Hisense Smart TV 'Bricked'?

[Fliptoe]

I purchased the 50" model of the Hisense M3300 on the 18th of December and have had no issues until yesterday. I attempted to do a firmware update using a USB stick and an update loader from Hisense's Italian site. The update is meant to take anywhere from 5-10 minutes but mine had been going on for nearly 2 hours so; assuming the TV had crashed, rebooted and tried again.

Now the buttons on the remote and the side of the TV are completely unresponsive, when I switch my TV on, it boots up as normal and goes straight to BBC 1 HD. As shown in the picture, the TV works as normal, the software is just unreachable.

Also, I am well aware that it is a really bad idea to turn something off during a firmware update however, I was pretty sure the OS had crashed.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, I've had a similar post up on AVForums for a little while now and I'm still yet to get an answer.

 

[Dark Lord of Tech]

The unfinished update must have rendered the software useless.

 

[Fliptoe]

The unfinished update must have rendered the software useless.

My thoughts too, is there realistically anything I can do to fix it? I've contacted their support already but I doubt I'll get a proper response until later in the week.

 

[budwich]

try plug the usb back in and redo the update (of course, using the appropriate procedure to execute the process).

 

[Fliptoe]

try plug the usb back in and redo the update (of course, using the appropriate procedure to execute the process).

That was my initial idea too, unfortunately the update process is triggered by booting the TV up from standby while holding the power button on the remote. There is no way to get this TV into standby with the remote not functioning, there is a rocker-switch on the underside of the panel but that only turns it on or off, no standby.

 

[budwich]

Have you read your manual on how to get the set to standby. For most, the setup needs to be just plugged in and not powered up. The other "mode" would be going from powered on / viewing, the power off via remote or button. Of course, in my brief read on this set, a question would be what update were you actually trying to install... hdr related ...

 

[Fliptoe]

Have you read your manual on how to get the set to standby. For most, the setup needs to be just plugged in and not powered up. The other "mode" would be going from powered on / viewing, the power off via remote or button. Of course, in my brief read on this set, a question would be what update were you actually trying to install... hdr related ...

I was attempting to upgrade from G901 to G1107 and yes, this was so that I could enjoy some HDR content, the TV supports local HDR playback on G901 but allows HDMI, Netflix & Amazon HDR on G1107.

As for the standby question, I have read the manual and the only way of entering standby mode is through the remote (or at least that's the only way mentioned in the manual), the power switch at the bottom is simply an I/O switch

 

[budwich]

well... my "read" is this
To turn your TV on or off :
1. Plug the AC power cord into a socket outlet of AC power supply.
2. When the TV is powered on, press the [   ] button on the remote control, it goes into standby mode. Press the [   ] button again to turn on your TV.
NOTES
When your TV is in standby mode, it is still consuming power. To completely disconnect power, please remove the mains plug from the mains socket.
If your TV does not receive an input signal for several minutes, it automatically goes into standby mode.


NOTE the "second method".
You might still have some problems anyways, as it appears that you need the remote to function to cause the software upgrade. OF course, you checked your batteries in the remote to ensure they are good.

 

[Fliptoe]

well... my "read" is this
To turn your TV on or off :
1. Plug the AC power cord into a socket outlet of AC power supply.
2. When the TV is powered on, press the [   ] button on the remote control, it goes into standby mode. Press the [   ] button again to turn on your TV.
NOTES
When your TV is in standby mode, it is still consuming power. To completely disconnect power, please remove the mains plug from the mains socket.
If your TV does not receive an input signal for several minutes, it automatically goes into standby mode.


NOTE the "second method".
You might still have some problems anyways, as it appears that you need the remote to function to cause the software upgrade. OF course, you checked your batteries in the remote to ensure they are good.

Unfortunately none of the buttons on the remote have any effect on the TV. The second method also doesn't appear to work, I remember the TV would go to standby mode when left on for long enough but unfortunately that no longer happens, I've had it on for the last 3 hours and its still hasn't gone to standby. I can only imagine that the standby timer is software controlled and therefore not working.

 

[budwich]

:-(
couple of questions.... which usb port did you use? Second, you first post of the TV shows a picture, get rid of that signal (unplug whatever that is showing / using), with no signal in, your set should go into standby.

 

[Fliptoe]

:-(
couple of questions.... which usb port did you use? Second, you first post of the TV shows a picture, get rid of that signal (unplug whatever that is showing / using), with no signal in, your set should go into standby.

I've tried with all USB ports, I was unable to get the update running before through USB 2.0 ports but the USB 3.0 port worked fine.

As for your suggestion about standby, that's a pretty good idea, I'll give it a shot now. I'm not sure how long the standby time is though.

 

[budwich]

:-( again, my read is you need to use the 2.0 ports (white). I suspect that using the 3.0 isn't / wasn't a good idea. Related to that, what type of usb did you use?
Anyways, I hope you can get thru it.... otherwise hopefully the manufacturer will help out.

 

[Fliptoe]

:-( again, my read is you need to use the 2.0 ports (white). I suspect that using the 3.0 isn't / wasn't a good idea. Related to that, what type of usb did you use?
Anyways, I hope you can get thru it.... otherwise hopefully the manufacturer will help out.

I'd read that too but none of the 2.0 ports did anything for me. Unfortunately I'm not sure its going to go into standby currently, its been on a bank screen for the last 40 minutes and still on.

 

[budwich]

anyways... I don't know. I read thru the hisense updating procedure... it seems similar to other sets. Basically, turn the set on, plug the usb with a "proper firmware load / format" into usb 1. the set will detect the load and ask questions accordingly... of course, you have to have some way of navigating either by remote or by the buttons on the panel. :-(

I don't actually think standby is that important based on my read of the hisense procedure which makes NO mention of this. What is important is the file structure and naming of files on the usb.

 

[mark_277]

I had the same problem remote wouldn't function. How I fixed turn the switch on the tv to turn it off .make sure the update usb is in the tv and in the top port . Hold the remote power button down and now turn on the switch while still holding the power button on the remote in till the update screen appears . Just keep trying it will eventually start to update again if it don't work first time

 

[djskinnyhu]

I had the same problem remote wouldn't function. How I fixed turn the switch on the tv to turn it off .make sure the update usb is in the tv and in the top port . Hold the remote power button down and now turn on the switch while still holding the power button on the remote in till the update screen appears . Just keep trying it will eventually start to update again if it don't work first time

 

[djskinnyhu]

1St thing is dont use software from Italy if you live in UK use the UK one phone Hisense up they will either send USB Pen in post or email it with instrucstions.
2nd after putting firmware on USB put it into the white USB ports when tv is on,then turn tv off buy powerswitch then pull main powerlead out and leave it 1min,then turn switch on TV to on then put power supply bk in and hold power button down on remote until u see software update pic,leave untill finished plus make sure when doing update remove hdmi leads.

I learned this cause i used a update from a diffrent country and it bricked,hisense sent me the right firmware but I was unlucky tge software worked but the hdmi ports 3-4 woukd not play 4k so they came and replaced the av board.

 

[sqrtidus]

HI Fliptoe,

did you find a solution to your problem I got pretty much the same issue.


best regards


Jean