Sony TV

[woodpig]

Out of interest I went to the Canon site to see if they provide Mac specific downloads for their products and they do. I also went back to Sony and they also provide some Mac specific content for their cameras although I couldn't see any firmware updates. I conclude from this that Sony are perhaps somewhat aware they need to provide certain files they just aren't providing Mac specific files for their TV's yet. I've left feedback on their site.

 

[mseries]

I just attempted to download the update from this page

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/conten ... D-43X8309C to see if I got the same issue as you, I am using Windows 7 right now, but as it's over 1GB and will take an hour or so to download so I cancelled it.

Maybe for Sony cameras they need to run something on the computer so do need Mac/Windows specific versions (I have not researched this) .For the TV update, it doesn't run on the computer, it's just a file that has to be copied to a USB stick that the TV is able to read, it's not a file for any particualer OS, it's just a file that the TV can read.

 

[woodpig]

it's just a file that has to be copied to a USB stick that the TV is able to read, it's not a file for any particualer OS, it's just a file that the TV can read.

Yes, that's right.

 

[JakeS]

I guess the reason for this is that all TV's will require firmware updates at some time or another but not all users will have their TV's connected to the net

Conversely, I can't imagine why I'd want to update my TV's firmware unless I were connecting it to the net! Surely it either works - shows images and makes noise - or it doesn't, outside of 'smart' features? Other than security and app updates, what purpose does the firmware update have?

I certainly haven't ever updated the firmware on any of my televisions, and other than the one that developed a hardware fault I don't think anything has stopped working, nor have I ever come across something my TV couldn't do but was supposed to?

 

[bugbear]

I guess the reason for this is that all TV's will require firmware updates at some time or another but not all users will have their TV's connected to the net

Conversely, I can't imagine why I'd want to update my TV's firmware unless I were connecting it to the net! Surely it either works - shows images and makes noise - or it doesn't, outside of 'smart' features? Other than security and app updates, what purpose does the firmware update have?

I certainly haven't ever updated the firmware on any of my televisions, and other than the one that developed a hardware fault I don't think anything has stopped working, nor have I ever come across something my TV couldn't do but was supposed to?

Even a non-smart modern TV is very complex, with EPG, programmed recording, sub-titles, colour correction, sound processing &c.

Bugs/annoyances/missing features in any of these areas might well need fixing.

BugBear

 

[RogerS]

This from avforums. Any use ?

Fixed! Once I started digging a little it was obvious, but then all things are obvious when you have the answer I suppose.

When you download files from the Internet onto a Mac, it adds a quarantine flag, an extra file attribute. If you follow Sony's instructions and unpack the firmware into a folder on a USB stick, the Mac's Finder file manager doesn't show you these options, and any files unzipped get tagged with extra attributes, inherited from the parent image's attributes. When Sony's update procedure starts, these additional attributes must screw-up the file's checksum, and as a result, the TV skips the update because the file doesn't appear to be valid.

I got round this simply, once I'd worked things out using the Terminal application, as follows -- obviously the file name will differ between updates, but here's the general idea.

----- begin -----

;; Change to the directory containing the unpacked firmware update on the USB stick (formatted FAT32 in this case)
$ cd /Volumes/USBSTICK/sony_dtv0FA10A01A0A1_0000010

;; List the contents of the directory -- the @ symbol on the file permissions shows that there are extended attributes present
$ ls -l
-rwxrwxrwx@ 1 Clem Clem 70276672 26 Dec 00:43 00000100_0770046a.bin

;; Check what the extend permissions are -- in this case, com.apple.quarantine
$ xattr -l 00000100_0770046a.bin
com.apple.quarantine: 0000;4f3f9cba;Firefox.app;|org.mozilla.firefox

;; Remove the extended file attributes
$ xattr -d com.apple.quarantine 00000100_0770046a.bin

;; Check that they've been removed -- the @ symbol is gone -- we have a 'normal' file that the TV is happy with
$ ls -l 00000100_0770046a.bin
-rwxrwxrwx 1 Clem Clem 70276672 26 Dec 00:43 00000100_0770046a.bin

;; Change to a different directory so that you can 'eject' the drive and flash your TV, etc.

----- end -----

I flashed my TV without issue once I'd followed the above. Extended attributes don't seem to apply to any directories contained within the zip archive, in this case at least.

HTH

Regards


Clem

 

[woodpig]

learning Unix to modify files is not an option! :roll:

As I said earlier. :lol:

 

[misterfish]

Some features like recording on a HDD aren't expected until September.

I'd forgotten about this option on our Sony smart TV. The set has two USB ports and one allows you to plug in an external hard disk drive and make recordings. It works but to me is unworkable. First it reformats the hard disk in its own unique way which is no problem but when you set it to record a particular program it starts slightly ahead of time which is also no problem but it then labels what you've recorded with the title and details of the program when it starts the recording which is the program before the one you want. For some reason best known to Sony you cannot edit the title so the title you see is not what you get. Suffice it to say that we don't use this option.

