from Hacker News

Samsung Q990D unresponsive after 1020 firmware update

by ftufek on 3/14/25, 4:10 PM with 562 comments

  • by 0xFEE1DEAD on 3/14/25, 8:01 PM

    Someone on reddit [0] mentioned that they updated their device via USB and hadn't encountered any issues. If that's true, then it might actually have been the previous firmware update that silently bricked the device. Or maybe Samsung only test in a controlled lab environment without real world signal interference.

    In any case, it's mind boggling how a multi billion dollar company lacks proper rollout strategies.

    I have a pair of Sony WH-1000XM4 headphones, and their app constantly tells me to install the latest firmware update. After the 20th time I finally agreed - only to be met with the update instructions: I must perform the update in a place with no other bluetooth or wifi devices.

    Where on earth would I even have to go to find a place without there being any 2.4Ghz signal interference?

    I've never been more careful when pressing “Cancel,” making sure I don't accidentally tap “Agree and Continue”.

    [0] https://www.reddit.com/r/Soundbars/comments/1jb1ymp/comment/...

  • by AdmiralAsshat on 3/14/25, 4:22 PM

    If the damage is actually as bad as it sounds, Samsung is probably talking with their lawyers and is being instructed to maintain radio silence so as to better prepare for the class-action lawsuit.

  • by slt2021 on 3/14/25, 4:33 PM

    Similar to Crowdstrike failed auto update incident.

    What was the need for the global instance 0->1 rollout of the firmware over the air ???????????????

    could they perhaps test it on a small subset? perhaps on Samsung CEO's home system, not the customers'?

  • by drlobster on 3/14/25, 5:19 PM

    They did this before, about five years ago. I had to send it back to them for a fix and it came back a few weeks later.

    https://hackaday.com/2020/07/19/the-real-story-how-samsung-b...

  • by reverendsteveii on 3/14/25, 5:02 PM

    Do you guys miss owning things and they were just...yours? Like, you paid money for them and then you had them and you had full control over them and someone half a world away wasn't able to reach into your house and break them or make them do evil things?

  • by eYrKEC2 on 3/14/25, 4:42 PM

    My Samsung TV got more and more unusable with every update. Over the years, saved apps, like Youtube, started to disappear every time it woke up. Then it would default to their Samsung TV app, rather than your last app. Samsung TV app happened to be on the Baywatch channel every time my young children started the stupid thing. Finally, after it took 2 minutes to load the youtube app, I factory-reset the device, disconnected the internet from it, and put a Beelink mini PC in front of it. Works flawlessly.

    Samsung product life cycle support seems like planned obsolescence.

  • by tomstokes on 3/14/25, 4:30 PM

    Two important features I insist on for products I develop:

    1. Staged rollout of firmware updates. It’s common practice for apps and software but for some reason it’s less common with firmware. Rolling out to 1% (or less, depending on scale) of devices and waiting a day is cheap insurance. Side note: Build a good relationship with customer service people so you hear about these things immediately.

    2. A failsafe firmware reset back to factory state. Some sequence that resets the device completely back to the way it was when it came out of the box, firmware included, as a last resort. In conjunction, your automated tests need to confirm that every factory firmware you’ve ever released can update to the latest firmware.

  • by yubiox on 3/14/25, 4:51 PM

    I made the mistake of connecting my bose noise cancelling earbuds to the phone app so I could disable autoplay. They updated without any warning and now they won't charge properly and the noise cancelling sucks. It used to be amazing. Never connect anything and never take updates unless you need a specific fix.

  • by commandlinefan on 3/14/25, 5:39 PM

    "We understand how frustrating an unresponsive soundbar can be."

    Isn't this about the most condescending thing they can start with?

  • by krunck on 3/14/25, 5:56 PM

    I hate smart TVs. Why put all the functionality in one device when a small part of it is going to become obsolete real soon while the TV part will continue to work for a decade or more. I buy dumb TVs and a separate "smart" component like Roku that can be replaced as easily as a shoelace.

