Just had a reply from Philips.

Basically, they are denying that the update could have possibly rendered the machine inoperable, and that the unit must have developed a fault. It all seems like a bit of a coincidence to me, I only upgraded the machine in the hope it would fix some of the bugs.

They want to know why I wanted to upgrade the machine, inferring that there must have been a pre-existing fault, which I don't think there was. They seem to be pushing for a warranty repair, but personally I don't think this is a warranty issue - if the thing had been out of warranty, they would effectively be rejecting any liability.

Further update. Philips are refusing to accept that the update caused the failure, and are saying they will not repair the recorder because of it, unless it is under warranty.

Just to add to my woes, I received the recorder as a gift and the original purchaser currently cannot find the purchase receipt. If I can produce the original receipt, Philips say they will repair it under warranty.

Whilst I can understand the need for proof of purchase for warranty claims, I still don't agree that this is a warranty issue.

I am not having a good day.

You can always reply that you had to do the upgrade because you were experiencing all the problems that they have reported to have fixed in their latest software. We know that the upgrade procedure was at fault on version 2.11 and 3.04 (same version really only renamed) because it didn't complete on mine and yours in your first attempt. They only managed to fix it in version 3.06 so it must have been wrong.

I have pointed out both these facts to them, and that the recorder was functioning normally before the update, I'm awaiting a further response. I have asked them to clarify why the v3.04 update was withdrawn, and whether this could have a bearing on my problem.

So far, they are refusing to accept that their update could be in any way responsible for the failure.

Not any more it hasn't - it looks like 3.04 is back again, suggesting 3.06 had some issues. I never got a chance to apply 3.06, but now someone on this thread has bricked their Philips, I'm now scard about updates! In case you're wondering, here's the issues I have with 3.04:

1. Very slow HDMI negotiation with my Samsung LCD TV when going from standby to on (i.e. pressing red power button on the remote) - can take between 10-15 seconds, during which the Samsung flips up several error dialogues ("Video mode not supported" etc) and you can hear quiet clicks/bursts of noise as it negotiates, before eventually bringing up the live picture.

2. Random deletion of SCART-recorded programmes that aren't manually marked as "Protected". Tends to happen when trying to play them (screen goes blank, returns to GUI with the programme deleted) and has never happened with DivX stuff I've uploaded via USB.

3. Rare "crash" of the unit - screen goes black and then I get white noise on the screen (i.e. like an untuned UHF channel). A full power cycle fixes this.

BTW, one thing I never saw in the firmware release notes but seems to have finally been fixed is that the hard drive powers down about 10 seconds after going into standby now, rather than the far-too-long 2 minutes that older releases did (which is irritating if you're trying to get to sleep...).

Apart from bug-fixing, I'm still perplexed as to why the Philips unit treats DivX substantially different from SCART-recorded programmes (apart from randomly trashing the latter!). You can picture zoom DivX, but you can't zoom recorded shows. You can get oscreen programme length/position with recorded shows, but not with DivX. You get slow motion with recorded progs, but not with DivX.

One feature I'm annoyed that's missing from the playback of both DivX and recorded shows is being able to accurately freeze frame. If you press Play/Pause then DivX doesn't even have frame advance. Recorded progs have 1/8 X playback (FF key), but if you press Play/Pause again, the idiot software resumes playback when it should really freeze frame again. Sorely missing functionality of playback that's been around on VHS recorders for decades.

As far as I can see, 3.06 is still available for DVDR55x0H

DVDR5570H software & drivers

Still on 3.04 for the DVDR37xxH though, perhaps this thread is getting a bit confusing... I had a feeling i shouldn't have tagged on the end on the DVDR3797 thread, despite suffering similar problems. Sorry for the confusion...

Perhaps it might be worth admin splitting this thread into a new DVDR55x0H thread from post #14 onwards.

Sparky,
one thing I noticed: Up to release 3.04 the firmware was given the name "DVDR55X0H NonEPG_v3.04". With 3.06 (which is the one I managed to upgrade with) the name is "DVDR55X0H EPG_v3.06".

I beleive that before 3.06 they have posted the wrong firmware on the site; I was fortunate that my machine refused to upgrade!!!

Yes, I was a bit concerned about that, but I thought hey, they must know what they're doing...

Hi Guys

Just completed upgrade 3.06 on two systems. First time I messed up. Sstem was constantly restarting.
I rectified by doing a hard reset, (switched on/off at wall socket whilst holding down power on button)
but had to set the system up from scratch again.

Found out where I went wrong: First time round after "Done" message, I removed CD and put system into standby.

