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Oticon More random Restart

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Apologies if this has been addressed… I experience those crashes when I leave both my phone (either my old Android and now my new iPhone) and my iPad with bluetooth ON at the same time. I heard from my audi that Oticon does not recommend keeping more than one connection active. Hopefully that has changed with the new firmware 1.4.2, as @cvkemp reports…

I am just experimenting at this time. I haven’t had my aids updated long enough to get a good feel for what will happen. I do have my iPhone and iPad fully updated.

When I had my Oticon OPN aids for about 9 mos back in 2017 or so, they started to automatically reboot about 5 mos into my ownership. I had no idea what was going on, and would stand there - usually in the company of people (at a store, talking to a vendor, something where I HAD to hear), and the aids would go DEAD for a good 30-sec or so.

I was away from home for a few months then, so I continued to have these episodes of rebooting till I got home, got in to see my audi, and had a firmware update. That was the last time I had the reboot. Granted, this was several years ago, but maybe try the firmware update? Even if you’ve had one before, that could be all it needs to “re-set”.

This issue brings up something I’ve been mulling over. Why don’t hearing aid manufacturers keep a database of us OWNERS of their devices like car makers keep us in a database for service appt’s? It seems to be a simple issue of getting our contact info, the serial numbers on our aids, entering in a database, and mailing the needed UPDATE notices as they happen. That way, folks could plan to take aids in for firmware update and not be inconvenienced by aids that reboot like some kind of robot that we can’t even control.

GOOD luck to yoou trouble-shooting these issues.

@1Bluejay said:

This issue brings up something I’ve been mulling over. Why don’t hearing aid manufacturers keep a database of us OWNERS of their devices like car makers keep us in a database for service appt’s? It seems to be a simple issue of getting our contact info, the serial numbers on our aids, entering in a database, and mailing the needed UPDATE notices as they happen. That way, folks could plan to take aids in for firmware update and not be inconvenienced by aids that reboot like some kind of robot that we can’t even control.

The use model of the industry shouldn’t really be compared with the automotive industry. The automotive industry is required by law to keep track of their buyers in case there are recalls because there’s the safety issue involved. On top of that, they can get the benefit of doing paid services for you (like oil change and maintenance work) when you bring your car in for recalls, so there’s an incentive for them to be proactive about it.

On the other hand, there’s no incentive for neither the HA mfgs nor the to get you back in for firmware updates or stuff like that, and they’re not required by law to do so because of safety issues. Once they already get their money from you and can no longer get anymore, they could care less about proactively servicing you, unless some HCPs are smart enough or conscientious enough to provide you with above and beyond service to ensure repeat business from you.

And by the way, I think the HA model is that the HCP is your primary interface, and it’s already assumed so that the HCP has the client database. So the mfgs provide support to the HCPs who in turn provide support to you. Whether the mfgs collect and keep a bigger database from those kept by the HCPs or not, I don’t really know. But it’s the HCPs’ job to be on top of things and inform their users when there are updates available to install.

@Volusiano said:

But it’s the HCPs’ job to be on top of things and inform their users when there are updates available to install.

I will talk to my audi about that when I see her tomorrow. I wonder if SHE gets any notices from Phonak about firmware updates?

Considering these are medical devices - and maybe I’m a minority of one, but I NEED to hear cuz there is no margin for error without aids in - it would be a better world if we owners got some kind of notification that our aids need to be taken in for an update.

The alternative is that many seniors (and even those younger!) are wondering why their aids reboot or have performance issues. Then we either post a query here (if we know of such a board) or limp along till we get an app’t with our audis. I called on Monday, but the earliest I could get an app’t is Thu. So I’m wondering if others out there have similar issues.

If a person had NO backup aids, and the aids they rely on are not working … it could be really dicey at work or out and about. Is this the best we can hope for? Wait for failure. Then call audi. Wait for their availability to see us. Turn the aids in. Perhaps they need to go back to the maker. HOPE for a “loaner”. :worried:

In reply to @Volusiano

This whole thing is because I am so glad to be receiving my aids from the , and to be using the clinic I am going to. The audiologists and staff truly care about keep our aids updated, and I have to admit with the aid of this forum, and my love of research I do drive a lot of it in my volunteer work with the clinic.

