Hi guys ..

Came here via Googling about my issue. Newbie in the forum.

I live in Iraq, and we do not have a dealer for Pioneer or Onkyo, so I had to order via Amazon --> Package Forwarder --> to Iraq via Fedex.

So today I have finally received my LX303 AVR; plugged in my Klipsch 5.1 speakers and started rocking! ..

Upon stumbling through settings, I saw that there is an update.. so I decided to do it :'(

So it was updating through Wifi until it reached about 82% and then it stuck for hours .. came after a while to see the receiver in 'Recovery: NET' mode.

Nothing appeared on the TV (HDMI Out), and the AVR has this text 'Recovery: NET' .. I waited for more than an hour but it is stuck there. I googled about the issue and tried to do hard reset to my AVR via pressing STANDBY/ON + Auto/Direct .. instead of showing 'CLEAR' it switched the recovery to USB mode and the text changed to 'Recovery: USB' .. This gave me some hope..

So I downloaded the latest firmware, unzipped it directly to the root of the USB flash rom, rebooted and when it showed 'Recovery: USB', inserted the USB flash rom into the AVR. After a minute or so, AVR showed 'ERR!! 08-05' .. Googled that as well, turned out that '*-05' means that the AVR could not find the correct firmware files or I have placed the files inappropriately - not in Root.

I have tried all the possible combinations; formatted to FAT, FAT32 .. downloaded different firmware versions (old and new) .. used multiple types of USB flash drives.. but they all lead to the same result. 'ERR!! 08-05' ..

I am really devestated as I have not enjoyed my AVR and I do not know what to do honestly.

Knowing people that have been to Iraq, the consensus was the internet was really horrible and not reliable.
Any interruptions to the firmware process will brick the device. That sounds like what happened. USB isn't going to recover it now. USB is what should have been used from the start.

Being it's Amazon. I would hurry and return the receiver for a new one. Before your days for return run out.

You're correct.. however a manufacture as big as Pioneer/Onkyo should have put that mind. I read another user on Amazon who bricked his Pioneer receiver during update.. so this appear to happen a lot.

I tried snooping on my Wifi, as the receiver connects to my Wifi everytime even when it is bricked .. it connects to Pioneer's website and identifies itself as 'Pioneer VSX-LX303 EC4945' .. It is also always trying to connect to Spotify!

So you're saying the ONLY way is to return it and replace it with a new one? No other way to force the update manually?

The thing is, I am stuck here in my hometown and there is a temporary suspension of all the transportations includings Air flights. Fedex and DHL are not receiving parcels right now as the international flights / Transit destinations are unreachable at the moments.. this is all because of the COVID-19 outbreak!

Can you suggest another solution?

it makes absolutely no sense that the updater would begin rewriting the firmware before its done being downloaded. Things blow up when POWER is interrupted during a firmware update. Not the internet connection.

This is most likely a flash memory issue... NOT an "Internet connection was interrupted" issue.

if it was an internet connection issue, there would be a hell of a lot more than 1 other report you found.

Its bricked, Get the RMA. I'm sure Amazon will understand the timing given the current world situation.

If the firmware is screwed this probably won't help but you could always try to factory defualt the unit.

He did that.

Actually there is. If you do a Google search, this has been going on for years with those Pioneer receivers now.
But you could be right, it may not necessarily be because of an internet interruption.
I just remember reading about it last year and it happening mostly to people trying to install the firmware over the internet. But I'm sure that is the most popular way to try, so could be some correlation to that.

It cannot be done. Holding "Standby + Auto/Direct" always results in AVR showing "Recovery: USB".

I cannot hard-reset the AVR.

Will try to contact Amazon about the latency in return. Thank you guys :)

I didn’t read all the replies. Just the one where you said you tried to recover from an USB and it kept on saying improper ROOT or whatever.

If I recall correctly I had the same problem if I used my Mac’s Disk Utilities. Even though I was formatting FAT and such.

But when I used a Windows computer, all went well. So just want to make sure you are using a Windows computer to format the drive.

KOT

Bro, I used a Windows PC.

Formatted multiple flash drives (different manufacturers, different sizes 2gb ~ 32gb) .. tried everything FAT, FAT32 and even the un-supported exFAT and NTFS.

Still getting the same error.

When I insert the flash, it blinks for like 4 seconds, then stops blinking, then after about a minute the AVR shows 'Error!! 8-05' .. just like it needs another files/copied wrong files.

I copied multiple versions of the firmware from the official website, Unzipped directly to root of USB flash as instructed, still no success.

I just wish if could've bought the EPPROM for the firmware and de-solder and re-solder it myself.