Does anyone happen to have the US Firmware for the DVR-531H? I mistakenly grabbed a UK version and installed it in hopes of solving some of the TVGOS issues and it is not compatible with the US TVGOS. Therefore, I can record to the drive, but I cannot schedule anything to be recorded. Hakan does not have it, so I think I'm up a creek. I also called Pioneer and they won't distribute it.
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http://www.pioneerfaq.info/english/replace_HD.php?player=Replacing-HD&model=DVR-530&question=Part4
those might be the files you need.--
"a lot of people are better dead" - prisoner KSC2-303 -
Thanks Aedipuss, but that's the TVGOS software/firmware. I'm looking for the firmware that gets installed in the DVR's ROM, not the disk.
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You've probably bricked it: I don't think I've ever seen 531-533-633 RAM/ROM firmware posted anywhere. You could try contacting VH member trhouse via private message: he was instrumental in extracting the TVGOS software and may know something more about the USA ROM firmware you need. The ROMs in USA/Canada models often need to be hacked to accept wired USA updates: they tend not to accept ROM firmware from a disc like the Euro/Arabic units. The 531-533-633 never really got any official firmware updates, they imploded at product launch and Pioneer couldn't get replacement 640 models out the door fast enough. The last thing they were going to try with these misbegotten TVGOS units was a firmware patch, so any USA firmware out there is likely to be the original.
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For anyone else still using a 2005 USA/Canada Pioneer, be sure you NEVER try to update the actual "firmware" in the recorder's ROM chips. The firmware "updates" you see floating around the web were exclusively for the European/Middle Eastern 530 series, which had significant internal parts differences and a much longer production run. The TVGOS "firmware" available at pioneerfaq is meant strictly to install the TVGOS EPG software on a new replacement HDD: it does not update or replace the TVGOS installed in an existing/broken Pioneer recorder. When your TVGOS goes haywire, you cannot "fix" it with a software or firmware update: the system is sealed, so if it gets corrupted its toast. Your options are limited to:
Forcing a memory purge and reboot of the TVGOS software- this fixes the most common occasional problems, or:
Buying a new HDD and following the painful procedure outlined on pioneerfaq for installing a new TVGOS system on it, then cross your fingers your Pioneer will accept it (doesn't work half the time, which is why Pioneer rushed production of the non-TVGOS 640 model).
You can reboot a flaky Pioneer TVGOS model, even if you can't get TVGOS to appear onscreen, by performing these "blind reset" steps posted by Sean Nelson:
1. Press the "Timer Rec" button
(bypasses TVGOS's initial setup screen even if some of the setup parameters are missing)
2. Press "Down Arrow" 15 times
(goes down to the "cancel" entry for the new timed recording.
Will end up on "cancel" even if you press "down" too many times)
3. Press "Enter"
(cancels the new timed recording)
4. Press "Up Arrow" several times
(ensures you're on the TVGOS menu line)
5. Press "Left Arrow" once
(The "Settings" menu is just to the right of the "Schedule" menu)
6. Press "Down Arrow" once
(The "Change System Settings" entry is the first one in the "Settings" menu)
7. Press 7-5-3-1-5-9-8-5-2
(Enters the TVGOS debug screen)
8. Press 6-5-3-2-7-4-1-4-7
(Resets TVGOS)
Since you may not be able to see any feedback, you'll want to do this while being very careful to keep the remote pointed at the unit and use firm button presses so that you have no doubt that the unit has received each command. If this reboot is successful, and you gain access to the TVGOS setup screen, perform the manual over-ride steps to deactivate the TVGOS signal search. Then back up your HDD recordings ASAP via dvd burning or analog playback thru the line outputs. -
Thanks Orsetto! That was the answer I expected. I'm now trying to figure out any way to do a Timer Recording. There's got to be a way to trick it out to think I'm in the UK. At that point I know the Programming won't work, but maybe I can get my Timer Recording back. I'll try trhouse and start hacking. Thx!!
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It's not the answer anyone wants to hear, but if you do research on the subject of TVGOS and problems you'll find that basically once you start having issues you're screwed and you have almost no chance of ever getting it working correctly again. I might be wrong about this, but I thought that TVGOS was a "USA and Canada only" thing anyway.
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srt842, when you installed the European firmware, did the items in your Home Menu change? Instead of the "TV Guide" and "Timer Rec" buttons, the European models display "Guide Plus" and EZ Timer" buttons in the Home Menu. If your Home menu now shows the "EZ Timer" option, you might be able to use that to set manual timer recordings. The "Guide Plus" system is similar to TVGOS but expects an analog PAL EPG broadcast and a PAL tuner which your American model doesn't contain: thats why it won't invoke the TVGOS option anymore.
One of the major flaws of the USA 530 series with TVGOS was the total lack of a manual clock timer backup system that could be used when TVGOS encountered data interruptions or in locations where no TVGOS signal was available. No matter what timer button you press on the remote or home menu, you're taken straight to the TVGOS system. This system has an option to set manual timer recordings, but this is buried or omitted in most instruction manuals and is very difficult to use. It also still depends on the TVGOS interface to gain access, so if your TVGOS is dead or hosed because of a botched upgrade you've lost all access to the timer mechanism: there is NO non-TVGOS-connected timer in the 531, 533 or 633. No TVGOS display means no timer function, at all.
However, these machines are trickier than they seem. All of the global 2005 Pioneer models contain dual clock timers: one in the EPG software (Guide+ or TVGOS) and one based on the hardware clock that shows the time on the front panel. The European/Middle Eastern models take advantage of this by offering independent timer systems: "Guide+" for when an EPG signal is available, and the independent "EZ Timer" which runs directly off the hardware clock (like an old VCR).
The American 531, 533, 633 also contain the secondary hardware clock, they just don't offer any access to it as a separate timer: it is blocked from user visibility. If you make the mistake of installing global firmware on your American Pioneer, you'll lose the TVGOS system but might gain the "EZ Timer" button in the Home menu. If you see "EZ Timer", click on it an see if it opens a manual timer window. If not, you're out of luck: there is no other way into the clock timer on these units. I'm actually surprised your 531 still works at all, srt842: the conflict between the PAL firmware and NTSC tuner hardware should have frozen it solid. If trhouse can't help you find and re-impose the USA firmware, I'm afraid you're stuck. Pioneer Video tanked back in 2008, the surviving service centers probably couldn't fix it either.
BTW, jman98 is right about the TVGOS thing: its deader than dead in USA. Recorders with TVGOS require an analog broadcast or cable channel to send an analog EPG signal. This was partly lost during the ATSC digital broadcast switchover, and is fast disappearing from cable retransmission as cable now goes thru its own third wave of digital transitioning. If you lose the data in your TVGOS display, it most likely isn't coming back. Don't waste time looking for firmware or software downloads: the problem isn't in your recorder, its in the outside TVGOS support system.
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