To reset the U99 error without replacing the harddrive, follow the following steps: 1. Cycle the power by unpluging the unit and plugging it back in. 2. Press and hold the skip-reverse, time slip, and open/close buttons. Hold for 20 seconds. 3. Display will show "L1 Test". 4. Power unit off, you may need to hold power button down for a few seconds. 5. Unit will reset itself, clock will be flashing 12:00. 6. Power unit on and language menu should be displayed on TV. This is the first setup screen. You will need to re-enter all the setup information and any program timers. This does not erase any programs on the harddrive. I had to do this process twice. The first time I went to the channel setup screen on power-up. I hope this helps.
Well, after upgrading to the new firmware I had about 3 weeks of flawless service from my e85h. I then exerienced one freeze and after rebooting I found all the TVguide info missing. I tried resetting and waited over a week for it to recover, but it never did. (I beleive the problem was with TVguide not the Panasonic) I decided to reset to factory defaults. I turned the unit on, pressed both channel up and down bottons and held until it shut down with the clock flashing 12:00. I then unplugged the unit for half a minute and then plugged it back in. I turned the unit back on, set the tvguide zip code and cable info, turned it back off and waited 48 hours. When I turned it back on TVguide had completely re-populated all info. Thanks to everyone on this thread for your contributions. Panasonic should be so informative!
Hi there I also have this (usually) great working device Panasonic DMR E85H. Though i am from Germany and (we) seem to get only 80GB HDs Today my device died when i was performing a divide operation. It wont start up now, respectively it starts up and nothing happens, no error, nothing, doesnt react on anything than power down and the display only says HDD in the upper left corner. All your neat little tricks to reset, get into panasonics service mode etc dont work... Problem is, als always (when a system dies) I have lots of content on the HD that I dont want to loose. I still have guarantee on my Panny but I dont want to risk sending it in and some Panatech formatting my HD... My Version number is a C (4th digit) and I assume I have quite an old Firmware. Question is: - has anybody succeded on reading the HDs content on a PC, Mac, Linux, Unix computer? - anybody any Idea about the Filesys - I have a degree in computer science so I think i could handle almost any filesys as long as its not Pansonics own thing... googleing didnt help for that - the best result i found was this thread here. - basically the content has to be some form of MPEG since highspeed copy to DVD wouldnt be possible if not. so the file format should be readable as long as you get to it. right now I am just narrowing down my options - any suggestions welcome thanx Bernhard
Since you didn't itemize the "neat little tricks..." you tried, I can't be sure that you tried them all, specifically the two from: http://www.dxcc.com/dmr-e85h.htm * To initialize ALL parameters to factory defaults: With the unit OFF, press "Skip Rev" ( |<< ) and "Time Slip" and "Open/Close" for 5 seconds. * To enter "Service Mode": With power off, press "Stop" and "Time Slip" and "Open/Close" for 5 seconds. "SERVICEMODE 00" is displayed. Also, when this happened to me, long ago, I restored everything by simply unplugging the PVR for a few minutes. Whatever you do, [bold]*DO NOT*[/bold] unplug your drive until you have tried everything possible and have given up on any possibility of recvovering your movies. I've been in discussions where others have tried to decode te drive and discovered that, once the drive is removed, the unit will not allow it back in without formatting it. This was "worked around" by creating a cable with the write line disabled (set to "False" by a switch--cutting *may* enable it, or may disable it, I'm not sure) before powering up. As for the format, I think you are right--but it isn't the video format that's weird, as I recall, but the drive formatting. No OS, you know. I think Replay uses Linux--but I'm not certain. bob
@bob thanks for the quick and detailed answer. as to the tricks, I especially tried the two you mentioned, various times as well. even after the device being cut off from power over 24h. These two combinations seem to just power on the device after about 5sec. the first one (factory defaults) sets my clock to 22:22 (from 0:00 after the powerloss) other than that there is no difference to using the power button - except the 5sec delay In every case, the device powers up saying "self check" (as usual) and suddenly stops and nothing is displayed except HDD in the upper left corner. Nothing means not even the U99 Error, no Servicemode00 - nada! Well thanks for reminding me about the HD Problem (... do not remove...) - I had read it but didnt take enough notice. I guess I´ll just bring the box in to Panasonic, since I still got guarantee. I think I´ll ask the guys to try to save the content or in case they replace the HD, send the old one back as well and charge me a new one - maybe some HD retreival tool will be able to make sense of the data and I´ll get my stuff. If not I guess that´s been higher fate and should remind me to dump the content to DVD more often in the future... any other ideas welcome of course... the main thing is - I want an need a working device back... cant afford a new one... greez Bernhard
-bsettele You may have a controller board failure, and the hard drive will not be accessable if they do replace the card. They will have to re-format your existing drive. (By the way, I believe you should be able to get into the service mode even if the hard drive has a U99 error.) If they do have to change the hard drive under warranty, they probably can't send you your old drive back. If you ask for your drive back untouched, they will most likely charge you for the new one even though it's under warranty (very expensive - really out of line pricewise - you can get a 120 GB HD for under $100 these days). Good Luck! Roger.
