Panasonic DMR-E85H error U99

Regarding the discussion about how many seconds to leave the unit unplugged to achieve a “cold boot”...

It is necessary to let the power supply capacitors discharge until the internal voltage gets close to zero. The time varies depending on the design, but a couple of seconds probably isn’t enough to do this in all cases. I usually do a slow 10 count, but 30 seconds should be more than enough for PCs or modern video recording equipment. {High voltage is a different matter. Believe it or not, high voltage circuits in older TVs were known to retain a lethal charge for several hours.}

 

I still have U99 when I uuse TVGOS.
On Tuesday morning I had channel lineup and I was asked to chose between to lineups. And I had promotions. It was miracle - after 14 days of having SC-HT1500 home theater system (probably it's a combination of DMR-E95H and SC-HT1000.)

Today, I woke up to U99 on the display. I pressed power to turn it on, again U99. I had U99 5 times during 30 minutes !!!
I still have old channel lineup, but no promotions.

I hope so that Panny & GEmstar will find the solution soon. I was looking forward to TVGOS and using one-touch easy timer recordings, but I haven't have a achance to do it for over 2 weeks I have this unit.

I am leaving the unit turned on when I want to record shows (using timer recording manually) or I type 00000 as a ZIP instead of real ZIP.

 

I bought a Panasonic DMR-E500 earlier this year. I am using Time Warner cable without a cable box. All was fine until August then the first U99 error occurred. Tried everything - flashing firmware, unplugging, resetting, nothing seems to be working. After resetting sometimes it will go a week without a problem but lately it is only a few hours until the U99 error is back.

The concensus seems to be the problem is related to the TV-Guide. Hopefully either Pana will update their firmware again or TV-Guide modifies the way they send the Guide.

Panasonic Firmware is found here: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vDownloads
Corrected URL:
http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...oads?storeId=15001&langId=-1&page=DVDFirmware

 

My Daily update, still doni' good, no u99's, Have all listings except tues, that should clear up sunday or monday (it d/l's days 1,2,3 and 8) strange though, the promos keep appearing, and disappearing, gonna have to ask Cheryl about that. Over all, good since last friday, no u99's, and TVGOS has been working for me so far, .... I've almost filled the drive at SP (50+ hours) since last friday, been experimenting

 

Bucky2003--
Trying to go to the site you provided produces the following (polite but useless) message:
"We're sorry, but there was a problem retrieving the page you requested.

Please try your request again"

Should Panasonic be spelled Painasonic?

 

My update - 2 U99's in 2 days and my lineup is still empty. I'm considering moving to Oklahoma City as a solultion. (Or maybe I should start making idle threats against multinational electronics monoliths - I hear it's all the rage - and oh so effective.)

I have a theory that makes ME feel better, so I'll share it.
Panasonic has always had such rock-solid, well-engineered products up until now that they have never had to deal with customer service on this level. So that is why they appear to be such unresponsive boobs.

 

Bonus 2 wrote;

>>Sorry for the long post but I am confident you all can fix your E85H U99 issues by the Ch – up Ch – down and then 30 seconds unplugged.Bonus2<<

Almost every person who's been on this thread for the past month + has done this and is still getting the U99's. I've done that procedure (and every other idea suggested on the forum) about 10 times and sometimes go 5 or 6 days without an error and then....good morning U99.....

I hope you'll come back to update the thread when you get your U99 tomorrow!

 

Kensmith

Apparently all of these E85H machines are not the same or TV Guide sends different data depending on Zip codes. I was getting continual U99s 3 times a day from mid Sept to early October. When I did the CH-up Ch-Dn 30 sec unplug, then I went 9 days no U99s and full listings with 8 or 9 ads.
When I did the Service mode thing to check Host 0970DL, I lost part of listings and all ads and had 2 or 3 U99s a day for 2 days.
I again performed the Ch-up Ch-dn and 30 sec unplugged and now for 2 days have channel listings for 3 or 4 days and 9 - 11 ads. Today (the second day) I still have 11 ads but 3 have changed to new ads and have 5 days listings.
So it looks like I am fixed. Could be that my E85H is a different build than some others out there or it could be that my near Boston Zip 01887 is sending better information. I know Cheryl was having trouble duplicating the U99s and her Zip code is only 2 towns over from me.
When I was getting the U99s after the service mode check, the E85H was getting data from many channels including a NH PBS channel which I am sure does not have the same channel programming as my Zip code area.
Now that I have reset, my E85H in standby does a lot less channel surfing and seems to get data exclusively from 2 channels a Local CBS and MSNBC.

A Question for those continually getting U99s: when in standby mode does your E85H change to many, many channels to get data or does it seem to change to 1 or 2 channels only? My stable E85H goes to local ch CBS and stays for 20 minutes or so and goes to MSNBC and stays even longer? The key to the fix may be getting it to go to the right channels for the TV Guide data. Perhaps trying a Zip code that is in your area and has the same TV line up but not your exact zip code could fix some problems. Because some have issues and many others do not, TV Guide may have some incorrect Zip code information? Just a thought.

Bonus2

 

kensmith: You're right about your response to Bonus2, we've all tried the reset and still had U99s.

