nr609 problems, questions

I want to love this month old receiver ...I really do. But there are some issues that need to be resolved before that can happen:

1. I'm having what appears to be a common problem with the 609, judging from other posts in this forum. While watching a video source supplied by either the cable or the TV (Netflix, e.g.), or when listening to music via dlna, the audio occasionally cuts out for two or three seconds. Receiver's display suggests it's trying to remember what it was doing. Once it returns, I can rewind and replay the lost audio just fine. I've been through the HDMI checklist, but the problem remains.

2. NET died completely a few days ago. Everything else seemed to work fine. Selecting NET gave me a blank screen (I think it was green), the receiver's display showed 'NET' but nothing else. After searching the web, I finally did a hard reset and everything was back to normal (actually, an hour or so later after I reconfigured everything).

3. Yesterday, after a few hours listening to Pandora, the music stopped, and receiver started displaying 'INITIALIZING'. I was not able to play anything using NET. dlna said 'CANNOT PLAY', Pandora would display the title and artist, buffer each song, then immediately move on to the next, occasionally showing 'CANNOT PLAY', vTuner reported a network error (I don't recall the exact words). After a web search, I tried unplugging the power cord for a minute or so. It worked after plugging it back in. Note that this is different from the above issue when the NET apps were completely unavailable.

4. When listening to music from the media server through the TV's media app, the receiver consistently drops the first 1/2 second or so of each and every song while it tries to identify the audio format (any way to lock this so the receiver doesn't have to think so hard?). When played through the TV's speakers (receiver out of the picture), playback is normal.

I've upgraded to the latest firmware. I've swapped out the LAN and HDMI cables. I will consider yet another factory reset only as a last resort (these are painful)

FYI:
Onkyo TX-NR609
Samsung UN55D7050
AT&T U-Verse, Cisco STB
Seagate BlackArmor media server
Internet speed ~12Mbps
Everything connected through a TrendNet TE100-S80g 10/100Mbps switch behind AT&T's U-Verse Cisco router

Hi mikehartigan,
I have an associate looking into this and will get back to you soon, thank you for your patience.

I have the same problem as described above:
I have a mac mini connected via hdmi (pcm).
I play music from itunes.
Every minute it mutes for one second, searching for a source.
Interestingly, it doesn't lose picture.
Driving me nuts.
doesn't happen when I connect the iphone directly to usb.

Hi mikehartigan,

As a test can you try to bypass the switch and try going direct to the modem and see if you can connect?

I have the same issues with "cannot play" when trying to play music through the DLNA server.

I am connected to the network & modem because:

1) I can still play internet radio
2) I can brows my directory: owner/pc and view albums, artists, etc. When I select anything, the error is "cannot play" and it cycles through the list every few seconds looking for a file it can play (error #3 in the original post).

Hi MRJM,

Is your network behind a switch or are you connected directly to the modem? What DLNA server are you running and is it DLNA ver. 1.5? What model receiver do you have and have you tried a reset?

I need a little help before I can answer your questions (basic tech capabilities / knowledge)

I'm not sure what you mean by behind a switch. It is a wireless connection to the modem.

I don't know about DLNA or version. I'm using windows 7 on the pc.

The receiver is a TX NR-609 (part of the 7409 home theatre system).

I have a model 609 that is connected to a wired local netwrok.

First What it can do
1. It can Play Mp3 files from Win7 pro & Win Xp Service pack 3
2. It has a valid Ip address and I can see it on my network
3. All my computers are listed on the screen to select from.

The Problem I'm having is When playing files it drops the connection after 5 minutes ( win7 & XPPRO0 Same duration.) The receiver then Shows only my Directv hddvr's* and nothing else on my network. I can back out and start over and my pc's are shown again.

1. I can stream Mp3's over my network from my HDDVR's & Xbox & Sony Blu-ray's which are all on the same local network (all Day Long)

The ONKYO 609 IS running Firmware Version 1131-1400-0010-8106

Things I have Tried
1.Unplugged the receiver and reset
2. unplugged my network switch-(lynkys) My Router (lynkys) and My Cable modem (Aris)

*HDDVR's I can not view video files from (wrong file format) I access my local network from Media share within the HDDVR and palys like the xbox the same way with no issue's.

Suggestion?

Thank you

Hi westdc,

I have shot this question to our engineering department. I hope to have an answer soon.

