Ok. So, I said to heck with it.
I had planned on waiting to firmware flash the unit a bit, at least waiting until next week after the super bowl. I wanted to see how many wierd performance issues really popped up.
But when the unit spontaneously shut down when it got confused by an audio stream, I decided not to wait another moment.
I grabbed my serial cable, and downloaded the file.
For those wondering, the file linked by Scott's post at the top of the 970 forum is still considered a beta. It replaces a previous beta that had been in development throughout the past year from what I understand. That beta, was created after the formal release which is posted on the main support page.
My firmware revision number ( Display with Menu + Mute on the front panel) before the upgrade was:
mcp-ot10700602091312
Keep in mind the leading values are not important; as the 1070 and 970 share firmware as we discussed earlier in this thread. The only key difference between the files is the welcome message during startup.
I powered off the 970 from the master power switch on the back.
I plugged the serial cable into the 970, and also into the PC. (IBM Thinkpad, one serial port, COM 1)
I booted the PC, and turned the master power switch for the 970 on.
I then used the bent paper clip to press the reset switch on the back of the 970. I held it in for about 1.5 seconds.
I then ran the Outlaw.exe software. Directed it to the COM port, and the appropriate Hex file.
The flashing process began without any incident. I heard a tiny 'bleeip' from the 970 when the PC connected to it, right before it began erasing the firmware.
It erased, wrote, and verified the firmware in about 3-4 minutes. This is MUCH shorter than the instructions claimed 10 - 15 minutes. So much so that I was worried something didn't go right.
Nonetheless, I figured I'd give it a whirl, and just reflash if necessary.
I unplugged the serial port cable, and grabbed the paperclip to press the reset switch on the back of the unit again. I held it in again for about 1.5 seconds.
I tried to power the unit on with the front panel.
Nothing. I thought, 'that's strange'.
I then powered the master switch off, waited 2 seconds, then back on. Front panel power now worked.
All my old values were still stored in the EEPROM apparently. It defaulted to a power on volume of -50dB.
I pressed menu and mute, and hit '1' on the remote to reset to all defaults.
I then made note of the new firmware revision number during Menu + Mute:
mcp-ot10700701121419
I proceeded to configure the rest of the menus, turning off auto-polling on all inputs again, setting defaults, configuring the speakers, etc. (I won't bore you with those details)
I watched another movie (Cars, Pixar/Disney) and all seemed to perform well.
I will post any further developments if they occur...
E.