Fix for the "Green Guide+ Screen Lock-up" on the Panasonic DMR-E95H

I get an error as well when trying to access the "DVD Recorders" link from the Downloads page by way of the Product Suppot page. That error looks more like something is wrong with their code than if they pulled the download.... Or, are they that crafty? Me thinks not.....

 

Hi all I am new to this, but I was having the same problems you all were having, I just got my Panasonic E95 a month ago, I tried Bobs update and verified the versions of firmware, All was good for a few day's but last night I turned on the unit and the Green screen of death was back again, I lost the Guide and everything I had programmed. I did the manual reset again, turned it off overnight so far not even the clock has auto set, I will check it again tonight when I get home.

 

Hopefully you remembered to unplug it for a minute or so before you turned it back on. Some of the functions won't reset without that.

Use service mode to make sure that the upgrade took. (see elsewhere for the codes).

Disable the guide on startup. That fixes the problem on most un-upgraded computers. Do this on the menu-bar Setup pull-down.

Don't click ahead too fast--you'll override the buffer. Wait for responses.

bob

 

Clock did not set, I went up to the Panasonic web site and I downloaded the latest update file, It looks like the Site is up now, I ran it and it did do an update to the Main firmware only, I hope this works. I checked the revisions in service mode. the settings came back as follows.
Region 1

Main 0630DR
Timer 0020DJ
Drive J131
Rom 000

I hope this Helps,
I Just installed this update so I do not know if it works yet. I will give an update soon.

 

The Clock Set after a few minutes last night and it was sequencially going through the stations on the cable box, unlike before when it picked random stations. This morning when I checked on it U99 error on the screen. This cant be good, all after I updated to the latest firmware to fix these problems. I will try a CHUP CHDOWN reset again to hopfully clear out anything tha may have need to be reset after the update, we shall see what happens.

 

It's good to see that Panasonic's download site is working now. For the reference of others who have not found it, you can download their firmware upgrades from:

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...vlet/vDownloads

However, their on-line DMR-E95HS update file has an earlier date than the one on their CD--although it's exactly the same size:

Download:

Size: 6.50 MB (6,816,472 bytes)
Modified: Thursday, January 27, 2005, 5:44:36 PM

CD:

Size: 6.50 MB (6,816,472 bytes)
Modified: Friday, May 13, 2005, 11:35:14 AM

I also noticed that, while your Drive, Timer, and ROM Checksums are the same, your Main version of 0630DR differs from mine of 0530DR. What is doubly odd is, yours is higher than mine--but my date is later than yours. Courious.

I checked it with a file comparison program and, about 90% of the way through it, the program changes. So, I've zipped the CD version (5-13-05), along with Panasonic's instructions and License, into a self-extracting file and uploaded them to:

http://s14.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=...DI1ANMO2S59FBHT

This link is good for 7 days or 25 downloads--whichever comes first.

bob

 

All the info here is great on the firmware updates. I do have one question though. Does anyone have the actually update info as to what the firmware codes should be after you run the firmware update.

As Video Bob mentions in his post:
It took a long* time--5 t 10 minutes. If it didn't take, it should have returned to stock and a re-try should work. If it did take, the unit should ignore the upgrade.

Here is my post-upgrade Firmware:

In Service mode, hit:

02 = Display Firmware Versions. The display showed the following for 3 seconds each:

1. DVD Region Code: 1

2. Main Firmware Version: 0530DR

3. Timer firmware Version: 0020DJ

4. DVD Drive firmware version: J131

5. ROM checksum (I think): 000

61 = Date the unit was manufactured. PD20040526 (i.e. 5/26/2004)

bob

I have the identical information on my E95H and have not done the firmware upgrade yet. Aurora442 has what looks like might be a newer main firmware code of 0630DR. Can anyone verify this. Is it a typo? Thanks in advance.

M

 

Bob,
Is it possible that the date on your file is the date it got burned to the CD?
My main firmware is definately 0630DR, It was 0530DR after I did the upgrade you provided, I did not check it before I did the upgrade.

Thanks

 

Possible, but not likely. I've made several copies since and the Modified date never changes.

Also, the inside is different. It's possible that:

1) Panny started editing from different source codes at different times and ended up with different versions.

