New Zidoo Z9X 8K, Update Firmware?

I have two Z9Xs that have served me well for years, but I thought I would give the Z9X 8K a try. Everything seems fine right out of the box, but after reading so many posts here about new problems with firmware updates I wonder if I’d be better off keeping the original installed firmware and adjusting to whatever bugs it may have.

 

What version did it come with ??

 

It's currently running v1. 2.40

 

I wouldn’t recommend updating. Updating the firmware on a Zidoo is a one-way street – there’s no going back. For me, 1.2.40 has been the best firmware so far.
Unfortunately, I updated to 1.3.05. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be checking the forum every day for new firmware.

 

+1 for not updating if it isn't severely b0rked.

I'm on 1.2.22 and issues are rare. Without the ability to roll-back the firmware, I'm not going to take a gamble on a newer version until there's plenty of evidence that it is at least as stable as 1.2.22

 

Contrary to your experience, for me the 1.3.05 is the most stable fw except some random reboots as mayor issues. Obviously it depends on personal device settings and hardware used.

 

There are a few anecdotal reports that some problems started after v1.2.40 - this is most definitely not my experience - both my boxes (Z9X 8K and UHD8000) are on latest firmware and both very stable - I don't get any reboots or playback issues and I don't have any show stopper bugs on my latest report to the devs.

But of course, if it ain't broke don't fix it...

These are the changelogs from v1.2.40 to current version v1.3.05:

v1.2.42
*******
1. Fixed an issue where video playback would occasionally crash when switching subtitles.
2. Fixed an issue where some video sources wouldn't play.
3. Fixed an issue where some video sources would experience playback lag.
4. Fixed an issue where EMBY would occasionally crash.
5. Fixed an issue where audio output was 48kHz when playing videos at 96kHz or above.
6. Fixed some other bugs.

v1.3.01
*******
1.Fixed the issue where playback occasionally stuttered with certain sources having an excessive number of audio tracks.
2.Optimized the fast-forward and rewind functionality of the video player.
3.Fixed the issue where playback occasionaly failed with certain sources.
4.Fixed the issue where certain sources could not be played.
5.Fixed the issue where playback occasionally stuttered with certain sources.
6.Fixed an issue where occasional crashes would occur when switching subtitles for certain sources.
7.Fixed the issue where playback occasionally had audio but no video for certain sources.
8.Fixed the issue where occasional audio-video synchronization issues occurred with certain sources.
9.Fixed the issue where certain MP4 sources could not be played.
10.Optimized the issue where the loading time for fast-forwarding certain TS sources was too long.
11.Fixed the issue where data retrieval for Emby series occasionally failed.
12.Optimized the display of the Emby series detail interface.
13.Fixed the issue where playback occasionally failed when switching between Emby series.
14.Optimized the playback queue functionality of the music player.
15.Optimized the auto-play on startup function of the music player.
16.Optimized the music service reset function of the music player.
17.Fixed the issue where UPNP filenames were not fully displayed in the music player.
18.Fixed the display of the music player's playback detail interfaces.
19.Optimized the loading of track cover art in the music player's playback queue list.
20.Optimized the issue where Qobuz track album covers appeared blurry in the music player.
21.Optimized the display style for eras in Tidal within the music player.
22.Fixed the search functionality for SoundCloud in the music player.
23.Fixed the issue where the KKBox app occasionally crashed on the home screen within the music player.
24.Optimized the radio feature to display the currently playing track.
25.Optimized the issue where certain SoundCloud tracks occasionally could not be played.
26.Added a manual HDMI range switching function.
27.Fixed the issue where the weather search occasionally failed.
28.Optimized system stability.

Home Theater

1.Fixed the issue where the app frequently crashed when applying changes to a large number of movies.
2.Optimized the movie scanning function.
3.Optimized the movie matching function.
4.Fixed the issue where data upgrades occasionally failed.
5.Optimized the cover display for user-created episodes.
6.Optimized the poster loading speed.
7.Added a multi-device widget feature.
8.Added a right-click function to jump to the bottom in folder browsing mode.
9.Fixed the issue where region information in movie details was sometimes inaccurate.
10.Added single-row and multi-row display options for the device list.
11.Added custom sorting functionality for the device list.
12.Optimized the display of playback history.
13.Added a file size filter for scanning.
14.Added functionality for the persistent display of posters following the disconnection or failure of a storage device.
15.Added a "Private" category under "All Categories".
16.Optimized the display of the currently watching movie title and playback progress.
17.Added a blurred poster feature for the parental control lock.
18.Fixed the issue where TMDB ratings were incorrect for some movies.


v1.3.05
*******

1. Optimized an occasional display issue in the poster wall details interface.
2. Optimized an occasional playback stuttering issue with some video sources.
3. Fixed an issue with incorrect frame rate output for some video sources.
4. Fixed an issue with some SDR video sources outputting HLG format.

 

Thanks for the information Mark. I went ahead and installed the v1.3.05 update. I’m cautiously optimistic that I won’t have any issues that weren’t there before, but I can always go back to where I started with a factory reset if need be.

 

But you cant roll back firmware , just factory reset settings, i believe

 

No, you can't do that anymore, but you were warned. I hope you have better luck with this firmware than many others.