[randytsuch]

I got my new, $99 HD-A3 the other day, but then I realized I needed another HDMI cable 

Got it hooked up last night, and started watching 300, which came with the A3.  About 2 minutes in, picture froze, and then it showed an error message.  Had to cycle power to get it to work again, not a good start.

Tried again, and it worked, at least for a while.  But, after around 1 hour, same thing happened again.  I gave up at that point, and was thinking about returning it.

So, today I looked over at avs, and found a thread about the error code.  Guys were having the problem earlier this year, with the A2, but it was fixed with a software update.  Thread has resurfaced now, because others are having the same problem.

I called Toshiba today, and they said they would send a CD with new software out.  Later, I found a thread at AVS that said how to update over ethernet.  Luckily, I have a ethernet cable in my equipment closet, connected to my router.

So, I hooked it up, and updated my A3.

Did not get a chance to try 300 again, hope to do that tomorrow, and see if it fixed my problem.

Based on what I saw at avs today, all of the toshibas had problems when they first came out, that were fixed with sw updates.  Too bad you need to go through this, but at least they are fixing the sw bugs.

Randy

[samplesj]

ALL HD players on either side of the fence need firmware updates.  I just wanted to throw that out there before fanboys started slinging FUD.

I've seen slips in several of my movies (both blu and hddvd) that say you may need to update your firmware.

Its worth keeping on top of because not only have they been bugfixes, but often they add whole new features.  A good example is 24hz support.

Both my ps3 and my HDA1 (and its brand new replacement XA2) have needed several firmware updates, but all three have added major features I was glad to get.

[Mathew_M]

Yeah my brother's A1 (the first HD-DVD model) locks up too and has required several firmware updates.  It's not good that current models have the same problems.  It's frustrating because I personally would like to see HD-DVD win however it's got Microsoft's backing which also seems to mean it's plagued with issues. 

[oscar]

Unfortunately, that's the nature of  "not ready for primetime" HD media and the format war.  HD DVD seems to have settled down lately, but Blu-ray looks like they are still due for a few more firmware updates on the older players to take into account the "features" (e.g. BD+) of the latest studio releases (I've updated the firmware twice on my unit).

The retailers and CE manufacturers should be working together to make sure all the players sold already have the latest firmware versions on the units.  E.g. supply the lastest discs with each purchase and/or load the firmware on each player before selling it.

[TomS]

My HD-A3 had the latest SW version right out of the box and zipped through all of the HD DVDs, including 300 without issue so far.

[randytsuch]

My HD-A3 had the latest SW version right out of the box and zipped through all of the HD DVDs, including 300 without issue so far.

Hi Tom
Do you have 1.3?
The display should say 1.3/1.1

It does appear to be working fine.  I saw others at AVS that said even after the 1.3 update, they were still having problems, but I am happy now.

My wife still wants a blu ray player, and won't let me buy any HD DVD's, so I will only have seven of them that I will get free.  Blu ray players are still more than I want to pay, so I will wait on those a while more.

Randy

[TomS]

I'll have to check it.  I downloaded off their site to be sure.  No problems so far

[acresm22]

I hooked up my HD-A2 to the ethernet cable this weekend....had 40 firmware updates to download.

[Bob in St. Louis]

Why can't the updates be on the content discs?

Example: My son popped a Spiderman game in my Xbox 360 for the first time recently and before it played it displayed a message, "installing updates", or something to that effect.

It's so nice as opposed to having friends over (folks you're trying to impress with your rig) and 3 minutes into a movie it locks up. 

Bob