A few weeks ago I reported that using my local (real) zip code TVGOS began setting me up with BROADCAST listings for our area, rather than the cable lineup. I got around this for a while by using a neighboring zip code. Then the U99's began again. Since mid-week (5 days +/-) TVGOS has been giving me only the BROADCAST lineup for ALL of my neighboring zip codes. I'VE HAD IT. My hopes were on Cheryl but now she's "on vacation" until early November?! NO. THAT'S IT. I will box this thing up tomorrow and take it back to the Best Buy where I purchased it. Yes, I've owned the unit since March, but I will insist upon full store credit. My argument will be that Best Buy should stand behind products they carry and should not stick me with a unit that has gone unexpectedly obsolete in the 7 MONTHS that I've owned it. Yes I realize that the fault lies with Panasonic, but I did not give my money to Panasonic, I gave it to Best Buy. I will show them print-outs of postings to this thread that will explain the situation. I will be cordial, I will repectfully ask for an audience with the manager (not the Ops Mgr. lackey which they will try to pawn off on me). The store manager will most likely not allow me full store credit. With the names, dates and quotes from the local retail personnel gathered here I will compose a letter to the president (Brian Dunn?) of Best Buy retail. The process may take me a little while, but I will not rest until this $450 paperweight is back in the posession of Panasonic U.S.. I am using this method of attack based upon my past experience in managing a big box retail store (not Best Buy). Does anyone know the structure of BB well enough to tell me if I might want to try a Regional Manager before going right to the corporate offices?
Just a quick update - Amherst MA 01002 - We shutdown TV guide a week and a half ago (10/12?) with not ill effects - no listings, but no U99 - turned it back on this past thurs evening full download with a weeks worth of listings, no ads - Friday U99 - no ads - reset (ch up ch dwn) Sat morning and Sunday morning U99 - no ads and no listings - Dropped TV Guide again on Sunday - maybe will try again next week.
I reset my E95 last Wednesday and I haven't had any U99's since then. It has the ads back and the guide is fully populated except for next Wednesday. Hopefully I'll get Wednesday's listings tonight. It has worked so flawlessly that it makes me wonder if maybe they have rolled the OKC fix out to other parts of the country (I'm in Ohio) but from past experience I know that it probably isn't fixed. It is strange though how suddenly the U99's quit. I had been having 3 or 4 a day and one night I had 3 or 4 in the space of a half hour. I had reset it numerous times and it didn't do me ANY good until last Wednesday. Anyway, it has been nice having it working for awhile.
Like I said, I went almost two weeks with no problems, then on Thursday (presumably, as the last thing that it successfully recorded was Wed night) the TVGOS lost all scheduled programming and ads, stopped downloading, and the unit locked up when I turned it on Saturday, but NEVER displayed a U99 this time.
Monday morning and no U99s. I was worried because Sunday morning I checked and all of my ads were gone. I scheduled some programs to record and set the E85H in standby. Sun afternoon it recorded from 5:30 to 7:35; this isusually where I would get a U99 but instead it switched channels to MSNBC and stayed for a couple of hours. The second show recorded fine this morning from 2:15 to 5:15am. After this finished recording I checked the Guide. I now have 14 ads (more ads than I have ever had) and full listings for 7 days. So it looks like it may be normal for ads to be erased and then replaced by new ads? Thanks Bonus2
kensmith, Sorry to see you go, but I understand and good luck. I have to say, though, that [bold]all[/bold] the posts here suddenly look positive - it looks like anyone who has done a Ch-up/Ch-dn reset since about last Thursday is having good results (at least for now). I kind of expect the principle players in this debacle will try to let it fade into the sunset if it's fixed - otherwise someone might have to admit it was their fault. So when it's fixed we'll probably never find out the cause or the fix. I, too, have listings nearly filled in, rotating lists of promos, no U99's and none of the symptoms of a "silent U99" since a reset last Wednesday night. For anyone who doesn't have this down by now, this is the reset I'm referring to: (after you do this you will have to set up the unit as if you just plugged it in) -- With the unit on, but TV guide off, press and hold BOTH the channel-up and channel-down buttons for about 5 seconds. The unit will bid you adieu (or "BYE"). Next, unplug the unit and let it sit a minute or two. When you power back up it will go through a long "PLEASE WAIT" period. Then you will need to go through the whole setup process - Zip Code, Cable? Cable Box?, Input Channel? Paper or Plastic? - After all that stuff, put the thing in standby and wait 12 - 24 hours to see how things go.
Coyote24. as of monday, 5:30am pst, i still had no listings for tuesday and wednesday or next sunday and monday. sound like you are right about the possible unstable mode. i will keep the machine standby and let you know this afternoon if anything has changed. still have ads and no u99s.
:-( Looks like we will just have to wait for TVGOS and Panasonic to come up with a fix since your channel disable trick didn't work. I feel for you but I think you might want to hold off on it. I know it's hard, but I think there should be a fix here soon. You really can't blame Panasonic for the problem since the unit works fine without the TVGOS but they do have a responsibility to have the problem resolved since it is a feature of the unit. I like the recorder and it has worked great except for the TVGOS. Once this fix is found, I am sure that the unit will work as advertised from then on out. Just be a little more patient. I am sure Cheryl isn't the only person working on this issue.
