Info and forum posts by 'twig_insect'

Software Version. What`s in a number?

As a user of a DVDR610 I feel poorly informed about the manufacturers attempts to fix the problems. What I need is a list of the bugs fixed and side effects introduced with each new software release. This forum serves well to identify the troubles :) but I urge Philips to identify the corresponding solutions on their web site.

This item was edited on Monday, 31st January 2005, 10:57

RE: help philips 610

In reply to Rachel, my DVDR610 does not have the picture freeze problem. However, if this happened after the update, I would suggest you try unplugging from the mains power for a few minutes. I did this and it cured a screen shift and letterbox picture which occurred following the update.

RE: Philips DVDR610 troubles

Pins can be pushed back into the scart lead. To do this you have first to push back the sprung catch on the pin (using for example a watchmakers screwdriver) so that it is level with the flat of the pin. The pin can be left pushed in but it`s probably best to avoid potential contact with the other pins by withdrawing the pin completely and wrapping insulation around it before tucking it inside the cover.

This is a workaround, not a solution. :/

RE: help philips 610

Jimmy Murphy, It`s a shame you are being treated this way.

If the repair is unacceptable, (perhaps because you`ll miss out on some time shifted Christmas TV), and you have not previously accepted the DVDR610, you can reject the DVDR610 and demand the seller refunds your money. This is your statutory right.

RE: help philips 610

Thanks for testing BT1_22 drgeoff. Shame it hasn`t corrected the the front panel S-video input failure.
I was told by Philips that this was a known problem with the DVDR610, and that the workaround is to use EXT2.
Perhaps you could ask via your "back door" route into Philips whether they will make the front panel S-video input work as described in the instructions. If they choose not to, then the unit can be returned for a refund before the warranty expires.

RE: help philips 610

Whereas I had not previously seen the 30 min jump:
Last night I left my DVDR610 powered up in standby (I usually switch it off at the wall socket overnight). This morning the timer showed a time 30 minutes ahead of BST.
So I now concur, this fault happens without SKY.
My software version is BT112BL2

RE: help philips 610

Thanks, JimD, for adding your request to Philips.

Comet are lucky that you are prepared to loan them your money in order that they can diagnose a faulty product they sell.

Philips are lucky that you are prepared to test their DVDR610 without charge. Lets hope you receive a satisfactory response.

I would not want to have to leave the TV on in order to make a timed recording.

RE: help philips 610

Nice reasearch Moit. More free consultancy for Philips. Lets hope Philips use it to improve their product. Now I know why I miss so many endings!

Your item on identifying software version is interesting as it shows its numbers and letters which count. For example my DVDR610 has BT1_12B_L2, whereas yours has 12C.

On reading the many posts it has occurred to me that it may be Sky Teletext which is giving rise to the half hour offsets. I have Freeview but no Sky and do not observe the half hour offsets. Anyone care to investigate?

RE: help philips 610

Thank you, drgeoff, for your comprehensive post. My feeling is that Philips mean that timed S-input recordings are not widely used. Hence the lack of other responses. The problem would seem to be well known to them as it was they who suggested the EXT2 workaround to me. I`m still hopeing that Philips will fix this problem as SCART is not mechanically designed for frequent physical use. I imagine you also have to swap plugs into EXT2. Could it be the SCART in your machine no longer gives a reliable connection? I have thought of splitting a scart lead to that I can connect my freeview box to EXT1, so leaving EXT2 free But thats not so streightforward.

I have not spotted your 2 intermittents; but have one of my own. Every so often, when the unit is switched on, the picture is filled with coloured vertical stripes. A power off then on has cured it each time so far.

RE: help philips 610

logic, when you have put the disk in the DVDR610 recorder, would it be possible for you try to make a timer controlled recording from CAM1 Svideo to see if the disk also fixes this trouble. As a workaround I currently have to do this via EXT2, but it means disconnecting the freeview box each time, then re-connecting it after. Sorry to have to ask, but the Philips updates do not list the fixes cured and known side effects of each software version.

RE: help philips 610

Good for you oxfordsquareeyes, a result. Do tell us if the replacement does the 30min jump or not. If it behaves, perhaps you would post the software version installed.

