Can I Downgrade the Firmware in My Philips 5960?

[LisaB]

I think the latest firmware for the Philips 5960 may be bad. I found two major bugs, which a friend with a 5140 says he doesn't have.

1. Jerky video playback in certain AVI's with packed bitstream and AC3 audio.
2. won't play idx+sub subtitles with names longer than 42 characters.

I don't know if my firmware upgrade introduced these bugs, or if the 5960 is just lousy compared to the 5140 (regarding these issues).

For people out there that want to test the subtitle bug, the subtitle files must be burned to CD or DVD....the 42-character limit doesn't apply to vobsubs played from the USB port, and it doesn't apply to SRT subtitles.

To test, I would like to downgrade my firmware to the original, but:

1. I don't know where to find the older firmware.
2. If I am able to find it, will the 5960 allow me to downgrade?

[ntngod]

I think the latest firmware for the Philips 5960 may be bad. I found two major bugs, which a friend with a 5140 says he doesn't have.
...
I don't know if my firmware upgrade introduced these bugs, or if the 5960 is just lousy compared to the 5140 (regarding these issues).

Although I don't personally own a 5960, I've had a theory - based on pics and screenshots that people have sent me, and other things I've noticed - that the 5960 actually uses a Zoran chip for much of the processing (with a Mediatek 1392 to handle the other functions - I *know* there's a 1392 inside), while the 5140 is a straight Mediatek unit.

That would account for some of the small differences cropping up between the 5140 and 5960.

I've never found out for sure; however, considering how heavily glued down the heatsink is on my 5140, I wouldn't blame someone for NOT wanting to try and pull their heatsink off the main 5960 chip to verify, though.

[Bodyslide]

I would contact Philips and tell them what has happened and see if they can email you the original firmware. It's worth a shot....Good Luck..

[LisaB]

I went out and bought a new Philips 5960...it had the previous version firmware.

The new 5960 (with the older firmware) did not have the jerky video problem. However, it still had the long vobsub name problem.

Conclusion 1: The latest firmware for the 5960 is crap, and I feel sorry for anyone who did the upgrade.

Conclusion 2: The 5960 can't play sub+idx subtitles off of CD or DVD if they have filenames longer than 42 characters.

Now, where can you buy the 5140? At the stores I checked, I could find the 5960 but not the 5140.

[Bodyslide]

Amazon.com has them....

[jagabo]

Filename length restrictions may have something to do with ISO specifications.

ISO 9660 (level 2) only allows 31 characters in a filename. Joilet allows up to 128 (64 for Unicode). Of course neither of these matches the apparent 42 characters on the 5960.

[LisaB]

No, I want to find the 5140 at a local store, since I need to test it and then return it if it doesn't pass all my tests.

As for filesystem, yes I agree that the filename problem must have something to do with that since this problem doesn't show up for subs played from a thumb-drive in the USB port (which is a FAT32 disk).

However, I have tried many different burning options, and have used "exactly" the same burning options as someone who said they got long-filename vobsubs to play on the 5140...

[ntngod]

Now, where can you buy the 5140? At the stores I checked, I could find the 5960 but not the 5140.

Most Wal-Marts carry them...