OK. Let's try it. So I disconnected my modification to connect my NiMh rechargeables to "pin 3", fully recharged my batteries (which show about 1/2 strength as usual without the mod) and start to apply the firmware upgrade.

The updater tells me that my batteries are too low!!!
I tried several times and can't get past that.

So any of you who are using non-alkaline rechargeables without the mod will NOT be able to apply 2.3.12, which might improve your battery life so that you wouldn't need the mod or the battery-pack. (Way to go Philips!)

So I reinstalled my mod, same batteries now indicate "full charge" and apply the new firmware. It applies without a hitch.

So I once-again disconnect my "mod" to see if the new firmware will do "Autodetection of alcaline batteries or optional charging pack". To me that would mean that the battery meter would have to indicate a full charge when the batteries are fully-charged. If that's what it means, then the "Autodetection of alcaline batteries or optional charging pack" is just another piece of confusion on the part of Philips. It doesn't do that, except in the manner in which it's been doing it all along. No change in 2.3.12.

Perhaps they were talking about the new change (I think it's new) to tell you that you can't load the firmware if the batteries are too low. They seem to be so confused.

It's no wonder that it's taken them 6 months to crank out a release with so little difference. And let's not forget that the release before that (in June) had little more in it than to correct the double-send fiasco that they released with the firmware before that.

One person, with almost any programming skill at all, could crank out more than this in just one month, working from their garage.

I can hardly wait for the non-color version of the MX-3000 so I can sell my Pronto on E-bay. I'll never buy another Philips product as long as I live...no so much because this one is all that unusable...but mostly because they have demonstrated that they don't even know how to spell "costumer sirvice".

Barry

I downloaded the new version of the 3000 firmware on Thursday night. Put a newly charged set of NiMH batteries in the 3000 (meter showed half charge, as usual). Updated the firmware with no problems and figured that with the fixes in this version the batteries would run for at least a week even though the battery indicator was still at a half. Saturday night the battery indicator was down to flickering between "LOW" and one bar and then the 3000 rebooted. So, it would appear that this great, new firmware version has done absolutely nothing.

I then looked up the instructions for the battery case mod and put in the new wire. The batteries that were "too low" to even run the 3000 are now magically between 3/4 and fully charged. I'll have to watch the indicator and see how long I can go on one set of batteries with the wiring mod.

Can philips give any comment on this?
Maybe some explenation (on battery related changes in this release) would help us..

Well, my old ts1000 was a perfect remote untill it gave out earlier this year. The tsu3000 has sucked always. I bought a HTM-800 2 months ago. After this latest tsu3000 firmware update continued my dissapointment with the 3000 and philips its going in the closet. The HTM-800 is my remote of choice now and it's an amazing remote.

Dear All,
There seems to be a lot of confusion about the latest firmware update 2.3.12 for Pronto NG. What has been put on our website is a quick intermediate update with one fix: to bring down the power consumption during sleep mode which is currently above normal due to high current use of the memory. Most heavy users will benefit less from this than people who use the Pronto less intensively.

This release however does not yet address the main issue causing the battery life problem, which has been identified to be the battery indication circuit. In many cases, especially when non-alkaline batteries are used, the battery-low level is indicated too rapidly. The release however is an incremental step in getting the problem fixed.

Furthermore, we are working on combining this fix together with the following issues of the Pronto NG, raised by you, the community:
-further improvement battery life time
-better button response time
-faster macro execution
-no LCD wake up at side button press (Vol, Chan, Mute)
-improved calibration method
-improved battery indication
-improved contrast
-improved contrast setting (smaller steps)
and other minor bug fixes

Also some new features will be added (inherited from ProntoPro NG):
-timers
-multi language (on device, not editor)
-punch through in editor (automatic copy of hard button functions to other devices)
-multi line text (in button or panel)

All these improvements and new features are planned to be released as part of new firmware and editor software in the second half of Q1 next year.

We hope this gives you a better picture of what's cooking within Philips.

The Philips ProntoTeam

Thanks Pronto Team,

Sometimes simple acknowledgment is all it takes to keep people happy.

Now, we know you can't always comment on everything in the future, but since we have proof you ARE reading the forums, do you think you could post more regularly, especially in response to those things you realize are legitimate and repeatable issues or those you have fixes in mind?

Also, feel free to tell us of your thought processes behind features. We do not always understand why you chose to implement something in a certain way, so we may complain, but if you explain, we might adopt instead.

