Sony Bravia KDL-43W808C keeps rebooting after Android loads

[KDL_43W808C]

Hi everybody and especially to Sony,

I want to share my bad experience with my Sony TV and also with Sony Company.

I've brought a Sony Bravia KDL-43W808C in 2016. The TV worked out perfectly until November 2021. In November 2021 I did a firmware upgrade to v5.457 using the instructions from web site: write the firmware on a USB stick and then upgrade the TV.

Everything went ok with the firmware upgrade. For the next 2 days, after upgrade the OS was done, TV started to move extreamly slow, so I decided to reboot the TV. And .. that's was the end of the TV!

The sequence was like this: Sony Logo, Android Logo, Android OS boots up and after 20-30 seconds the TV gets reboot!

I tried factory reset. Same issue: Sony Logo, Android Logo, Android OS setup and after 20-30 seconds the TV gets reboot!

I called Sony for assistance and they redirected me to some authorized service centers. Here comes the bad part! These centers told me the motherboard is broken and Sony DOES NOT OFFER spare parts anymore for this TV! They offered by themselfs to "reclycle" the TV.

I was shocked! How is possible for Sony to "militate for sustainability and environmental protection" telling me to through away a TV with a perfect LCD panel, very good power supply module, WiFi module and other perfect functioning components???

I said that I will not giveup! And I started to search how to repair the motherboard! Unfortunatelly is very complicated and to fix it you need to replace the FLASH MEMORY! See the picture bellow where the chip is marked with red:Red mark is the FLASH MEMORY

Then the second issue is to write the firmware in the FLASH MEMORY. That's a challange! Because Sony is using a special PKG format and by myself I wasn't able to unpack. "Thank you" SONY!

Then I end to find out a service in Poland which they told me that are able to replace the flash memory with a new one with pre-installed firmware. Here it is http://naprawypłyt.pl/

I sent my motherboard via post to them and I'm waiting for them to repair it. I will keep you update after I will get back the repaired motherboard.

Meanwhile I found a eBay seller e-aguilera and I brough a motherboard from him. I installed today and:

Now I have the TV woking again!

So, I'm questioning Sony:

1. Why on earth a company like Sony doesn't provide a simple motherboard repair?? It needs a FLASH MEMORY to be replaced and with a pre-installed firmware! How hard it is?? If I had the necessary tools I could do it by myself!

2. Why I had to through away the rest of the TV because of the flash memory of the motherboard broke and made the rest of the TV unusable?

3. Why the software is so close-source after Sony is not maitaining it anymore? There are a lot of programers that can build a newer version of Lineage OS for TV and this TV can be upgraded to a newer version!

4. Why do we have to do consumerism, but all the companies are "militating for sustainability and environmental protection"??

5. How is possible that others can repair this motherboard but a corporation like Sony can't???

I'm pretty sure I will not get any official answers from Sony officials.

[SkyNet404]

Hey there,

It's really sad what you had to go through. 
But you got me curious about something! 
That layout interface shouldn't be the one for the KDL-43W808C. 
So, that flash memory you got in. If you go to the TV system information page does it show the correct TV model and software version? Or, what's the number for the software version currently installed on the TV? 
Curious to see if it's the same one, or the new mainboard changed a lot in the TV.

Cheers.

[KDL_43W808C]

Hi @SkyNet404 ,

Before my old motherboard died, I had the same layout for IU. This is Android 7.0 Sony v5.417.

Indeed, when I installed the motherboard it had Android 5.1.1 and the layout was a little bit different then the actual layout.

I'm very angry on those companies that I supposed to throw away my TV because the eMMC chip failed and they are not giving us posibility to reflash a new chip to replace it!

Here is the software version:

And here is the chip which makes your TV to be good to throw away:

Price for tv: 700 euro. Price for eMMC chip: 10-15 euro. Sony is militating for sustainability and environmental protection: ZERO. Consumerism and polution: very to extreamly high.

What you have to do with your TV after this chip fails? Throw away, of course, and then you should buy a brand new TV.

But fortunetly there are some people that can replace the chip with a new one with a preinstalled firmware, as I mentioned in my first post.

Yesterday they annouced me that they replaced the chip and will send me the motherboard back.

[SkyNet404]

It's cool that they're able to do that and glad that your TV will get up and running once more. Hopefully things like that can be avoided in the future, and manufacturer's can avoid this ship shortage and limitations.