As I stated before, I have gone 2 weeks now with no U99. [bold]Bonus2 may be onto something with the "2-channel" only system.[/bold] I disabled (set to "off") ALL download (or possible download) channels except the two listed in the diagnostic page for "Host Chan" and "VBI Chan." (shown in hexadecimal). Has anyone else done this and still had a U99?


If the cause is multiple available download channels "confusing" the unit (or too many downloads to choose from causing the unit to "time out" while looking for a d/l station), this would explain why only some areas are affected, especially lager metropolitan ones. Bounus2 originally had a ZIP with potential "conflicting" lineup info (the New Hampshire PBS station) until he changed the ZIP to one that appears to have ONLY TWO download channels available.

[bold]Has anyone else tried turning off all "potential download" channels EXCEPT the "main" ones listed on the first diagnostics page and STILL had a U99?[/bold] Just looking to prove/disprove my theory. I suppose it's easiest to identify "other" download channels if you have a cable box and can SEE them, but I don't, so I just guessed.

 

O.K., got some free time, the students are taking a test. Anyway, disabling channels to prevent TVGOS d/l (In my experience doesn't work) .... I have PBS disabled on my machine, it's the only channel for me to get data, so if that were the case, I'd have nothing at all, I don't believe you can control what channel is used for the data at all. My talk with Cheryl monday told me something I kind of figured, the data downloads, in some cases last as long as 3-4 hours. and they repeat sometimes, start for me at 2-3 am (cheryl confirmed that) and 3-4 hours puts end time at 5-7 am, another d/l starts somewhere after 7, (can't remember the exact time she told me, think it was 7:45 my time). Another interseing thing, been saying it since she told me, ... your first Listing D/L will be of days 1,2,3 and 8, so if you reset today, and caught a d/l, you'd get Fri, Sat, Sun, and next friday's data, nothing for mon, tue, wed or thursday. It would take another download to get monday, anther for tue, etc. So the whole week to fill in would take 5 days worth of d/l's from your first sign of data (Listings)
BTW, on the d/l channels, Cheyl told me my area doesn't use MSNBC, just the PBS channel, that's why she used us (Oklahoma City) as a test-bed.

 

acmetoyz

This is sorta off topic but requires mentioning.

I want to make it very clear for everyone that old TV's and their picture tubes can hold a charge for days and in some cases enough of a charge to cause harm for a week or longer.

The rule for technicians was to de-gause all picture tubes before doing any service work.

Granted, this was twenty years ago but the safe procedure still holds true today is to handle all electrical equipment with capacitors as being charged and possibly fatal.

 

I have A Tosihiba RD-XS34SU (my Panasonic stopped writing DVD's). Anyways, having the same problem with not getting the TVOG feeds..was getting them 3 weeks ago but they stopped..

I am also in Alabama...knology say's they do not and never have supported, they say the feewd is not available unless you have digital service and have one of the DVRs that they sell...

Does anyone know if this is true? If so, why was I getting it before?

 

WIERSBR: I live in Alabama and have Knology digital cable. I have had my Panasonic DMRE85H almost 11 months, and have used the TVGOS a lot, except when these U99 problems occur, which have been most common recently since mid to late September. Also, I had some problems back in March. I do not have one of Knology's DVRs.

 

daughn: Thanks....
Ya, the woman I talked to at Knology said it is not supplied for analog digital and that it must have been a mistake that I was getting it. Someone figured it out and shut me off..

ASked her to let me talk to someone who knew more about it..she offered to transfer me to someone who could cancel my service...lol

 

Well, Cheryl told me to do a factory reset a couple of days ago. Mind you, I was getting ads and channel lineup but no program listings. She said the reset would clear the memory and I would start getting listings.

Fast forward to today, since Tuesday night I have had NUMEROUS U99's. Additionally, every time I reset the E85, put in the zip, cable box, etc.... it goes to U99. Now, I am not even getting a choice of channel lineups, it doesn't even get that far. After I turn it on after the U99 and then turn it off it goes to either channel 98, 99 or 194.

So now I have no channel lineup, no program listings and, frankly I really don't care, no ads.

Cheryl also said she is going on vacation until Nov. 3

 

COYOTE24:
You asked, "Has anyone else tried turning off all "potential download" channels EXCEPT the "main" ones listed on the first diagnostics page and STILL had a U99?"
I had stopped getting U99's about a week back. I then turned on MSNBC (previously off) and a second PBS channel (also previously off).
I started getting U99 error codes every day at mid-morning.
I turned off the 2 channels I had turned on and haven't had a U99 since (4 days ago).
I agree with you that the problem lies in a conflict between downloaded lineups.

Hope this helps,
Tim

 

"The rule for technicians was to de-gause all picture tubes before doing any service work."

Wrong term. Rather than degause you meant to say discharge. Degausing is done to remove residual magnetic fields that effect the image on the CRT. But you knew that already I'm sure. CRT's can hold a charge for a long time and at 25KV or so for a color TV it hurts like heck if you get across it! Most should have a bleeder resistor to remove the charge when the set is off but resistors can fail. Best bet is to discharge it before working on the set.

