topic Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed. in Android TV

Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 12:27:12 GMT

This probably sounds a daft question... and in fact I asked similar back in December:

https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/android-tv/firmware-update-delivery-question/m-p/2271264#M14683

however the behaviour of my own TV makes me wonder what is going on.

There is a new (15th March 2017) firmware update for the KD43XD8305 that is showing as available on the support section for this model.

http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/product/KD-43XD8305/#SoftwareAndDownloads

I have internet connectivity set up, I have accepted the Sony privacy agreement, and have now manually scanned for 'new updates'. After a few seconds I get a message saying that all is up to date.

The firmware version displays as PKG6.0614.0004EVA. The new version is supposed to be V6.1004

I should say that up to this point I have had Auto Updating turned off (my choice). Even with that set to on, and forcing a manual scan, I still get the same result. I am up to date.

So the next question has to be.....

Are these updates really delivered via the internet or are they delivered 'over air' ? which would explain not being able to receive it at will.

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

MIKE-71 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 12:31:02 GMT

Is your telly connected to the Internet by wifi or lan cable? Mine only updates by network cable

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 12:54:21 GMT

Its connected via Wifi.

When I first got the TV back in early December there was a firmware update available (released back in late November I think) and it found and installed that striaght away. Nothing is different in the set up between then and now.

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

MIKE-71 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 13:02:49 GMT

Try by network cable if you want the update but if it's not broke don't fix it as the latest update is not worth it

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 13:05:56 GMT

Thanks a lot of truth in that.

I've just seen your own problem with this and wondered what firmware version your TV actually reports.

My router is to far away to conveniently use a cable.

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

MIKE-71 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 13:16:16 GMT

Yeah my problem is annoying as I tinkered about with a computer thinking something was up with the sound as it was sounding nasty when it was the television at fault, was OK before the update!

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

kinggo01 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 15:00:36 GMT

It doesn't matter if it's wifi or cable. It's just that OTA updates are not avaliable to all regions or all users at the same time. I have no idea how that goes and who gets the priority but it's quite obvious why. Since most of the TVs are set to auto update it would most likely crashed the servers if every TV would start downloading the update as soon as it is available.

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Anonymous — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 15:32:11 GMT

Hi All

Once upon a time before Smart TVs - OTA (Over-The-Air) updates for consumer devies was handled by a signal broadcast via the DTT Transmitters. It still currently is in use for legacy devices.

See:

http://dtg.org.uk/dtg/download_schedule.html

However with Smart TVs this is no longer needed - this is therefore pushed to the TV via the manufacturer via the internet.

In regards to Android based TVs (and as far as I understand things), I believe that Sony/Google push the update to a small percentage of TVs over time. For example, for the first initial update - maybe only 5% of TVs are targeted. This ensures that if there is an issue it can be 'paused'. If 5% are ok, then it might go to 25% of TVs, then 50% and ulimiately 100% over a couple of week period.

However to confirm, ill send a message to my contact and see if they will inform me on how it exactly works (and whether I can post it here).

Cheers

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Jonnie1266 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 15:55:09 GMT

@Mooly01

Hi,

I understand that you have already had a firmware update via wifi to the television but it will not accept that there is an update right now ? If you are keen to install the current update you could follow the download and installation instructions using USB stick as below:

How to download the Updater:

Before you install the update, you'll need to download it from the Internet and save it to a USB stick.

Read and accept the terms and conditions below and click download file.
When prompted, save the file to your Desktop. When the update download is complete, check that the file size is 1,588,929,932 bytes. To do this, right click the file, select properties and check the size in the General tab.
Open Windows explorer, locate the downloaded file sony_dtvota_2016_1601004100_eua_auth.zip, and unzip it.
A folder called sony_dtvota_2016_1601004100_eua_auth will now be created in your local drive, and inside this folder you will find the file sony_dtvxxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxx (.pkg).
Copy or drag & drop the file sony_dtvxxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxx (.pkg) to the root of your USB device.

