Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

[Dannyx]

Good day folks. This is going to be slightly embarrassing, since I work in an "authorized" Sony center, yet here I am asking for help in various third-party places As I always said, there's no such thing as "perfect anything" and nobody can claim they know everything, so help is always welcome as long as it gets the job done. Let's cut to the chase:

KDL-26U400 has a strange issue: wide purple vertical dotted bar shows up at the left side after power-on. I thought it's a panel issue, but then I reconsidered it: it goes away when you change the source, but you can't change the source back to TV and it doesn't detect any channels at all. There's also no factory reset option in the user menu (don't know if it's bugged out and it disappeared or it didn't have such thing from the factory).

This makes me believe it's a software issue. I logged onto our Sony platform and located some firmware, but here's the embarrassing part: I can't find a "formatter tool" as they call it. Apparently sticking the memory stick into it is not enough (we're talking about Sony's proprietary "memory stick" card and not an actual USB stick, since it doesn't have USB). It first needs to be formatted with some special tool to get the TV to recognize it, otherwise it just sits there and does nothing despite having the firmware file on it. The documentation does indeed provide a link to what software would've been used back in the day, but with this being so old it no longer works...any ideas at this point? Any Sony aficionados out there who could lend a hand....told you it's embarrassing: Sony center doesn't have Sony tools...TBH, I don't even have a memory stick handy - will have to hunt for one...WHAT KIND OF PLACE IS THIS ?! Cheers guys. Any help is always welcome.

[CapLeaker]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

I agree with you there. It's not the panel, it's on the main board. But it still could be faulty hard ware on the main board. Can we see some clear pics of the main board?
try this to factory reset: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1J6w8cHRKu0

[CapLeaker]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

maybe a bad eeprom or eeprom flash? Maybe also worth checking out.

[budm]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

SONY Memory Stick® Formatter Software

https://www.sony.com/electronics/sup...loads/W0002860
or just search for MSFMTINST250.EXE

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

I haven't taken it apart yet because I was hoping I'd be able to fix it "externally" for now, so the best I can do ATM just to keep the ball rolling is to provide a snippet from the service manual. I'm expecting the part encircled to be of interest. Also, the board model is A-1545-603-A if you can find anything on it (again, according to the manual). If you'd like to see the whole manual (it's got schematics and I managed to identify what looks like an EEPROM - an M24C02) I'll have to send it privately because I noticed Sony automatically stamps our ID into the PDF and I don't want to get in any trouble....just in case...

That said, thank Budm: I came across that one myself but wasn't sure it's the same one the manual describes - it doesn't mention its name explicitly, but looking at the link, it's something "MSFRM...something" which seems to match what you linked to, so I'm hoping it's not something dedicated for service purposes, not available to the public...only one way to find out and that's to try it out. Thing is the TV has a bit of "life" left in it even in this state, so the last thing I want is to brick it for good...the client would probably be understanding, but everyone besides him wouldn't - the competition is very fierce here

I say we start off from the most simple to the most complicated fixes: try a simple reset > try a software upgrade > try to reprogram stuff off-board....if it's the large flash chip in the CI cradle on the right that's going to be a problem, as not only have I never soldered anything that large, but we also might not have anything to write back TO it...

Oh, did I mention I don't have a memory stick ?

[CapLeaker]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

there has to be another flash of some sort besides this 24c02, to load the firmware. Because this IC is very small in memory. We are taking 2kbits here.

[ducky29]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Actually there is a way how to factory reset the tv.

Enter service menu and then press 08

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

there has to be another flash of some sort besides this 24c02, to load the firmware. Because this IC is very small in memory. We are taking 2kbits here.

Yes, there is: I mentioned it in my previous post. It's the one within the CI slot - at least that's what it looks like in the picture. It's the one I said would be impossible to recover (unless ripped from another TV at which point I'd just swap the boards since they HAVE to be identical for this to work anyway and sometimes even that's not enough with Sonys - the firmware has to match to get a picture)

[CapLeaker]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

impossible to recover? Why? Folks swapping them no problem. Take is off, read it, erase it, blank check, see if that chip is faulty, program chip with, put it back in it's place. You can find dumps on the internet, maybe ask...

I've taken these out before, read it, reprogrammed it and put it back in. It isn't bad.

