Samsung might have just bricked thousands of HW-Q990D soundbars globally as a new firmware update, version 1020.7, is giving users a major headache.
The news comes via The Verge, which cites a number of different Reddit and AVSForum threads with users claiming their soundbars are completely broken and useless. The update launched just last week, which is when many of the threads started popping up, the first of which was on Samsung's community forum.
Tom's Guide has reached out to Samsung for comment and next steps, if any are there. We'll update this page with more information when it comes available.
HW-Q9990D faulty update
As one of the best soundbars, it's surprising to see the Samsung HW-Q990D hit with major issues, especially right off the back of Samsung TVs being hit with annoying privacy pop-ups.
The problems are presented across a variety of different forums and online threads, including Reddit, AVSForum, and even Samsung's own online community, but the common thread is that users saying that their soundbars "aren't working" after the update. The error that most are seeing is "the device is not responding & you can't use the button on the soundbar" (or the remote, as others are citing).
Unfortunately, many users tend to set their soundbars (and other assorted devices) to automatically download updates. In this case, it could lead to your Samsung HW-Q990D being bricked on the spot, so it's best to turn off automatic updates and refrain from downloading any new firmware from Samsung until the problem is resolved.
As of right now, it's unclear if other devices are being affected, but a smattering of users across those aforementioned forums have claimed their HW-S801D and HW-Q800D soundbars are also being bricked by the update.
According to The Verge, some users have already been asked to send in their soundbars for repair, so you might be getting an email shortly. If not, you can head over to Samsung's technical support page for more guidance.
Hopefully, Samsung can amend the issue with a separate firmware update as opposed to fully sending them in for repair, but we'll just have to wait and see.
