Manzana

I recently got The Searchers HD-DVD from DD. Last night I tried to play it on my Toshiba HD-A30, and I could never get to any menus no matter what I tried on the remote. When I hit the subtitle button it told me to hit a directional arrow to turn off subtitles, but nothing I did turned them off. I also could not select any other audio tracks besides English. About all I could do is watch the movie with subtitles on, hit pause, FF/Rew, or jump to chapters. When the movie ended it just went to playing a blank track.

Does anyone else's Searchers HD-DVD behave like this? The movie plays, but it seems like someone stripped off all the menus, special features, and extra audio tracks. The disc inside is a single sided HD-DVD which says "John Wayne in The Searchers" and "HD DVD" with the number 80942.

I've never upgraded my HD-A30's firmware, but since every other DVD (and HD-DVD) I've played works fine, it seems quite a longshot I'd need to do that to be able to see the special features or turn off the subtitles. It also seems really hard to believe that Warner produced a stripped down HD-DVD version and I am the only person who got it. Google turned up nothing (for me) on this subject... just lots of reviews saying how great this HD-DVD is.

Before I call DD for a replacement, I want to make sure the problem actually is the disc is defective. I've only got a few days left before my 30 days are up. I hope someone who recently bought this can help soon. Thanks!

naitram

Did you try cleaning it? My copy of The Searchers has always worked fine, and it's not a combo disc so that shouldn't be problem. If cleaning it doesn't work, I'd say it's a bad disc.

Josh Z

Are you pressing the "Menu" button or "Top Menu"? Warner discs have no Top Menu, so you want to hit the normal "Menu" button.

On Warner HD DVDs, hitting the "Up" directional arrow will also bring up menus.

Manzana

This was a brand new HD-DVD and already clean. I tried hitting almost every button on the remote multiple times including the up arrow and every other arrow, as well as Menu and Top Menu. Other than play, pause, FF/REW, chapter skip, and stop... nother else worked on this HD-DVD. Well, Display brings up some info and Subtitle cycles through the subtitle tracks but won't turn them off. I then put in a different HD-DVD and everything worked fine as usual. I did hit chapter skip and fast forward a lot during the forced previews and WB logo. I know on WB SD DVDs that hitting FF/skip can sometimes jump you past the movie and menus into the special features, but hitting menu always has taken me to the menu until I got this DVD. I'm sorry I traded in my Searchers SE 2-DVD SD edition before trying this HD-DVD one.

Since I have no HD-DVD drive in my computer, I can't check the disc itself to see what's there. I was amazed I can't get to any menus to come up or change any settings, so I was hoping someone could confirm that either my perfect-looking disc is defective or my HDA30 must have the latest Toshiba firmware to play this.

If everyone else's Searchers HD-DVD plays perfectly, then I must've gotten a defective transfer since the movie itself can play with subtitles on. There is only 1 version of The Searchers on HD-DVD, right? The special features listed on the package are supposed to be on this same disc and there are supposed to be menus and multiple audio tracks? I didn't get some sort of stripped-down Searchers HD-DVD from Warner in the same way that MGM stealthfully strips down certain SE DVDs (like Legally Blonde)?

Alan Smithee

The Subtitle button should be able to turn them off- if it's got English, Spanish and French subtitles, the button should go to each one then to Off. I normally don't like excessive onscreen displays, but it's annoying that the A3 doesn't show you ANYTHING when you hit the Audio and Subtitle buttons on HD-DVDs!

kefrank

There is only one release of the Searchers on HD DVD (in the U.S. anyway). Sounds like something is fishy with your disc.

theWitcher

After seeing this post at Home Theater Forum a couple of weeks ago, I checked my 'Searchers' HD DVD, and it still played without problems.

I think my HD A3 has the most recent firmware.

Manzana

Thanks for the help! With some difficulty, I was able to try my Searchers HD-DVD on a Toshiba HD-A2 and the menus worked fine. So apparently the problem is that my HD-A30 (supposedly a better player than the A2) can't handle the menus on The Searchers.

I haven't bothered to update my firmware (never imagined I'd need to), so now I'll have to read the manual and find out how to update the A30 online in hopes that will fix it.

