Toshiba firmware questions
09-20-05, 11:53 AM
#1
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Thread Starter
Toshiba firmware questions
Sigh...
I've got a Toshiba SD-4960 and a SD-K730 standalone DVD Player.
1. How do I determine the firmware version of these players? I know that on my old SD-3108 (now replaced with the SD-4960), you could press Zoom-6-0-6-Zoom to get the firmware version.
2. Can both of these players be upgraded using a firmware CD from Toshiba, or will I have to ship the players back to Toshiba?
3. Anyone got a magic number and a incantation that I can recite to get these firmware discs without being exposed to the Spanish inquisition?
Here is what I've encountered:
SD-4960: Has problems with the menus on Buena Vista titles including The Incredibles and Lost. This is consistant with the disc. The menu is displayed in a 16:9 mode, but the actual selection overlay is 4:3. The player is set to 4:3LB by default. I can somewhat fix the problem by setting it to 4:3P&S, but that means that Lost, which is presented in 1.78:1 format, has the left and right sides cut off.
SD-K730: Occassionally does not play a title. Example is Manga Entertainment Perfect Blue. When I insert the DVD into this player, I get a series of question marks and I have to power-cycle the player in order to resolve the issue. (The disc plays fine on my SD-3108 and SD-4960).
Sigh... the SD-4960 was a replacement for my older (and beloved) SD-3108. That player was shipped back twice... once for the infamous From The Earth To The Moon/Alien DVD problem, and a second time for the The World Is Not Enough subtitle problem before being replaced by a class action lawsuit in May. The number that I called was 866-583-7353 which came from the back of the SD-4960, and got the runaround including the famous "well, the players aren't going to play back all of the discs". Well, I wasn't expecting the players to play back region 2 DVDs, but region 1 from fairly major distributors shouldn't be a problem.
Any ideas?
I've got a Toshiba SD-4960 and a SD-K730 standalone DVD Player.
1. How do I determine the firmware version of these players? I know that on my old SD-3108 (now replaced with the SD-4960), you could press Zoom-6-0-6-Zoom to get the firmware version.
2. Can both of these players be upgraded using a firmware CD from Toshiba, or will I have to ship the players back to Toshiba?
3. Anyone got a magic number and a incantation that I can recite to get these firmware discs without being exposed to the Spanish inquisition?
Here is what I've encountered:
SD-4960: Has problems with the menus on Buena Vista titles including The Incredibles and Lost. This is consistant with the disc. The menu is displayed in a 16:9 mode, but the actual selection overlay is 4:3. The player is set to 4:3LB by default. I can somewhat fix the problem by setting it to 4:3P&S, but that means that Lost, which is presented in 1.78:1 format, has the left and right sides cut off.
SD-K730: Occassionally does not play a title. Example is Manga Entertainment Perfect Blue. When I insert the DVD into this player, I get a series of question marks and I have to power-cycle the player in order to resolve the issue. (The disc plays fine on my SD-3108 and SD-4960).
Sigh... the SD-4960 was a replacement for my older (and beloved) SD-3108. That player was shipped back twice... once for the infamous From The Earth To The Moon/Alien DVD problem, and a second time for the The World Is Not Enough subtitle problem before being replaced by a class action lawsuit in May. The number that I called was 866-583-7353 which came from the back of the SD-4960, and got the runaround including the famous "well, the players aren't going to play back all of the discs". Well, I wasn't expecting the players to play back region 2 DVDs, but region 1 from fairly major distributors shouldn't be a problem.
Any ideas?
09-29-05, 04:16 PM
#2
I was hoping you'd get an answer to this question, since I have the same player and have had a bunch of problems with it. I picked it up on the cheap, mainly for the SACD and DVD-A capabilities.
I haven't found anything about a firmware update either and, from what I've read, if it's sent in for service you'll probably just end up getting a different model player back. My problems have mainly been audio-related. I get drop-outs on DTS audio tracks and DVD-As and SACDs sometimes just quit playing in the middle of the disc.
I haven't looked around for a replacement yet, but I'm probably just going to get a different player. Maybe I'll send it in for service first, so I'll at least have a fully-functioning Toshiba, even if it doesn't have all of the features I need.
I haven't found anything about a firmware update either and, from what I've read, if it's sent in for service you'll probably just end up getting a different model player back. My problems have mainly been audio-related. I get drop-outs on DTS audio tracks and DVD-As and SACDs sometimes just quit playing in the middle of the disc.
I haven't looked around for a replacement yet, but I'm probably just going to get a different player. Maybe I'll send it in for service first, so I'll at least have a fully-functioning Toshiba, even if it doesn't have all of the features I need.
