This is either 'something odd' or perhaps I don't understand how things are supposed to work... I went out of town for about 10 days (early Nov.) and, not wanting to have any U99 problems, I left my unit fully 'on' (not in 'standby'). Since my programming was in 'VCR-like' mode, I understood that once my listing data ran out I wouldn't have titles filled in -- but at least I would have the recordings. When I got back home, I was surprised to find my unit in standby! Of course, I was delighted to find everything in even better shape than I'd hoped (all shows recorded, all listings populated, no U99, etc.). But... Does the unit really turn itself into 'standby' mode on its own? I know it can go into 'hard disk sleep' mode when left on for an extended period, but I didn't think it would go into 'standby'. (And, no, we had no power outages when I was away.) - Keri
Unless you disable it, the DMR-E85H default is to automatically enter standby if it has been idle for a configurable number of hours. If you do want it to eventually enter standby, I think you can defer it for up to 8 hours. Otherwise, you can set it up never to enter standby on its own. Check the manual.
I am having the same U99 problems that everyone else here is having, but its been a few weeks since I have had one. I haven't see this covered here, but ever since the U99 started happening, burning discs haven't been so easy. I have bought multiple packs at different stores and I still get a error has occured and press enter. I thought at first it was a bad pack, but the new pack I got, about every other disc gets the error. I am using TDK discs. Does anyone else have this problem?
I have burned about 6 discs and no problems so far. Other than dubbing to disc taking too long. I have stopped using the TVGOS, though. After Lost and Invasion failed to record, I decided to go back to manually recording stuff using the timer. I still have TVGOS on, so I can use it to see what's on and also so my recorded programs will be titled, but I don't use the TVGOS to timer record. I just don't trust it. So far no U99s here in Fredonia, NY (Western NY) since about a week or so when I re-activated the TVGOS.
We have disabled the TV guide features a few weeks ago simply to get a working dvr unit. We started it up this past weekend (sat night). Ads got populated (12) but it wouldn't pull any listings "The search for data has failed. Please make sure you selected and connected all cables properly." Simply put - that is not a problem. The worst part is that it is not recording but about 1/2 of our sceduled shows. Sounds like this no record is common - but just voicing in here. Amherst MA 01002 Comcast Analog
Except for one movie, things have been very good. Consistent 8 days of listings for the past week at least. Scheduled recordings are happening as required. (I notice that the unit is getting ALL its downloads from ABC 7 in Washington, DC) I'm going away for the weekend, so the machine will get a really good workout (For my wife I'm trying to record every holiday special being shown on any channel anywhere from Wednesday through Saturday.) I tried "off-time" recordings on Friday - two different shows, back to back, different channels, at :35 past the hour - there were no problems with recording or naming. My one problem movie finally got recorded because I stood there and pressed the record button about 10 minutes before it was scheduled to start. (What I found afterward, when I went to enter the name manually, was that the title was 52 characters long -- I wonder? . . .)
In respose to RockStar4......... your problem with burning is exactly what I have been experiencing with the same message (error has occurred and press enter). Then it takes a while before the screen recovers even after you press enter. Although I was not having U99 problems for a couple of weeks the error with burning seems to be more often now. When it happens twice in a row now, I just STOP! Usually if I give it "time out" and go back to recording later...it will perform better. Have no idea why this is happening as the firmware upgrade was supposedly installed in July when my hard drive went out!!! However, I have been away from home for almost a week now so have no idea what the panny DVD goblins are up to with my recordings! I just hope that when I return, my recordings are all there. I set everything manually (but the last time I did it manually and it still went into U99 mode). So between "burning coasters" and not having shows recorded, i still hope that Panasonic can resolve the issues so that the $$ investment of the machine + an extended warranty will make it all worth while.