Misterfish

 

[woodpig]

Your TV might need a Firmware upgrade Misterfish. I have a six year old Sony and I was able download and install new Firmware for it. Couldn't see any difference but it did confirm it had been updated.

In spite of good reviews of picture quality on some of the latest Sony Android TV's there have been lots of complaints about the operating system. This doesn't just affect the Smart features but affects basic TV operation as well and results in things like picture stuttering and remote control delays.

I'm now going to look at a Panasonic and see what that's like.

 

[RogerS]

Some features like recording on a HDD aren't expected until September.

I'd forgotten about this option on our Sony smart TV. The set has two USB ports and one allows you to plug in an external hard disk drive and make recordings. It works but to me is unworkable. First it reformats the hard disk in its own unique way which is no problem but when you set it to record a particular program it starts slightly ahead of time which is also no problem but it then labels what you've recorded with the title and details of the program when it starts the recording which is the program before the one you want. For some reason best known to Sony you cannot edit the title so the title you see is not what you get. Suffice it to say that we don't use this option.

Misterfish

I think you'll find that all manufacturers are just as bad as each other. The rate at which they bring out new TVs means that there isn't a cat-in-hells chance that stuff :-

a) has been thought through properly
b) has been developed properly
c) has been tested properly
d) does what any customer actually wants to do or thought they might be able to do
e) still functions three months later due to 'upgrades' or more likely 'lack of upgrades'

It's a race to the bottom as far as I can see.

Interesting comment that someone made here that after several months many of the features stop working properly because of changes in the wider web-o-spere. Separate boxes is the way to go IMO as has already been suggested.

It's one of the reasons why I buy any technology stuff from John Lewis even though it might be more expensive. If it doesn't do what you thought it would then you can send it back without any quibble. For example, we bought a Philips DAB/CD player. You'd think that by now Philips would have realised that gapless playback is the norm but no. So listening to classical music is hopeless. John Lewis took it back without a murmur. Thing is until you actually tried the damn thing there was no way of knowing beforehand.

Digressing slightly, I think we're going to Hell in a handbasket. Pace todays article about the hacking of a Jeep's systems, brakes, engine revs etc in todays Times.

 

[woodpig]

Bad news about that Jeep hacking.

Bought a Panasonic TV and Soundbar package. Well pleased so far but still need to sort out the Aerial at some point. Picture on 1080 on VM is very good.

 

[RogerS]

I've seen Soundbars mentioned but don't really know that much about them. How does it compare to, say, a 5.1 system (ignoring the rear channels for the purposes of discussion!). Where do you site them relative to the TV? I know that when we are watching a DVD and a lot of the dialogue comes from the centre speaker then where we have it located it is way too low relative to the position of the TV.

 

[mseries]

Sound bars usually placed under the TV, sometimes they are intended for the TV to sit directly on top of them. Hard to compare the two since there are alot of variables, especially in 5.1 systems with separate speakers (my Yamaha sounds different with different speakers, th eaddition of a subwoofer will change it again). Sound bars are certainly an improvement on a TVs on board 'speakers', my father recently bought a sound bar to improve the audio on his Samsung LED TV. He is aging and couldn't hear the TV properly and at high volume the native sound was tinny. His sound bar has improved it. Whether or not it's better than my Yamaha + speakers is hard to say. His bar was cheaper, looks nicer (to my Mum anyway), was easier to install since there are far fewer cables.

My dialogue speaker is a large (about 18"x7"x7") Paradigm one, about 20 years old. It's about 4 inches below the bottom of my TV screen and about 10 inches above the floor. Even with hard flooring it sounds great - my room is small and we sit directly infront to view the screen. (Many years ago we had to have a Sky engineer in and he commented on how clear it sounded).

 

[woodpig]

Sound bars don't compare to surround sound systems it's just an upgrade to built in speakers plus a sub woofer. The bar itself can sit in front of the TV or if wall mounted fitted below it. Many sub woofers are blue tooth so can go anywhere there's a power socket. You can also get some sound systems that the TV sits on.

 

[RogerS]

Ah, OK, thanks for the info.

 

[Sporky McGuffin]

I have a soundbase (which is like a sound bar but deeper so the telly sits on top of it) for my PC set-up, as the arrangement of my monitors means there isn't really anywhere for conventional speakers to go. It's a Canton DM50 and sounds very good indeed.

While it's got a "surround" mode, which does sound a bit more spacious (if less accurate for music) it's nothing like a surround system that can position noises behind you. Much less faff though, and better sounding than any of the surround systems I've heard at the same price.

 

[mseries]

My Dads sound bar is Canton