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Samsung TV Owners Furious After Software Update Leaves Sets Unusable (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the smart-features dept.

Thousands of owners of high-end Samsung TVs have complained after a software update left their recently acquired $1,800 sets with blank, unusable screens. From a report: The Guardian has been contacted by a number of owners complaining that the TVs they bought -- in some cases just two weeks ago -- have been rendered useless by an upgrade sent out by Samsung a week ago. Others have been posting furious messages on the company's community boards complaining that their new TVs are no longer working. The company has told customers it is working to fix the problem but so far, seven days on, nothing has been forthcoming. The problem appears to affect the latest models as owners of older Samsung TVs are not reporting the issue. The report doesn't identify the models that have been affected. But we scanned the forums and found that at least UE49MU7070, UE49MU7070TXXU, and MU6409 models are affected.

20 of 346 comments (clear)

  1. "Smart" TVs are stupid. by sycodon · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Even when they are working correctly.

    --
    When Fascism comes to America, it will call itself Anti-Fascism, and tell you to give up your guns.
    1. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by JohnFen · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Yes, and unambiguously so.

      Personally, if for some reason I was forced to have a "smart" TV, I would be very certain to make sure it never gets connected to the internet.

      There's also another relatively recent trend that plays into this: the idea that updates are always good and should be applied automatically. It was never the case that this was a safe practice. Updates need to be carefully evaluated before applying them.

    2. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      One problem with this is that a number of them refuse to let you "set up for the first time" without being given a network connection. And the fact that you can't ever undo an update is what makes it so dangerous to apply them, with a computer you have the option to reinstall, not so with a TV.

    3. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      My TV has youtube support.

      Oh wait, it doesn't anymore because youtube deccided to block the api and my tv didn't get an update for it. At least I got a free chromecast as compensation.

      You're putting yourself at the mercy of third parties with your tv. If hulu and pandora decide to change their api and your manufacturer doesn't push an update, because it's more then a year old, then I'll see you back crying about how unfair it is.

    4. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by peragrin · · Score: 5, Interesting

      I own a Samsung smart tv. At first I connected via wifi but then wanted a faster more reliable connection in my apartment sometimes ran a cable and switched to Ethernet. I realized that I wasn't using the smart tv functions so I ditched the Ethernet cable.

      Wifi off Ethernet unplugged no big deal. Except I noticed random connections from an unknown MAC address to my wifi router during a router upgrade. So I watched it. It would connect for a day and then disconnect for weeks. I got curious and enables wifi on my tv again and guess the MAC address that was used. So even in it's wifi off but tv on state it would attempt to connect to wifi.

      That's when I banned the MAC address on the router. No misc packets for you sneaky tv.

      Personally I prefer using a roku and hardwiring it to the router. Easy to disconnect, faster speeds for streaming.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    5. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by arth1 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      You're putting yourself at the mercy of third parties with your tv. If hulu and pandora decide to change their api and your manufacturer doesn't push an update, because it's more then a year old, then I'll see you back crying about how unfair it is.

      Yep, I just had to replace my otherwise fully functional BD player, because Hulu had changed their API, and Sony no longer provided updates for this model.
      The really sucky thing is that a new shiny 4k BD player lacks a lot of functionality that the cheaper old one had, like analog audio/video out, storing authentication on USB (so when re-playing an already played BD, there's no delay while it contacts the mothership) and an information display. Heck, they've even skimped on the power cable, which can no longer be disconnected/replaced. And I'm sure that after 2 years, firmware/software updates will cease. Consumerism and planned obsolescence at its worst.

    6. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      So what happens if that smart tv has built in wifi, and connects to some neighbour's unprotected open access hotspot?

    7. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by SnarkSide · · Score: 5, Informative

      They are stupid by design. The typical Samsung TV pushes updates without any option to decline. It just puts up a notice about the upgrade with an "OK" button. No ignore, cancel, or decline, no close, just "OK". I don't think they understand what consent is supposed to mean. Consent is not actual consent if there is no other available option. Samsung, I'd like your product team to eat broken glass, "OK".

    8. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by ctilsie242 · · Score: 4, Informative

      That's when it gets returned. Not working because it isn't given a connection to slurp from, is just the same as not working due to a manufacturing defect.

    9. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by ctilsie242 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      If I had to have a smart TV, probably the best matter of course would be having it have its own SSID and VLAN, with a connection going through a VPN so geolocation registers some other place, and so it can't find anything useful on the LAN it sits on.

      Ironic that modern IoT devices have to be treated as hostile network entities in order to have decent security.

    10. Re:"Smart" TVs are stupid. by HiThere · · Score: 4, Insightful

      And to evaluate properly you need a test system that you can expose to the update. When you only have one system, that doesn't work so well.

      --

      I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
  2. Monitor by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    I put together a panel to monitor the situation, we recommend you screen all updates before applying.

  3. Why? Just why? by H3lldr0p · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I like my electronic toys. Have a lot of fun playing with them, but why all this integration? Why have televisions, something that should be nothing but a passive interface for signals to be made visible with, get turned into weird hybrids that have operating systems, computer parts, and memory?

    Is it a matter of people not understanding what they're getting anymore? Is it a matter of perceived value? Oh, my TV is three hundred dollars more expensive than yours! That must mean it's better. Somehow.

    1. Re:Why? Just why? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      To vertically integrate parallel consumer content streams to enhance end user metric marketability.

    2. Re:Why? Just why? by spire3661 · · Score: 5, Funny

      You need to put a seizure warning on this comment. I started twitching a little.

      --
      Good-bye
    3. Re:Why? Just why? by Aaden42 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      I know we're all nerds here, but most of the market doesn't like having multiple devices & wires to configure. Given a choice between a TV that "has Netflix on it," versus attaching and configuring a separate Roku, AppleTV, or Chrome-ish stick, the vast majority of consumers will plug the TV into power, connect to their WiFi, and be much happier than if they'd had to deal with yet another box with yet another remote and more wires.

      Offering (and choosing to purchase) the integrated model is a rational choice. *Not* offering a plain dumb screen option is annoying to us nerds, but we're kind of a purchasing minority for this stuff.

      Inadequate QA on updates and bricking TV's is lousy business, but again it's a minority of customers who are capable of recognizing that the smart TV caused a greater problem than a separate device. Even that is debatable given the number of users who just use streaming at this point. If an update bricked their Roku and left their TV functional but with no available signal to watch... I guess mailing the bricked Roku back for service is easier, and it's cheaper to replace outright, but that's about it.

    4. Re:Why? Just why? by Jason1729 · · Score: 3, Funny

      Do you have a program that assembles random words into a sentence?

      I hope not...that's the last marketable skill people with MBA's have. If we automate it, imagine the horror when those people disperse into the rest of society.

  4. Smart TV done Stupid by drinkypoo · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The "right" way to do it (if it must be done) is to have an internal HDMI connection to which you connect an android stick, or whatever, for televisions which have the smart TV option. There is no need to even use a real HDMI port, you can use something much cheaper like a simple header connector. And then hide that behind a trap door, or at least make it easy to get far enough into the case to replace it. I know you save a few pence per TV set by putting it all on one PCB, but odds are good that they're going to have to take back these sets and reflash them at service centers via JTAG or similar because they didn't take that route.

    --
    "You're right," Fisheye says. "I should have set it on 'whip' or 'chop.'"
  5. Re:WTF is wrong with people by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 3, Funny

    You've never heard of a universal remote?

    I tried using a Universal remote once. People in alpha centauri were not amused to be muted.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  6. Well by jon3k · · Score: 4, Funny

    It is Samsung, at least they didn't explode.