topic Sony HT-XT3 Rendered Unusable by Software Update in Home Cinema, Projectors & Players

Sony HT-XT3 Rendered Unusable by Software Update

VeryDisappointed — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 15:22:54 GMT

A few weeks ago I turned on my Sony HT-XT3 sound base for the first time in a couple of months, and was offered a software update which, with hindsight rather stupidly, I accepted.

Since then the device has been exhibiting the following problems:

1. Unless it is switched on shortly after having been connected to a power socket, it takes a very long time to start working, pending which the front panel repeatedly states 'Please Wait'.

2. It is only possible to access the Home screen shortly after the unit has been connected to a power socket and switched on for the first time thereafter, and when there is no wired ethernet connection and no wireless signal. However, when I do succeed in displaying the Home screen, I can only change the initially selected icon once, before the display freezes. It is therefore impossible to perform a factory reset via Setup, or to perform an update using an image written to a USB drive. I have confirmed that the remote control is working using the camera in my phone, and I have also changed the remote control batteries.

Oddly the unit does start working in the sense of producing sound a few minutes after the TV (a Sony KD-43XD8305) is switched on, but the sound cannot be altered.

I have tried to reach the home screen and thence perform a factory reset using three different TVs, and using various configurations, for example not using the HDMI port that supports ARC, but to no avail.

The unit is about 4 and a half years old but should not fail at this age, and certainly not because of a Sony software update.

Can anyone advise on whether this problem is fixable, and if so how please?

If there is not a straightforward fix, can anyone from Sony offer a replacement or a nil-cost repair?

As things stand I'm feeling very disappointed and frustrated, and will never buy a Sony product again!

TIA.

Re: Sony HT-XT3 Rendered Unusable by Software Update

HannahEd01 — Thu, 28 Oct 2021 14:58:48 GMT

Hey there, I'm so sorry, but I believe you should send it for repair: https://locator.sony/en_GB/servicecenters/?zoom=5&latitude=54.29088&longitude=-2.37305

Re: Sony HT-XT3 Rendered Unusable by Software Update

VeryDisappointed — Sun, 31 Oct 2021 10:08:53 GMT

Thank you, but will this be at my expense or at Sony's?

Also according to the link that you provided the nearest repair centre is some 50 miles away, which is less than convenient!

Re: Sony HT-XT3 Rendered Unusable by Software Update

VeryDisappointed — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 16:18:42 GMT

I made a return journey of 80 miles to a Sony repairer, only to be told that the main board had 'gone' and that they could not source a replacement.

Quite why a software update should destroy a board isn't clear, but the unit is clearly junk.

At a little over four and a half years old this is quite astonishingly disappointing, and I will be steering clear of Sony products forthwith.

Re: Sony HT-XT3 Rendered Unusable by Software Update

LightFoot — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 16:32:14 GMT

Hi @VeryDisappointed

I am slightly confused. You have traveled another 80 miles, even though the repair centre had phoned you to tell you they could not repair it?

https://community.sony.co.uk/t5/home-cinema-projectors-players/ht-xt3-junk-after-4-1-2-years/m-p/3840005

Re: Sony HT-XT3 Rendered Unusable by Software Update

VeryDisappointed — Sat, 04 Dec 2021 17:23:33 GMT

Sorry, I probably expressed myself poorly.

I made an arrangement to take the unit for repair. It was agreed that I would leave it with the repairer, which is 40 miles away from where I live, and I came home.

The repairer later phoned to tell me that the unit couldn't be repaired, and it was agreed that I would not bother to return to collect it.