2) The Version number isn't really a version number, but something non-sequential--like a checksum.

bob

 

Hmm sounds like there is still the open ?. Bob did you happen to check what the firmware information was before you installed the new one from Panny? I think that would resolve all of this. I mean it is a little strange that the unit that I bought 3 weeks ago has the same build date and firmware info that you just updated to.

Thanks for the time on this everyone.

M

 

No, I didn't check first.

As for build date, I checked my serial number against the Japan website (comparing it with their "example") and--after hearing other recent purchasers--have come to the conclusion that there was a sizable lot of the units made last May (at least a container full--probably more)that were hung up in some technical difficulty (customs, bankruptcy, lost in a wharehouse, held in reserve, etc.) and picked up on the bulk disposal market by Buy.com and others.

These would all have build dates within days of each other--although they were sold a year later. Remember this unit origionally sold for $1000.00, but is being moved in the $350 range now.

In fact, it may very well be that the firmware bug was caught and corrected in late May, and these are the units that were already in transit. They would then have been stockpiled until disposition decisions were made. Eventually, the ownners (Panny or a distributor) would have decided that it was cheaper to dump them and rely on an update than to ship them back to Japan and refurb them.

That would explain why Panny (US) would be in the dark a year later about a known problem in Japan--and why the fix is now available.

That would also explain why a larger number of year-old units just hit the market.

bob

 

Update,

This morning my guide finally came in, since I ran the firmware update off the panasonic site, (Main Firmware 0630DR) for the first time it asked me to select a channel line up. Before the update I had reset the unit 3 other times and it had not asked me for this, is this related to the new firmware?

The other question is the unit has had the u99 error twice before while off and not doing anything except maybe downloading the guide It seems to clear itself with the power button press, does anyone have any info on this?

Thanks

 

Aurora,

The U99 error is guide related and often occurs at power up, loading the initial guide to your screen while still initializing the disk. It also occurred when you click ahead to far, buffering commands. In both cases, I think it dealt with the guide routine not buffering interrupts correctly (i.e. a programming glitch in the guide section that doesn't play nice with other actions). I eliminated this before my upgrade by disableing the auto-load feature of the guide.

I wouldn't worry too much about pre-upgrade problems if you have now upgraded. Wait and see.

And, yes, choosing channel line-up is a normal part of the intitialization--but can only occur *after* the first download (or it wouldn't know what choices to offer you).

If you are in an area with *lots* of channels, delete the ones you don't subscribe to (or don't want to watch, like the "Cooking in Farci" channel). That frees up a lot of programming space and minimizes download time. Too many channels can lead to too little data downloaded for many of them.

bob

 

Newbie here, can you tell me how to get into "service" mode to check the firmware info? Thanks

 

Follow the first link in the first post and skip down to "Commands."

The codes are the same for both the E85 and the E95.

bob

 

I am thinking about purchasing this unit, and I was just wondering, the specs on the recorder say that the [bold]TV guide[/bold] won't work with satellite or digital cable, but is there anyway that I could just hit the record button while a program is running without using the guide for digital cable or satellite? Is the guide the only way you can record things? I know this might be a dumb question but I want to know more about the unit because I dont own it yet. Thanks a bunch.

 

I'm no expert, but I've been using mine like a VCR, entering the on and off times I want to record as I experienced some missing info with the TV Guide listings when it was new. We record as many as 8 shows a day in various time slots and it hasn't failed once using this method.

 

I actually have Digital cable in Boston RCN, I am using it with the Motorola cable box, the guide is working fine, also the manual says it will work with digital or analog cable systems.

 

The problem with Digital Cable, as I understand it, is in channel selecting the high-numbered channels. I believe there is a workaround for this related to reassigning channels--but I'm not sure, since I don't use a box.

You can hook your box into one of the Video inputs and still use the RF for Guide+ programming on the Basic Cable channels.

As for Satelite, they do not inject the Guide+ signal, so the programming information never arrives--but you can program it like a VCR--and I *think* the VCR+ codes still work (since they are really a time/date/channel algorithm).

Guide-based programming is *so* handy, that if you must go with Satellite, I'd get a TiVo or ReplayTV-based unit or you will eventually regret it. I like my ReplayTV unit because it will record from a saved keyword search. I have a couple of Sony TiVo units, but haven't gotten around to hooking them up yet.

bob

 

So in other words, you can't record satellite at all? Is that what you guys are saying?