  • by elzbardico on 3/14/25, 4:38 PM

    Samsung sucks. Their customer support is a joke. And this is across the world. Right now I am back in Brazil, just got a new samsung product. It was delivered non-functioning. Hours since I submitted a ticket. No answer. Talking to a real human being is impossible.

  • by nfriedly on 3/14/25, 9:04 PM

    I have a samsung "smart" TV, and a few years back it started interrupting the DVD I was trying to watch every 15 minutes or so to tell me to check my internet connection. My internet was fine, but whatever server it was phoning home to had apparently gone down.

    I ended up factory resetting the TV to make it forget my wifi credentials, and I just haven't put it back online since then. I haven't regretted it at all.

    I think mine is compatible with the SammyGo custom firmware, so I might install that one of these days, and then maybe I'll reconnect it to my network. But, for now, I just have a PC connected to it and manage everything there.

  • by marcodiego on 3/14/25, 4:32 PM

    Should be codified by law:

      - If a firmware can be updated, it must keep a minimum ROM feature so it can be recovered. 
  - No device should be updated without the *owner* explicit intention to do so.
  - Full docs must be released if the vendor stops supporting it.

  • by tzs on 3/14/25, 5:55 PM

    Not a good year so far for Samsung. Just under two months ago on a large number of their TVs with voice control it started only recognizing commands in Russian. It took them several days to get that straightened out.

    It was educational. I learned that I completely suck at trying to speak Russian. I could type "channel 4" into Google Translate on my iPad, press the Mic button on my TV remote, and press the speak icon on Google Translate and the channel would change.

    But no matter how many times I listened to Google Translate say that in Russian I could not manage to match it close enough the TV to accept it.

  • by crtasm on 3/14/25, 4:27 PM

    List price $2,000. What was the update supposed to improve/fix?

  • by mrbonner on 3/14/25, 5:20 PM

    I just snapped after 2014. Used to be a Samsung consumer with their TVs, galaxy phones, security cams, etc... Their hardware wasn't that bad. It was the software update either buggy or bricking my devices that threw me off. I swear never to allow another Samsuck (my little girl coined that) device in my home and family lives again.

  • by genewitch on 3/14/25, 5:50 PM

    I have been boycotting samsung since ~2014; because of my experience with two, brand new, ~$1000 samsung devices, neither a phone. Their customer service blew me off, because both devices had intermittent issues. I tell people to avoid the company and its products.

    both devices were malfunctioning within the first month.

    1) 4k60 32" monitor, the power button always flaked and it would randomly shut off, thus necessitating unplugging and plugging it back in, 2-3 times a day. customer service: "unplug all monitor cables and plug just power in. what is on the screen? oh, then it's fine. have a nice day!"

    2) Refrigerator. Intermittent fan issues were the reason i called. i ended up having to replace, for cause, the heating elements in the refrigerator side as well as the fans due to ice damage to the impellers; then the ice machine started leaking inside the freezer door somewhere, and that leak would freeze on the bottom of the freezer and push the door open, letting water just drip on my floor for hours, nearly damaging the subfloor. I also had to replace the motherboard. So now i have a water-less, ice-less refrigerator.

    i could go on about how their SD cards are quite fast but don't last long if you have them in outdoor devices (like dashcams, trail cams, security cameras) - the only raspberry pi i've ever had to throw away had a samsung SD card in it that overheated to the point of contact burns - i went to unplug it to reboot it and received a welt from the SD card for my troubles.

    I'm just one person, but read enough anecdotes and you can ignore them all!

  • by nancyminusone on 3/14/25, 4:25 PM

    See you on Louis Rossman later today!

  • by rd11235 on 3/14/25, 5:59 PM

    Good motivation for a PSA:

    This happens more and more often, and there is a fairly easy + popular workaround (which also comes with 99% ad blocking as a bonus). Just either set up pi-hole locally OR use a hosted DNS service that does essentially the same thing.

    Main idea: Ads, updates, etc. typically (not always) need to resolve hosts before connecting to servers. Simply resolve these hosts to 0.0.0.0 instead of a real IP.

    Arguments for pi-hole or other local solution: Free. Private.

