Hisense TV owners are taking to the internet to complain about a new firmware update bricking units around the world. At the moment, the issue doesn’t seem to be specific to one TV model. Instead, multiple Hisense TVs have reportedly stopped working over the past few days when updating to the latest firmware for that specific TV.
Over on Reddit, there’s a lot of concern swirling around as TV owners are trying to bypass the firmware update by disabling their internet connection to prevent possible bricking. Some users have been able to unbrick their TVs by reinstalling the firmware update. However, this requires manually obtaining the firmware from Hisense, putting it onto a USB drive and power cycling the TV.
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If you don’t know, when a piece of tech gets “bricked”, it means it stops working due to a software issue. Essentially, the term refers to the tech turning into a paperweight “brick” rendering it useless. Hisense TV owners are now dealing with a range of TV bricking issues as a result of an over-the-air firmware update.
At the moment, users with the Hisense U6K seem to be the ones more affected by the firmware issue. This includes the Hisense U6K and the alternate Hisense U68KM (Canadian version of the U6K). However, some users with other Hisense TVs have also complained about the issue. This includes the Hisense Q8G, Hisense A7H and Hisense A6H.
The issue also seems to stem from Hisense TVs running Android and not our local Hisense VIDAA TV models. So at the moment, we are out of the woods. If I do get reports about local models bricking, I will share the news.
If you end up updating your Hisense TV and it stops working, be sure to follow the guide below to try and fix the issue. Basically, you’ll need to reinstall the firmware by power cycling the TV and forcing it into DFU mode. (spotted on Reddit)
- Obtain your specific Hisense TV firmware
- Contact Hisense support or visit the official website to download the file
- The file is a PKG inside a zip folder
- Use a USB formatted to fat32 and copy the file to the root of the drive
- Insert the USB drive into the top port on the back of your TV (USB 1)
- Turn on the TV (it will be stuck in the boot cycle)
- Hold down the ‘power’ button and ‘TV’ button on the remote for 30 seconds
- The TV will then switch to the firmware flashing and reinstall the update