OneGuyFromBarlick

24 May 2014, PLEASE NOTE: I have raised this 2013 thread again because the problem encountered last July happened again yesterday (23 May 2014). Last year's glitch was also on a Bank Holiday weekend and Sony/Pioneer annoyed thousands of users by not responding with a correction until after the holiday (it made the BBC news). It looks like they learnt their lesson and the problem seems to have been sorted overnight. If your recorder is affected (stuck in Update mode or EPG not available) you can do a reset as described on the new Sony forum thread here:
http://community.sony.co.uk/t5/home-cin ... -p/1636031
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If you have a Sony or Pioneer digital TV recorder and it has started to malfunction over the weekend don't rush out and buy a new recorder! The problem is affecting large numbers of Sony and Pioneer owners and seems to be due to something having changed in the way the devices are responding to broadcast EPG data (the Guide to coming TV programmes which you use to set automatic recordings). People are experiencing their machines stuck in Update mode or losing digital channels (or both). Sony and Pioneer haven't been able to rectify the problem and are receiving strong criticism for their lack of information. Their are lots of reports on the Internet and a number of threads have been started on the Sony Community forums - these have extended to as much as 15 pages of posts and the moderators have had to lock them and confine posts to a few threads.

The Sony Official Update Thread is here:
http://community.sony.co.uk/t5/Home-Cin ... 8#U1268398
If you are affected, read the first post and it gives directions to other useful threads.

Don't buy a new recorder! Hold on and wait for a solution to the problem. There are people who've already bought a new machine and are now very angry, having found out that they didn't need to!

Fortunately for me I have one of these Sony recorders, but never set up the recording system, the hard drive is a store for my photographic backup,and I manualy record any thing important, just checked 10 years photos still safe.

The recorders are now working again and the EPG is available. The glitch has reached BBC News - it's on ceefax and on the beeb's web site here:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-23395516
If your recorder was locked into the Update mode it should be OK if you restart it now. If it remains in Update then hold down the Power (ON) button for a least 5 seconds to get a reset. It should then be OK. Hard luck for those who went out and bought a new recorder - I almost put in an order on Amazon but did a search on the Web beforehand to see if anyone else had a problem with Sony recorders. But now it's working I can set it to record the De Havilland Mosquito programme on tonight!
http://www.locatetv.com/tv/plane-that-s ... in/8180794

Funnily enough my old Sony HDD recorder had a funny turn a day or two ago. Almost as though a fuse had gone. I left it alone for a day and it returned to normal. Probably nothing to do with your problem but puzzling.

24 May 2014, PLEASE NOTE: I have raised this 2013 thread again because the problem encountered last July happened again yesterday (23 May 2014). Last year's glitch was also on a Bank Holiday weekend and Sony/Pioneer annoyed thousands of users by not responding with a correction until after the holiday (it made the BBC news). It looks like they learnt their lesson and the problem seems to have been sorted overnight. If your recorder is affected (stuck in Update mode or EPG not available) you can do a reset as described on the new Sony forum thread here:
http://community.sony.co.uk/t5/home-cin ... -p/1636031

Reading the above, I must have inadvertently applied the solution when I was fiddling with it.... There is a providence that cares for drunken men and idiots!