You could give guidance on interoperation with HTPCs such as the XP-MCE Rc6 toggling codes issue, or the "hold for three seconds" issue to turn some projectors on or off. (Philips does make MCE remotes after all)

You could discuss the possibility of using the built-in RF capabilities to "shanghai" the RF receivers on the ATI Remote Wonder or OneBox/X-10 RF remote to gain mouse control via the rocker pad.

You could even tell us why the USB transfers are so SLOW!!!

In response, Philips will obviously enjoy a better reputation, added revenues, and less people willing to sell their Prontos for competing products.

The folks here at Remote Central are a wide mix demographically, but all are pretty much on the cutting edge of the Universal Remote world. A few bad reports from one RC member can do a lot of damage to Philips sales while good words, resulting from "above your expectations" support lead to numerous Pronto recommendations, not to mention respect and loyalty for the Philips brand name.

Keep up what you just showed to us.

Give us more whenever you can!

Thanks for reading.

Your web site touts the following for the new firmware update for the TSU3000:

Problems solved
* Improved battery lifetime

That's a far, far cry from the clarification (call it what you want) you posted here.

How about a tad bit more "truth in advertising" for future updates?

Thanks ProntoTeam for the update. The fixes listed above will be greatly appreciated. There was no mention of the double-press issue, though. I think this is one of the most frequent complaints in this Forum - that 8 of the lower hard buttons require two presses before performing an Action, unless the LCD is already awake. This results in inconsistent button behavior which can be rather annoying: sometimes an action takes two presses, sometimes just one, depending on the state of the LCD. I hope you can understand why we have a problem with this. Are you planning on addressing this issue at some point?

We would like you to change the 3000 so that ALL 17 of the programmable hard buttons have the option of performing an action on first-press without having to wake up the LCD first. We would also like the associated LCD wake-up to be optional for ALL 17 of the hard buttons, not just the 5 on the right.

You can keep the default hard-button behavior the same as it is now, just give us the option of customizing it as desired. I'm convinced the majority of 3000 users want this. Many of us chose this remote because of the extra hard-buttons. We would just like to have more control over how they operate. Thanks for listening.


This message was edited by onward on 12/19/03 20:53.

I agree fully with onward. If the all the hard buttons sent the IR immediately without waking up the LCD, the remote would be perfect! After all we have a backlight button on the side anyways.

Thanks again Pronto team for the update.

Just wanted to dial in by saying my ONLY problem with the remote is the double-press issue that onward talks about. If this were fixed, I would 100% satisfied with the remote.
I'm actually scared it wasn't addressed on the ProntoTeam's post :(

Thank you very much ProntoTeam for the update. The issues being addressed in the next firmware are all significant, but I want to add my request to the ones above to solve the double press issue.

This to this me is more important than all the other issues as it affects me every time I use my remote. Sometimes I have to press a button twice and other times just once.

You are already planning to modify the behaviour of the side buttons. If you could just add in a solution to this double press problem, the Pronto would be perfect.

Pronto Team,

I am very appreciative that you posting here and sharing more detailed information. Thank you very much.

I completely agree with the previous posters regarding the double button press feature request. If all buttons could be set for no LCD wake-up and just send a command instead, the remote would be perfect. The backlight button (and the pickup sensor on the 7000) are all that are needed. Please, please consider implementing this feature in the 3000 and 7000, if not older Prontos as well.

At my house, the Pronto is often under a blanket in someone’s hand. Simple tasks such as fast-forwarding do not require use of the LCD. When the screen is not visible, we can't tell if it is on or off and if one button press or two are required. Immediate command sending is the most important aspect and LCD wake-up is not even required.

Once again, thanks for your participation in the forum.

-Carlton Bale
Pronto user since 1998 (TS-1000, TSU6000, TSU7000)

Pronto Team, thanks for such a detailed response. All the "improvements" are most welcome. For my use, Timers, Battery life and Multi Line Text are important. I have to agree with the rest of the posts here, that I would support having all 17 buttons operate on the first press. Saves power, is faster, intutitave + typically the functions you map to the keys do not need the LCD, vol, up-Dn-Lt-Rt etc.
The ideal solution would be to have this as an option in Pronto Edit, that surely caters for everyone

Pronto Team, thanks for posting!

Pronto Team, thx for the update. Its much appreciated. Looking forward to the improvements you suggest are in the offing.