I upgraded the firmware at the panasonic US site and followed the instructions exactly and had no problems with installing the new firmware on the unit, but now I get these U99 on the unit when it is turned off that I didn't get before. I suspect it's the TV Guide since it downloads info while the unit is off since it only happens when I keep the unit off. I left the unit on all weekend and no problems. Panasonic support is of course a bunch of idiots and don't have a clue to how these things work. Has anyone else had a problem since the using the new firmware? Any help would be appreciative!

Happened to me with the same model & FW....Hmmm. Panasonic said to send it in to a center.

Guess the only other alternative is to leave it on during the day & turn it off at night to get TVguide updates.

I noticed lots of models, even those with no hd or that can add new firmware, get this U99 code.

Have you tried calling a Panasonic service center to ask them about it?
Here are a couple:
WESTGATE TV- STEREO
841 W HAMILTON AVE CAMPBELL CA 95008 (408) 379-7670
TV UNLIMITED
641 GRAPE AVE SUNNYVALE CA 94087 (408) 733-6913

I have called Panasonic and they suggested that I do what you were told "Go get it serviced". I know for a FACT now that it is the TV Guide that is causing the trouble. I disabled the tv guide and I'm only doing timer recording and it hasn't had a U99 error even though being off for hours on end. I believe this firmware update updated the TV Guide feature. Panasonic won't tell me what the firmware addresses so I assume this is so since I didn't have a problem before. I really like the unit but now I wish I could take it back and swap it out for another brand. I plan on writing a letter to Panasonic expressing my concern with releasing buggy firmware updates. I just wish I could flash back my unit to it's previous firmware since it worked great back then, so I wouldn't have to go through this. This will definitely make me think twice about buying another Panasonic product.

For now Im just keeping it off at night & on during the day. I also noticed that sometimes it wouldn't record something when it was off, so had to be sure it was on. Maybe one of those service centers has another firmware for us? I'd have to mail mine in & I don't want to do that.

I'm in the same boat. I don't want to have to unhook everything and miss programming that I am already into just to have them take a month or more to fix it. I can live without the TV Guide I guess. It wasn't that great anyways IMO.

There were some ppl on AD forum lately who its happening to. It seems that there has been some corrupted tvguide data being sent in August & Sept that caused this. So, far I haven't got it again with the techinique I use above, so this could be the case.

Everything seems back to normal now.

I've had my tv guide off and no problems. I don't know if I'll go back to using it since it can be unreliable. So your not having any problems with keeping the unit off all night?

I spoke with Panasonic about the TV Guide problem and after some explaining, I finally conviced the lady on the phone that it was the TV Guide causing all the problems and that there were NO hardware problem with the unit. I told her all I wanted to do was have her log the problem and have it sent to the 'powers to be' for review. I said I didn't think Panansonic was at fault but it was more than likely a Gemstar TV Guide software issue. In the begining she tried to feed me a bunch of BS saying the HDD is going bad but I said "Funny, the HDD works ok for me. I haven't had any problems recording my programs with the TV Guide feature off!". Anyways, I would suggest that even though your unit is working fine now, you should at least let Panasonic know by logging a issue with the TV Guide with one of there service people. Hopefully with enough complaints, they will get onto Gemstar to correct the problem!