beckmen, I would strongly suggest that you do update to the latest version of the firmware. Although it will not correct the TVGOS U99 problem it fixes other problems that can occur while editing etc. If you get the U99 from dividing for instance it will lock up the unit and possibly lose data. The TVGOS U99 is more an irritant and could cause you to loose a time recording but so far it has not locked up a unit and no prior data has been lost. It just causes you to have to power up the unit and go through the self checks and then waits for the next U99 error. I beleive since we all started getting these on a regular basis with in the last month something with TVGOS has changed and that is our current issue and hopefully in the near (?) future we will have a fix for this. I do not know for sure but I think all of the latest 85's are from the close outs and the 95 is taking their place. Keith
StevenNP: If you're not concerned with using the TV Guide Onscreen function, it's not a bad product, IMHO. Only minor bugs in over a year, with easy fixes, like once having the stuck closed DVD drawer. Earlier models (maybe yours, mine is from April 04) had the "U99 when dividing" problem, but apparently the new firmware fixed this. Since you got a good deal on it, I'd keep it. Otherwise, there are a lot of online sites which have user opinions and ratings on DVD recorders, camcorders, and the like which are very useful. NOW, BACK TO THE THREAD: Mossler and Sparc21: Something seems to be going on with TVGOS not populating itself now. I reset the unit yesterday (Friday, 10/7) about 1PM Eastern. I left the unit off until 9AM this morning (Saturday). No U99, but it asked to choose the correct channel lineup, had the channel lineup and NO listings. HOWEVER, I turned on my old RCA TV with Guide+ at the same time I reset the Panny, and THAT is now fully populated (to 11PM Sunday night, the old Guide+ only had 2 days of listings as the max). I'll leave the unit off until tomorrow at noon and see if it populates, but I think I'm seeing the same problem you guys are now--no U99, but no population, either. Just FYI, I think we should state our cable companies and locations to get a handle on how widespread this is. I'm in Pittsburgh, PA with Comcast analog cable.
As I posted earlier, I've been getting U99 errors every Friday and Saturday, multiple times a day, then it will be all right until the next weekend. Well so far this weekend, no U99 errors and my listings data is there until next Friday morning. HOWEVER, I don't seem to have any ads right now on the TV Guide screen, this being the first time that has happened in a long time. HMMMMM.....
U99 progress ?? To re-cap, Oct 6th re-flashed with new FW. No U99 error morning of 7th, note I had been getting one every morning without fail for the past week or more. TV guide only populated with ads and guide ID number. This morning 8th, still no U99, but now shows a choice of 5 line ups. Never had a choice of line ups before. Selected line up #5 as it was the only correct one. TV guide shows the stations but no data. Turned the panny off (back to stby) - will see what happens next - U99 or data success? Will keep you posted.
timdf: Where are you geographically and who is your cable provider? Prior to the start of U99s, I used to get the "choice of channel lineup" almost weekly, and it's always the stupid "Outdoor Life Network" (OLN) that's on different channels depending on the area. I'm hoping mine re-populates by tomorrow as it did NOTHING last night. Sounds like we both did the flash at the same time. Let me know if you get some data, as we're both in the same boat. Again, WHERE ARE YOU LOCATED? Thanks!
I'm located in San Diego So Cal zip 92131 and have Time Warner Cable as my provider. Hope this helps.
Coyote24, I'm in Wapakoneta, Ohio (Northwest Ohio) and my cable company is TSC. I doubt if anyone is near me. Yesterday I reset my machine but I accidentally put in the wrong zip code so I had to do it over last night around midnight. Argh!!! I woke up around 5 AM (eastern time) and everything was fine but then I looked back at it around 6 AM and it had the U99 error. I hit the power button a couple times and it had the channel data back so I thinned it out and just kept the channels that I wanted and turned it back off. I'm waiting now to find out if it has gotten any program data. I'll post the results when I get them.
The daily update -- yesterday, after reading that Cheryl of TVGOS needed screen captures of TVGOS pages 1, 2, 7, 11, and 30, I took a digital pix of page 1 just to look for myself. About 30 minutes later the phone rang with callID of TV Guide. It was Cheryl--I had called TV Guide a few days earlier and left a messsage, and it just happened to be Cheryl who called me. She was very helpful and is working hard on this problem. This weekend I am sending her digital screen captures of those 5 diagnostic pages she wants. Hopefully, this will help solve the problem. I hope other people contact her and send her their data pix; she wanted data from around the country. This morning I had the U99 again. Did a reset (Chan UP/Chan DOWN, etc), and reset the TV Guide info (zip code, etc). I watched the DVR and cable box for about half an hour (boring to say the least). The search began with channel 02 and proceeded up to 05, then restarted with 02 again. Between the 08 and 09 channel searches, the correct time replaced the flashing 12:00 on the E85H. Now, about 2 hours later, the searching in in the high channel 80s. No U99 yet, but it will probably appear sometime, maybe tonight.
Daughn, I'm sending my screen shots to Cheryl also but I believe she wanted pages 1,2,7,11 and 30. At least that is what it said in an earlier post from Aknewbie. If she told you different please let me know and I will include page 4. Thanks Coyote24, I couldn't stand it any longer so I peeked to see if I was getting any program data and I was. I've got listings through monday now.
Mossler, thanks for catching my error. It is indeed page 7. I've already corrected my post to show the page 7. Just a while ago, I emailed the screen captures to Cheryl, though she probably won't see them until Monday, when she returns to work.