Install the software Step 1: Install the update

Once you've downloaded the update file, you can install it on your TV. Just follow the simple steps below. The process can take up to 15 minutes and during the installation your TV will turn off before turning itself back on.

Turn on the TV.
Insert your USB device containing the file sony_dtvxxxxxxxxxxxx_xxxxxxxx (.pkg) into the USB slot of the TV set.
A series of different messages will appear on the TV screen - follow the on screen instructions.
The update will start and a white Led light will start blinking on the front panel of the TV, and the Update icon will appear on the TV screen - Do not remove the USB or turn off the TV.
After several minutes, the TV will turn off and then turn back on to complete the update and a confirmation message is displayed on the TV set. - Do not remove the USB device or turn off the TV set.
After the TV turn back on, remove your USB device from the USB slot

Regards

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 18:10:50 GMT

@Quinnicus wrote:

.......................................

However to confirm, ill send a message to my contact and see if they will inform me on how it exactly works (and whether I can post it here).

Cheers

That would be much appreciated if you could find anything out.

Could you also ask how a staggered (if that is what it is) release of an update relates to a user doing a forced manual check for an update. I would have thought a forced manual check should always work and over ride any other settings.

Thanks

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Sun, 19 Mar 2017 18:13:44 GMT

Thanks for the USB info Jonnie. That's always an option for sure. At the moment I'm just puzzled why an update is available and a manual check does not find it.

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 18:10:06 GMT

Hi there

I have received clarfication on how the updates work for Android based TVs. However Sony use the term 'Stacks' :

Basically, what we do is release in stacks to not overload server-capacities. Whilst doing that, we of course monitor closely the market to see how things go.

Whilst it’s not un-true the 1^st stack will always be smaller compared to the ones following, it is the main reason for not releasing to all TV’s in one go.

Stacks contain varying amount of serial numbers, however other criteria can be applied, it all depends on what is being released and if other priorities such as area should be considered.

Hope this helps.

Cheers

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 18:00:33 GMT

Thanks @Anonymous that goes a long way to explaining how the process operates.

I suppose you could also extrapolate from that and say that for someone like myself that has auto updating turned OFF and yet tries a manual scan, then its plasuible that if my TV's serial number hasn't yet 'come up' then it will be as if no update exists. Perhaps when the roll out period ends then a manual scan would find the update. Thats just pure guesswork of course but it might explain things so far.

Ta very much

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Anonymous — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 18:08:31 GMT

Thats exactly how it works when manually scanning for an update. If your TVs serial number is not in the released stacks, then the tv will not find an update. But of course, you can always download to USB via the support site and update that way.

You're welcome

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Mon, 20 Mar 2017 18:15:55 GMT

Thanks. I'll probably hmmm.... wait.... and see if any problems are reported before attempting this one. There is another thread (currently a few down from this one) where someone mentions losing one channel of audio via HDMi, and that it possibly occured after applying this update.

I think we can say this one is resolved.

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

speedyrite — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 12:59:18 GMT

In view of the recent "issues" that some Samsung 2017 TVs have had with a bad update (see below), how strong is the case for turning off software auto-update on my 2017 Sony Android TV as a precaution against any such thing happening with a future Sony software update rollout? What's the general opinion, either for or against this action?

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/aug/24/samsung-tv-buyers-furious-after-software-update-leaves-sets-unusable

Re: Clarification needed on how firmware updates are delivered and installed.

Mooly01 — Fri, 25 Aug 2017 13:42:26 GMT

Well......

Given the nature of firmware updates and the fact that any mishaps and disasters seem to be unrecoverable (unlike a PC where you can undo/uninstall/reinstall/reinstall from backup etc) I personally have become a lot more wary.

I still haven't updated my Android TV to the latest spec, mainly because for my use the update adds nothing of value that I can see.

My advice is that given the problems that can and do arise, a careful and wary owner would be best to at least defer any update until you were sure that there were no mass reports of major issues.