Hello all,

I recently posted a thread regarding recurring problems over the past three years with several Beosound 9000 units. After some discussion and much help from various people on this forum (particularly Keith Saunders, many thanks indeed Keith) it would appear that there is a software issue with Beosound 9000s produced from 2005 onwards (please see thread: http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/t/23272.aspx) for details.

After much discussion with the UK dealer and B&O in Denmark I'm pleased to announce that I finally have a resolution. B&O accept that the issue does indeed appear to be related to a software fault. They want my unit to go back to Denmark for a full examination. In the meantime I will take delivery of a loan unit from the dealer until the software issue is resolved. Once B&O have done this I will then be sent a brand new unit with updated software.

It has taken me three years to get to this point and only made possible with all the help and advice received from the Beoworld forum. So many, many thanks for everyone’s help and support - it is very much appreciated.

Best wishes,

Phil

Bravo!

I'm really HAPPY for you ! And I'm more than impressed that you find solution here with great Keith and others who include their effort to solve the problem.

I was flowed your thread with great interest and now I'm honestly happy that you solved your "agony"....

This is really right place to be if you like B&O

I followed the original thread too with great interest and I am grateful you discovered this fault and brought it to our attention as it will undoubtedly affect a great many BeoSound 9000 owners. I only bought mine last year, and it was new, so almost certainly it will require an update as soon as B&O release one.

All the best and very well done for seeing through the 3 years. All good things come to those who wait!

Simon.

Great!

Happy you got a solution.

Great! Congratulations that it finaly worked out.

And:

Great that a company like B&O listens to their customers and helps them! That's very rare today!

TWG:

Great! Congratulations that it finaly worked out.

And:

Great that a company like B&O listens to their customers and helps them! That's very rare today!

 

Clearly they didn't want to listen, since it took him 3 years to get it fixed...

I'm also "disputing" with Beo right now, and the lack of interest in solving my issue is just unbelievable.

Hello all,

Many thanks for all your kind words. Yes, I finally did get there in the end (almost, fingers crossed) but not without the help and support from various people on this website, so many thanks indeed.

Although it's been very frustrating I would say that Bang & Olufsen Denmark do appear to be doing all that they can to investigate and rectify the issue for which I am very grateful indeed. When I've spoken to the people there they have been very polite and engaging so I'm confident that they will get to the bottom of this and sort out the software problem once and for all.

The only complaint I really have is with the B&O technical department in the UK, as I feel that they have never really listened to me. Perhaps I should have gone straight to Denmark much earlier although until I came on here I wasn't really sure what the problem was.

The unit should be sent to Denmark this week for investigation so now it's just a matter of time while B&O come up with a new software update.

Best wishes - Phil

Brilliant Phil. Im so glad for you. Also keep posting mate, its nice to have another Plymouthian on site.

I, too followed the original thread with interest.
I am so glad that a resolution has been reached. If I remember correctly, you were at the end of your tether and was thinking of giving back your 9000, and going in a different direction. I'm sure your faith in B&O has been restored, and for this, I'm happy.

PS  Don't forget to tell Struer your decor has changed, and the replacement needs to be white, and with a low issue number.

Andy T.

So now the question is, can the software be upgraded in the field? My dealer is 600 miles away. I am having the same problem. I am not a big fan of sending the unit in for an update. I am not, in fact, a fan of being without the unit!

Dare I ask what the final outcome to this problem was (e.g. has the problem been resolved, all current 9000's have improved software etc etc?)

Sometimes a resolved problem needs the original poster to confirm the resolution!

Graham

Just noticed that the OP last visited the forum in March 2009, shortly after his last post in this thread.

I guess that he had a satisfactory outcome to his problem........ but wouldn't it be nice if posters with resolved issues could let us all know the final outcome? I, for one, would like to know whether B&O eventually sorted out this apparent software issue and whether there is now a solution for all BS 9000 owners who encounter this problem.

Graham

vikinger:

Just noticed that the OP last visited the forum in March 2009, shortly after his last post in this thread.

I guess that he had a satisfactory outcome to his problem........ but wouldn't it be nice if posters with resolved issues could let us all know the final outcome? I, for one, would like to know whether B&O eventually sorted out this apparent software issue and whether there is now a solution for all BS 9000 owners who encounter this problem.

Graham

Agree, even worse is when we don't get the outcome.

Hello again,

Firstly I have to apologise for not updating the thread with an outcome, as a few of you have mentioned. Although to be fair, there hasn't been a resolution as yet  and the situation hasn't changed but I'll put my hands up and I accept I should have kept the thread posted, so here's an update.

As you will remember I was on my third 9000, with each one following the same pattern of approx 12mths of good use, then it would stop playing cds and go into pause mode, getting progressively worse until unusable. We came to the conclusion that it was due to the software. Because I have an unusually large cd collection of about 3000 discs it appears that after playing a certain number of different cds the machine won't play anymore. Obviously it takes time to reach that number, hence each 9000 going wrong after a year or so.

