Panasonic DMP-BD85, BD65 Blu-ray - Netflix app won't load after firmware upgrade

[MizNitch]

I updated the firmware last night on my DMP-BD85 to version 1.43. After the update I went to viera cast and tried to start the Netflix app so see if any changes had been added. Well, the app won't load anymore. The red Netflix screen pops up for about a split second, the front display on the player flashes to "No Disc" for a millisecond and then half my screen turns red with the bottom half displaying a blurred Netflix logo. It then proceeds to kick me back to the viera cast homescreen. All my other apps are working fine and my internet connection is working. It's just the Netflix app that won't load. I've tried turning the system on/off several times and have even unplugged it for a while. I 'm thinking this latest firmware really messed it up. I e-mailed Panasonic customer support and am awaiting their reply.

Any help is appreciated.

[MrBoylan]

I updated the firmware last night on my DMP-BD85 to version 1.43. After the update I went to viera cast and tried to start the Netflix app so see if any changes had been added. Well, the app won't load anymore. The red Netflix screen pops up for about a split second, the front display on the player flashes to "No Disc" for a millisecond and then half my screen turns red with the bottom half displaying a blurred Netflix logo. It then proceeds to kick me back to the viera cast homescreen. All my other apps are working fine and my internet connection is working. It's just the Netflix app that won't load. I've tried turning the system on/off several times and have even unplugged it for a while. I 'm thinking this latest firmware really messed it up. I e-mailed Panasonic customer support and am awaiting their reply.

Any help is appreciated.

I'll try to take a look at that tonight. I know that VUDU is being added this week via a firmware upgrade (probably Wednesday) which means there will be a new firmware release on Wednesday. Did you have any power outage or anything during the upgrade?

-CB

[onuwexler]

I updated the firmware today as well--exact same thing happening. No power outage--everything seemingly went smoothly. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[MizNitch]

Here's the reply I got from Panasonic customer support earlier today:

"Dear Valued Customer, Thank you for your inquiry. We do apologize for any inconvenience caused while your unit is not working properly. We are currently aware of this issue with firmware version 1.43.Our technicians are working assiduously to have this issue resolved within the next 24-48 business hours .We have noted that you are experiencing this issue and you will be contacted within the next 3-5 business days.We do apologize for your inconvenience. Thank you for contacting Panasonic."

So, it's a known issue and should be corrected soon.

[bklynrickel]

Same exact issue for me.

[CharlesWGreenJr]

Same here; Panasonic's tech support line now greets you with a message stating that they're aware people can't watch Netflix on their Blu-ray players, and they are working diligently on a solution.

When I got to speak to someone 25 minutes later, I was told that no, I would not be able to download any earlier firmware to work around the issue. Their updater might very well block this, but when a fix is available I intend to burn it on a CD-ROM for safekeeping, and then turn off automatic updates via Ethernet; before any future updates, I'll wait a week or 3 for them to "soak".

-Charles

[jodada]

Same thing happening here on my BD65. I guess I'll just have to wait till they figure it out. In the meantime, I'm gonna use the laptop and plug into the PC cponnection on the monitor. Thanks for the posts. This happened to me after Panasonic support closed, so I would have assumed, rather than knowing, if not for this board.

[MizNitch]

Well, if one good thing came out of this it's that it's forced me to look elsewhere for streaming movies. I actually checked out the Amazon on demand service and it's pretty nice. I linked my DMP-BD85 to Amazon.com and they gave me a free $5 credit just for going through the process. I'm about to watch a free new release in HD (Charlie St. Cloud - Don't laugh, wife's choice).

In other news, I sure hope they release another firmware update asap to correct this Netlix problem. I goggled the 1.43 update & there's tons of people unhappy about it.

[MrBoylan]

I updated the firmware last night on my DMP-BD85 to version 1.43. After the update I went to viera cast and tried to start the Netflix app so see if any changes had been added. Well, the app won't load anymore.

Yep, it is decidedly busted. I will see if my Panasonic contacts in Japan know when they will have a fix and whether it will need to be a new firmware release or something that can be fixed on the back-end.

It's definitely related to the VUDU update which is being delivered on the VIERA Cast servers on Wednesday. The firmware upgrade was a required piece of that update.

Let's see how quickly Panasonic can fix it!

-CB

[MrBoylan]

By the way, this most likely affects all of the VIERA Cast players in the 2010 model line, so DMP-BD65, DMP-BD85, DMP-BDT100, DMP-BDT300, DMP-BDT350 and DMP-B500 (portable). These were the players that were announced to support VUDU via the server upgrade this Wednesday.

-CB