I have encountered a dubbing error ("error has occurred; press enter") that *may* relate to what's being discussed here. (I say "may" because when I encounter it, it stops the dubbing but does not result in a 'coaster'.) I have found that rare occasions a show will have a 'bad pointer' somewhere in the show. (By 'rare' I would say that I've enountered this 10 times since I bought my unit last May.) The show will play along and then, for a short (couple of seconds) burst, a clip from another recorded show will play; then the play in the original show continues. If I rewind and replay through the scene, it always happens at that same spot. If I play in reverse, however, the other-show-scene does NOT show up. If I try to dub a show that has such a flaw, I get the "error has occurred" message and the dubbing stops. In fact, once I have played through such a show and then I try to use any of the edit functions, they don't work, until I exit the Navigation screen -- and sometimes even have to turn off the unit. For a couple of the shows that I really wanted to dub, I figured I could simply do a 'shorten' to cut out the bad piece. It's a bit tricky to do but by widening the space around the 'bad spot' I was eventually able to get a cleanly-playing show. Then the show would dub just fine (with, of course, that missing bit where the show has lost the 10-30 second slice). I have not been able to identify the cause of this 'bad pointer' condition. If anyone has insights about what it is I'd love to hear more. FWIW, I try to keep my HD with about 200 hrs free (EP mode) so I am never operating in the 'nearly full' range. - Keri
Happy Thanksgiving I bought a UPS (back up power supply) about 3 weeks ago. Have not had a U99 on my DMR-E85H since. I am sure that some of my U99s were due to power outage and/or surge that would knock the Zip code data out of the TV Guide memory and then my E85H would go to the wrong channels and a U99 would follow. However something different happened on 11/20/2005. I had just recorded a movie to the hard drive of E85H and pushed the open/close button to put in a blank DVD. Then the channel 1 showed on the front of the E85H and it now asked to enter the TV Guide setup and enter my zip code then line 3, Motorola Cable box, channel change from 2 to 9 and the rest of the typical set up on a new E85H or an E85H that was reset. However it never went through a reset (no please wait messages) and the time was still correct. I checked after this set up and there were no channel listings or ads and all of my recorded shows were on the hard drive. I put the E85H in standby. After a couple of hours I had a full slate of ads (11-13 ads). Within 24 hrs it asked to choose between 4 channel line ups. A couple of hours later I had 24 hrs of listings. It seems this was either a new version of TV Guide that got downloaded or the same TV Guide version with improved zip code data. Now when in standby, the Guide only goes to local CH 4 CBS for TV Guide data. Before it would go to two channels local CH 4 CBS and CH 53 MSNBC. My wife is extremely happy with this change. Often we watch CH 4 so as it changes channels (now always goes to 4 CBS) an info message shows on the bottom of the screen but because it is already on CH 4, the channel does not change. Before as it switched from 4 to 53 my wife had to keep switching back to 4 and would get very annoyed. I am thrilled with the upgrade. Now, 11/24/2005, I have full listings for 4 days (I have many Comcast cable channels 1-99 the lower channels, channels 101 to 200 middle digital channels, 301-382 the premium channels, and CH 802 – 883 Comcast HD channels). This is a lot of channels and I have listings for almost all of these. At this point in time I am thrilled with the improved TV Guide and I expect that all of my U99 errors are in the past. Thanks Bonus2
Reflashed with the latest firmware from Panasonic. Went on a trip for a few days. Left the E85 off, but set a few shows to record (timer). Came back-- no shows recorded, no TVGOS data. This is getting worse and worse-- at least the timer USED to work before... A nightmare. Time Warner, NYC, digital cable box, and an E85.
Had my TV GUIDE enabled for a couple weeks now and no problems to report other than the time my wife unplugged the unit from the outlet. Ad's and program data seems to be fully populated.
Sorry to hear of the timer failure for you faure. I am anticipating 0-nothing recorded when I return home in a week. The only reason I got the E95 was to record during my frequent trips away from home. Guess it will be time to invvest in another brand of DVD recorder soon. (
Yeah, there was some error for me. Simpsons didn't record until I got home and turned the unit on, so I missed 29 minutes of the show. It was like a kid doing something bad, when I caught it not recording it started recording. I'll have to keep a closer eye on it.
Could someone please repost Chetyl's email address? Perhaps she will know why my E85 is not working. Thanks,
I don't know if anyone out there can help, but I am at a loss as to what to do. I bought my DMR-E95HS about 6 months ago. I have talked to tech support for more than 30 hours and I continue to have more problems. At first the unit would not download any of the TV guide information if it was connected to my adelphia cable box. No matter have long I left it off for, nothing showed up. It always said "failed to get information, please check cables", or some such nonsense. However, if I connected it directly to the cable, I recevied the TV Guide information. But I wanted to have my box connected so I could record more programming. I continued to try things but nothing seemed to work. Then, something must of happened in September because all of the sudden, I started getting the TV guide information showing up. All stations and the correct information about the shows. That made me happy. However, about two weeks later I started getting the dreaded U99 error. After many more hours with tech support, I had to send it in for repair. It was gone for about a month and I got it back about 2 weeks ago. Since then no TV guide programming information shows up other then "no listings" for each station. And, in addtion to that, if I watch for more than about an hour, the unit automatically shuts off by itself! I turn it back on and go another hour or so. I haven't called tech support yet, Lord knows they will want me to send it in again for more repairs and I'll not have it for the holiday season. Has anyone else had these problems? Anyone have any suggestions? This product really sucks. Thanks.