    Arguments for hosted solution: No set-up headache, no local raspberry pi or other machine to maintain. Overall a bit simpler.

    Guide for blocking updates after the service is set up (I just went through this a month or two ago to block updates to my LG TV):

    Step 1: Search around for servers that correspond to updates for your device.

    Step 2: Test these lists; realize that they are often incomplete.

    Step 3: Shut your device off. Open pi-hole like service, and watch queries live. While doing so, turn on your device (and if you have the option, check for updates).

    Step 4: Put all of the queried hosts you see into your block list.

    Step 5: Later, you may encounter broken functionality. When this happens, look at your logs, and see which server(s) were blocked at that moment. Remove only those from the blocklist. (And cross your fingers that the manufacturer doesn't use the same hosts for typical functionality and updates.)

  • by N19PEDL2 on 3/14/25, 7:44 PM

    Perhaps a stupid question, but why they don’t test the firmware updates internally before releasing them?

  • by X-Istence on 3/14/25, 4:49 PM

    This is one of those cases where I am glad I don't have my soundbar connected to the internet...

  • by jauntywundrkind on 3/14/25, 5:10 PM

    Side note, it's frustrating that this link tries to open in an app on my Samsung phone.

    I installed the GitHub app a long time ago, and that had similar behaviors that kept me from the web-based experience I know & love & which is more URL based. Finding that disappointing, I uninstalled the app. But still, GitHub results in Google don't show the URL, they just say "app installed" where the URL would be. What a colossal regression.

    More to the topic, we are on day 4 of Google Chromecast Audio & 2nd generation being broken. Supposedly an expired cert. Amazing neglect, ya'll.

  • by barbazoo on 3/14/25, 4:36 PM

    Samsung should merge with Sonos, they are all doing a really great job :)

  • by baxuz on 3/14/25, 5:49 PM

    I got a good deal for an S90C + Q990C combo. It was 50% off off their regular price which was already quite a bit cheaper than the comparable LG/Sony counterparts.

    After 1 year, I am 100% sure that I will never again buy a Samsung product, no matter how cheap it is.

    Just look at the first sticky here: https://www.avsforum.com/threads/2023-samsung-4k-s95c-s90c-s...

  • by deskr on 3/14/25, 4:46 PM

    Thoughts and prayers for the poor soul that owns the bug.

    I've done my share of embarrassing mistakes and each time I've felt awful. Nothing on this scale though.

  • by gblargg on 3/14/25, 6:45 PM

    I made the mistake of updating my HIKMICRO mini thermal camera. Before it worked as a normal UVC USB webcam with any app or camera/video program on the PC. After it just has weird green coloration with hardly any variation, and only works properly in their Android app. I contacted company but they didn't care, nor provided any way to "downgrade" the firmware to the original version.

  • by maayank on 3/14/25, 4:51 PM

    I’m currently away from home but can deny list domains on the dns level. Anyone knows the domain this update is using? Blocked samsung.com

  • by iaw on 3/14/25, 5:14 PM

    I am looking to get a new monitor in the next year or so and have been considering ultra-wides. During my research the proportion of people that had horrible experiences with Samsung monitors, typically right after warranty expired, was enough to deter me from the entire brand in the future.

  • by staticman2 on 3/14/25, 4:28 PM

    Ironically the 2022 Samsung soundbar model I have hasn't gotten a single firmware update since January 2023. I bought it new from Samsung after that day.

    I am moderately surprised that they even update their firmware on some models.

  • by walrus01 on 3/14/25, 4:31 PM

    This is one of the reasons why my home theater system is built from discrete parts (not an all-in-one soundbar), with a high quality receiver that never talks to the internet, doesn't have an ethernet cable and has no wifi access (it works fine as a bluetooth sink when I want to play something from my phone into it), separately purchased 5.1 speaker system, and roll of 16awg stranded copper speaker cable from monoprice.

  • by p0w3n3d on 3/14/25, 7:30 PM

    Software crisis. The more you build the less you understand, the more you can affect, the less control you give to people etc.

    This will bite us again and again in general.

