I purchased this recorder mainly to transfer my Sony Digital 8 tapes onto CDs. Well I was successful in doing that to Memorex DVC-R x4, however, they will only play on that machine and not on any other DVD player or computer DVD. I wanted to make several copies of these tapes for my kids and grandkids to see. I have been reading some of the comments on this site and am wondering if it is because of the brand of CDs I am buying. Was looking at the RCA DRC8312N and the Emerson EWR20V4/5 DVD recorder/vcr combo and wonder if they would work better - then I could also transfer my regular VHS tapes onto CDs? Would greatly appreciate any advice you can give me as to whether I can use the Panasonic unit to produce CDs that will work on other DVD units or just get a new unit. Thanks.
hi not to sure but are they on dvdr or cdr? what are the file types ie: format and structure on the discs can it be seen in my computer?
I am using Memorex DVD-R 4x. As I said they work in the Panasonic unit only, not in any computer or any other DVD player that I have. You asked "what are the file types ie: format and structure on the discs can it be seen in my computer?" I don't know what the file types are. It says when I am done recording that it is formatting the disc but the disc will not play on any other unit. I went and bought Maxell discs as someone stated that they might work but they didn't. Any other suggestions?
Jaguargod is right the dixc must be finalized. it should be in the settings menu on the dvd recorder.
It puts a message on the screen that it is finalizing/formatting the disc and I have to wait for about 15 to 20 seconds and it tells me when it is done. It still does not work in any other unit. Any more suggestions?
There is a chance that these recorders format the disc in a weird way. Are you trying to read it on your pc with the DVD-ROM drive or DVD+/-RW drive? DVD-ROM drives tend to have less support for reading copies, so try your DVD burner. As for your DVD players, there is chance you have picky DVD players. What models are they. I know that the fat (non-slim) ps2 does not play movies from a DVD Recorder well and older DVD players do not either. If you are using Memorex DVD-R, then this will add to the problem. Also, your Panasonic has a hard Drive. You should be able to transfer your movies to your computer after recording them to your Panasonic's hard drive. Look for USB outputs or Firewire. Another thing, not all VHS tapes are transferable to DVD with these recorders. Only ones that are not protected by Macrovision can be. If you want to back up Macrovision movies, you might as well just get a capture card that can bypass the Macrovision and copy straight from the VHS player to the PC. Then you could also do the same with your Digital 8 tapes. Also if your current video card has inputs for analog A/V you can just use software to capture the video stream, but you may need a way to bypass Macrovision for retail vhs tapes.
hi i know it wont play you mentioned it, i only needed to know whats on the disc place disc in pc drive go to my computer and right click on drive/disc and click EXPLORE! take a picture or list every file on/in there, i'd like to know the structure of this disc standalone player record in different ways and its VR format + or - ones leaves open for more files and the other closes/finalizes should be VIDEO_TS - AUDIO_TS but its the othr folders i like to see and or files... thx
Rotary: I right clicked on D drive on my computer. A list came up including Explore, a few other choices, format and "use with DLA" which was checked. I right clicked on explore nothing came up, I clicked on format, nothing happened and then clicked on "DLA" and the computer just froze. Nothing shows up on the disk but it will play on the Panasonic unit.
hi could be 2 things? 1, the pc doesnt like the disc used? try a firmware upgrade 2, the disc is in a format not known or not finalised? not to sure, but stay tuned others may help out and jump in thread... try a search in google for anything on your player?
Rotary: I finally solved the problem. I haven't tried the disks on my computer but did try them on another DVD player and they are now working. I bought several different brands of DVD-R and -RW. It didn't accept -RW at all. So i started looking at the functions and low and behold there was a finalize feature. So I tried that, even though it said it was finalizing the disk earlier. So it took about two minutes and it finalized and I tried the disk on my DVD player and it is working. I am flabbergasted as I spent a whole day a month ago transfering all these video tapes to disks and none of them worked. Now apparently all I have to do is finalize them and I won't have to rerecord them. Yeah! Thanks for all your help. I will try them tomorrow on my computer and see what happens and let you know.
hi excelant! i thought it sounded not finalized, it sounds like a 2 stage finalizeation, first being able for the player to play back but keep open to add more files, then proper finalize and play on other players? but any how you got there mate well done!
