I wonder if this will fix my issue because I get hanging during playback? I spoke with 220-electronics and they told me to try a master reset. I'll try that, but I wonder if I should give this upgrade a shot as well?

Ok, sorry to keep posting about this but I hope to help others if they receive the same errors I did. First of all, I looked at the firmware page AVDeals has and it looks like my Malata has the most recent November 9th firmware. I performed the hard reset that 220-electronics told me to do and popped Shiri back in. this DVD seemed to give me the most problems. So far, after the reset, the movie has been playing for 20 minutes without an issue. Strange that this reset would help but it's going pretty good so far. I'll report back with the results. I'm going to basically just run movies non-stop for the rest of the night.

What's this hard reset thing you're talking about. How does it work?

This hard reset seems to reset everyting back to factory settings. If you hold the "clear" button on the remote for 5 seconds, the screen will go black. When that happens, you hit "clear" and "program" keys at the same time. This basically shuts the machine off and all settings are back to factory. That didn't fix my issue though. Stupid me tested the thing on a different tv that doesn't support progressive scan. I played with this all night and the player works find until you chosse Progressive mode. That's when I get the errors. This will definitely be exchanged now.

On a different note, I did have the latest firmware release and can say that the Phantom Menace doesn't crash at the THX scene. AVDeals did mention that the subtitles still don't work with the aliens but that's supposedly an issue with the Mediamatics chip. The subtitles can be turned on and they work that way. Not a big deal at all.

Ref: "J.D." The problem you describe is exactly the same as my first machine. Was told by avdeals that it was a laser problem that had occurred during shipping...second machine was a.o.k.


Ref: upgrade attempt...1) after inserting upgrade disk, screen went blank after upgrade prompt (aprx. 60 sec.) 2) Mediamatics logo appeared on screen 3) got the following error message: "Error: could not erase flash." Am assuming this indicates I must do the soldering as required in section two of the upgrade...good luck all.

Malata N996 & 220-Electronics.Com
 

Hi All,
After doing a bit of research, I've decided to take the plunge on the Malata N996. The cheapest that I could find it is through 220-Electronics.Com for $329 (it's for the Gold finished model - the black is $30 more - is there any difference save for the colors that I should be aware of?) + S&H, A couple of questions though... Has anyone ever dealt with these people before? Also, any idea if these players are the ones with the new firmware (circa last month)? If not, how difficult is it to download the firmware & install it yourself (keep in mind, I'm not much of a techie). I plan to hook the unit up to my HDTV via component/progressive input & was wondering how the pcture will look especially when dealing with a Pal region 2 disc... Anyway, thanks in advance for all the help!
Regards,
John

<b>Janos</b>, doubtless Forum members will be happy to help with any new points but some aspects have already been covered in existing threads. I'm moving this so that the front page doesn't again get overrun with duplicates....

Thank you in advance for your understanding.


Benedict
[email protected]
Moderator, International DVD & Movie Forum

Janos, I jsut received a Malata N996 from 220-electronics last week and it did have the latest version of the firmware which is from November 9th. My player turned out to be defective and they were very helpful on the phone giving me suggestions to try and solve my problem. They are very familiar with the player so they had me try a few things before they decided to have me send the player back. I am waiting for my replacement now.

Malata and AVdeals policy
 

I bought my Malata from AVdeals.ca and paid more to have the option 0 that was supposed to be software upgradable. Because of a soldering problem, this was not true anymore. So Avdeals told me that if an upgrade was available, AVdeals will pay for the upgrade or send a new motherboard.

Does anyone knows about Avdeals policy now? I'm unable to contact them by telephone and I don't want to take the risk of upgrade it myself and damage the player.

Thanks!

I've been waiting for all problems to be fixed before ordering a Malata. Is it safe to order now or should I wait for a possible better replacement option (if there will be such a thing...) ?

eXcentris, I would buy the player now if I were you. There are only a few problems with the player, and are not a big deal most of the time (I don't have TPM, so I don't care about the problem with that DVD, anyway). Some owners are looking forward to the fix on the DTS dropouts on certain receivers, but Malata Canada doesn't seem to have the intention of fixing it at this point, so the player with the current firmware probably is the best you can get for a long, long time.

DTS Dropouts
 

I believe there is a thread with Matt Stevens' requesting people list their receiver if they are having the DTS dropouts so he can fax the list to Malata Canada. When I spoke to Malata Canada a few weeks ago, I was told they couldn't reproduce the problem so they were unable to fix it. With Matt's help, they will have information to go on so they can start fixing it.

Vanian

MALATA Update: AVdeals is now selling the Malata again. They have the upgraded firmware version in stock, but only in Gold.

$299. That's the best price on the Net, from the most consumer friendly etailer.

http://www.avdeals.com/malata_dvd.htm

Matt,

Is it safe to assume that the only thing fixed is that the Malata no longer hangs on certain disks?

If so I (and probably a lot of other people) who strictly use our Malatas for R2 & non-anamorphic stuff probably have not encountered any problems and don't need to upgrade unless we do in the future.

The one change I would like to see is consistent ability to turn off "mandatory" subtitles and override other "forbiden by the disk" functions, but I take it that there are no such changes in this upgrade?

Thanks for any info,
Ted

You are correct. Just the crashes are fixed and they are on so few titles that it really isn't worth it. After all, you just have to hit play and presto, the disc doesp lay.

We'll never see the forced viewing crap taken off. :( That would be too good to be true.

Any idea of when AV deals will be offering the black color?

Malata Clarification
 

Hi ,

I have a quick question about the Malata 900R player. Does the Malata 900R properly display a PAL anamorphic disc on a 4:3 tv without stretching the picture??? I've seen people say yes and some people say no. Which is it??

I know for certain that the Malata 996 properly displays a PAL anamorphic. What about the 900R ??

