HD100: Aspect Ratio Messed Up After Beta Firmware Update

[hometheaterfan]

Hey guys. I updated my HD100 with the beta firmware. Since then my aspect ratio has been meesed up.

I have my HD100 connected to the component inputs of my LCD HDTV. Before the firmware update, I had the default aspect ratio for SD video set to "source" so that I have black bars on the side of my 4:3 SD picture. Well after the firmware update, all SD content is stretched no matter what aspect ratio I set the HD100 (source, fill, zoom1, zoom2, zoom3, or wide zoom) to. It's like the HD100 thinks I am using a 4:3 TV. Even the HD content has black bars on the top and bottom, like it would on a 4:3 TV.

The only way that I can get the aspect ratio back to the way I had it before is to go into the setup menu and change the TV shape from 16:9 to 16:10 then back to 16:9 again. The aspect ratio remains the way I like as long as I keep the HD100 on, but after I turn off the HD100, I'm back to the messed up aspect ratio problem again when I turn the HD100 back on.

Is there any way to fix this, or is there a way to safely downgrade my firmware back to the previous firmware version?

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by hometheaterfan

Is there any way to fix this, or is there a way to safely downgrade my firmware back to the previous firmware version?

Hey, I'm not crazy after all!

I had this same problem with the HD200! I thought I caused it, somehow. In any case, I don't know what is causing the problem, but I do know how to fix it.

Go you your SageTV folder. One of the subfolders is clients. That folder contains properties files for your extenders and placeshifting clients. The filenames are the MAC addresses for your extenders and/or placeshifting computers. You want to find the properties file for your HD100 and delete it. If you have multiple properties files, it is probably going to be the one most recently modified, assuming you've used your HD100 extender more recently than any other extenders/Placeshifters.

This will erase all the settings on your HD100. Meaning, if you have any custom aspect ratio modes, you'll have to add them back in later (so, keep a copy of the properties file before you delete it). If you use SageMC, you'll have to add it again from the stock UI.

If you *really* don't want to lose your settings I have an idea of what you can try to do to your existing properties file, but I have no idea if it will work. The idea is based on my observations about what lines are different in my new properties file after deleting my old one and reconfiguring everything. But, I'm hesitant to just post it now because I really have no idea of what it will do on the HD100 (maybe the lines missing from my properties file are still suppose to be present for HD100 clients).

Edit: By the way, for Sage's benefit, you might want to submit a bug report. I told them about this problem, but after I discovered the fix I concluded the problem was my own fault. In my case, I was using a properties file on an HD200 that I copied over from an HD100. It worked fine at first, but like you, things went bad after upgrading to the beta firmware. After hearing you are having the same problems, I'm now under the impression that this really is a bug in the firmware. Make sure you say you're using component video. I never tried HDMI, but that might explain why we haven't heard other complaints about this issue.

[reggie14]

Actually, I think I know how to easily reproduce this problem. The extenders seem to get stuck in this weird aspect ratio state where it thinks you have a 4:3 TV whenever you change the resolution that the extender outputs.

I originally had native resolution switching turned on. After deleting my extender client's properties file I never re-enabled switching. I just did that a few minutes ago, and the weird aspect ratio problem came back. I did some more testing and I was able to reproduce the aspect ratio problem just by cycling through different output resolutions by hitting the 'video out' button on the remote.

Can anyone else try this on their extender to see if they have the same results? Don't worry, everything goes back to normal when you turn off and turn back on the extender.