  • by PeterStuer on 3/15/25, 7:27 AM

    For those with mild dyslexia: The system did not brick after suffering through 1020 updates. 1020 is the update version label.

  • by account42 on 3/17/25, 9:29 AM

    I never update any device firmware these days unless there is a specific problem I'm trying to solve. Even if the update is not outright buggy, chances are it comes with unwanted "improvements" like ads or similar "features".

  • by bregma on 3/14/25, 5:38 PM

    I recently replaced all my kitchen appliances with matching mid-scale Samsung-branded ones. The first thing I did after powering them on for the first time was disable the WiFi. For this reason.

    Also, it's entirely unclear to me why I need WiFi or a remote server for my dishwasher or refrigerator in the first place. What possible value-add is there?

  • by yuumei on 3/14/25, 9:27 PM

    I have the same Samsung sound bar and absolutely nothing works. We need to hard reset it every day because it refuses to work, switching between programmes in Netflix causes a horrible loud crack, the latest one is having speakers out of sync. Really bad. Unfortunately the rtings reviewers didn’t seem to test any of these things.

  • by timewizard on 3/14/25, 6:23 PM

    Samsumg did not bring THEIR home theater systems, they bricked CUSTOMER theater systems that did not belong to them.

  • by nabaraz on 3/14/25, 9:21 PM

    I got tired of constant updates/apps on home screen/lag and all on my Samsung TV and finally bought a Sony. Everything I do is through Apple TV and Xbox now, Sony is not connected to the internet.

    Other than the slow boot (takes about 5 seconds to switch to Apple TV after pressing power button), I have no complaints.

  • by renewiltord on 3/14/25, 7:40 PM

    I always really enjoy these community forums. They are total garbage.

    Hello, I am Rene, a community expert on the Hacker News Experience Forums. I see you are having trouble with an auto-flagged post. I will try to help you with your auto-flagged post. Have you tried turning off your kitchen tap and turning it back on again?

  • by thimabi on 3/14/25, 4:28 PM

    It bothers me that many devices are so easily remotely bricked and that keeping them offline is the only way to avoid such issues.

    Automated updates were supposed to give us peace of mind instead of having us worried about what bug or enshittification will follow.

    I’d wager that, for most Internet-connected appliances, keeping them offline or disabling autoupdates have way more pros than cons.

  • by not_your_vase on 3/14/25, 5:22 PM

      > Have you tried to factory reset your soundbar?
    2 years ago, when LLMs started to become huge, I was really hoping that by this time AI would do this 1st line tech support, with actually helpful questions, suggestions and deductions.

  • by palata on 3/14/25, 6:44 PM

    When will someone build a good theater system with an open source OS? That would be great!

  • by Navenaps on 3/15/25, 5:56 PM

    Yeah. I too got into the same problem. But the thing is, I just bought Q990D on Feb 22 and I got into this situation on Mar 8. The soundbar stuck into the mode that I was using and it becomes unresponsive.

  • by whiteboardr on 3/14/25, 4:20 PM

    Doesn’t sound good. If at all.

  • by freehorse on 3/14/25, 4:44 PM

    If you want your devices not to belong to you, connect them to the internet.

  • by treme on 3/14/25, 6:50 PM

    I think it hasn't even been a year since Samsung bricked bunch of their phones with firmware update. They really must have no proper engineering team behind update process.

  • by nickdothutton on 3/14/25, 8:02 PM

    This is why you phase release of updates to 1% of customers, then 2%, then 5% over a period of hours... while watching the help desk queues. Because testing is never perfect.

  • by hyperluz on 3/14/25, 5:58 PM

    Sony bricked my WF-1000XM4 by overheating its batteries. Some users reported things melting. $250,00 of my work straight to the trash bin. Thank you Sony...not.

  • by drcongo on 3/14/25, 5:00 PM

    I own one Samsung product, a very expensive fridge freezer, and it's been garbage since the day I bought it. I'll never buy a Samsung product again.

  • by jtrueb on 3/14/25, 4:59 PM

    A lot of folks in this thread say rollback to a known firmware version is required. Where are they getting all this microcontroller ROM?