Thanks

Shark

My copy of Thesis ( Horror Movie ) freezes up as soon as the menu comes up on my Malata. I dont know if its region 1 or 0. Anyone know what to do?

Re: Malata Clarification
 

The 900R does not have the mediamatics chip, therefore it does not convert pal->ntsc properly. AvDeals is selling the n996 again so there's no reason to get the 900R.

I have a question though. I have the R1 version of the malata, how can I get the update applied to my Malata? Do I need to send it in to Malata.ca for teh work to be done? or back to AvDeals?

Thanks.

John DeLuca,

Have you received your replacement unit yet?

I'm experiencing the same problem as you with my brand new N996. Every disc I try eventually freezes completely, with the player displaying "Error: disk major - Replace Me" and returning me to the welcome screen.

I've noticed that if I unplug the unit for a while and let it cool down a bit, discs will play fine for a little longer (about half an hour or so) until the freezing starts again. So the problem appears to be heat-related...

Cheers.

Abstrakt, yes I finally received a working Malata This past week. My second unit did the exact same thing as well which was really frustrating. My UPS guy must be throwing these things because that's just crazy. Since 220-Electronics was out of Black, I had to settle with the Gold model which I have no problem with. I've been testing the player since I got it and it's been playing flawlessly. This is a really nice player actually and it's a great feeling to finally have a unit that works. I have a stack of Hong Kong Legends DVD's to watch now so my weekend is booked :)

You should just return the player. Mine wasn't heat related. Mine would only give that error when I was in Progressive mode which is every time I watch a DVD. There's no use having a Progressive Scan DVD player that only plays in Interlaced mode. If you bought it from 220, give them a call. The are very helpful.

John, thanks for confirming that it is indeed a hardware defect. I've already contacted my retailer and will hopefully get a replacement soon. I have the black model as well...

Since I've also read reports of this error on AVS Forum, perhaps there is a defective batch of players... Anyway, I'm glad to hear you're up and running now. It looks like my François Truffaut box set will remain unwatched for a little longer. ;)

Cheers.

Abstrakt, are you going to try the Truffaut DVDs on NTSC TV via malata's Pal-NTSC conversion? I have 3 Truffaut DVDs by MK2 and all exibit combing with the filter set to "still." The "smart" filter eliminates the combing but instead shows some strange artifacts. They are watchable this way, but not great. I guess if you have a PAL (or multisystem) TV, the "smart" filter is the way to go as I don't see any artifact on my NTSC TV when the player's output is set to PAL (this way I can still see the picture on TV, though it's B&W).

Yes, that's what I'd like to do. I also have a small multisystem set, but I'd much rather use my bigger NTSC HDTV. Are you getting these artifacts/combing in progressive scan or interlaced mode (or both) ?

I've also already ordered the MK2 Kieslowski set... Hopefully this problem will not affect all discs from that publisher.

Am I required to click the Y axis two clicks up in order to have the correct ratio for watching pal DVDs? I think I read this somewhere but I can recall if this is what I have to do. I've been watching my Pal discs with the y-axis two steps up. Am I doing this correctly? If not, what adjustments do I need to do in order to watch the pal discs correctly?

Abstrakt, I use the interlaced output and see combing on these DVDs. So, there is a chance that the progressive scan output doesn't exibit this problem. Still, the French Truffaut DVDs are a lot superior to the American Fox Lober DVDs, so I didn't regret buying them. The other day I watched "Baisers voles" which included the wealth of extras, including clips about Henri Langlois and the historical Cannes Film Festival in May, 1968.

My Malata arrived today. When I set it to Progressive my screen immeadiatly went to snow. The screen will say "Welcome" if I unplug it, but then revert to snow. How can I reset it back to interlaced? Do I have a defective player? Or am I just stupid?

Update: I can get the sound when I hook it up to my reciever, but still no picture. ANY help would be appreciated.

On your remote. Press and keep down the subpicture button.
That should switch you back to interlace.

axolotls- Thanks, I got it reset and have given the machine the basic tryout that I need it for. I was really impressed. It plays my R2 South Park discs and VCD's perfectly. I am really happy with it.

I posted this on AVS Forum, but I figured I'd put this in this thread as well in case someone notices it here.

Does anyone know how to contact Malata for warranty issues? I'm on my third player and it's starting to act up. Not too bad, but just enough to annoy my wife and I. I'm still getting occasional "error - disc major - replace me" errors every now and then. I've heard people mention that there is a Malata Canada. How can I contact them? I am at work so I have no way of looking in my manual, but something tells me it won't say too much. I could be wrong though :)

I really love this player and just want a trouble-free machine.

MALATA CANADA
 

I believe there is a website www.malatacanada.com

Malata Canada is located in Mississauga Ontario. They are the Canadian distributor for the Malata company in China. They are also a furniture wholesaler as well. (Mississauga Furniture City)

Thanks for the info Shark.

Is there a dimmer for the front panel display? Coudn't find anything in the menus. This thing is worse than a Xmas tree. :)

Worked like a charm for me also!! This is THE most incredible piece of electronic equipment I have ever had the pleasure of owing!! Being able to fix the overscan on my TV was worth the price I paid alone! I don't know if it is just me but the DVD's I have tried even sound better coming through this fantastic machine. I have only had it a few days and am stunned at how well it works. I can't believe I was able to function without it.

does the Malata N996 allow for X-Y scaling in interlaced mode, or just porgressive mode? I'd assume it can do it in both since it converts to progressive and then back to interlaced before outputting (in interlaced mode)

Both modes.

It refers to compression. So you want the full range of sound so you choose Maximum. If you don't want to wake up the neighbors and keep your volume low.. then you would choose Minimum because that will lower the loud sounds and bring up the soft ones.