DS9800 becomes unavailable for airplay time after time

[artesan]

I have a problem with DS9800 airplay speakers.
The speakers randomly become unavailable for airplay streaming, although it remains on and available in airplay menu of iPad. If I try to send the streaming signal to the speakers the playback just stops.
All other functions continue to operate: device is visible on the wi-fi network, I can play music through aux connection, indicator shows that the unit is on.

Usually this happens after a few hours of being idle, but there's no rule. Sometimes it happens overnight, sometimes it does not.

The wifi network is fine, my B&W zeppelin air doesn't have such problem.

[rby]

I just want to say that I have the exact same problem. Everything works fine except for the AirPlay streaming from iTunes or iOS.

Using a third party utility built for AirPlay (AirFoil) which provides an actual error message instead of Apple iTunes' odd error-numbers I managed to see that the AirPlay streaming server (which lives inside of the speaker) simply crashed and returned a 500 Internal Server Error.

I have two sets of speakers, and they both have the same problem. The one which is also connected through a mini-jack wire to my TV does it more often than the one which stands single - but they both have the problem if they are allowed to stand idle for about 24-48 hours.

I am waiting for a firmware fix from Philips. Without any access to logs on the unit it is impossible to diagnose this further.

Philips, feel free to contact me for details. I tried contacting you through the customer chat but was dismissed.

Model: DS9800W/10 (two sets, both have same problem)
Firmware: 3.8.79.1001

Both are connected to a Apple Airport Extreme Base station (I have tried to connect to my other wireless router supplied by my ISP and the problem persists)

[rby]

I wanted to update this thread as yesterday Philips released a new firmware (3.8.88.3700) for DS9800W.

The firmware does indeed address the problem of this thread. It seems that the firmware operates as some sort of patch. If the internal software that lives inside of the speaker is made aware that the AirPlay server has crashed it is restarted in a few seconds.

Therefore, when trying to establish contact through for instance iTunes it will still produce an error - but if one retries immediately afterwards it works as intended.

All in all a good temporary fix. Hoping though that the next version of the firmware will address the acutal problem so that retrying will not be needed.

[DavePriceRoberts]

Hi there - I've got the same problem. Firmware is 3.8.79.1001, which according to the Philips UK site is the latest version. I found changing the IP address from the standard 192.168.1.1 has improved things somewhat but I can still crash the speakers if I skip through too many songs in a row.
Where do I get firmware 3.8.88.3700 from? Its not available on the UK site. Thanks, Dave

[artesan]

Check out here:
http://www.usa.philips.com/c/audio-s.../en/?t=support

I just updated the software, will post the result in a few days.

[DavePriceRoberts]

Ahh...this looks promising. I wonder why it's not the same across all the Philips sites.

[giorgis]

I am from GREECE and i have the same problem, even after the upload of the latest version V3.8.88.3700 .I have this problem with ipad2, iPhone4, iphone4s, and my latest i mac. It starts playing music with airplay for some seconds or minutes and then stops.
THE APDATE HASN'T FIXED ANYTHING YET !!!

[Philips - QK]

Dear users,

Please be noted that the firmware version V3.8.88.3700 is catered for US consumers only as they have different router settings with that of Europe consumers. Please avoid using this US version firmware. We are now looking into firmware solution for Europe versions. Please bear with us some time for this. Meanwhile, please try upgrade your iphones & iPads to iOS5.1 for further testing. We have been testing the compatability of iOS5.1 and the testing report shows that DS9800 works well on iOS5.1.

Kind regards,
Philips Moderation Team

[DavePriceRoberts]

I'm running iOS 5.1 and I will admit that it's better but it's not fixed. It still looses connection and AirPlay just stops broadcasting. It's interesting that it doesn't appear as a connected device when looking at the advanced settings on the router. I use WI-FI / AirPlay on the following devices without problem:
Apple iMac
Apple TV
Apple iPad (1st and 3rd Generation)
Apple iPhone 4
XBox360
Panasonic Blu-Ray
HP Photosmart Plus Printer

None of these devices have had problems and all show-up as listed devices on the BT Home Hub3 router. For some reason the Philips DS9800W/10 speakers really struggle.

[giorgis]

THE PROBLEM HAS NOT FIXED EVEN WITH iOS5.1 UPGRATE !!!
I HAVE ALSO PROBLEM WITH THE UPLOAD OF VERSION v3.8.79.1001. WHEN I CHOOSE THE APPROPRIATE FILE AND PUSH THE BUTTON FOR UPLOADING NOTHING HAPENS ON MY LATEST iMAC!!!
PLEASE FIX THE PROBLEMS A.S.A.P. WE ARE VERY DISAPPOINTED !!!

[Philips - QK]

Dear users,

We have reported your issue here to our development team. Please bear with us for some time to look into this. We will update you as soon as we have more information from the team.

Kind regards,
Philips Moderation Team

[Philips - QK]

Dear users,

Software engineer advised that this may be router compatability issue if all your iOS devices have problem with DS9800W. Could you please provide more info on your router so that we can continue with our investigation?

Kind rgeards,
Philips Moderation Team

[DavePriceRoberts]

I'm using a BT Home Hub 3. All other devices work (most not as expensive) work perfectly well.

[Philips - QK]

Dear users,

Thanks for giving the router info to us. However, we would like to understand more on the setup of your router. Appreciate if you can give us a bit more information.

Also, I would like to inform you that firmware v3.8.88.1000 has been released for DS9800W. Please find and download the firmware at http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/d...=Link_Software .

With thanks & regards,
Phillips Moderation Team

[DavePriceRoberts]

Now I don't seem to be able to update my firmware. I click on Update Firmware from the landing page but it just times out and the light on the back of speaker goes red.

I've watched the Philips demo video on updating the firmware but despite trying to do the update on both Win7 machine and a Mac, I don't seem to be able to apply the update.