The *NEW* DVP642/37 manufactured Oct '06

[aerogurl]

Already we have seen other posts about this newly manufactured dvd player from Philips, DVP642/37, manufactured in October 2006. I only received mine today and already I see a few problems. I wanted to start this thread to address them.

1) Display Timer: Timer in right corner will not disappear. Solution: Press Display, up & down arrows till it disappears then press display again.

2) "5 6 9" then ok to check firmware: Doesn't work on this model. Suggestions?

3) Subtitles: They have the slightly transparent black background that my other dvp642 does not have. Suggestions?

Use this thread to list other problems and solutions that may arise as people start to receive this newly manufactured dvd player.

[zehnra]

I have noticed the same issues. Has anyone attempted to flash to an older version of the firmware? Of particular interest to me is disabling Macrovision.

[billyj]

I just got the same DVD player and the problem that I am having is that so far on 2 DVD's (both Disney Titles: Cars and Dumbo) at the privacy warning when the FBI logo is shown the whole player hangs, locks up, and makes some kind of grinding noise every few seconds, as if the laser is getting stuck somewhere.. In that case I have to pull the power plug to get back to normal.
If I'm in the DVD menu and go to "select scene" I can watch the movie without problem as long as I bypass the FBI Piracy warning.
Any ideas?

Thanks

[injate]

Hey,

I have the same symptoms of the display timer always being on (every restart) no matter how many times I turn it off.

Same thing with the 5+6+9 firmware screen not working.

However the 7+8+9 OK 0 Region hack does work though.

My big problem with this version of the 642 is the Xvid and Divx HEIGHT STRETCHING! My dad has an older version which I can compare to and his scales the exact same dvd's xvid/divxs perfectly. I've tried my player on all 3 inputs (composite, svid, component), and two TVs so it's not that; Progressive on/off too. It simply is something wrong with the player or firmware.

DVDs ratio look fine - I haven't tried soft subtitles yet though so I can't comment on those.

I'm going to try to downgrade my firmware to my dad's has...I already downloaded the latest '3 version' one and burnt it to a cd but my player didn't read it. Is there some trick to doing firmware update/downgrades like a speacial burning method?

[zehnra]

I've been having trouble burning a CD that the player will read as well. I saw in a previous thread that with an older version (ships with 1223 or something like that), you can downgrade to the 1109 and then to 0531. I've tried a number of different settings for burning discs but none have produced a CD that the player will use and update itself with.

[TBoneit]

Possible it is isn't the way it is burned, rather that the player is looking for a signature in the firmware that tells it that the firmware is the proper firmware for this model and if no such signature it won't upgrade.

[injate]

can anyone confirm their divx/xvids are stretched too?

it has nothing to do with the video's ratio (640x48*) because they play perfectly on an older generation DVP642/37 as I stated in my previous post.

This is unacceptable, I'm going to email philips to complain

edit: Philips e-support is horrible, they simply replied "We're sorry for your XYZ problem" and told me to call. screw that, I'm not wasting my minutes on hold to then be told what to do by people I can't even understand.

[Cwluc]

Ok then I'm in the same boat as billyj Grey's Anatomy S2 is freaking me out. I actually recommended this player to a friend and on my recommendation she got two because it would offer her the most bang for her buck. It will lock up at random moments, I know I have the older firmware on my computer at school so accessibility is not an issue has anyone had success reverting to an older version.

@injate I remember there was an issue with one of the updates Phillips issued with the DivX/XviD decoding that created more problems and than fixed. This is not my own player I can't be messing around with firmwares and stuff over the phone with people who don't know exactly what they are doing. If anyone can confirm or deny improvements (*or terribly horrific results) please i would appreciate any. If anyone need the last firmware that I am positive works to a certain degree with proper decoding i will try (if needed) to find a place to upload it for testing. Thank you for your time.

[Krispy Kritter]

I had read somewhere that the firmware in the new players was no longer able to be updated. I have not confirmed this as I have two of the older units (about 3 years old) and have recently switched to the Oppo 971.