JimRochester

Very simple process. We have a thread in here somewhere about the process however you'll need to check the website for the latest version.

Manzana

I followed the instructions referenced above, updated my HD-A30's firmware from v1.3 to v3.0, verified it said I had firmware 3.0, put in The Searchers HD-DVD, and it had the exact same problems as before. I still can't get to any of the menus so it's effectively a featureless DVD! Obviously Toshiba hasn't fixed this problem on the HD-A30. I don't think I should be forced only to be able to watch The Searchers on my HD-A2 which is in a closet.

Toshiba's site actually had a HD-A30 v4.0 firmware, but every time I downloaded it it said the ZIP was corrupt (and it was only 7 MB compared to 35+ MB for the other firmwares). THANKS TOSHIBA!

It seems like nobody else on the Internet owns a HD-A30 and has tried to play The Searchers HD-DVD in it because my Google searched turned up zip zero nada on the Internet for "Searchers HD-DVD HD-A30 firmware"... except of course this thread.

It would help so much if someone else with a HD-A30 who owns The Searchers HD-DVD could tell me if he has the same problem.

JimRochester

Call Toshiba, they'll mail you a firmware CD.

tonymontana313

Manzana, I have no idea what you have done to get all the bad luck you do. I just pray you have 7 years of good luck coming up to make up for the bad ones.

Ted Kontos

I do know that the 3.0 FW killed the menu access for The Searchers on my HD-A2, and others have reported the same problem. I reverted back to FW 2.7 and all is well! This may be your problem too.

kenbuzz

Does Toshiba continue to maintain downloadable copies of older firmware on their site, or does one need to find them "stashed" by someone else somewhere else?

Manzana

Thanks for the input. Do you happen to have a link or Google search keywords that work to show me to posts by others regarding The Searchers menu problems?

There is no 2.7 FW for the HD-A30 listed on Toshiba's page (only 2.7 for the HD-A2). The A30 only shows 1.3 (my original version which had the menu problems), 2 versions of 2.0 (one of which I think is meant for the A35), 3.0 (which behaves the same as 1.3), and 4.0 (which is a corrupt ZIP).

I suppose I could try 2.0. Has anyone tried The Searchers HD-DVD with the A30's 2.0 FW?

Does anyone have a direct link to the secret 2.7 FW for the A30 which I apparently need given that the other available versions don't work? Or is 2.7 FW for the HD-A2 only?

Has anyone with a HD-A30 found a FW version which works with The Searchers' menus? It seems difficult to believe that 1.3 FW has the menu problems, 2.7 FW does not (if it exists for the A30), and 3.0 FW has the problems again. Unless software developers aren't too bright they typically don't re-introduce problems previously fixed in FW releases.

I guess I could call Toshiba as my last resort, but I could probably resolve this myself if someone here points me to a HD-A30 FW version that'll work. I guess I could also post in the main Toshiba firmware update thread, if it's still open. Thanks.

kefrank

I don't think there is a 2.7 firmware for the A30. The A2 is a second gen machine and the A30 is third gen. The different generations have different numbering schemes for the firmware.

That said, there is probably a third-gen firmware that was released at the same time as the 2.7 firmware for second gen, just with the a different number. If you look around at the firmware threads on the HD DVD forum over at AVS, you can probably figure it out.

Ted Kontos

The AVS Forum has links to all FW versions. Start here:
http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=999557.

Please be aware that you can not just "downgrade" the FW by inserting a disc with the lower version. The lower version has to be edited with a hex editor to trick the machine into thinking it's a newer version. All that is covered in the HD DVD Hardware and Software forums at AVS.

Manzana

Toshiba fixed the link to v4.0 firmware for the HD-A30, and it still does not fix The Searchers menu problem. Judging by the fact Toshiba hasn't fixed this problem on the HD-A30 over numerous firmware versions spanning considerable time, it looks like they don't ever plan to fix it. It also looks like nobody here or elsewhere on the Internet has a workaround or solution, so those with HD-A30s are simply SOOL on accessing the menus or watching the special features on The Searchers. Thanks Toshiba!