TSU 7000 lock-ups, pulling the battery and re-plugging solves it for me. This is a short term solution and I have MANY clients waiting for a firmware solution.

Working in PPE is unstable. Merging component templates causes some crashes. I’m forced to save multiple versions to refer back to, in case of a crash. But even then getting back into a saved pcf is almost always fatal. The only sometime-solution in opening a “damaged” pcf seems to be; Open PPE, open the “defaultTSU7000.pcf” and then the “damaged” pcf. This seems to work well for me if I try it over and over. This is not a solution.

My pcfs are not intense with graphics and pages but do rely heavily on hidden alias pages to hold all component codes. File size is not so much an issue, yet.

Once programming in PPE seems to work, for the most part, but my major gripe is getting back into the pcf to make additional edits. It's not happening.

The 7000 sometimes looses USB connectivity but is solved in a reboot of the CPU. Uploading a pcf from the 7000 to the PC does not always work. PPE reports that the upload was successful; however it does not always generate the pcf. Sometimes it will continue with no pcf generation or bomb out in the middle. Connectivity does not seem to be a major issue.

I have sent multiple versions of a pcf to show the degradation of the file, note where in the saves the file becomes “damaged” and for Philips to try to figure out the problems. I inquired about hardware and/or software issues on my end and they seemed more concerned about PPE instead. I have waited patiently for over two months for some kinda reply and have gotten nowhere. With struggling to get out 2-3 TSU 7000s per week it is occupying to much of programming time to be realistic.

Some have stated “no problems” and I am having a hard time believing it. Are you only providing basic programming on a unit or two? Or am I alone with these issues?

I don't have any significant problems. I have recently been doing some work on my PCF to replace analogue cable with digital cable. I only had one problem - the first time I went to download to my 7000, it locked up and I had to reset it. My old notebook could not learn codes from PPENG. My new one can.

USB connectivity issues appear to be computer related. Most of us have no problems but some people do.

I notice quite a difference between what you do and what I do.

I have just a single PCF that I continually refine and update.

You seem to be working on lots of PCFs, doing lots of learning, merging, copying and pasting. You also upload PCFs. You are using PPENG to the max.

My observations on what can cause problems are:
- working with large PCFs (which has resource issues)
- uploading PCFs (which does introduce corruption)
- migrating from CCFs (which can introduce corruption)
- merging with PCFs that may already be corrupted

I strongly suggest you never upload into your main PCF, as I have seen that introduce corruption. If you want to learn codes directly, use a different PCF, upload it and just copy the buttons with the codes into your main PCF.

I do work with many different pcfs for clients. When I program them I use a "template" which is just the file I created and use for myself. It has more components then most of our customers so I just delete what is not needed. As for different brands I just learn to my code pages and they are automatically updated to the graphical pages. As a precaution I have been saving many times to different names since I did lose some work on my own file - its huge by the way. I wish I didn't have to save to different file names but since it is well publicized on this forum it seems like a small price to pay to be safe.

Peter points out some good practices that people should stick to. I do upload but again I save to different names before and after. The only corruption I have seen begins with the system page, so a quick check of that and the file is generally ok so I can continue moving forward. In the past I have had several co workers that were using corrupted files for all of the customers and their remotes showed a lot of the signs that are mentioned in this forum, reboots, etc.

To add to Peter's comments.

I basically follow the above practices but with one exception. I usually learn with an RC5000i or an RC9200, save a CCF, then import to PCF. I realize most users don't have more than one remote. I'm fortunate to have the older remotes for all learning capabilities. As a result, I have never uploaded my PCF from remote for production purposes.

I did test this capability, along with Peter, during Beta, but have not used it in production. However, the old adage, one bad apple can spoil the barrel also applies with a corrupt PCF. Once corrupt, propagation of this file into others will most likely cause problems.

I would be interested in obtaining a PCF that reboots the remote repeatedly for the sole purposes of trying to ascertain what the corruption is. If you have one that is relatively small, please email it to me.

Lyndel

Thanks for all your replies.

I have recieved a hopeful e-mail from Philips about PPE software and firmware updates (no date).

My upload issues are when the original pcf becomes corrupt and my only option is to upload what I have on the remote. I do learn to the 7k but that upload happens without an issue because the pcf consists of one device.

I'd love to use one template but a pcf with all the possible components would become corrupt and would not reopen. I have an extensive library of components (all original) that I merge into one to create a customers pcf. I will focus on that library to see where the corruption may lay. I will reduce the use of my code or alias pages. I have recreated the library once to be methodical about avoiding corruption. The only external codes (downloaded) that I use are the discretes and codes that I could not obtain from the remotes or Pronto library.

Philips does mention OS and chipset of CPU hardware but everything checked out on my end. My CPU and OS is up-to-date and very stable (2003). Apparently, PPE requires lots of CPU resources and I haven’t been able to assess a resource issue. I’ve had Photoshop, Dreamweaver and Flash running at the same time with no issues. When I’m editing in PPE it is the only thing running besides background processes.

The 7k lock-up is so inconsistent I haven’t been able to narrow an instance to blame. It is not as much of an issue as the PPE bombs and corruption.

Thanks for all the help and I will keep you posted on any solutions.