My 18 month old Philips 1500 froze on 19 October and is now also displaying the red led sequence. After reading the above messages I contacted Philips "customer helpline". After one operative half admitted there was a problem they said it was nothing to do with them, the fault lay with Freeview who areresponsible for the channel changes which have occurred this week. I contacted Freeview and they said "We do not answer technical questions and anyway it is nothing to do with us - the channel changes had been agreed with the set top box manufacturers who saw no problems."
I got back in touch with Philips ( who charge 15p per minute just for the pleasure of talking to them, and do not call back as they promise) and insisted on speaking to a supervisory who said "Flashing red leds? The box is stuck in download mode and is effectively dead. You`ll have to buy a new one".
I`m pretty sure that someone, either in Philips and/or Freeview has screwed up and now they are all running for cover to avoid the consequences.
Normally I cannot be bothered chasing things like this, but the attitude of both Philips and Freeview have got my back up, so I don`t feel like letting this drop.
Glad to hear if anyone else has any joy with this.
I think that in the consumer electronics industry most telephone helpline operatives are simply contracted-out call-centre employees.....to put it simply - "they know nooorthink" .. very much in the vein of "Compu'ah says naah"
I have a DTR1500. I did a full reset (the 9900 sequence) on the 18th October to identify the new epg positions, once it had rebooted, it scanned through the channels but skipped a couple of Muxes. So I did an add channels scan and it found the rest. It's been OK since and hasn't locked up once . It seems some boxes are affected others aren't..
My box survived
Having looked through the posts it looks like the untreatable problems have been caused by the box trying to download a software update. So, I'm assuming its a good idea to disable the automatic software download setting on the dtr1500. Hopefully this will stop something like this happening again
i rang the philips helpline on thursday a day after i had discovered that my box was up the wall and they sed to me it is a software download and nothing would be working until saturday..its saturday now and my box is still showing the flashing red light sequence...they also told me to ring bak if my box is still not working on saturday..i will post bak with news later
My box survived
Having looked through the posts it looks like the untreatable problems have been caused by the box trying to download a software update. So, I'm assuming its a good idea to disable the automatic software download setting on the dtr1500. Hopefully this will stop something like this happening again
Is this a good idea?
I think so but do be aware that if you need to do a virgin reset that will set the software update back to its default of "automatic" so before accessing any channels remember to set it back to "manual"
My box survived
Having looked through the posts it looks like the untreatable problems have been caused by the box trying to download a software update. So, I'm assuming its a good idea to disable the automatic software download setting on the dtr1500. Hopefully this will stop something like this happening again
Still utterly miffed by this all so much so that I went on the BBC's Watchdog site and entered a complaint about niether Philips nor Channel 4 giving a toss.
Its a long shot but I've not got anything to lose!
I know the E4 pop-up caused grief for many boxes, but I didn't go near E4 on my box.
I was watching BBC1 news when it crashed and locked. I think I may have psuhed the CH+ button to go to BBC2. The BBC interactive content could be to blame, and let us not forget it's the BBC mux that has the software downloads so maybe it erroneously started installing software for a different box or IDTV when it re-booted.
I agree though - it's seriously out of order and if ONLY the Philips box can't cope with the current situation of DTT stations then it cannot be compliant and thus cannot be fit for the purpose it was sold. This makes it DEFECTIVE FROM NEW!
Got a call from a Channel 4 engineer yesterday. Unfortunately I missed the call but he left a voice mail. He said that they did test the signal but not on a Philips. He thought I should be able to get the box working again (but I dont as Ive already tried everything!).
Hopefully he will ring back. If he does I'll post what was said (whether anyone is interested or not!)
I think so but do be aware that if you need to do a virgin reset that will set the software update back to its default of "automatic" so before accessing any channels remember to set it back to "manual"
Software update can be set to "automatic" or "no"...it is the channel update that can be set to "automatic" or "manual"
I think it is worth pointing out that the DTR1500 was made in Hungary and probably has european Philips software running it....the later boxes are made in China with someone else's (non-Philips)software...from comments I have read in the DS Forums it does seem that both the later boxes' build quality and software quality are inferior.
The best stand alone box seems to remain the Sony.
