Topic: Dash status 7/13/2017

Here's the situation as I see it:

1) Several folks have been publicly asking Sony to release a firmware update that turns the device into a simple clock instead of have the systems shut off and not have any functionality at all.  They appear to be trying to do that with this update.

2) This update is apparently not working on some devices, the symptom being that it repeatedly reboots with the Sony logo and Sony LED in the front of the device flashing.

3) Choosing not to install the update will only result in the device repeatedly presenting an alert to install the update.  This is taking advantage of a feature in the Control Panel for a "forced update", which was originally designed for "emergency" updates, for instance in the case of a critical bug that required immediate mitigation.  Normally update alerts would have a "later" option, but that does not seem to be presented in the current alert.  There is no mechanism to prevent this alert from being presented as long as the Sony middleware is still actively in control of the device.  It may be possible to delay the alert by having the device be in Night Mode when the alert would appear, at which point it will likely be rescheduled to appear at some other time.  Most alerts delayed in this fashion are typically rescheduled for 24 hours later.

4) For those folks that have not accepted the update, it's probably best not to install it, and just accept that your device isn't very useful at the moment.

5) For the folks that *have* accepted the update, and the device is a working clock, you might want to see if you can install the old firmware, and be like the folks in option 4.  Of course, you may also want to leave it as a working clock for now.

6) For folks that have accepted the update, and it's not working correctly (blinking the Sony logo and/or Sony LED), your device is at risk. I would advise trying to get the device into "Special Options" mode and see if you can install the older firmware.  If you cannot get the device into Special Options mode, then I'm afraid your device is a brick, and there's probably nothing we can do for you now or in the future.  You'll need to address that situation with Sony.

Some users have reported that they are able to get into Special Options mode but are unable to press any of the buttons - we have published a solution here.

I know this situation is very frustrating, but I didn't set the schedule, and I'm not the entity that released the most recent firmware update that's disrupting the dash ecosystem.  We're trying to take the best path to making this all work in the future, and we're trying to work within the time constraints being forced on the community by Sony's actions.

For copyright reasons, we will not be hosting images of the 1.7.1526 firmware on our servers.

Re: Dash status 7/13/2017

UPDATE.

If you have a Dash that was bricked by the update discussed above, see this post:

http://forum.chumby.com/viewtopic.php?id=9752

Cleaning up any loose bits and bytes.