Hi Coyote24, I'm in North Massachusetts on the NH border and I have Comcast digital via Motorola DC2000 cable box. The unit is connected to cable box via L3 input. My E500HS was solid for first 3 months until beginning of September when I got first U99. Right now I'm getting my channel lineup and ads from TV Guide but no listing. I reset the unit on 10/6 and had it on standby most of the time during nights without U99 until today around 9AM it showed up again. Oh well, I guess I'm running out of the options. :-( sparc21
A quick thought, If I disconnect my E-85 from my cable service and reset it, as long as it doesn't update from TVGOS the U99's should be gone right? And if I then record clean video and make new divides, chapters, erase stuff, turn the system on and off and NOT get a U99s that should rule out any type of hardwear problems right, leaving just the TVGOS as the trouble maker, right?
Hi StevenNP, I can only say that I only had two products from Panasonic and I had problems with both after few month. Every piece of equipment from Sony or JVC I bought in last 20 years is still working and I never had a need to call their supports. Unfortunately, I bought my E500HS after about 6month of reading reviews about E1000HS and E80HS and I was hoping that the E500HS with the 400GB and network connection will be a dream machine. Huh, what a disappointment. The unit may work with-out TV Guide but since they design it around it’s function that whole unit loosing its appeal. It’s like buying sport car which can’t go faster than 50 Mph! I would say that DMR are getting more and more popular and you should see more choices from other vendors which are professionally designed and QA'ed which works as advertised from company which stays behind their products. I hope Sony will introduce this unit soon in USA : http://www.i4u.com/article4324.html sparc21
Mossler, daughn, etc: Thanks for your locations and cable serive providers. Just wanted to establish that this U99 problem is NATIONWIDE and across MULTIPLE cable service providers. Hats of to Cheryl--I'll be bugging her as well if I get the U99 again, and have my video cam on time-lapse so I can give her the EXACT time it happens. Feel silly with a tripod in front of the unit videotaping it, but hey, it may help solve this. Mossler: Thanks for peeking *laughs* That you DID get some listings is encouraging. I'm not looking until tomorrow at noon. From what I can tell of the download times from my old Guide+ system (if they even use the same data), the downloads are mostly in the evening and early AM, like 5:45PM, then again at 11PM, then in the early AM hours (at least on Saturday). Time and channel lineup are broadcast more or less continually/more frequently.
DavieDave: Yes, it's probably NOT a hardware U99, but related to the TV Guide On Screen. If your timeline of when the U99 started (late Aug or in Sept) also jives with everyone else, I'd say you're in the same TVGOS boat with the rest of us. Sparc21: It's disheartening that you still have a VERY RECENT U99. If you haven't done the channel up/down reset after your last U99, take screen shots as detaled above (go into TV Guide, scroll to messages, hit enter. With the remote type in 753159852, you won't see these numbers as you enter them) and call Cheryl (1-800-386-7380) option 2, then select her from the list. If she gets enough calls and data, this SHOULD be resolved. AKNewbie: MANY MANY thanks for posting the connection to "our Cheryl." If she solves the problem, we should all send her something...
Sparc21: Wow! That Sony is something else. Do you have your EH500s set up as part of a home network? If so, has the U99 made it unworkable or are you able to comment on the networking functions? Coyote24: I will ask the engineers at the local public station about the local v. wide-area broadcasts of the data. For the record: Two u99 messages today but full listings through Thursday. Charter Cable in Madison, Wi. Will call Cheryl on Monday.
bns70: Thanks, that info might be helpful, or at least useful to know "how things work" in any case. Also, if you haven't reset since YOUR U99s, take screen shots or write down the info and call Cheryl on Monday (or Tuesday if they observe the holiday)
I have Panasonic SC-HT1500 Home Theater System with 80GB HDD and TV Guide OnScreen - bought on 10/04/2005. I have U99 error code on the unit's display every time when I turn off the unit. Usually, when I turned off the unit, channels begin to switch, then approx. after 2-3 hours when the cable box reaches channel 99, cable box returns back to channel 02 or 10, and U99 appears on the unit's displays. I have to "wake up" the unit every time in the morning (sometimes even during the night when I wake up and go by DVD recorder). It is really inconvenient, because none of my timer recordings (set up manually, because I have still “No Listing” in TV Guide after 4 days) works. I have this problem since the first time I turned off the unit (on 10/04/2005 night) in order to wait for initial installation of TV Guide program list.
Coyote24, bns70 Yes, I have my E500H setup on my local network. The way I think network was designed in E500H is to connect two or more E500HS to each other. This way you can record on one E500HS and then you can watch the program from different location on other E500HS over the network. To access the unit over network you have to put it in standby mode which will put the unit in Server mode while you accessing it. This practically disables all functions of the unit, which means you will not be able to record or view shows while unit is in server mode. This was the biggest disappointment for me, since I wanted to watch some earlier recorded show using my laptop while my wife/kids were watching or recording their shows on TV. When I got my first U99 I wanted to catch the time of the U99 probing the unit using ping, but from what I remember the device was still ping able even with U99. I will check this again maybe I have to write small Perl script which will actually try to pull the log-in page from the unit. I didn't reset the unit after last U99 and I will try to make some pictures of the screens. I made some picture which I use for my post yesterday but I notice my digital camera has problem with focusing on TV screen. Any tips how to make a good picture of the TV screen without getting black streaks across the screen? sparc21