I should have removed CD and waited for system to restart itself. Then put back in standby and wait for guide+ updates.

Haven't noticed anything different as of yet. Loader performance means nothing to me

Does the region free hack still work after the firmware has been updated to 3.06?

If it's the one with about a dozen digits you type in the onscreen GUI, then I've never got it to work with any firmware release for my 3597H/05. Hearing of success stories now, I'm going to have a go at upgrading to the 3.06 release, which does finally seem to be at the link I gave in the first post of this thread.

I have just applied the 3.07 update to both of my Philips DVDR5570H DVD recorders. No problems at all.

I used the CD method burnt using Nero. I remember from my previous experience best to let machine restart itself and eject CD-Rom, before switching set back to stand-by

The Region Free status was presevered.

The DVD player seems a little more responsive now. I reccomend this upgrade to all. Makes a fine DVD recorder even better

Thanks for the heads up, installed without any issues.

Mine's gone off to Philips for repair, hopefully it'll come back with 3.07 on...

Mine too. I have upgrade it to 3.07 and it worked ok for 10 days or so but one morning it decided to not start again. Since then it freezes at startup on the Philips logo. Its own internal watchdog timer kicks in after a while and reboots it but it gets stuck again. I wonder if they will meet in the repair room.......

It's quite possible, mine's still there...

Well what can i say !
I have the philips dvdr5570h and i tried to update it to version 3.07 and yes its bricked it ! Stuck on saying "starting" tried everything reset etc.
Really annoyed , i think philips are naff , glad i got a toshiba tv . I like this recorder as its a media player as well but why cant philips get it right . I had trouble with a previous firware update 3.04 i think but then when 3.06 appearred i tried it and it worked (improved loader? ) . If you have this recorder DO Not update it !!!! Iam just losing confidence in such a naff company . ( should have learnt my lession about 6 yrs ago with a early philips dvd recoreder - laser failed in 6 months ! ) Dissapointing. I have a archos 605 wifi and firmware updates are simple. not like philips Or is it just SIMPLY avoid this company? Booked in for repair now city link picking it up.

...which I duly did without bricking my 3597H/05. However, 2 weeks later, I can confirm that the 3.06 release still has the "randomly trash an unprotected SCART recording when trying to play it" bug that's been present for quite a while now - just had another recording get wiped (it was the Singapore F1 GP, but I'd watched it live anyway). Roll on 3.07 for the 3597H/05.

On a completely separate note, I'm about to get a DVI->HDMI converter so I can connect my PC to a Samsung LCD monitor/TV to watch HD-DVD content (yes, got an LG Blu-Ray/HD-DVD combo drive). That same LCD is currently HDMI-connected to the Philips recorder, but has slow HDMI negotation with the Philips, so I'm going to move that connection to SCART and use the PC connection for viewing hi-def instead. Might avoid me having to USB-copy stuff onto the HDD recorder too, provided I can get the LCD to work as a second monitor with Linux

This makes me wonder: how many are they going to get for repair? and more to the point how long will it take for them to fix them all? Am I going to stay without my EXPENSIVE recorder for months? Not happy at all

This is without saying that the device is difficult to use and some of its operations are not that intuitive and it is very slow to respond to the remote control. Sorry Philips but it is not "simple" and it doesn't make "sense".

Not another one!


No sign of mine, and no word yet from Philips. They promise 7-10 days turnaround, working days I presume. That will be up on Thursday.

Well, just to help you guys keep your spirits up, I thought I would let you know that City Link have just delivered a box from Philips.

It appears to be a brand new unit, minus the accessories I kept from the old one, it's certainly not the one I sent - it has a completely different serial number. It seems that whatever was wrong with the old one was terminal... unless this is a refurb, but it looks new.

There is no covering letter or explanation of the problem, in fact nothing apart from a small Philips warranty document completely written in Polish (!).

I'll let you know how it goes...

Just a quick update.

The replacement unit does indeed appear to be brand new, I was a little dismayed to see that it was loaded with firmware version v2.12. At least it is a step up from the v2.01 on the old one, and curiously is not listed in the firmware upgrade history...

Anyway, the good news is that this one appears to work fine, and has upgraded to v3.07 without any problems whatsoever. The machine seems to be more responsive than I remember, but I was a bit twitchy doing the update!

I used a CDROM this time, instead of the USB flash drive.

I hope it goes ok with yours. When I updated mine to 3.07 it worked ok for 2 weeks but one morning I found it in a loop going from on and off.

I still have mine because Philips hasn't even mamanged to organize for Citilink to pick it from my place, twice!