... well i finally gave in. I brought it to my reseller and they will send it to Panasonic. Lets see what happens, I guess my HD will be empty by the time I get it back... I´ll keep you updated - they said something about three weeks++ greez Bernhard
FYI I never take warranty work to resellers unless I want the over-the counter excahnge. They add weeks and decrease accontability. I use manufacturer's warantees and ship directly to the mfg site. This has the added advantage (mot times) that rather than get my old unit back, I usually get a new exchange unit (not good in your case). The only place I will take a unit (reluctantly) other than shipping it direct to the mfg is to a local "Authorized repair center" that actually *stocks* the repair parts. Make sure they aren't just a shipping/recieveing doc for factory returns--or a third tier shop with no training or spare parts. bob
I just bought a DMR-E85H from Crutchfield. It is due to arrive next week. I have read this thread and figure I should do the following items. I have basic cable with a direct cable connection (no box or pay stations or digital) 1. Apply firmware upgrade. 2. Setup TV-Guide - Do I need to TV-Guide to use VCR+ ? I may just skip it and use VCR + or timer recording? 3. Turn off unit for at least 1 full day. 4. Read the manual Is there anything else I should do before getting started? Thanks in advance Ron
Mr899: My only suggestion is to first check the version you have. It's possible yours is already up to date, or even newer. I only use timer recordings (I use only line inputs, I don't use the tuner). I have diabled my TV Guide stuff. It's really a good machine except for those TV Guide problems I hear about. I'm glad I don't use it! My machines have been flawless since the upgrade. Good Luck. Roger.
Wow! Thanks for giving all of the pertnant data up front. If you can, I'd use it. I'd turn off the auto-start option of the menu before I shut it down for the night. Study your TV guide and decide which programs you want daily or weekly and set them up first, once you have your guide working. Don't try and record the first day--the PVR cannot load programing when it's on or recording--either one. I don't record between midnight and about 8 a.m. because every time I do so, I get holes in my programming that do *not* flll in the next few nights. It's damned inconvienient, but I use my Replay unit to do overnight recordings because it doesn't care. bob
I too am having the TV guide epg lockup problems. I called Panasonic and get a prerecorded message as my support call is routed, stating an epg update scheduled to be broadcast nationwide 5/27 to fix this. I didn't stay otp after that. I don't think I've received any over the air update. Anyone received this update and know what the firmware version is thereafter? I assume its the timer firmware: mine is 0110DC currently (I think thats the original version ie no update - my main fw is 0970DL)
I recieved the update--which caused problems withrecording for two days after--but it made no modification of any firmware checksums. Apparently, their modifications are elsewhere. bob
I have one more question. Is it possible to use DVD Player during 24 hours when unit is turned off? Thanks, Ron
I haven't found a way. There is no real reason why you shouldn't be able to play dvds or HDD recorded shows, because it only needs the tuner. Infact, you should be able to set it to PBS during download times (.e. record that period) and have it work. However, they didn't design it that way and I think it is a truly *stupid* design. However, its other features keeps it my primary recorder and I use my Replay system for late night programming. bob
Two observations: 1. The upgrade I have been making available fixes many things, and doesn't break anything. It just doesn't fix EVERYTHING. 2. Panasonic (perhaps because of this thread) is now making the firmware upgrade available to everyone. They also have some nice instructions on how to perform the upgrade, etc. It's about time! The only sad thing is that the one they have for the DMR-E85H is the same one I have been providing. I sure wish they would continue to fix some of the other bugs that have been reported here, and make newer firmware upgrades available. They also need to include a document explaining what this version upgrade fixes. (There is no mention of the error "U99" on their site.) Another plus is that they have the firmware upgrades for most other models as well. Maybe Panasonic really does care about it's customers! (You will find it at the Panasonic site under "Support" then "Consumer Electronics" then "Drivers and Downloads" then "DVD Recorders".) Roger
Many thanks to all who gave me advice on setting up this unit. I have all working. I screwed up my first attempt at recording, but will try again this weekend. I am sure it was user error. I had marked it to record as a favorite but it didn't take. I will read manual and figure out what went wrong. All is working including TV Guide. Thanks, Ron
All is well in the "old" e85h camp since the upgrade in January. Only a few lockups since and most of the time the tv guide info is retained. Anyone buy one of the new e85h's (produced after mid march '05)? Was wondering what was changed through the few weeks they pulled production on these. Also, has anyone tried a "homemade" dual layer dvd on the e85h? I'm thinking of upgrading the superdrive in my dual g4 powermac to expedite copying of dvd's and was thinking of the DL to eliminated the dreaded recompression of the disks. I hope all is well with everyone's e85h and let's keep this thread going for all that may have these problems Joe
As soon as I open my big mouth, I jinx myself and lightning takes out the e85h and my big screen JVC. I was about 30 seconds from unplugging the stuff too. This luck I have...I'm starting to feel like Al Bundy.
