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Harman Kardon AVR1700 BCO update #fail

If you own a Harmon Kardon AVR1700 receiver that has locked up after displaying a BCO Update message, this fix may work for you.

If you own a Harman Kardon AVR1700 receiver that has locked up after displaying a BCO Update message, this fix may work for you. It worked for us.

First, the unit was completely frozen. It did not respond to button inputs. Unplugging it had no impact.

We searched the forums (yes we did) and this solution worked for us:

  1. Connect your HK to your home network using an ethernet cable.
  2. Login to your home network (type 192.168.1.1 into your browser) and find the HK. On our Frontier network, it showed up as “new-host”
  3. Type the IP address for the HK in a new browser window or tab
  4. Browse to a small txt file on your computer, then select “Upload”
  5. The system will reject the file as being a non-BCO file, but your unit should “unfreeze.”

No guarantees, but this BCO “fix” worked for us!

Things that did not force a reset:

  • Hold the Surround Sound button for 5+ seconds
  • Press and hold the standby/on button

By Kathy E. Gill

Digital evangelist, speaker, writer, educator. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles! @kegill

6 replies on “Harman Kardon AVR1700 BCO update #fail”

I’ve completed the fix. It worked….at least for now. Three days in, and it is still working, so we’ll see.

I’ve done it all. Every type of fix. It only works temporarily. Even the IP networking fix by uploading a file to the receiver works temporarily. Then it is back a day or a week later.

Hi, Kathy.

This is an error caused by a network software update attempt which is stuck waiting for a file. This has to be cleared by running a browser like Internet Explorer on another device (compute) that is connected to the same network as the AVR. You must first connect the AVR to your router or Home network with an Ethernet cable (RJ45 connection). You will then need to find the IP address that is assigned to the AVR. The IP address is usually 192.168.1.x with x being a number between 2 and 254. You will not be able to access the AVR to determine the IP address of the unit. This must be done by accessing your router/network administration and configuration pages to view a list of assigned IP addresses and devices on your network. You should refer to the instructions provided with your router for more information on this process or contact your internet service provider if the router was provided by your cable/internet provider.

Once you have the correct IP address assigned to the AVR, you can enter the IP address into your browser. This will load a Harman Kardon webpage on the browser. From there, click the Browse button on the HK webpage to locate a file on your computer. Select any file on your computer and then click the Upload button. It does not need to be a valid Harman Kardon update file. Any random file will work. The Harman Kardon unit will reject the file as not valid and clear the BCO update error. Your unit should return to normal operation once this process is complete.

We would recommend using only the USB firmware update method if there is any future need to update the software on your unit.

Best Regards,

John Virgenes
Technical Support
Harman Lifestyle Division

John,

I’m able to get myself to the H/K web interface for the AVR, but there is not an option for me to Browse or upload anything at all. Has something changed on this interface since you last posted?

I’m at wits end trying to get this thing to work, any help would be appreciated.

Erik

Hi John,
Is there an actual solution to this problem? This proposed ‘fix’ sometimes needs to be performed several times a day…..
HK product support give me the run around, implying this is somehow of my doing. Clearly this is a programming error of the machine itself. The internet is littered with this issue…..
Doug.

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