The B-stock unit I have ordered on April 11 and received on April 13 exhibits problems in decoding the digital format and making it "stick". Browsing the TV channels makes it lose the sound when a 5.1 format switches to 2 channles format and vice-versa. Not always, but frequenly enough to be annoying. The sound is sometimes lost even when the unit is turned on by selecting the tuner as the source...
It definitely needs the firmware upgrade, but all my attempts to perform this upgrade failed.
I have followed the instructions and tried it from 3 computers, using 2 cables (all cables "straight through" NOT "null modem". I even tried chaining the cables, thinking that if they were null modem, this will turn the chain into a straight through one).
I have reset the unit to factory settings and let it unplugged for 12 hours, as Steve suggested. To no avail. The upgrade won't even get started. The communication to the serial port fails.
On the computer side, COM1 seems OK as far as the operating system sees it, on all three computers I tried.
I'm sure the "reset" button on the back of the unit is doing something when depressed as part of the upgrade procedure, for after a failed upgrade attempt, the unit will not come out of standby. I have to power it off and then on again in order for the standby button on the front panel to do its job.
The upgrade process is pretty straightforward, not too much room for "human error", although, theoretically, it could be my fault, albeit I cannot see how...
Did anyone else experience this kind of weird behavior?
Is anyone who performed the update in driving distance from Springfield, PA ( roughly 10 miles from Philadlphia ) and would be willing to try performing the same upgrading task on my unit, just to be clear out whether it's my fault or the unit's?
Any response will be greatly appreciated.

Thank you

Hi Alexandru,
here's a thought...
the first time I did a firmware upgrade...it took me a while to figure out I had to use the Outlaw (downloader/ uploader)wizard...???
I forget how it was called....
anyhow...the upgrade only went through once I found and ran that software...
Have you ?

Definitely. I followed every step.
There is that dialog box about "Loader Settings" where you choose the com port and the hex file to upload. That's where everything stops for me, for apparently the COM port doesn't seem to be open to the loader program (Outlaw.exe).
If you tried right now, without even connecting a cable to your PC, will see exactly the error message I'm getting...

That's a pain... If you haven't done so already, I'd recommend giving Outlaw support a call - you mention some input from Steve, so I'm guessing you already have.

Oh, I've been over the phone with Steve for two days now. It was kind of hard for him to believe that the upgrade wouldn't start.
They're going to send me a replacement flash memory chip. Hpefully that's going to fix the issue and I'll be able to upgrade the unit.
Nevertheless, not a very nice to begin...

Definitely a pain, but at least you've got Outlaw on the case - they'll get it working one way or another.

how did this turn out for you, Alexandru? I'm thinking I need to get on my upgrade in case I have issues. I've had my unit for almost a year now and (it wasn't B Stock) I've had sparatic audio problems throughout, though all only mildly annoying.

I had similar problems the first time I tried the upgrade. You have a relatively short window to install the upgrade after you press the reset button. Therefore, you should get everything ready to go. Open the update wizard on the computer and make sure you have selected the firmware file, then press reset and click on the button to start the upgrade.

I also found that it helped to turn the 1070 off for a while. I actually pushed the button on the back to turn it off and then pulled the plug. I left it off overnight and then plugged it in and immediately did the upgrade. After that I did another hard reset. That made the upgrade take.

Hope this helps.

Bob

I've tried all these and I failed each and every time.
At this time I'm still without the update, although I have received a new flash ROM from Scott and replaced it.
It could be that the serial port is not working or I'm constantly doing something wrong.
Scott said he's going to send me another unit with the upgrade already installed.
After all this I sure hope they'll find something wrong with my unit. It would be terribly shameful if all this time it was me not being able to perform an otherwise pretty straightforward update.

I read your other post so I know this is old news, but attempting to do the flash upgrade with a USB - Serial adapter can result in failure if you have a low quality adapter. It is best to have a "real" serial port for the upgrade, or at least buy one of the more expensive (squared off rather than rounded edges) USB - Serial adapters. I went through 3 of them before I found one that works reliably, and that works for some things, but fails on others.

That may have been your issue - I didn't see much written about the hardware you were using to try to do the upgrade.

Don, my problem was solved by sending the unit back and receiving a new one already updated, for
after receiving a new flash memory chip and replacing it, I was stil unable to update the firmware.
I postied under "latest beta firmware" topic the entire "story".
I was laways using the RS-232 port, not the USB one. To this day I don't know what the problem really was. Outlaw received my unit while in the HE show, thus I didn't ask them what they found, for I know they were pressed for time during the show.