RE: help philips 610

From what you say oxfordsquareeyes, Argos are not trading within the Law. If this is the case, Trading Standards will be able to stop them trading. But that won`t get you a replacement or your money back. If you have the Philips guarantee you will be able to ask them to repair your DVDR610.

RE: help philips 610

See other threads regarding the 30min jump.

If you telephoned/emailed Philips it would be interesting to know the explanation of the interrupted and shortened recording. For some faults they advise taking the unit back. I have already done 1 swap.

I obtained one of the Sainsbury`s £99 bargains, so am putting up with software faults in the hope that they`ll be corrected before the warranty expires. If you paid more than this you may feel its not worth waiting and choose another model/brand.

RE: Philips 610 & the new update

In answer to peja99 "I have lost a red LED". The red LED in the centre of the button works on mine; still with BT112 software. I`m reluctant to update the software whilst faulty features are being removed rather than fixed.

RE: Philips 610 & the new update

Thanks for the warning about this update!

In answer to the question
Does anyone know where it gets it time from when it updates automatically?
It picks it up from data placed in picture lines which are not displayed (cf teletext, PDC, subtitles)

RE: Philips 610 Timer Cam1 S input

:o Oops, another senoir moment! I`m sorry.

My DVDR610 behaves as yours drgeoff. The recorder says "No signal" momentarily but the CAM1 S-Video picture is output via EXT1 to the TV. No recording is made and the timer indicator goes out after the timer period ends.

My DVDR610 still has the BT112 firmware.

Will you tell Philips about this. For me it would help if the timer could use CAM1.

RE: Philips DVDR610: Are we now happy ?

posted by trippingzebra
BTW I`ve heard a lot about the £100 DVDR610 from Sainsbury`s. <snip> I assume they now sell it at "normal" prices ?
The price went up to £229 at my local Sainsburys. They have now stopped selling DVD recorders! Only players are on the shelves.
The original firmware offered an on screen NICAM indicator. But the first upgrade removed it. Has it re-appeared with the latest version?

RE: Philips 610 Timer Cam1 S input

I can manually record from CAM1 S-video. The resulting stills are better than those available from Hi8!

I recall that the manual says timer controlled recordings are not possable from CAM1. So you`ll need an external timer and servo to push the button. Alternatively use a scart adaptor to EXT2.

I also have the Sainsburys bargain but its still running the original firmware as my internet connection is dial-up.

RE: timer on 610

You need first to select an empty title with enough space for the new recording. Do this using browser.

RE: Philips DVDR610 Fan Cure & Update

:/
trippingzebra, thanks for the news, but has the full station identity been restored? Or does it just say BBC [blank substituted for 1 or 2]?

Philips DVDR610 upgrades

Thank you kdmcmullan for your post. But be warned, it seems that the upgrades so far are removing the feature in order to remove its funny! Perhaps Philips would be good enough to mount all upgrades so that there a way of going back a version if the upgrade is a feature removal too far. Does the upgrade process allow this?

Hopefully Philips will continue to support the DVDR610 long enough to re-introduce the features lost in quick fixes.

RE: Philips DVDR610 random switch on

Nice work trippingzebra. Free consultancy for Philips? or maybe they`ll reward you?

I have a Philips OnDigital box in my setup. It does not offer analogue teletext or PDC in the video signals to the DVDR610. As I have never experienced the random switch to EXT2 my experience would support your theory.

However, whenever I switch on my TV (also Philips), the DVDR610 comes out of standby momentarily switching to EXT1.

When I used PDC to record from BBC2 (analogue off air), the DVDR610 did not clear the timer after the recording. It said it was still looking for the PDC signal!

P.S. were you ever concerned with wow and flutter? Ah! the good old days.

Philips DVDR610 replaced at Sainsburys

in reply to bargainhunt

Don`t worry about the leads. If they`re fussed you can swap the leads between boxes in store. Same goes for the DVD+RW.

The erata sheet is numbered 8239 210 99651. Maybe you have this?
-Manual TV channel search
-General updates
-Features not available

also

I`m not sure, but I sense there`s less difference in TV picture brightness between EXT2 feed through (i.e. on standby) and EXT2 input selected. I can`t now detect any difference.

