Can you send me the contact information for Sharp? We bought our tv on Black Friday 2008, but just started playing Xbox 360 on it a month or so ago and have discovered we have the same issue. I'd like to get the issue resolved quickly being as our one-year warranty will be up soon. Thank you.
I've gone ahead and updated the first post with the contact information since so many people have been asking for it and I don't want to accidentally forget anyone.
That's the difference between shopping in the UK and shopping in the states. I've always bought from Ebuyer, or Amazon UK, and have always had flawless service. Bah just reading this story makes me sad.
I've added a good 10 or so emails to my first post and recompiled everything with chronological order and emails I never posted. I've also included the contact information. Should be everything anyone needs there. Would be nice if an admin/mod could help me post it in the forums though, it's 40,000+ characters and thus I can't post the edit myself to the first post.
My Update: I email the contact that DarkLord sent me. He got back to me in 2 business days. He hooked me up with someone in Aquos Tech Support and they sent me some new firmware that they say should fix the issue. He stated that the firmware is flawed and it cuts out because the TV thinks there is no signal coming from the inputs. But the TV then realizes that there is a signal so the image comes back on. I just updated the firmware so we will see if this helps. To be honest, I hope it doesn't help. I'd rather get a replacement. Recently I've noticed some horrible banding when the image is black. This is quite annoying when watching movies. Does anyone think that I can get an exchange because of the banding? Probably not right? I also asked the rep when my warranty expires. He states that even though it was delivered to me 12/24/2008, the warranty goes by the original purchase date of 12/01/2009. Even though it was backordered on dell's part. I lost about 1 month of warranty time. But the good news is that since I placed the service call prior to the end of my warranty, they assured me that they would work with me until my issue is resolved. So I'm satisfied with that answer. The firmware he sent me was firmware version 0909081. The file name of the zip file was SharpUSA_SHARPUSAMODULEFILES_TEL_SOFT_D64_S0909081.ZIP. And the file within it was SAL2A217.UVP. Has anyone tried this firmware version yet? And has it helped?
I have the file and I keep getting the error message that "there is more than one software file" on the usb drive. The drive is FAT32 and 2GB with only one visible file ("SAL2A217.UVP"). I'm thinking my lc46d64u does not recognize large FAT32 usb drives. Please advise. jmf
Use FAT formatting. Not FAT32 or FAT16, just FAT. I seem to remember DarkLord posting this somewhere, but i can't be arsed to dig it up. And might i add: "holy craptastic batman, is this still going on?"
Still enjoying my new Aquas that was replaced. I could not have gotten without all the ground work Darklord has produced. Awesome work, thanks again.
Glad to hear it mate Mine's still going strong as well (feel free to rep the first post to thank me )
Update. It's been about 2 months since I received the firmware update. So far so good. Not a single signal loss since then. I was hoping to get a replacement Aquos like most people did, but none the less, I am satisfied with the results. If anyone wants the firmware file, PM me. skim
All is still OK Yes thanks for all the ground work - DarkLord. I have "Rep"d your first post. Sounds like the tech support staff might be on to finally resolving this issue with firmware. I know that in the interest of profitable business that they are going to keep trying to resolve your original TV. A company can not stay in business long if they keep replacing defective products with new ones when they can figure it out and just update the software. I am lucky to have gotten the replacement, but would have been almost just as happy with a software fix. I say almost because I do have the extra HDMI inputs. Besides that I really don't remember if there was a difference in the picture quality. I still use the TV for the same functions as before. My new TV has shown no signs of this glitch. I am satisfied.
I can confirm that the latest firmware update has apparently worked for me as well. No signal dropouts via component since the update - where it had been happening several times per hour. I need to thank skim32 for the file and help (mostly for saving me from Sharp tech support). It really could not have been easier. Just to re-state some specifics... Your USB flash drive must be less than 2GB in size, formatted FAT (not FAT16 or FAT32), and contain only the update file (SAL2A217.UVP). Select "Software Update" from the menu and OK the screen prompts. When finished the TV will power-off and should restart automatically. Maybe 5 minutes for the total operation. When finished, your firmware "identification" should now show S0909081. - Good luck. ... and my obvious thanks to DarkLord7854 for making this all possible.
I just bought this TV and I can not find the firmware anywhere. Would it be possible for you to send the file via email?
FYI... If you're also having this problem with other inputs, it may be related to your antenna reception of weak TV signals. If you are using an antenna, your tuner should tuned to a strong signal/channel before changing your input to another source. I have read where this has fixed the problem for some and I think Sharp has acknowledged this issue.