OnkyoUSA wrote:Hi westdc,

I have shot this question to our engineering department. I hope to have an answer soon.

Thank you-

Please note it also (drops) does it while streaming Pandora - I can stream Pandora from my Blue-ray,Sony TV, and Hddvr over my Network and those devices work fine.

Hi westdc,
Thank you for the update. We will pass that one and thank you for your patients.

I'd like help as well, and am willing to answer your questions if you give me a little more direction.

I found My Issue - It is with my local firewall setting - To test - disable the firewall on any PC you are connecting to - if the connection does not drop then look into your McAfee firewall settings. No need to add or open ports just change one field in UPNP section.

Double-click the M icon.
Click Web and Email Protection drawer.
Click Firewall.
Within the Firewall menu click the Ports and System Services drawer.

When That Opens --Click the Bar that says- Universal plug and play ports -Then Click edit - the go to the drop down window and change it to "all PC"S"

Click Save

Your Onkyo will no longer drop it's connection.

Hi westdc,
We are glad you were able to resolve this issue and thank you for helping other customers.

My issue is not firewall related since my receiver can read the music directory, but for some reason gives the error "Cannot Play." Also the internet radio works fine. So again, the network is connected, but playing music is disabled. Help!

MRJM wrote:My issue is not firewall related since my receiver can read the music directory, but for some reason gives the error "Cannot Play." Also the internet radio works fine. So again, the network is connected, but playing music is disabled. Help!

Your Problem is with Windows and it's settings for Sharing under network permissions in win7- Look in the advanced folder under windows network.

That is why you can stream music but cannot play from your music folder in win7- Check you WIn Help folder under network file sharing for info

Hi westdc,
Thank you for your assistance on this thread. We appreciate it and have a great weekend.

(note: I am the author of the original post in this thread)
My 609 has been in the shop for three weeks. The tech called me a few days ago and advised that he cannot reproduce the problems. He indicated that he has had reports of similar issues from other U-Verse customers, suggesting perhaps an incompatibility of some sort. Is Onkyo making any effort to collect and analyze such reports? FWIW, as suggested in an earlier reply, I bypassed the switch and connected the receiver directly to the Cisco router (modem). The symptoms remained (DVR playback, obviously, could not be tested this way since the receiver does not directly use the network connection for this)

Additional symptoms:
1. (this seems like it might be a big clue) Intermittent audio dropouts lasting one second or so during DVR playback. Significantly, these occur consistently in the exact same places during playback, originally suggesting a bad recording. However, HDMI directly from STB to TV does not exhibit these dropouts, so the recording appears to be fine. Perhaps there's something in the digital audio stream that the 609 does not support (but that the Samsung TV has no problem with)? Video appears to be unaffected. Curiously, I've only observed this while playing videos of rock concerts (louder? more complex waveforms? - seems unlikely, but who knows?). Is there any way I can capture the digital audio from one of these events and forward it to you for analysis? I should also note that the optical connection exhibits the identical symptoms as HDMI.
2. After changing channels or pausing the STB, there’s no audio for 2-4 seconds (similar to #4 in my earlier list of symptoms, but the interval is longer). HDMI from STB directly to the TV, played through the TV’s speakers does not exhibit this problem.

If I hadn't paid so much money for this receiver, I'd be inclined to sell it on ebay and simply buy another brand. As it is, I like the features that this receiver provides and I feel that the adage "you get what you pay for" applies here in the sense that I don't believe I cheaped out on this particular model. Any chance we can make this work? It's important to note that this is the only device in my home that is having these issues, including a six year old Denon receiver in another room and an old Sony receiver that preceded that. Even my U-Verse STB plays DLNA sources without problems, despite its hideous user interface.

None of the Net functions work on my TXNR-609 VTuner selections seem to attach, show as buffering, and then I get the Cannot Play. Something similar occurs with Pandora. Assuming my account is not cached in the receiver, my stations are there. Once a station is selected, it displays as if it ready for a song, but nothing starts and the times are zeroed.

Nothing has changed, network config wise. Changing the network cable did nothing.

Hi jaydon53,

Have you tried to connect direct to the modem bypassing the router if any?

Changing the cable and the connection, bypassing the router, did nothing. I had to do a system restore, which resolved the issue. Not the optimal solution, but better than nothing.

Hi jaydon53,

I apologize for the inconvenience but we are glad it is working now.