Software update can be set to "automatic" or "no"...it is the channel update that can be set to "automatic" or "manual"
I think it is worth pointing out that the DTR1500 was made in Hungary and probably has european Philips software running it....the later boxes are made in China with someone else's (non-Philips)software...from comments I have read in the DS Forums it does seem that both the later boxes' build quality and software quality are inferior.
The best stand alone box seems to remain the Sony.
Sorry - you are quite right - I should have said NO rather than MANUAL for Software Update.
I had assumed that if a genuine software update was available then having set NO the box would notify me by a prompt and then I could visit the web to see if Philips were actually broadcasting an update. If not I would not accept the download. But I have never seen this so don't know if that is how it would work.
What may possibly have happened with a number of boxes is that an automatic download has been triggered (possibly but not necessarily) overwriting some of the software and then the box has crashed and on restart the permanent bootstrap code notices that a software download is needed - maybe a flag was left set in non volatile memory before the crash or it performs a sum check on the software and finds an error or whatever. In any event the box needs to restore a working software and it can't. This is just a guess of course.
Just returned from holiday. Son tells me that picture from box went off. He tried turning off & on but no joy. I am in same situation as yourself now - all i get is the flashing red with the occasional orange blink. I have tried the virgin setup but to no avail. Any suggestions gratefully accepted.
I was contacted by Channel 4 yesterday (again) and they said that they had now received complaints from 6 Philips customers who have DTR1500 in the same state as mine.
They have contacted Philips and Philips have now decided to do something about it.
They gave me a number which I rang and spoke to a very helpful person at Philips who is sending me a postage paid label to return the unit to them to be fixed FREE OF CHARGE.
I take back everything I said about Philips Customer Services!
I have joined this forum so that I can add myself to the list of disconcerted DTR1500 owners. My digital box crashed last Friday during the channel renumbering process. It was set to automatic update. Symptoms are identical.
I phoned Philips on 24 October and got through after several attempts. A sort-of helpful man gave me a reference number and told me to phone back with the date of purchase. On 27 October I read the messages on Digital Spy, including the one from WWWlf giving the 'good news' about the repair offer from Philips, so tried unsuccessfully to phone the number.
I phoned the normal Philips helpline again and told them about the offer, but a girl said that the information was incorrect, that they never gave out that telephone number to customers, and that I had to write to head office, for which she gave me the (postal) address. She also said that they did not normally provide help outside the warranty period (my box was bought in January 2004).
I phoned Channel 4 and gave them the story. They confirmed that the special contact number had been supplied by Philips as described by WWWlf.
I have now sent a report to BBC Watchdog, told Philips through their website, and await further developments. Whatever the outcome, I have a feeling that unless they act quickly, Philips may well come out of this with their reputation somewhat dented.
sorry to hear about Philips being unhelpful (still). When I get home tonight I'll post the full details of the letter I recevied from Philips including the address to send the unit back to for repair.
Comments
http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?sct=DIGITAL_SET_TOP_BOX_SU&cat=DIGITAL_TV_CA&grp=TV_GR&scy=GB&ctn=DTR1500/05&slg=ENG&mid=Link_ProdInfo&hlt=Link_ProdInfo
I have the same prob with the two flashing lights.
My 18 month old Philips 1500 froze on 19 October and is now also displaying the red led sequence. After reading the above messages I contacted Philips "customer helpline". After one operative half admitted there was a problem they said it was nothing to do with them, the fault lay with Freeview who areresponsible for the channel changes which have occurred this week. I contacted Freeview and they said "We do not answer technical questions and anyway it is nothing to do with us - the channel changes had been agreed with the set top box manufacturers who saw no problems."
I got back in touch with Philips ( who charge 15p per minute just for the pleasure of talking to them, and do not call back as they promise) and insisted on speaking to a supervisory who said "Flashing red leds? The box is stuck in download mode and is effectively dead. You`ll have to buy a new one".
I`m pretty sure that someone, either in Philips and/or Freeview has screwed up and now they are all running for cover to avoid the consequences.
Normally I cannot be bothered chasing things like this, but the attitude of both Philips and Freeview have got my back up, so I don`t feel like letting this drop.
Glad to hear if anyone else has any joy with this.
They could not give a shit!
