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Sony DVD recorders bork Freeview after software update

A software update has caused thousands of Sony DVD players to go on the blink, cutting off access to Freeview channels.

Joe Svetlik Reporter
Joe has been writing about consumer tech for nearly seven years now, but his liking for all things shiny goes back to the Gameboy he received aged eight (and that he still plays on at family gatherings, much to the annoyance of his parents). His pride and joy is an Infocus projector, whose 80-inch picture elevates movie nights to a whole new level.
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Joe Svetlik
2 min read

Sony DVD recorders all over the country have stopped being able to receive Freeview channels following a software update on Friday.

People owning the borked devices have written to the BBC to complain they can't watch or record anything on Freeview. And now Sony has acknowledged the problem on Twitter, as well as on its own forums.

I've contacted Sony for a comment, and will update this story if I hear back. (See update below)

Customers swamped Sony's support forums and other sites, complaining at the lack of help they've received. At time of writing, Sony had responded to 21 people on Twitter, telling them all it was aware of the issue and it had been "flagged to our dedicated team".

"It may have already come to your attention that thousands of owners of Sony DVD units have completely lost all their access to Freeview channels," Geoff Cheers, from Chorley, wrote to the BBC.

Sony has offered some guidance over on its support forum, and claims that Pioneer's DVD players are also affected. "It appears something has change [sic] in the way that these devices are receiving EPG data from Arqiva, the people who own and operate the Freeview standard for the UK," a member of the Sony support team wrote. "So we are already trying to understand what has happened and how this can be rectified, realising that a large number of people have been affected."

If you're stuck in Updates mode, Sony points to a workaround here. Or if you're not getting any digital channels, head here.

It's thought any players that have been updated to the firmware 1.70 fix are affected.

Has your DVD player gone on the blink? Is it just Sony models that are afflicted? And what do you think of Sony's response? Is it enough, or should it be doing more? Let me know in the comments, or on our Facebook page.

Update 24 July.
Sony has sent us the following statement:

"To clarify, Sony do not blame Arqiva for this, as the issue arose due to corrupt data originated by broadcasters, and how this data was processed by affected Sony devices. Sony has been working with the broadcasters to try to work out why this issue has occurred and how to remedy it. For more information please go to http://www.sony.co.uk/support/en/topics/RDR_HN"