As for burning the cd's, the instructions used to be on the Philips site, but they have removed the instructions and all reference to firmware and firmware updates. If I remember correctly, the files had to be specifically named and they recommended other settings specific for burning. I'll check at home to see if I still the have instructions printed out.

[Krispy Kritter]

OK...a little time on Google and:

How to make an upgrade disc
Write dvpxx.rom, dvpxxdv.rom and dvpxxEW.rom files onto a blank CD-R , using the following settings :
· File System CD-ROM ISO Level 2
· Mode 1/2/XA
· Character set ISO 9660
· Finalised, single session
· Write speed slow (e.g. 2x, 4x)
Finalize the disc. (The application may do this automatically.)
NOTE : Packet writing application for drag & drop copying cannot be used for creating an
upgrade disc. Use only a dedicated CD writing application allowing ‘disc at once’ recording.
No UDF setting as well.

version 0112: http://www.p4c.philips.com/files/d/dvp630_05/dvp630_05_fus_eng.zip

Various other firmwares (page is in portuguese): http://www.cfide.com.br/dvp/

[zehnra]

As far as the burn settings go, I've seen it pointed out in another thread that "Mode 1/2/XA" means little, unless it means it doesn't matter. Also, the other question I have is whether or not the cd should be burned using a Joliet file system or not (what it labels as a File System is actually probably the file name length). I've tried a number of combinations of these with no luck. I am going to try again with the 0112 firmware.

By the way, that website is pretty handy if you translate it http://www.google.com/translate?langpair=pt|en&u=www.cfide.com.br/dvp/

[SlaveUnit]

I have tried 2 of these players now. One manufactured in Sept 2006 and one in Oct 2006. They both seem screwed up with everything that people have mention. Philips really changed the firmware on this one. Also mine will not play normal burns on DVD+R. These play fine on my other 2 DVP642/37 players. Yes I have 4 in the house right now. It's great when you get one for the inlaws and brag about how gret it is. Then they get it and it doesn't play any DVD+R. I am also having issues with a Disney DVD (a real pressed copy). It will not even attempt to play the bloopers from the bonus material section. Im really disappointed with Philips QC on this one. I will take one back for sure. The other I may be stuck with since I sent in the rebate already

[SlaveUnit]

Ohhh I have also tried to "downgrade" the firmware with numerous options with Nero. Ive also tried to burn numerous different firmware versions. All with no luck.

[aerogurl]

I personally have not experienced any other problems except the timer, no matter how many times you turn it off, it starts up with every new disc inserted.

Subtitles have annoying background.

The 'stretched screen' problem is not an issue for me. All my files are playing ok.

I do not use DVD-R so I can't say about that..

Best of luck to everyone. Hopefully we can get this all figured out!

[SlaveUnit]

I called Philips and spoke to a real dip in tech support. He gave me the "let me look that problem up in my database." He didn't even ask what the model was. anyways..it was useless. He said keep trying their site for a firmware update or keep calling back. I gave up. I can't return my player to where I bought it since I sent in the rebate. But I found some April 2006 builds that are working great and just switched the player out and returned the Sept and Oct ones. It's tough to find older ones now at stores though. People are buying these because they are so cheap in price. Good luck all.

[billyj]

I know you all don't have seem to have these problems, but still wanted to throw it out there.
I mentioned in my earlier post that I have problems with the DVD player hanging. I talked to a service rep today, and they confirmed that the new DVP642 has compatibility issues with some of the Disney DVD's..
We'll send the piece of junk back and hope for the best.

[Cwluc]

Oh nice, compatibility issues but what are we supposed to do with the players we have now?

[jliles]

Hi, everyone...

I don't have this player anymore (got rid of it quite a while ago), but I've owned an embarrassing number of DivX-capable players with different chipsets. Based on the observations you guys have supplied in this thread, I'm going to guess that Phillips has replaced the chipset in the original runs of this player (an ESS) with a different chipset (maybe even from a different manufacturer, like Zoran).

That would explain information on the player not being able to be updated via firmware anymore (Phillips doesn't want you to trash your player by updating old firmware designed for a different chipset) as well as some of the different player behaviors like the subtitle backgrounds.

I'm also going to guess they replaced the DVD drive with one that seems less forgiving of burned discs than the old version.

