ... you may need it, if you've already got the latest firware, you may be in the same boat as the rest of us (sit and wait for it to be fixed by Gemstar).
|
|
timdf
Newbie
|
5. October 2005 @ 06:38 |
Link to this message
|
|
RX7Fan,
I'm consistently getting U99 errors when my e85 tries to down load the EPG. Strangely enough it was ok (no U99 errors) until I re-flashed the firmware.
I have a hard time believing it's a problem with the hard drive as it records programs no problem - but due to the EPG problem I've had to enter the times manually.
I'd like to flash the firmware back to the original, but have not been able to locate a source.
This is really quite annoying ! A great machine crippled by a silly bug...
Tim
PS like your screen name - I'm a 911TT fan....
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
5. October 2005 @ 07:04 |
Link to this message
|
|
tim : you misunderstand, my ref to harddrive was a forinstance, ... the U99 is a communication error, the error might be with the harddrive, might be in the digital board, or might be the TVGOS data, .... just several possibilities, not specifically the drive.
"downgrading the firmware was a thought at first, ... I'd be a little cautious about that though, ... moot point though, finding the old firmware may be impossible anyway.
I had an '84 with the 12A engine, don't even talk about this poor excuse for a substitute (RX8) or the car that they tried to feed us that wan't even in the same class (Miata).
911's are good, I just want to borrow my brother-in-laws Miura (Lamborghini) he also has an '87 Countach ... I just want the wheels he recently bought for it $20k on Ebay. sheesh
RX7 Fan
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 5. October 2005 @ 07:10
|
|
timdf
Newbie
|
5. October 2005 @ 07:50 |
Link to this message
|
|
Hi RxFan,
I think you misunderstood me also ;-) Clearly there's any number of reasons for the U99 message, it's just that I have a hard time thinking it's a hard drive problem in my case. None the less I think I'll swap the drive out just for the fun of it and see what happens. I've got a couple of 120G drives going spare, they are 7200rpm not 5400RPM like I believe are in the panny - but should suffice (I hope).
Sure would like to down grade to the original FW to see if that helps though...
As for the RX7 v RX8 - couldn't agree more. A long long time ago I had an NSU Ro80 ;-) way ahead of it's time and totally unreliable, unlike the later rotary engines.
I have a '03 911TT - a rocketship ;-) and my wife has an '05 Mini Cooper S - I like forced induction engines !
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
5. October 2005 @ 07:56 |
Link to this message
|
|
Mini cooper??? eeeeeew, they're just wrong :) Just kidding, ... careful of the reformatting when you power up after the swap, also, any data on this current drive will go by-by when you put it back, ... let me know how it goes, if the current drive is a 5400, I may go with the 7200 I have floating around the house. ....
side bar, ya ever see a cosmo? 2 liter 3 rotor , nice engine , .. what they should have tried in the RX7, would have screamed!!!
Paul (RX7 Fan)
|
|
Mossler
Junior Member
|
5. October 2005 @ 08:49 |
Link to this message
|
|
I noticed in the latest issue of Consumer Reports that their top rated hard drive dvd recorder is the DMR-E85H and second is the DMR-E95H (that's the model I have). I emailed them and told them about the trouble we've been having with the U99's. I think future buyers should be warned about this. If I had known about it I would not have bought it.
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 6. October 2005 @ 08:27
|
|
RX7Fan
Member
|
5. October 2005 @ 08:55 |
Link to this message
|
|
Mossler : true, something needs to be done about it, but killing the sales of the 85 and 95 will put Panny in a mode of, "We won't support it at all now because it's dead". I don't know that I necessarily agree with downing the 85's and 95's, but preasure needs to be brought on Panny and Gemstar, maybe throught everyone calling them, and telling them to fix it. Far as I know, nobody has a clear idea if it is a Panny problem, or if it's Gemstar's data that is the problem. They have to work it out first.
Short and sweet, I love the 85, hate the TVGOS probs, ... I want to see them continue the line, and the support of it.
RX7 Fan.
|
|
Advertisement
|
|
|
|
Mossler
Junior Member
|
5. October 2005 @ 09:17 |
Link to this message
|
|
I agree RX7Fan, I love my E95 when it works and I wouldn't want to hurt sales of it if they get the bugs worked out of it but I would hate to see people buying it without knowing what they are getting into. Hopefully this is just a bump in the road and they will get it worked out. Thanks for all the work on this subject you've been doing lately by the way.
|
|
