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Sony HAP S1 problem


jonesm

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MY CASE FINISHED

 

I received an email today telling me I am going to receive a brand new HAP-S1 from Sony.

 

My current 'broken' unit is being sent to the Sony Design group for investigation as to what caused it to break after the firmware update.

 

So, simply, if you are in warranty send it in and you should hopefully also receive a brand new unit. If you are not in warranty - it might also be good news - obviously Sony is unable to simply repair the units - and if they hear from more people that their unit also broke from the firmware upgrade they hopefully they will take responsibility and replace everyone's broken units.

 

However if people who are out of warranty don't tell Sony there is an issue....

 

I won't be updating the firmware - and I really hope it's the older firmware on this newer unit.....

 

Good luck everyone.

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This makes me think I should stop waiting on a firmware update as a possible fix for my out of warranty unit. I guess I ought to send it to Sony UK and get ready to argue the case for a replacement despite my unit being more than 12 months old. At least there's a chance that by now several HAPS1's have now made there way back to Sony and in different countries (assuming there must be others outside of this forum) and Sony could be aware that there is a firmware / manufacturing issue....

Thanks for the update McGill.

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When I received my repaired Haps1, the installed firmware was the 52 version. I have turned off the automatic firmware update feature. Apart from a possibility that they would expand the unit's functionality to allow for streaming services, i don't plan to change this approach as I am happy with the current setup. As a cautionary, I have also since gone to a wired connection via a powerline adapter (the router is in a different room). When on wireless, I got the sense the inevitable drops and delays and repeated commands confused the unit. Not scientific, but simply intuition. At any rate, no problems since the unit came back from the Sony Repair dealer. Happy listening...

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When I received my repaired Haps1, the installed firmware was the 52 version.

 

Good info. I'm just curious - was it a motherboard replacement? Or an entirely new unit you received. If my new unit has the 52R firmware installed - I will be hoping for a new firmware release ASAP as that's the one causing the issues. I told the shop that when my new unit arrives - do not update any firmware on it etc - just give it to me sealed in the box.

 

I've never really had to warranty a product before - I'm waiting to find out if I get 1 year warranty on this new S1 or if I am still only covered from date of original purchase (7 months ago).

 

I was on a wired connection since day 1 and still had the unit break :(

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MY CASE FINISHED

 

I received an email today telling me I am going to receive a brand new HAP-S1 from Sony.

 

My current 'broken' unit is being sent to the Sony Design group for investigation as to what caused it to break after the firmware update.

 

So, simply, if you are in warranty send it in and you should hopefully also receive a brand new unit. If you are not in warranty - it might also be good news - obviously Sony is unable to simply repair the units - and if they hear from more people that their unit also broke from the firmware upgrade they hopefully they will take responsibility and replace everyone's broken units.

 

However if people who are out of warranty don't tell Sony there is an issue....

 

I won't be updating the firmware - and I really hope it's the older firmware on this newer unit.....

 

Good luck everyone.

Could you show me the answer from Sony, because the service asks for a link on the official response from Sony? Thank you.

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Could you show me the answer from Sony, because the service asks for a link on the official response from Sony? Thank you.

 

I've sent you a PM with the information and the email I received from the warranty tech who is working on it on behalf of Sony.

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McGill, I took a look at the repair summary, and it says they replaced the pc board. Nothing about the warranty period being revised.

 

Thanks for the info. I found the HAP-S1 warranty card today - 1 year from date of purchase no matter what....

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An update on my situation: My unit was sent in to United Radio last week. They had to confirm with Sony that they were going to fix it as under warranty. Sony confirmed it and my player was fixed and sent out yesterday. Should be here tomorrow.

 

Fast! When you get it - could you post here what firmware is on it - and if there is any information on exactly what was repaired/replaced?

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Fast! When you get it - could you post here what firmware is on it - and if there is any information on exactly what was repaired/replaced?

 

I'm glad you have your unit fixed. I decided to stop waiting and say something. I thought about it why do i need to wait when i did not break it. I called to see what can be done after some time with tech support troubleshooting it still does not work and i just got another number to call. We will see how that goes. I will keep you posted.

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Got my player back. Invoice says :

Diagnosed.

Reassemble unit and check all functions.

REINSTALLED CORRUPT FIRMWARE, REASSEMBLED AND RETESTED.

