Question: My Panasonic Showstopper has an older version of software and won't update!

Answer: feartheturtle writes: I recently bought an unused PVHS2000 off Ebay only to find out that the sofware is out-of-date. When I tried to connect it said connection not authorized. Is there anything that I can do besides sending it back to Panasonic?

jleavens writes: Yes, if you're comfortable with computers and handling disk drives, you can fix this.

You can download fresh images of the ReplayTV drives with the most current version of the software for the Showstopper at these locations:

ftp://replaytv:images@12.37.118.135/ and
ftp://replay:giveme@136.142.153.176/

Using the proper drive software, you can write these images to your hard drive and have the most current version of the software. You can write them to the original drive, but as long as you have the Showstopper open, why not put in a larger drive and preserve your original in a safe bag?


Ernie added on 06/07/2003: Can you give some more information on this topic? What happened -- did Panasonic sell it as a 2.0 software version and there was a period where automatic version updates took place during overnight connection? But now it is not possible to have an update take place? (And it won't even make a connection without the newer software?)

Is there some place with more complete instructions as to how to perform the update, once I have located the proper .ZIP file from the ftp links you have provided?

jleavens writes: They originally came with the 2.0 software, and were upgraded to the 3.0. The problem is that the login procedure and telephone 800 numbers that were used in that version to find local dial-in numbers are no longer supported. So the unit will never be able to make the initial telephone connection that would allow it to get a local number, dial in, and get the new software.

As for full instructions, I'm working on that...

John added on 06/18/2003: I have a Panasonic ShowStopper combo unit running 20xx and have upgraded to two 40 GB drives. In my research I've discovered how to upgrade the OS. I've tried upgrading to 30xx and 40xx. The 30xx seems to get closest to working but it doesn't appear to detect the combo and the fact the TV has been turned on, which should restart the ReplayTV unit inside the TV. So has anyone hacked a combo upgrade?

Spaz added on 02/05/2004:
I have tried to log onto the repaly FTP site to download a new disk image for a panasonic show stopper, but it asks for a unsername and password. any other places to download one? Thanks in advance.

jleavens writes: the user name and password are what precede the "@" in the ftp URL. You can also use the links on the side of this site page.