I guess to know for sure some brave soul will need to open their player up and check to see which chipset they've got.

Julie

[injate]

The 'stretched screen' problem is not an issue for me. All my files are playing ok.

I do not use DVD-R so I can't say about that..

Those two go hand in hand so that makes sense.

I'm reading the DIVX/XVIDs which get stretched off of Burnt Data DVDs.

Burnt DVD-R images and other real DVDs format disks play fine and in the correct ratio.

--

I tried to help them with my email by summarizing all the problems with the new generation and they handled it like garbage and didn't reply to (or read) each of my points. They replied to ONLY the first sentence out of at least 20 I wrote and apologized.

This generic reply said 'sorry your DVP642 is not working right, CALL US and speak to our useless tech support and waste your minutes' (I declined) as one of the previous posters described. I'm going to send them this thread and simply say they need to have someone who gives a shit look at it. They're seriously handling this like jackasses and I can't believe they let these new DVP643/37s get released.

I'm returning mine and getting some other model. I suggest you all do the same if you're as unsatisfied as I am.

They ruined this player and pissed off alot of people, I'm sure. Probably just to save a buck in production (and QC). They obviously save alot of money in customer support too given the lack of effort they put in to replying to my email complaint. I'm not going to call you idiots, it's not my fault your player doesn't work. I don't mean to sound arrogant but I have put hours into diagnosing and trying to fix the DIVX playback on my player, and I'm sick of it.

[qwik3r2]

I just bought one of these today so that I could play xvid and divx movies burned in avi format on dvd-+rw and the first movie was ok i will try others to see if there are any stretching problems. I bought from bestbuy and I really don't know what firmware it has if its a very new version or one of their quite older ones however reading alot of negative reviews on this player I may go for something more expensive, i will report if i have any problems

[FulciLives]

With the advent of the Philips DVP-5140 and DVP-5960 the DVP-642 is now old news.

I can't believe all you people are still buying that POS!

The DVP-5140 is 20 bazillion times better and costs all of $50 US Dollars at WALMART.

Not only do the newer Philips handle MPEG-4 files better but they also have superior image quality for MPEG-4 and DVD Video and do PAL DVD to NTSC conversion much better (although there are better yet more expensive players if that is a key goal for you).

The DVP-642 is junk in comparison and even "back-in-the-day" it still sucked ass and was only as popular as it was due to how cheap it was and the fact that it was (then) one of the very few MPEG-4 capable DVD players.

I had a DVP-642 and now I have a DVP-5140 so I like to think I know what I am talking about.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[Cwluc]

Wow FulciLives thank you for that wonderful observation. Actually I very much enjoy my Oppo that I replaced my 642 from. But I'm not on this thread trolling on, talking about how much more superior it is than any of the Phillips. And really I'm sure we are all so grateful that you got a player better than ours for a few more dollars, and get to enjoy your movies happily each time you sit down to watch them.

But none of that is the point of this thread, there are reasons why we have newer 642's. Personally I recommended it to friends for 20 bucks I didn't think I would be wrong. for the money there is nothing that beats it. Unfortunately that has changed and as I'm seeing I may have been. When you are dealing with people who rarely make electronic decisions (who buy what they can afford) you try and make the best of the money they are willing to spend. I thought the 642 would be a great choice for them. And really it has been. As long as they stay away from Disney DVD's.


Now anyone got any info about what Phillips may be planning on doing to rectify the fact that there are known issues with newer builds of this player and certain discs?

[FulciLives]

My point is simple and not trolling ... the Philips DVP-5140 and DVP-5960 are far superior to the DVP-642 and both have been out since at least late summer 2006 if not earlier.

Several people in this thread indicated that they only somewhat recently bought a DVP-642 so my answer to them is WRONG DECISION and since some retail stores offer up to 90 days for returns ... if you read between the lines ... I am suggesting you return the POS DVP-642 for a DVP-5140 or DVP-5960.

Considering what a POS the DVP-642 is (and always has been) I consider my comments advise well heeded.

As for your lack of knowledge on what to purchase ... that's your fault ... not mine.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[max2]

With the advent of the Philips DVP-5140 and DVP-5960 the DVP-642 is now old news.