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Well, "impossible" in my case, although I do consider myself to have above-average soldering and electronic skills so I should be able to tackle it. There's a couple of hurdles: removing the IC (haven't done it before) because, and this is the second hurdle, I haven't owned a flash programmer for those large flash ICs - I've only done small SPI and EEPROM ones. Another issue is the risk you're running to break the thing for good, though highly unlikely. And last by not least we've got the issue of this old geezer of a "colleague" looking over my shoulder and basically scrutinizing my every move...I CANNOT work like that so I usually say f-it, which is not the mark of a good repairman, I know...until I somehow get rid of him, it's going to be like this I'm afraid...patience patience patience...

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Guess what: there's no card slot I suppose you're supposed to use a "jig" that plugs into the only available slot which looks like where a FFC would go...soooo....yeah
EDIT: it does - it's under the CI slot, but was hidden by that dummy tray FAIL !

EDIT2: I punched 08 in the "TT" menu and it reset the TV. The vertical line is gone but it doesn't tune DIGITAL channels. It grabbed some analog ones but no digital ones and it doesn't let me select "digital setup" (or something like that) in the menu...still a software bug I'd say.

[ducky29]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Guess what: there's no card slot I suppose you're supposed to use a "jig" that plugs into the only available slot which looks like where a FFC would go...soooo....yeah
EDIT: it does - it's under the CI slot, but was hidden by that dummy tray FAIL !

EDIT2: I punched 08 in the "TT" menu and it reset the TV. The vertical line is gone but it doesn't tune DIGITAL channels. It grabbed some analog ones but no digital ones and it doesn't let me select "digital setup" (or something like that) in the menu...still a software bug I'd say.

Replace main board.

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Just out of curiosity - here's the main board....blurry AF I know Is this a tuner issue or a decoder issue ? The Digital decoder seems to be a separate chip on the board according to the manual. If that's toast, no amount of firmware will help.

EDIT: just got hold of a memory stick and tried the upgrade procedure: the TV just stays there with a blank screen and no LEDs...still waiting for it to do something. Sure hope it's not bricked at this point...that would be a fuckin' disaster...

[CapLeaker]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

does the analog tuner work to start with?

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Yes it does and thankfully it also didn't brick - unplugged it and plugged it back in and it sort-of reset, displaying the "first time setup" screen. Still no digital reception though and I'm sometimes having a hard time getting it to tune analog also - the menu disappears when I hit OK and doesn't take my "start scan" command...something's f-ed up there....

Worth noting: before punching "08" in the TT service menu which is the command for reset, I punched 88 instead which the manual identifies as "Digital shipping conditions (Clear tune database)". Interestingly, I came across another forum thread somewhere where a chap messed with this 88 command and subsequently he had no digital reception either, though when I got the TV it didn't pick up anything to begin with, so it was probably not my fault - bad memory blocks is what I'm thinking. There's a bunch of different settings there, but I don't dare going back in there again because I just managed to get it to pick up some analog channels and want to return it as such. At least the stripe is gone so it wasn't all in vain, though if anyone still has any ideas I'd be willing to hear them out.

Also worth noting: the card I used wasn't mine - I borrowed it from a co-worker who told me not to format it or delete any of the hidden files from it because it was formatted inside a Sony camera for precisely the purpose of flashing TVs (which apparently is the same as using the tool which TVs "like"), so I used it "as such". It was blank indeed, except for two hidden files...don't know if it had an effect though or if it would've done the same if I had formatted with the tool you guys suggested.

[R_J]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Is everything correct in the TT OSD Label screen for this model

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

Well damn, I don't remember what it showed there....a bunch of letters and numbers and dashes, but can't remember any of it unfortunately...might fire up TT again tomorrow.

[R_J]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

If you look in the manual (page 13) it shows what those letters mean, Its the page after the TT MODES table

[Dannyx]

Re: Sony Memory Stick formatter tool (for KDL-26U4000)

I see D/A mode there: "D is shown when Digital mode is enabled; A is shown when Analogue mode is enabled. Changed by TT53." What DOES digital/analogue mode signify ? Should there's be an option for BOTH ? Or perhaps it's not referring to the "analog/digital" channels at all.

Another issue is that some of the info is cryptic, like ECS or CBA mode...what does that mean ? From the little info I was able to find, ECS refers to the service port hidden on the back.