  • by thebeardisred on 3/14/25, 4:21 PM

    Just an ex-CoreOS person stopping by to smile and say "someone should really figure out how to do that safely."

  • by zoklet-enjoyer on 3/14/25, 8:17 PM

    Why does a sound bar need a firmware update?

  • by ajaimk on 3/14/25, 4:29 PM

    Really glad I never connected mine to wifi

  • by WalterBright on 3/14/25, 4:29 PM

    My bluray player has an ethernet port on the back, but I never ever connect it to the internet.

  • by jp1016 on 3/14/25, 6:35 PM

    Reminder to myself to not auto update anything or manually update to the latest version.

  • by FartyMcFarter on 3/14/25, 5:56 PM

    Reading this makes me glad that I didn't give my TV the WiFi credentials.

  • by devmor on 3/14/25, 4:44 PM

    I will never understand why people are willing to connect so many of their devices to the internet for minimal features. I went out of my way to build a network that prevents even the things I want to have local wifi access from being accessible to the internet.

  • by idontwantthis on 3/14/25, 10:41 PM

    Jokes on them: I tried and failed to connect it to wifi and gave up.

  • by NotYourLawyer on 3/14/25, 7:13 PM

    Why are these things connected to the internet at all?

  • by hosteur on 3/14/25, 8:04 PM

    One more reason to never allow a tv on the internet.

  • by yread on 3/14/25, 4:48 PM

    Unplug the soundbar and listen to the sound from the TV while you wait until Samsung fixes their shit. What's the problem?

  • by jajko on 3/14/25, 8:21 PM

    I have those, desperately checking if they don't auto-update... whfff, luckily no.

    I never patch such devices as long as they work, the only exception is phone and desktop. Those idiotic phone apps to tweak some minor stuff - thank you but I couldn't care less, I install maybe 1 new app to my phone a year and no, it won't be due to buying some effin' loudspeakers.

    There is simply 0 real gain for me and always non-zero risk. Even those I hate updating, but grokking they are too important to leave some known hackable surface open.

  • by space_firmware on 3/14/25, 7:10 PM

    Sigh, another day, another consumer product without fault tolerant update systems. SpaceX has a white paper on doing this with their satellites for Starlink. https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=5...

    It is bad engineering on Samsung's part to even be able to brick their product with an update.

  • by tylerflick on 3/14/25, 4:24 PM

    I have one of these systems. Not sure why anyone would ever leave it connected to the internet though.

  • by hashishen on 3/14/25, 4:22 PM

    thank God mine is before they decided to add smart features to a speaker

  • by jijji on 3/14/25, 6:57 PM

    why would a soundbar need a firmware update?...seems like a solution looking for a problem... what's next my toaster needs a firmware update?!?!

  • by Animats on 3/14/25, 7:26 PM

    On forced updating: "The Lord giveth, and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord."

  • by Ikatza on 3/14/25, 10:03 PM

    Yet another reason why I don't connect appliances to the internet. My TV is plugged to an Nvidia Shield, and that's the device that gets online, since it was designed for that.

  • by yobibyte on 3/14/25, 5:16 PM

    vibe coding

  • by 1970-01-01 on 3/14/25, 6:15 PM

    Just more evidence that buying something smart is dumb.

  • by dghughes on 3/14/25, 5:26 PM

    ...nervously looks over at my Bambu X1-Carbon...

  • by knowitnone on 3/14/25, 4:23 PM

    So glad everything's connected to the internet \s.

  • by 6stringmerc on 3/14/25, 4:21 PM

    This will be really interesting to follow. Especially with respect to Tesla’s love of pushing updates to clients. Could this be a harbinger of “you don’t really own your property” by way of so many companies going down this route that enough collapses result in litigation and a massive readjustment? Time will tell.

  • by caminante on 3/14/25, 4:53 PM

    HN title is editorialized. I assume "bricked" is a lot worse, i.e., permanent.

    Comments show that there might be resolutions and potential for firmware patch. [0] Bad updates happen.

    [0] https://us.community.samsung.com/t5/Home-Theater/Samsung-Q99...