Sony BDP-S3700 Firmware Update Fails

[CluelessInSeattle]

A couple of days ago when I tried to watch a movie via the Internet with my Sony BDP-S3700 player, I got a message saying that a firmware update had been detected on the Internet, and asking me if I would like to install it.

I'm usually wary of software updates, since they often mess things up and even sometimes make my devices unusable, so I clicked the cancel button. But the player would not let me proceed to the Internet without first installing the update.

So, I clicked the OK button, but after a long pause I got a message saying the update failed, and to try again. Which I did.

But repeated tries also failed.

So then I resorted to trying to download the update to a flash drive on my PC and then plugging the flash drive into the player. At first that seemed to be working -- the progress bar moved quickly to the 60% mark -- but then stopped dead. And after a long pause at the 60% mark I got message that the update failed and that I should try it again. Which I did. To no avail.

I just visited the Sony support forum for Blu-ray players, but when I click "Login" I get this message:

An error has occurred.
エラーが発生しました。
Please try again later.
しばらく経ってからもう一度お試しください。

While I'm waiting for the Sony forum to come back on line, I'm wondering if anyone in this forum has had a this problem, and if so, if you could offer me some advice on what I should do next to try to solve it.

Will in Seattle
a.k.a. "Clueless"