 

Firmware is 0016152R

 

Believe me I hope that thing lasts forever - but they fact they put that firmware back on there freaks me out :o

 

So, we have one unit that was repaired by replacing the pc board. Yours was also repaired seemingly easily - possibly without replacing anything.

 

So I just phoned the shop doing mine - and they told me again that my unit has been taken away for good by Sony so they can investigate why the firmware corrupted the unit, and I've got a new unit sealed in a box on the way to me and should be here next week.

 

Also interesting that both of you guys had your units repaired and returned in under 2 weeks, and next week is 6 weeks for mine.

 

I'm totally fine with waiting for a new unit, jus find it interesting how my results are so different.

 

Glad it worked out for you, enjoy!

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RECEIVED NEW UNIT TODAY:

 

I was told TWO THINGS wheN I picked it up:

 

1. DO NOT UPGRADE THE FIRMWARE ON THIS DEVICE (YET)

 

2. SONY IS AWARE OF FW 0016152R CORRUPTING DEVICES - BUT HAS YET BEEN UNABLE TO PRODUCE A FIX FOR AFFECTED MACHINES (And not every device fails immediately)

 

So, the reason for just entirely swapping mine with a new one, is again, so that Sony has a device they can work on to try and find out what exactly happened to it with regards to the firmware and hopefully develop a fix.

 

Since the newest FW has the CD Ripping etc, they can't downgrade any machines officially (release the older firmware as a new OTA update - since people would lose CD Ripping etc and be upset, especially since this doesn't seem to affect everyone.

 

And they can't just release a newer firmware built on top of the current one - since then that would carry over the 'bricking' into the newer firmware. Ouch.

 

 

WP_20160315_12_07_35_Pro_zpslwm4kvom.jpg

WP_20160315_12_07_55_Pro_zpsqx0znv8f.jpg

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Hi everyone,

 

I joined ComputerAudiophile just to add my HAP-S1 experiences. I am in Canada and I bought the HAP-S1 in December 2015. my unit is under warranty and is currently at the authorized repair centre in Whitby, Ontario. Below are extracts from the letter I sent describing recent problems with the HAP-S1. Some of the symptoms will be familiar to you and others may be specific to my unit:

 

"I updated the firmware [to the November 2015 version] on the first day and it ran well for two months. Here’s what I noticed about its performance since last week:

 

NETWORK & APP ISSUES: The S1 seems to hook up to my network, both wirelessly and wired. The network settings say “OK” to both network and internet. The app “HDD Audio Remote” sees player. Once I tried renaming the S1 and the app also saw the renamed S1. However, the app cannot connect to the S1. I cannot operate the S1 from either my android or ipad apps. Both apps used to work well with the S1.

 

INTERNET RADIO ISSUES: Using the scroll wheel and buttons, I can select “Internet Radio” and get into TuneIn. The S1 finds all the local stations and I was able to set one as a favourite. But when I try to play a station I get this error: “An error occurred while obtaining data from the server.(-1)” I haven’t been able to play any internet radio since last week.

 

HARD DRIVE & FACTORY RESET ISSUES: The S1 appears in Windows Explorer when I hooked it to my computer up via ethernet cable. I could see the original DSD and flac sample files and I could upload a folder to the S1. I could download the S1’s audio samples and an uploaded track to my desktop; the computer read these files perfectly. However, after the upload the S1 could not see the new files or the DSD/flac sample files that were originally on the S1. A rescan of the internal drive came up with the error: “Cannot complete rescanning. Some errors found in the HDD.” I performed a few factory resets . However, the DSD/flac sample files were not restored as they had been in previous resets. I performed the “Clear Database” function in the Special Mode, but that did not help at all.

 

WHAT DOES WORK (with OCCASIONAL OPTICAL INPUT PROBLEMS): The menus all continue to operate quickly and the display never freezes. The external inputs operate flawlessly, although sometimes the optical input is noisy and distorted for a few seconds on some CDs (the same CD, player, and toslink cable plugged into my other Sony receiver shows no problems).

 

UNRELATED? With some headphones, like the Sennheiser HD650 or the Beyerdynamic DT990 Pro 250, I hear a ground hum when plugged into the S1. This however was present from day 1 and I can live with it."

 

 

I'm happy to read that some you have resolved the issues with your units. For everyone else, I hope new firmware does the trick.

