Fix for the "Green Guide+ Screen Lock-up" on the Panasonic DMR-E95H

Video Bob---You mention Service Mode and how to find the curent firmware version, Could you go into that a little deeper? How do you get to the service mode screen? Last nite I was just checking the panasonic site for newer firmware as I know that most of the other DV w/HD have firmware updates from time to time, and came accross the firmware update for the DMRE95 and downloaded it. The file name is DMRE95.exe. My unit is working fine and I don't want to change it if I don't have to. The only thing that has me puzzeled is it now takes a long time to go from standby to on. Do you know what is causing that? It just started doing that 2 days ago before that it fired up right away.

Thanking you in advance for your input.

Ron Houts Round Rock TX

 

No, we'resaying the *guide* won't work over satellite. It still programs like a top-of-the-line VCR+ compatible VCR.

You just can't highlight a program in the guide and say "Record." You can do that in your Satellite box and then tell the PVR to record from, say, Video1 from 9:00 to 11:00 p.m. every Thursday.

Or, if you can translate the channels, you can have the PVR control the box--you just have to look up the programs and manually program the PVR.

bob

 

That's covered extensively in the first link in the first post of this thread. Other comments and codes can be found by searching on "Panasonic service mode".

Smart. If it ain't broke don't fix it.

It fires up if the disk is spun up to speed--like when you have a standby recording in process. That was prbably the case when it came on fast.

It normally takes a few seconds to power up, because it spins down the disk when it sleeps and needs to spin it back up again before recording. It also has to buffer the first 30 seconds or so of what is on the default channel so the timeslip functionwill work. It doesn't give yo control iuntil it's ready.

You can speed this up a little by turning off the "Auto-load Guide" fature in the Guide setup screen.

bob

 

Thanks for the info. We had a power outage yesterday and I lost all of the TV guide download which I spent hours straitening out (putting the chanels in order). When I got the original dowload all the chanels were scrambled, is this normal for TV Guide? It would seem to me that if they have the right listing, and it was, the listings should be in numerical chanel order. We get a lot of power outages here in Central TX, due to the winds that accompany our Thunder Storms, even though our utilities are buried, some in the grid are not, so power ineruptions are the norm. I can't see me having to rearange the channels every couple weeks or so. I think tomorow I will put a UPS on the AC power cord.

Thanks again for your info

 

Yep.

Yep, they should be. It isn't the only stupid part of the design. Having to turn the whole thing off all night, every night is pure insanity.

I keep my computer equipment on one UPS and my video equipment on another. Even in urban Southern California, there are enough local power outages over time to justify it. In fact, it only takes one.

bob

 

I am seeking Clarification:

What steps are necessary in the event of Hard Drive Failure on a Panasonic DVD Recorder. I currently own an E85, but I'm looking at the E500. From what I've read here in the forum it would seem that an ide drive of equal size (to the current drive) needs to be purchased, and installed in the recorder. Boot to service mode and have the machine format the drive and then restart and start recording. Is this an accurate depiction if not hat other steps are required?

Thanks
Clark

 

I have no experience with the E500, but have an E85 and an E95.

Your synopsis seem accurate enough, except there is no need to duplicate your drive. However, no matter ow large the drive, the Panasonic firmware limits it to the original drive size for that model.

[In my original post I said a larger drive would give you more room--I was wrong. It works on my ReplayTV and Tivo units, but not on Pannys.]

Avoid SATA drives, however.

bob

 

I tried to install a 300 gig in my Panasonic recorder and was only able to use it as a 160 gig. When I put the origional drive back all the data was lost and I had to reformat it. I have the DMR-E95.
Was there any step that I missed?

Recently I had a crash where I could not get into any of the guide features and my clock was wrong. I did a complete reset now it will no longer download the guide or set the clock automatically.

Thanks

 

Aurora442 said:

No, I misspoke--confusing my DMR's with my other recorders. Panny will not let you go over factory size. I've now corrected that in my earlier post. I tried it myself and, of course, it failed.

1). Select the HDD and remove *ANY* disks from the DVD drive(This is IMPORTANT, as leaving writable media in the DVD drive has caused me much greif in the past--see other threads for details).

2). Hold the power switch on the FRONT PANEL (not the remote) down until all of the lights but the time go out (about 5-10 seconds). If the red timer clock is on, you didn't wait long enough. This is what I call a "Soft Reset" and seems to do everything that a "Hard Reset" (Ch UP/Ch DOWN) does *WITHOUT* destroying your listings or schedules.

3). UNPLUG the unit for AT LEAST 30 seconds. This seems to be the UNIVERSAL FIX for most of Panny's "Weird" problems. If you don't do either a Soft Reset first, however, you could lose listings and/or schedules.

4). Using the remote, power it up *TWICE*. The first time does not seem to enable the scheduling feature.

The clock and the listings don't update with the unit on. The clock (and maybe the listings) don't update with it off, either *UNTIL* you turn it back on.

To force a clock update, manually set the clock to 1:50 p.m., Power off and wait 20 minutes. When you turn it back on, the clock should be right. (This might work with other times and less off-time, but it works *EVERY TIME* with these figures, so I haven't bothered to experiment.

Finally, both of my Pannys (DMR-E85 and -E95) at different addresses on the same cable systm (Leisure World/Golden Rain 92637) both stopped downloading listings starting two days ago. The first missing listing is for Thursday, Jan 12, 2006 and I have "No Listing" for everything from midnight Weds. night on.

I have had no power outages (they are both on UPS's) and no errors on either machine during that time.

Is anyone else experiencing similar problems or should I look to my cable provider?

bob