@cvkemp said:

I have to admit with the aid of this forum, and my love of research I do drive a lot of it in my volunteer work with the clinic.

You GO! :grin: (oh, and 20-odd more characters till I can post a single word or two)

I had this issue with my OPNs last year and a couple of months prior to going to Oticon and getting them replaced, they were rebooting on a daily basis and taking an age to turn on again, particularly in my right one but both were doing it and there was no set pattern to it. It became infuriating. Contacted Oticon in Denmark and they asked me to come to them and they would look at them.

Appears they were simply ageing and within 20 minutes of arriving at Oticon, they had replaced the entire hardware inside except for the shells and put my programs back on etc.

They were just within the four year warranty period at that time so it was free. Since then, no issues thankfully.

Unfortunately they are complex technology and inevitably will go wrong especially when they are worn at least 12 hours a day and I do hours of streaming so I wasn’t overly surprised! But all credit to Oticon in Denmark, they were fab and I was so impressed. It was amusing as they were next door to a shop, where they sell equipment and devices for the older generation. They said you can go and have a look around if you want while you wait. I’m only 38 :joy:

In reply to @prodigyplace

@prodigyplace said:

Perhaps she could set up an email distribution list to email her clients notifying them of new firmware.

Would I LOVE that! I’m adding that suggestion to my (growing) list for the app’t today.
Thanks for the suggestion! :smile:

It would give us customer/patients the opportunity to schedule things proactively instead of reactively.

In reply to @user178

Mine do occasionally restart - it seemed like once a week or so for a couple of weeks (1 or the other, not always the same one), but now it seems less frequent than that - maybe once every couple of weeks. I mentioned it to my audi who said she would contact Oticon about it, but I haven’t heard back and have not followed up because it isn’t really a big deal to me. When it happens it is ‘dead’ for less than 5 sec, and these are so much better than my old starkeys in every other way that I am willing to deal with these restarts to get the benefit of the HAs. However if it started happening more often I could see it getting annoying. I should also add that my loss is only in the mild to moderate range, so I can still hear for that 5 sec, just not as well.

In reply to @ToriNi

@ToriNi said:

They said you can go and have a look around if you want while you wait. I’m only 38 :joy:

LOL!!! Well you could’ve done some early Xmas shopping for a granny or gramps? Very interesting that the aids got more and MORE unreliable over time, but you caught it during the warranty! GOOD FOR YOU! :smile:

Yeah, they just got increasingly worse and I did fear they would just stop working. So quite lucky I managed to get them replaced before the warranty ended. I’m now upgrading to the More 1 but I have these as back ups or if I don’t get on with the More 1, least I know I have basically a new pair of OPNs that will last me.

I am having the exact problem and it is very frustrating. Mine have been sent back 3 or 4 times and they do exactly the same thing. Other than just replacing them Oticon has not offered any solution.

I can only guess as to why some folks have recurring random restarts while the majority of others don’t (otherwise there would have been a huge outcry on the forum already). I wonder if it has to do with the locations these folks (with the problem) are in. Perhaps somehow there’s a lot of wireless traffic in these locations, causing the RF radio operation of the aids to get overloaded to the point of having to self reboot to self correct. Just a wild guess here, of course. But there must be something unique about the environment that would prompt this, and I can only think of wireless RF interception.

Greetings -

I had the Oticon More 1’s for over 18 months, and they constantly rebooted after a period of about three months. Every time they rebooted, they not only were an annoyance, but they effected the quality of my hearing. They were sent back to Oticon three times - Oticon acknowledged that they were a problem, but every time I got them back, they would do the same thing. My audiologist also acknowledged that she had other patients that had similar occurrences, and that it was a known problem for the Oticons. Finally, I went to another audi, got a pair of Phonak Lumity 90 Lifes, and have moved on without aggravation, and with better hearing. And this is coming from a user that had Oticons for almost 9 years, and had never worn Phonaks. Bottom line is that for me, my time was more valuable than trying to chase down a solution that was ultimately not obtainable. As an aside, I was not pleased that Oticon sent me the last pair with a different firmware in each aid, and that it was not caught by my audi’s office. With what we spend for hearing aids, quality control should not be an issue that we should have to worry about.

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