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Hi everyone,

 

I joined ComputerAudiophile just to add my HAP-S1 experiences.

 

Hey! Yes - exact same problems experienced by everyone here. I'm the same as you in that I updated the firmware right away and it worked fine for a few months and then all of a sudden the issue occurred. Others have updated and have the problem right away.

 

If you can - post back in this thread any information you get from the repair centre, and what they eventually do (repair / replace) your unit. We're lucky that we still have warranty - but for those who don't any information might help.

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Hello all...same problems as everyone else. I was doing a backup to my computer when the unit failed. My unit was bought in late January, and did the firmware update when I first powered it up.

My unit is also at the MTC facility in Whitby Ontario (since last Thursday). MTC allows you to look up the status of your repair, and my HAP-S1 has been listed all week as "Hold By Sony". I asked MTC what that meant, and they replied "we are waiting for instructions from Sony".

It's encouraging to hear that Sony are not denying a problem exists with this firmware...hopefully they will also extend the coverage to those out-of-warranty units that were fried by the update.

In the meantime, I miss the unit. GREAT machine.

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Hi folks. I purchased the HAP-S1 in early January. It was great for 2 months, then it wasn't. Same symptoms as you all have reported; same firmware. Your info has helped me greatly in dealing with my retailer and, through him, to Sony. Latest info from the Sony rep here in Vancouver is that they are going to release a firmware update "in the next day" (info passed from my retailer) to correct our problem. I was going to take my unit to Fusion Cine here in Vancouver (the Sony repair centre), but with this info and the info from Indy that the Whitby centre is holding a unit there, I'm going to wait a day or two for developments. I will let you know anything new.

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Hi folks. I purchased the HAP-S1 in early January. It was great for 2 months, then it wasn't. Same symptoms as you all have reported; same firmware. Your info has helped me greatly in dealing with my retailer and, through him, to Sony. Latest info from the Sony rep here in Vancouver is that they are going to release a firmware update "in the next day" (info passed from my retailer) to correct our problem. I was going to take my unit to Fusion Cine here in Vancouver (the Sony repair centre), but with this info and the info from Indy that the Whitby centre is holding a unit there, I'm going to wait a day or two for developments. I will let you know anything new.

 

Very interesting. Yeah I just got a new unit from Fusion Cine yesterday through their Sony warranty work with Sony - so if nothing good happens soon - definitely take it there and they will set you up since they've been working with Sony on this issue already too.

 

Chances of me updating though are very slim. I'll stick with what I have for now until I hear feedback from other users. Plus - if they are saying they can release a firmware update that will work - and then repair whatever the previous one did that would be great for all the out of warranty people.

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So the word today from the Sony rep, again thru my retailer, is that the new firmware is in beta test and will be released "in two weeks". Fusion Cine is reluctant to take my unit in as they feel that Sony may not authorize a repair (ie. a rollback to an earlier firmware version) given the new update. So I guess I'm stuck waiting out the "2 weeks". I don't want to take a replacement unit now, as then I'd have to re-load all the files and redo all the edits like album art, genres, etc. for obscure albums.

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I called sony and was told to send it to United Radio. They diagnosed the unit to have a faulty firmware. They reinstalled the firmware

and said it functions as it should now. But get this sony don't want to cover the repair and United wants to charge me $125-145 for a firmware reflash that I did not break in the first place. What do you guys think? should I be responsible to pay this I was not the one who broke it, it was sony's bad firmware upgrade from sony. If I broke my unit then no problem but I had no part in it.

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I called sony and was told to send it to United Radio. They diagnosed the unit to have a faulty firmware. They reinstalled the firmware

and said it functions as it should now. But get this sony don't want to cover the repair and United wants to charge me $125-145 for a firmware reflash that I did not break in the first place. What do you guys think? should I be responsible to pay this I was not the one who broke it, it was sony's bad firmware upgrade from sony. If I broke my unit then no problem but I had no part in it.

 

It sounds like Sony USA/UK/JAPAN/CANADA are obviously not in sync which is too bad.

 

Should you have to pay? Absolutely not - why? Because of my post here:

 

http://www.computeraudiophile.com/f10-music-servers/sony-hap-s1-problem-26957/index3.html#post522237

 

Make sure United Radio is aware of this forum thread - right from the first post. More than enough evidence to show this was no one's fault but Sony and no costs should be incurred by any of the HAP owners.

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