I've been reading the horror stories on here and its scary. I was one of the people who was having problems starting in August. After a couple of months of no TV guide listings TV Guide finally did something right and now it is all back to normal. The DVR I had that I loved and back and I haven't had a U99 is over a month I believe. I'm getting all the recordings and I even get ads (which I don't read). The box is doing what it should have been and its great It all and more than I ever expected.
Just discovered this forum last week. Wish I'd seen it a lot sooner. I've had a DMR-E95HS for over a year (bought it in Oct of 1994). I have had all the problems mentioned on this board - freeze up, green screen, numerous U99s, and the "fail to record programmed shows". I, too, love this machine WHEN it works, which is usually only a few days at a time. I sent my unit to the Elgin repair center four times. I've had the main PCB replaced, new firmware and the Gemstar update which was broadcast several months ago. I recently got it back about a week and a half ago. They had my unit for four weeks and did absolutely no work on it (according to the work order, nothing is wrong with it). Well, of course, it failed to record some shows right away (using the EPG). Furious, I called the repair center and after talking to Avery there for about 10 minutes she finally agreed to let me speak to the actual technician who "worked" on my unit. He basically said, "don't use the TV Guide to program, only use the timer." He also blamed Gemstar for all the problems. Well, it's been a week and a half, no U99s, and my timer recordings have all worked (even though I have NOT disabled the EPG download). I'm now going to test programming using the Guide and see how it goes. Tim O'Connor Columbus, OH, 43085 DMR E95HS broadcast - no cable
Like both katchoo and toconnor have reported in their posts above, my E95 has acted up a lot like theirs but maybe not to that extent! Of course, I am the one who has been away on vacation and the 1st thing I will do when I enter my door will be to check to see if the dreaded U-99 is on my display and how many days of recordings the machine actually did! Only got 4/21 set days on my last trip away. I was totally disappointed in the machine's performance as I told Panasonic I bought it specifically to record 21 days when I was away. Panasonic has not been very cooperative about admitting any fault. In July when I first got a U-99 display, I asked for a NEW/REPLACEMENT recorder and they adamately refused saying that it would be repaired (as many times as was necessary) or until the repair service decided that they were unable to fix it! I thought it came under the "lemon law" since this was a major repair in less than 3 mos. of use. Since then I have picked up a 2-yr. warranty agreement since I figured I better protect myself with such a lousy product. I personally feel that I just bought a lousy product and will eat the loss until I can replace it with another brand recorder that I (research) know will not fail me like this one. Just recently I also burned a disc for a friend and she emailed me that she was unable to play it on any of her DVD players! Frustrating events keep happening. For anyone new, just know that phone service by Panasonic can be the MOST frustrating/unproductive time - with so much time wasted just waiting for someone to help you. Then 95% of the time you get a rude/sarcastic/STUPID tech person who has no clue on how to help! Actually I am really confused since I have NOT been using the TV Guide and the machine will still NOT record many, many times!!!
Let me know what other recorder you find (or anyone) that is better? At the time I went with the Panasonic over Pioneer because that had built in tivo and thought that is one more thing that could break..ya know? I really want to get a new DVD-Recorder with Hard Drive, but have no clue what to go with since the Panasonic one worked fine for over a year before this U99 shit started.
soju You saud that you made a disk for a friend and that they were not able to view it. I would just like to add that you have to finalize the disk after recording it to a DVD-R disk. Uf you view it on your recorder it will be visible and will play. But only on your recorder. The reason you have to go back and finalize a disk (to be able to view on all DVD players) is that you can continue to add video to the disk until it is full and do not have to do this in one session. When you have either the disk full or all the video you want to the disk you need to switch over to the to the DVD side and go to the disk settings. This will then give you the option of finalizing the disk. This will then take around 2 minutes to complete and then the disk will be ready to veiw in almost all DVD players. Of course you cannot add any more video's to a disk once it has been finalized. I hope that this information will be of help to you and to others on the list.