I can't believe all you people are still buying that POS!

The DVP-5140 is 20 bazillion times better and costs all of $50 US Dollars at WALMART.

Not only do the newer Philips handle MPEG-4 files better but they also have superior image quality for MPEG-4 and DVD Video and do PAL DVD to NTSC conversion much better (although there are better yet more expensive players if that is a key goal for you).

The DVP-642 is junk in comparison and even "back-in-the-day" it still sucked ass and was only as popular as it was due to how cheap it was and the fact that it was (then) one of the very few MPEG-4 capable DVD players.

I had a DVP-642 and now I have a DVP-5140 so I like to think I know what I am talking about.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

FulciLives I have a Philps DVP 5140 as well but how do I make the .SRT and .SUB subtitles larger please?

[FulciLives]

With the advent of the Philips DVP-5140 and DVP-5960 the DVP-642 is now old news.

I can't believe all you people are still buying that POS!

The DVP-5140 is 20 bazillion times better and costs all of $50 US Dollars at WALMART.

Not only do the newer Philips handle MPEG-4 files better but they also have superior image quality for MPEG-4 and DVD Video and do PAL DVD to NTSC conversion much better (although there are better yet more expensive players if that is a key goal for you).

The DVP-642 is junk in comparison and even "back-in-the-day" it still sucked ass and was only as popular as it was due to how cheap it was and the fact that it was (then) one of the very few MPEG-4 capable DVD players.

I had a DVP-642 and now I have a DVP-5140 so I like to think I know what I am talking about.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

FulciLives I have a Philps DVP 5140 as well but how do I make the .SRT and .SUB subtitles larger please?

Sorry but I don't have any MPEG-4 files with subtitles. The few foreign language films I have are in another format (like DVD) or if they are MPEG-4 the subtitles are already burned in and I usually have to convert those to MPEG-2 DVD format using FitCD so as to resize them to account for TV OVERSCAN otherwise the subtitles get cut off.

So I never have explored the MPEG-4 subtitle "issue" as I don't have any MPEG-4 videos that fit that bill.

Sorry.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[would_like_to_know]

Hey, all those stuck with the new 642/37.

Just unscrew the cover, it is like ~10 screws and no seals so the warranty would be OK.

Take pictures of the inside, especially of the chipset on the board in the center, and post them here. If chipset was replaced, that would be identified by people here. Try not to use flash, instead set your camera to high ISO so that there are no stupid reflections on the chip surface.

I have had to replace the capacitor in my 642 (~2 year old), then I took it to Europe and converted it to 220V by replacing another couple of capacitors. It is really straightforward to see what is on the inside.

[JHoward]

Photo of mainboard in a DVP642/37 Sept 2006 build.

[JHoward]

Try this link for a larger image:

http://server3.pictiger.com/img/798189/other/dvp642/37-sept06-mainboard.php

Don't know why the thumbnail link is corrupt.

[would_like_to_know]

Good job on taking a nice picture!

Basically, if you compare this pic to the older version of 642, the new board looks quite a bit different with many extra capacitors:

http://home.wi.rr.com/ntngod/dvp642_vs_dvp5140/

Another difference is that the chip used to be ES6698 F :

http://home.wi.rr.com/ntngod/dvp642_vs_dvp5140/images/dvp642_main_chip_small.jpg

And now it is ES8380 FCA .

I do not know how significant that is, but there you go ...

642 used to have 3 different firmware types, one could try to figure out if the recently manufactured 642s work with any of the previously known firmware classes (M, S, or E):
http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=91048

Update:
It looks like ES8380 is indeed a very different chipset from the original DVP642. Just check this thread for info:

http://forum.doom9.org/showthread.php?t=82765&page=3

Considering the reports on this board so far, avoid it like a plague until a firmware update makes this new chipset sing (if it is ever released!)

[cabazon]

In order to tell Manufacture date on the box. Which has no obvious date. Would the following be Correct? Serial no. xxxx0636xxx would mean the 36th week(Sept1-7) 2006. Will someone confirm this and perhaps pin down in which week the change was made. Thanks