Re PodBoy's question, is there a special term for a male-male RS-232 cable that has 15 pins at the end that attaches to the computer and 9 pins at the end attached to the 990? I couldn't find such a cable at Radio Shack.

If your computer has the older style 15 pin serial connector the best thing is to get a standard serial cable with the nine pin connectors on each end and then get an adaptor. Radio Shack should be able to hook you up with that combo.

I had the same device error message using the usb. The problem was from not following the directions. After a couple of failed retrys I disconnected the usd cable (like it would be if you were doing the install the first time) before doing the one second power reset and the rest is as they say history. New version is up and running. Maybe this will help.

Wipper snapper, I wish my experience matched yours. I'm just trying it again, and when the "Device Restart" message came up I (1) clicked the OK button in the popup, (2) disconnected the USB cable from the 990, (3) clicked the Master Power button off and then on again, (4) reconnected the USB cable to the 990. The "Device Restart" message hasn't reappeared, but the upgrade loader window now shows "Erasing" and the progress bar has disappeared, and that's the way it has been for the last fifteen minutes. Just like so many times before.
Have I done it the way you suggested?
About the only other thing I can think of now is to check the local RS to see if the RS232 adapters I need have come in yet (I have a 9-pin female-to-female cable).
This is either depressing or infuriating, depending on one's temperament.

psyprof1,

I just upgraded my 990 this evening and also got the device restart error.

I did the following in these exact steps...
1)Clicked OK button on the software loader
2)Quickly depressed the Master power switch off and on
3)Clicked the upgrade button on the software loader screen

All worked fine after these 3 steps.

Thanks, Petey B, maybe I'll try this tomorrow. But frankly, as long as I continue to run a purely stereo system without a subwoofer, I don't think the upgrade is any use to me anyway. Right now I'd be happy to get the 990 back on line in its original version. So how do I do that?

psy,
Don't know the answer to that.
Sorry.

I haven't had a lot of time to listen since the update...but I will say that Stereo performance has definitely improved.
There is no longer that big volume difference between Stereo, Bypass, Upsample, & 5 Ch Stereo.

I browsed through most of the messages here and I have successfully upgraded my 990 after repeated failures. One issue I have (and maybe it's me) but the audio performance now seems to be flat since the upgrade when listening to regular audio cd's. It appears that there is too much Midrange and the Highs and Bass seem to be lacking the punch they had before the upgrade. All my original settings were restored to the way I had them prior to the upgrade. Also, it seems that I need to raise the volume more than before. Is anyone else experiencing this problem. Also, is there a way to reverse the upgrade?

Apparently it can't be done, Petey B. Steve says I should do the upgrade via the serial RS232 cable but my wife's Compaq Presario 700 laptop has no serial output. At this point I seem to be stuck.

Frankly I never noticed any "big volume difference between Stereo, Bypass, Upsample", and I have (had!) no reason to use 5 channel stereo anyway. I hope I will hear some stereo again soon.

Woj - if you set all the trim levels exactly the same as before, you may want to re-calibrate. Several folks have found that the subwoofer levels differ from before.