Patrick
Worcs.
Having looked through the posts it looks like the untreatable problems have been caused by the box trying to download a software update. So, I'm assuming its a good idea to disable the automatic software download setting on the dtr1500. Hopefully this will stop something like this happening again
Is this a good idea?
I think so but do be aware that if you need to do a virgin reset that will set the software update back to its default of "automatic" so before accessing any channels remember to set it back to "manual"
Still no joy.
Anyone got theirs back to life yet?
Still utterly miffed by this all so much so that I went on the BBC's Watchdog site and entered a complaint about niether Philips nor Channel 4 giving a toss.
Its a long shot but I've not got anything to lose!
I was watching BBC1 news when it crashed and locked. I think I may have psuhed the CH+ button to go to BBC2. The BBC interactive content could be to blame, and let us not forget it's the BBC mux that has the software downloads so maybe it erroneously started installing software for a different box or IDTV when it re-booted.
I agree though - it's seriously out of order and if ONLY the Philips box can't cope with the current situation of DTT stations then it cannot be compliant and thus cannot be fit for the purpose it was sold. This makes it DEFECTIVE FROM NEW!
Hopefully he will ring back. If he does I'll post what was said (whether anyone is interested or not!)
Software update can be set to "automatic" or "no"...it is the channel update that can be set to "automatic" or "manual"
I think it is worth pointing out that the DTR1500 was made in Hungary and probably has european Philips software running it....the later boxes are made in China with someone else's (non-Philips)software...from comments I have read in the DS Forums it does seem that both the later boxes' build quality and software quality are inferior.
The best stand alone box seems to remain the Sony.
Sorry - you are quite right - I should have said NO rather than MANUAL for Software Update.
I had assumed that if a genuine software update was available then having set NO the box would notify me by a prompt and then I could visit the web to see if Philips were actually broadcasting an update. If not I would not accept the download. But I have never seen this so don't know if that is how it would work.
What may possibly have happened with a number of boxes is that an automatic download has been triggered (possibly but not necessarily) overwriting some of the software and then the box has crashed and on restart the permanent bootstrap code notices that a software download is needed - maybe a flag was left set in non volatile memory before the crash or it performs a sum check on the software and finds an error or whatever. In any event the box needs to restore a working software and it can't. This is just a guess of course.
I never went near E4 - I still think it's to do with BBC intereactive. Other people had their box die or crash during BBC news.... (like mine).
I was contacted by Channel 4 yesterday (again) and they said that they had now received complaints from 6 Philips customers who have DTR1500 in the same state as mine.
They have contacted Philips and Philips have now decided to do something about it.
They gave me a number which I rang and spoke to a very helpful person at Philips who is sending me a postage paid label to return the unit to them to be fixed FREE OF CHARGE.
I take back everything I said about Philips Customer Services!
The number I was given was 01483 293367.
I hope this helps other people too.
I phoned Philips on 24 October and got through after several attempts. A sort-of helpful man gave me a reference number and told me to phone back with the date of purchase. On 27 October I read the messages on Digital Spy, including the one from WWWlf giving the 'good news' about the repair offer from Philips, so tried unsuccessfully to phone the number.
I phoned the normal Philips helpline again and told them about the offer, but a girl said that the information was incorrect, that they never gave out that telephone number to customers, and that I had to write to head office, for which she gave me the (postal) address. She also said that they did not normally provide help outside the warranty period (my box was bought in January 2004).
I phoned Channel 4 and gave them the story. They confirmed that the special contact number had been supplied by Philips as described by WWWlf.
I have now sent a report to BBC Watchdog, told Philips through their website, and await further developments. Whatever the outcome, I have a feeling that unless they act quickly, Philips may well come out of this with their reputation somewhat dented.
sorry to hear about Philips being unhelpful (still). When I get home tonight I'll post the full details of the letter I recevied from Philips including the address to send the unit back to for repair.
Letter was from:
Cheryl Singh
Customer Care Centre
Philips Consumer Electronic
Mitre House
Canbury Park
Kingston upon Thames
Surrey KT2 6LZ
Unit to be posted to:
Philips Consumer Electronics
Philips Centre
Guildford Business Park
Guildford GU2 8BR