Philips DVDR610 back in Sainsburys

:D
So I now have a DVDR610 with a working on/standby button.
Other differences I notice are:
- the price is £229.99
- there`s no DVD+RW included in the box
- the VNIC is 0437 *** ***
- there is an errata sheet enclosed
- the software is 20040901 BT112BL2 (so no NICAM indicator ever)

Setting date and time

Unfortunately the DVDR610 looses this information whilst switched off overnight, and requires the information to be input each time upon switch on.

But it can be made to pick up the time from a broadcast TV signal as follows.

1. Switch on the TV and DVDR610 and leave your digibox off or on standby.
2. On DVDR610 remote key DOWN DOWN OK to accept the default time.
3. Select an analogue TV channel from the DVDR610 tuner as the source.
4. Place the DVDR610 in standby
5. Power up the DVDR610 and leave it receiving the analogue TV channel for at least 1 minute. (It requires a minute rollover to be accurate within a second).
6. The DVDR610 will now have updated its clock.

Using the DVDR610 makes me realise that the Pace Twin is an incredible piece of kit as its input routines (wakeup and programming from the EPG) are all fully automated.
Way to go Philips!

My DVDR610 power button still doesn`t work, and Sainsburys still don`t have stock for a replacement. Tesco do but their price is higher.

The investigation of the fan funny by trippingzebra is a revelation. I wonder what all the SCART communications were meant to achieve. Lets hope Philips are minded to overcome the funnies as the picture performance cannot be faulted.

Capturing fast motion snapshots from DVD recordings

WinDVD4 using hardware acceleration gives an excellent quality still of fast moving action when paused. But the snapshot function produces an overlay of two images displaced in areas of movement.

Print Screen does not work with hardware acceleration (the picture is on another plane beyond the windows interface), and turning the hardware acceleration off just produces the artifacts in the paused still picture.

PowerDVD gives the same result.

Is there a DVD software for PCs which can render perfect snapshots of fast motion / fast shutter speed DVD recordings?

RE: Philips DVDR610 funnies

After leaving my 610 on overnight to record the golf, I have the hot box / bad fan problem. The fan was back to normal after unplugging the 610 for 30 secs.

Another unpleasant surprise. If I try and make a programmed recording on a brand new Philips DVD+RW it fails as bad media. Also, the instructions don`t explain how to create an empty title, or how to program which empty title to place the programmed recording into. There`s a helphul hint which says to set the timer one minute ahead, but in troubleshooting PDC it says enter the exact time!

Brilliant technology let down by a poor user interface.
There`ll definately be some trips back to Sainsbury`s before the year`s out!

RE: Philips DVDR610 funnies

To fred7, thank you for the post. So, :( , I`ll have to return my unit at some time to get the power button fixed.

In the end I gave up waiting and found the analog channels manually, but this way the clock doesn`t autoset. (I remove power overnight). Sometimes, sometime after connecting power the clock will catch up, and sometimes the date too. But I don`t know why/when it happens.

On Page 37 it mentions the 30min record. I`ll check what mine does.

RE: Philips DVDR610 funnies

Thanks for your investigation. That`ll save me the 1hr download.

It sounds like another request to Philips is required to get the Nicam indicator fixed.

The fan on my unit is variable speed and well behaved. It doesn`t run if the unit is cold, it typically runs slow in tuner mode, and fast in record mode. It always stops when the drawer is opened. I had a laptop with a fan which behaved like yours. Eventually (after 3 months) the laptop stopped working. It was replaced by an upgrade from the makers.

My TV is 4x3 and I haven`t noticed the widescreen switching issue. But as the TV is switchable to shortscreen (letterbox) I will experiment.

Does the power/standby button work on yours?
Have you tried a factory reset (Page 59)?

Hopefully others will pick up this thread and input their findings.

RE: Philips DVDR610 funnies

Thanks for your post. Please do say if the upgrade fixes any funnies. As my unit is otherwise excellent, I`d rather not have to return it.
If it`s no trouble could you also post the link to the Philips website.