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Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

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Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#321
post #248
post #209

I hate smart TVs. Why put all the functionality in one device when a small part of it is going to become obsolete real soon while the TV part will continue to work for a decade or more. I buy dumb TVs and a separate "smart" component like Roku that can be replaced as easily as a shoelace.

Do you find dumb TV software (dynamic backlight controls for example) and hardware on par with smart tvs?

I go for smart tv's that can be dumb. As long as it reliably uses my input each time it starts and doesn't try to overlay anything, that's all I need.

Once or twice a year I'll go trough firmware update notes, connect it to the internet if there's things that can improve my "dumb" usage (fixes/improvements to refresh rate, Dolby xyz, etc.), then disconnect it from the internet again.

Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#322
post #39

My Samsung TV got more and more unusable with every update. Over the years, saved apps, like Youtube, started to disappear every time it woke up. Then it would default to their Samsung TV app, rather than your last app. Samsung TV app happened to be on the Baywatch channel every time my young children started the stupid thing. Finally, after it took 2 minutes to load the youtube app, I factory-reset the device, disco…

Sounds like every Android vendor, woth Google leading the pack.

(disclaimer: maybe 5-10 years ago)

Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#323
post #136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This doesn't get enough attention, waaaay too many of these issues are traced back to the vendor trying to "prevent" someone from using their product in a way that they don't like.

Why else would a soundbar need updates anyway? It either performs its well defined functions when you bought it or they sold you a device that doesn’t input/output sound. Updates for these types of things always fall into three categories. Either they’re gimping some unanticipated usage, they’re trying to insert ads, or they’re trying to gather more usage data.

A lot of consumer products ship with half-baked software and/or firmware. I wish Polk would fix the bug(s) that cause my soundbar to freeze and need a reboot several times per week. But it's an old product that's not longer sold, so I'm probably SOL.

Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#325

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yup, game consoles are ground zero for this. I hit the button on the PS5 controller only to have the receiver and TV power on, then the PS4 wakes up for some reason and then switches the AVR to its input. My Sony UHD player also seems to want to grab the input sometimes too, so maybe it's Sony that's the source of the problems haha. And again, it's all just so maddening because it feels like it would go away if I cou…

I turn off CEC all the time and my tv refuses to acknowledge it if I ever unhook the device or HDMI. Always defaults back. Drives me crazy.

Highly recommend https://www.amazon.com/Lindy-HDMI-Adapter-Female-41232/dp/B0... -- I have a couple and it's solved this problem for me completely. I hate how unpredictable CEC is when things go wrong, on top of the ridiculous 3 device limit.

Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#326
post #39

My Samsung TV got more and more unusable with every update. Over the years, saved apps, like Youtube, started to disappear every time it woke up. Then it would default to their Samsung TV app, rather than your last app. Samsung TV app happened to be on the Baywatch channel every time my young children started the stupid thing. Finally, after it took 2 minutes to load the youtube app, I factory-reset the device, disco…

We bought a samsung tv in 2016 and it slowly became unusable by mid-2020. Fortunately it got dropped by the movers and we were able to justify buying a new TV (LG). The LG UI/UX is awful though, I wish we'd bought a sony. LG TVs don't have a way to simply select "HDMI1/2/3/4" you're stuck using it's "smart" detection system, which can only be reset by physically unplugging the HDMI cables from the back of the TV, whi…

> LG TVs don't have a way to simply select "HDMI1/2/3/4" you're stuck using it's "smart" detection system, which can only be reset by physically unplugging the HDMI cables from the back of the TV, which is never easy to get to. Apparently the solution is to buy Sony and just pay the extra price.

Another possible solution is to only use one input on the TV. Connect an A/V receiver to that one input and connect all your other devices to the A/V receiver. Then you should only need to deal with switching inputs on the TV if you want to watch over the air TV using the TV's tuner. You can probably even get rid of that need by getting a stand-alone TV tuner and hooking that up to the A/V receiver.

Many A/V receivers have network interfaces that you can use to control them if for some reason you don't want to use their remote. Most Denon receivers for example have an HTTP server that presents a web-based interface if you browse to it from a computer or mobile device.

They also run a simple HTTP based API that is easy to use from scripts. For example here is a shell script that gets the current volume setting of mine:

  URL=http://192.168.0.xx/goform/AppCommand.xml
  cat > tmp.$$ 
  
    GetVolumeLevel
  
  HERE
  curl -X POST -H "Content-Type: text/xml" --upload-file tmp.$$ $URL
  rm tmp.$$
which when run gives me this at the moment:

  
  
  
  -45.0
  RELATIVE
  -45.0dB
  
  

Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#327
post #309
post #301

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A law? As an engineer, I really don’t want a bunch of technologically-inept congressmen telling me how I have to build software, firmware, or hardware.

As if engineers actually get to make decisions about software, firmware, or hardware. Ha! That is truly hilarious. I would rather have a bunch of mildly responsive legislators setting the boundaries of what is acceptable than a bunch of middle-managers trying to justify their salary to their private equity overlords.

An aside: I'm seeing an uptick of class-awareness in HN and that's worth celebrating. It seems "all it took" was the mass-layoff apocalypse.

Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#328
post #39

My Samsung TV got more and more unusable with every update. Over the years, saved apps, like Youtube, started to disappear every time it woke up. Then it would default to their Samsung TV app, rather than your last app. Samsung TV app happened to be on the Baywatch channel every time my young children started the stupid thing. Finally, after it took 2 minutes to load the youtube app, I factory-reset the device, disco…

I also had the Baywatch bug. Neo QLED right? Every time you’d start the tv it’d switch to the Samsung Baywatch 24/7 stream. So inappropriate for the children.

>So inappropriate for the children.

The bug, or Baywatch itself?

Re: Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

#329
post #298
post #209

I hate smart TVs. Why put all the functionality in one device when a small part of it is going to become obsolete real soon while the TV part will continue to work for a decade or more. I buy dumb TVs and a separate "smart" component like Roku that can be replaced as easily as a shoelace.

My strategy is to buy cheapest TV on the market (which is usually an ad loaded Crapware like hisense) and then never ever connect it to the internet but use HDMI to plug into a dedicated computer. Basically all I need in a TV apart from the display is an HDMi. It works amazing, been using like this over 10 years now.

> My strategy is to buy cheapest TV on the market

Unfortunately if you're a stickler for image quality this isn't an option. You can still not connect it to the internet of course, but if you're buying a high end TV there's no way to avoid all the other modern TV bullshit.

Namely needing to change the settings on every input for every source type. The first few days of a new TV is a regular trip into five layers of menus as you watch a new source combination for the first time (HDR Blu-Ray, Dolby Vision streaming movie, high framerate game) and have to turn off motion smoothing, turn off sharpening, turn the whites back down from basically blue to 6500K. I mean christ, there are still TVs out there shipping today that turn on overscan by default. Analogue TV broadcasts ended in 2012 here!

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