Coyote24. one more update. have lost ads. no tuesday wednesday listings. have listings for thursday thru saturday. have moved all pbs stations to the top with msnbc. will leave machine in standby till this afternoon.
Coyote24. this is really getting weird now. after a week of listings and no u99, have done no resetting or anything since my last post a couple of hours ago. i suddenly lost all the guide had to reset up tvgos. lost all listings, ads and schedule. oddly enough, the time still held correctly from before. really, really strange.
I haven't had any U99 errors for several days now on my E95H. I never did the up-down-reset thing... I only ran the self checks after each U99 error. The listings look OK and I noticed new ads being shown. Could this round of U99 failures be over?
Folks, I suggest just sitting back until we officially hear from TVGOS or Panasonic on a fix. I was told it could be a couple of weeks and I am confident it will come to fruition in that time frame. I commend those who are trying to find workarounds but if you ask me it's in vain since it is IMO a software issue. I wish I could run it through a debugger myself but I doubt they would release the code. It was probably made in some high level language by someone that has very little knowledge of the hardware side. Mostly what is lacking today in programming if you ask me. If people would learn assembler first alot of this BS could be avoided. Just my two cents.
Quick update here gang, So far, since 14 oct (did a CH up/dn reset that day), haven't seen a U99, however,, .. listings have been a little sporadic, I'm missing friday and part of saturday still, but overall, it seems to be catching up. Have most of the promos, haven't heard from Cheryl lately, I'm guessing, they have enough data by now, it's just a matter of analyzing it, and fixing the problem.
RX7Fan: I hope so.... shaolin00: Yeah, I'd LOVE for someone to peek at the code, or monitor the feed when an error occurs, but that's never going to happen on our end. Lots of things I'd like to know about how it does things, e.g., does it ever "correct" or overwrite listings, or once they're in, are they permanent regardless of last-minute programming changes? sfstan: Yep, that's about what I saw on Saturday (probably happened on Thursday), but with a total machine lockup (no buttons working on unit or remote, the only functional one was power on the unit). It still kept the time, and no U99, but everything else was kaput. VERY odd. Maybe they are "playing" with it, and we'll see strange stuff in the meantime like you said, Skatter21?? Hoping, anyway. Btw, I thought it was interesting that TVGOS seems to have a number of "expected" errors, seem to be divided by types if you've ever looked at the diagnostic pages (Type A, B, C, D) and there are a LOT of them!
This is sort of off-topic, but... I wonder how our Pannys and a lot of VCRs set daylight saving time. Is it via the "time signal" from PBS or wherever, or is it a program that is set for the first Sunday of April and the last Sunday of October? If it's the latter, a LOT of people are going to have their VCRs be off by an hour (for 3 weeks) come March 2007, since Congress HAD to tinker with it. I'm pretty sure the Panny uses the time signal, but I think my VCR uses the date. An easy fix just to set everything manually with all your other clocks, but still functionality being taken away by the powers that be.
Latest from here - the past 2 Tuesdays I've had a U99, so I'm waiting to see what happens today. As of last night I'm missing regular listings for Day 4 (Movies, Sports and Kids Shows are filled in for all 8 days), also I'm missing 4 PM - Midnight on Day 5, and 1.5 hours early morning on Day 6. I didn't have time to check things out this morning to see what may have filled in overnight. Besides that I've been thinking a lot about how much it would suck if cable companies decide to start cleansing or commandeering the VBI where the TVGOS stream is transmitted (see the links in acmetoyz post from 23 October). Why can't we all just get along?
Had been doing really good and no U99. Then I set the E85H to manauly record a show. After turning the unit off and within a minute or two I got a U99 and after the self check I looked at the programing and the timed recording info was gone. I reset the timer and this time left the unit on. Have not had a U99 now since this happened on Sunday 10-23 at 9:00 pm. And in defense of Panny IMHO, I think that there mistake with TVGOS is letting the programming of their units fail with a U99. They should have programmed the software in the begining to automaticaly reset this and just keep running. I do beleive that Panny has no control of the third party software (data) from TVGOS but did fail on their part to allow their equipment to go into a shutdown by a third party program. This is just my opinion and I'm just as frustrated as everyone else on the list, however, I do see light at the end of the tunnel.
Coyote24. i too believe that tvgos is experimenting. i have had no u99s for almost a week but i did lose all listings and schedules monday morning and had to reset everything. as of this morning i had tuesday, wednesday, thursday and next tuesday poplulated but nothing in between except for a rare channel here and there for friday, saturday, sunday and monday. very strange. i really do not understand why panny does not have any infuluence with tvgos. it's called business partnering. i guess they don't get along that great, like other partners.
From Alabama: I've gone over 6 days with NO problems. Hope everyone else is doing as well. Has anyone had any of the U99s the past few days?
