I have just moved into a rented flat and found a Philips 890 in one of the drawers. Didnt have a clue as to what it was but now do!
I've downloaded the manual from the Philips site and am now trying to get the damn thing to work.
Problem 1 - there is no "mode" icon on screen (it's not "hidden" either)
Problem 2 - the "revert" button is greyed out
Not to be beaten by the above I ordered and got today a serial cable to install the latest firmware.
Problem 3 - don't have a serial port on the PC but not to worry, went and bought a Belkin USB/Serial adapter.
Problem 4 - tried to install downloaded firmware and got message that I had no COM ports on my machine. OK so having scoured this site (and the rest of the web) moved the adapter to COM 1 on my XP Home Edition machine.
I am now about to be killed by my wife having spent all day and £50 trying to get this "wonderful piece of technology" to work.
Any ideas/help would be hugely appreciated.
Thanks
Nick.

1. Try the FAQ as there are many answers there, specifically your COM port stuff and possibly the 'Mode' icon.

2. The Pronto Files section should have a manual for ProntoEdit 4 that should also help you learn the software.

Well, if cats have 9 lives, then husbands have 900. Hopefully, you haven't spent L50 to discover the reason it was left in a drawer. That'd cost at least one more life.

Follow Lyndel's advice and post back as more questions arise, and good luck, it's a nice remote.

EDIT: Oh yeah, before you waste any more lives, time, or pounds, throw some fresh AA batteries in that bad boy and at least make sure it boots up.

Thanks - I have spent some more time looking at this site and think I might be getting closer to firing this thing up. New batteries were installed first off so there is life. I now just have to get my PC talking to the remote so that I can update it. It's a serial/USB problem that I see is not uncommon!
I'm sure I will return with further questions.

Nyckhb,

Welcome to the fun. Your problems are similar to mine when I started about 8 months ago, but mine were due to Operator error (my own that is). With your computer try ensuring other coms or devices are turned off. I can not run my Pronto program when my PDA program is enabled, even thought they are addressed to different communication ports. That may help. More experianced users may comment, but I found once I loaded the new firmware, the "revert" button will come to life again. Possibly the firmware has been corrupted- that was my experiance.

Once you are up and running, read, read , read the FAQ's. The answers are normally there, you just have to search for them. By the way once you are hooked it will be the hacking away at 2.00 am doing a programming mod that your wife will complain about. :-)

Explain to your wife that the folks here at remotecentral will be able to help you setup the Pronto to make it easy for her to use all the audio and video gear. If she still kills you, tell her I can find a good home for the Pronto... :-)

I have read repeatedly that the Belkin adaptor cable does not work all the time. Just read a thread where a guy can update the firmware, but not download a ccf...his last post says the $40 Radio Shack cable is well worth it! There's another brand I can't think of right now, too, said to work every time, specifically instead of the Belkin. It is mentioned in different posts here.

Are you thinking of the Keyspan High Speed USB Serial Adapter? We use it to connect our iMac (running VirtualPC). It supports data rates up to 230Kbps – twice the speed of the standard PC serial port. Keyspan are still showing a high-speed adapter on their website, but don't know if it's the same one.
[Link: keyspan.com]

I have a keyspan USB to serial adapter and it works perfectly with my RU890 and my RU970, the model is Keyspan USA-19HS it comes with a CD and you can easily assign com ports with it, they seem to be rather expensive, but try E-Bay first, I got mine for £16.00 delivered about six months ago.

Just wanted to share some good news - I've got it working!! Tonto saved the day and found the port thus enabling me to upgrade the firmware.So the Belkin has worked after all.
Thanks to all who post on this site for saving me from madness.