My faulty 9000 went back to Denmark for testing and I was given a loan machine. They could not replicate the fault in Denmark but we assumed that was because the machine had reset itself during the time it was switched off. They did try loading it with many cds but the problem wasn't reproduced. I never heard back from B&O Denmark after that and that was the last update I had.

In the meantime I continued using the loan machine. Although ok for about 18mths, the loan 9000 has now gone wrong, just as the others did. I think the loan machine took longer to go wrong as I have not been playing so many different cds, hence it took longer to reach the limit.

I am waiting to hear back from B&O again as I find myself right back at square one.

There are several options:

Reset the 9000 to factory settings to see if that cures the problem, if it does I will have to do this periodically (every year or so) so the machine will keep playing. Change to a Beocenter 2 or upgrade to a Beosound 5.

None of the above is satisfactory but unless B&O change the software as previously suggested on this forum to rectify the siftware fault I don't see what else I can do.

I'm waiting to hear back from B&O and will update again when I know more although it does seem, at long, long last that they may have finally accepted that it is indeed a software issue, as stated here some time ago.

Once again, please accept my apologies for not updating. I appreciate that some of you were very interested in this forum but until this week I had nothing further to add as I had not heard back from Denmark in all that time.

Best wishes,

Phil

Check your mains supply voltage.  I think that's the culprit!

B

Hi,

Can you tell me why you think it's the mains supply? I'm connected to a very good quality surge protector so the supply should be consistent. Also, the problem only arises after playing a certain number of discs - this has happened on each of the four 9000's I've had and the pattern is always the same. I would have thought that if it's the mains then the problem would have been there from day one but it only starts to happen after about 9mths to a year, once I've played several hundred different cds.

B&O changed the software on the 9000 a few years back and all the machines I've had have been since the software update. Even B&O now seem to accept that it is a problem with the software. Most people won't have this issue as it only happens after you play a large number of different cds (probably after 600-700). Most peoples cd collection isn't that big so they wont ever have the same problem.

I'm happy to try anything though so if you have any suggestions or more info regarding the mains supply, that would be very useful.

Best wishes

philball:

Hi,

Can you tell me why you think it's the mains supply? I'm connected to a very good quality surge protector so the supply should be consistent. Also, the problem only arises after playing a certain number of discs - this has happened on each of the four 9000's I've had and the pattern is always the same. I would have thought that if it's the mains then the problem would have been there from day one but it only starts to happen after about 9mths to a year, once I've played several hundred different cds.

B&O changed the software on the 9000 a few years back and all the machines I've had have been since the software update. Even B&O now seem to accept that it is a problem with the software. Most people won't have this issue as it only happens after you play a large number of different cds (probably after 600-700). Most peoples cd collection isn't that big so they wont ever have the same problem.

I'm happy to try anything though so if you have any suggestions or more info regarding the mains supply, that would be very useful.

Best wishes

From a troubleshooting perspective, you would want to look at the house wiring and the surge protector as well as the BS9000, particularly after the 4th unit.  For your theory about usage to be valid (which it certainly could be), that would suggest that you are the greatest user in the world since that particular software and use is the key, or that your aren't and that particular flaw has never been brought to B&O's attention by the equal or bigger users, or it has been brought to B&O's attention and it is better to give you new machines than resolve the issue.  

Somebody wins the lotto, and people have been struck by lightning more than once, but it isn't likely.  Keith Saunders is a high-level problem solver; I would be interested to hear his view so it gets resolved.      

Left one out.  Or, it's a conspiracy.

Keith did get involved when I first went on the forum and it was Keith who came to the conclusion, after asking questions and doing some investigating, that it is indeed a software problem. Keith was very helpful and certainly seems to know his stuff very well.

The engineer has been here several times and can't fathom it out either. It's all very mysterious and incredibly frustrating.

The original post was: http://forum.beoworld.org/forums/p/23272/303445.aspx#303445 if you're interested, have a read and see how Keith came to the conclusion that the software is at fault, it's quite interesting.

Best wishes,

P

That is an interesting story.  Maybe one that should be written up for students.  As impressive as Keith's problem solving is, it couldn't happen without the good data you provided.  I missed that the surge protector was not there for all units, but I am still struggling with it never having been seen anywhere else.  I still like "conspiracy theory".

But, given the story, would B&O have been better served to actually change the program rather than eat 3 BeoSound 9000s (and possibly more)? Unlike wine, bad news never improves with age.

B&O are know considering if they need to change the software (although there is debate at B&O whether the 9000 automatically stores cd data or not - some say yes, others say no!). In the meantime I'm going to look at a Beocenter 2 as a replacement as I've kind of come to the end of the line with the 9000, unless B&O manage to come up with a permanent solution, I think it's almost time to call it a day. On other threads a few other people have had the same problem, all with very large collections of cds so although very rare, I'm not the only one with the problem.