Terry

 

[bold]Re: "two-channel ONLY download" (one HOST, one LISTINGS): timothyg[/bold], thanks. Seems like this MAY work for you as well. Keep us updated on your U99 status. I'm hoping your seeing U99s/not having them is related to your turning off MSNBC and the other PBS channel, and not just coincidence. [bold]RX7Fan[/bold]: Right, VideoBob had already established that turning "off" a download channel does not prevent the download from that channel. However, perhaps it changes the "search" for a d/l on that channel to a "last resort" if it is turned off? Perhaps, as VideoBob suggested, the ORDERING of the d/l channels (and "potential" d/l channels) is also a large factor. RX7Fan, can you confirm [bold]beyond a doubt[/bold] that you ONLY have a maximum of TWO download channels (one data, one lineup) with your service?

Keep in mind that a "potential" download channel can also be MSNBC, which Skatter21 (page 26) reported Cheryl as telling him is NOT a host channel, but just DIRECTS "older versions" of the guide to the "correct" d/l channel for the area. MAYBE MSNBC (and/or multiple PBS/network d/l stations) ARE THE PROBLEMS, as if it misdirects the unit to the "wrong" PBS station for the area at times, or takes too long to do so, it may cause a U99. I'm wondering about the over-the-air reception people that had the U99, it seems unlikely they would have more than ONE PBS or network station providing a download. This leads me to believe MSNBC is NOT needed at all for us, since antenna people presumably don't have it, and we certainly don't have "older versions" of the guide that Cheryl said it's needed for. Don't think many are recording MSNBC either, so this is definitely one to set to "OFF," along with any extaneous PBS channels. Thanks, just checking for ALL possibilites here.

By the way, it seems in at least some markets, the HOST d/l channel is NOT PBS, but a network broadcast channel. Bonus2 seems to have CBS as the host, I have the local WB network channel. My VBI is the Fox News Channel, and the "lineup" channel is hard to determine from the hexadecimal value, might be CNBC and Animal Planet. Bonus2 also previously reported the "too many d/l stations" thing, with the unit switching between CBS, MSNBC, and "2 or 3" PBS channels before changing his ZIP to one with "only two" d/l stations.

There are two possibilites: either this is significant, or something magically fixed the problem in my area two weeks ago (expiration/fix of a "bad ad"?) and timothyg's experience is just a coincidence. Anyone else have any thoughts on it?

Btw, RX7Fan, thanks for reminding everyone that it WILL take about FIVE nights to get complete listings for ALL days after they are cleared.

 

New member here.

Although all the writers on this thread have U99 in common, it's clear that we have units with varying degrees of dysfunction. I have a DMR-E85H. After ten months of use, I had to bring my unit in for service (I had U99 error which refused to go away no matter what I did.) Two months later (in September), I got the unit back with a replaced control board and hard drive.

For about a month, the unit worked terrifically. (I have to agree with those writers who say that this unit is terrific when it works.)
Now, every morning the unit shows U99. I press the power button once on the remote which causes the unit to show the time. I press the power button again, and the unit then cycles through "please wait," "self test," etc.

After it completes this cycling, I press the TV Guide button on the remote and it comes up with the listing page full of "no listings." I navigate all the way up to the top line and over to the left to select "schedule." The schedule page shows programs listed, but for each program it displays "no information." Nevertheless, I scroll down through a couple of the scheduled programs and then navigate back to "listings." Son of a gun, but all the program listings are filled in. (I swear!)

From then on, throughout the day, the unit works perfectly: records programs as scheduled and absolutely no U99s. However, the next morning, I have U99 displayed again and I go through the same routine.

Details:

Unit: DMR-E85H
Cable: Time Warner Cable
ZIP: 92037 (La Jolla, CA)

I am trying to find out which version of the firmware I have. When I find out, I'll edit this posting.

 

Update from OKC (73034).
As of Friday evening (10/21), have fully populated TV Guide for the next week. No U99s on my E85H since the "OKC fix" a week ago. I have promo ads, but I think they are always there (don’t come and go). I resumed use of one-click TV Guide several days ago and power down the unit when not in use.

I saw the same loading pattern as RX7Fan (takes several days to fill in all the gaps). I have noticed that some nights don’t add very much. I think (not for sure) that I have gotten some more loads during the daytime on weekdays when powered down.

Regarding ZIP codes, I think some people may benefit from trying a neighboring zip code. My actual home address zip code (73013) has NEVER worked in the past, so I use one that is very close and also served by Cox Cable.

To compprog : You are seeing the pattern that I saw (and probably others saw it as well) when the Gemstar problem first showed up. I would see “no listings” at first after a U99, but if I did something as simple as pressing “return” followed by the TV Guide button a time or two, the listings would reappear. The problem was that no new listings could be populated and so eventually everything went away; I just didn’t notice it at first because it was the listings a week ahead that were not being repopulated. What do you see 7 or 8 days ahead in your listings?

And thanks to kossello and moonboy for correcting my statement about high voltage circuits needing to be discharged prior to servicing – I absolutely agree that they can hold a charge even a week or more after being turned off. Wouldn’t want anyone to get hurt due to my misstatement.