I had my system flag me for a channel lineup change about 2 weeks ago. It then reset itself 2 days later and lost all guide data. But since then it's back up to full guide listings and everything seems to be ok. Hang in there, maybe your lineup changes will settle down and you'll get the guide data again.
Well, I'm starting to have problems again (and after surviving the U99's!!!) I had been getting the problem of a programed show not appearing in the Scheduler but when I go to the TV listing the button "cancel recording" would appear. Be that as it may, that was not the serious problem. For the past week or so I've noticed that some of the channel I scheduled wouldn't record on the right channel so I went to "setup" and for some reason it changed my channel lineup without prompting me. So I would have to reset it back. That would last for a day and then it would automatically go back to another channel lineup (I have 8 to choose from). Even with the wrong channel lineup it was giving me no TVGOS but the dreaded "no listings" for every channel. I wondering if I should do a soft or hard reset to see if maybe the memory is screwed up somehow. The last time I did that, when the Panny people told me to do it was during that whole TVguide programing thing last Aug and I lost all the channels too for months. So I figured that TV guide was doing programming changes again. Any thoughts?
As several months of painfree recording, I also had a strange problem on Thursday. I could get into the sub-menu but it was non-functional. Unplugged the unit and that seemed to make it work......except I did not notice that the clock had jumped ahead 1 hr. Decided to reset (holding down the up/down arrows) and then lost everything.....clock even became non-functional - just flashing 12:00 am. When I turned it on (Friday morning) the TV guide was in but I had lost every thing in my manually created list of programs to record everday....it was quite a list!!! At least it was still running and all the shows I had on the hard drive were still there!!! Have no idea why this happened.
Mossler, U99 is nothing more than a generic error code that means "communications error". I can be caused by almost anything and is almost meaningless. I have repaired hundreds upon hundreds of these things. Panasonic still insists that the firmware upgrade will fix all of the problems. As you can see in this discussion, it fixes many of them but not all. The most common hardware failure is the digital board, which costs more than the unit, so if this is the cause and it is out of warranty, it will be more useful as a doorstop. The DVDRAM assy and the HDD can also cause the problem, but not as common.
Don't know if anyone has asked this or not, but the main error I get these days is programs not recording. It won't record, and if I notice that it's NOT recording and turn the unit ON, it'll start recording. I noticed that using the TVGOS to schedule stuff isn't very reliable, so most of my stuff is manually set up, but even the manual programs sometimes don't record unless prompted as I stated above. Do I just have to live with this, or is there a way to fix it? (Did I already ask this question 4 months ago?)
beckman, I have 3 DMR-E85H's that I have been using since Aug 2005 for a cumulative total of approximately 15 timed recording events per week. They all have the the firmware upgrade recommended by Roger. I also impromptu record a few times per week (i.e. hit the REC button on the remote to record 30 min or an hour of a program). I can state with a high degree of certainty that you will not encounter a problem recording programs if you disable the TV Guide download. There may be other solutions. Time-Warner cable No Cable Box San Antonio, Tx.
beckman wrote: When I reported this (it happens only for one, manually-scheduled program), I was asked if the 'lost' recording happened to be on my host channel. (It is. - Chan. 7/CBS) It was further suggested that, before I put the unit on standby, that I set the channel to the channel that the scheduled-program is to record on. I did that for two weeks (this is a weekly program) and IT WORKED! The unit 'woke up' and began recording, right on schedule. Then, yesterday, I did not, and the unit once again failed to start recording, until I manually turned the unit on. ~ Keri
beckmen, Do you only have recording problems on one channel? And is that channel your host channel? I've been forwarding this stuff to Cheryl at TVGOS, but haven't heard from her for awhile.
dksmall: I have a couple of additional things that might be clues. When the host-channel (ch 7) early Sunday morning recording does NOT 'wake up' to begin, I have always been recording the night before at 11pm-1am on another channel (ch 63). This has two effects: (1) It blocks the 11pm TVGOS download and (2) my unit is left sitting on something other than the host channel.
I have been without tv guide for 2 1/2 months now. All I get is a message that the download failed and to check my connections. I've loaded the firmware and done all the resets. Now I'm just doing manual recordings but if I set up one program to record from 8-9 and another from 9-10 the second show doesn't record. Any ideas?
thiesd: I have 2 units. This problem happens consistently on my E95 machine (but not on the 85). To avoid the problem on the '95', I leave a 1 minute gap -- e.g., set the first program for 8-8:59 and the next for 9-10.
The firmware upgrade is for serial numbers in the range KU4CAxxxx - KU4DAxxxx. I can't give you the link to the servicer website, but it should be available from the consumer website. The latest update was posted on 8/10/05. Panasonic does not give revision numbers, but if you burn the update onto a CD and it spits it back out within about 30 seconds, it didn't need it. If it does need it, it will take 3-5 minutes before it ejects the disc. Burn the disc in ISO9660 format Level 1, and no multi-session. If your unit has playback issues, do not attempt the upgrade. If it misreads and corrupts the flashrom, you will destroy a $350 digital board. Normally it is a very safe procedure though.
Hi K2SMN I've been reading through this thread and your letter :- http://www.dxcc.com/dmr-e85h.htm Can your method and your driver down load work for any Panasonic including the DMR-E75VS as mine has the U99 error on it. Are the hard drives in the Panasonic the same as the hard drives used in PCs with the same connectors etc ? How big are these hard drives and what speed do they run ? Could i replace the faulty panasonic hard drive with a new hard drive from IBM ? Would the Panasonic unit format the new hard drive for me or could i format it on my PC and just plug it in.
Although any Panasonic recorder can display a U99, the only ones with this particular problem requiring a firmware update are the 85 and 95. U99 errors on other models are usually a hardware problem. Swapping out the Hard drive works sometimes but usually does not get rid of the U99 error. Until recently, a persistent U99 error usually required a digital board replacement since you could not open the tray to load an update disc. Panasonic now has an interface jig available only to service centers for connecting the unit to a PC, allowing the tech to access the firmware contents and modify it manually through specially designed software. The hard drives are standard PC hard drives and the size depends on the recorder. A faulty drive can be replaced with a standard computer hard drive. Formatting it on a PC won't do anything, because Panasonic has their own proprietary formatting. Your recorder has a formatting function built into the menus
Well, after a couple of months of error free using, the U99 bug has returned twice in the past week. Both occured during overnight downloads via off air antenna. Has anything changed with the download of late?
The problem with the programs not recording happened on two differant channels at least, so it must not be the 'host' channel or whatever. It's a minor inconvienance that I can live with. If a show doesn't record, I can usually find it online instead. I am happy to report that I haven't had any U99s in several months. I hope they don't return as some people have been complaining about. I can turn the TVGOS off, but it's a nice feature that I use to record shows that I won't really mind missing if it flakes out. Important shows are set up manually.
scrumbow, The hard drive delivered in the US DMR-E85H machines was 120 GB. If you replace it with a larger capacity drive, it will still only format to 120 GB. I presume your Panasonic machine has the same limitation for whatever size capacity hard drive it was delivered with. The hard drive delivered with the US DMR-E85H was a Samsung model advertised by Samsung as a "super quiet" drive. It is very quiet compared to the drive in my circa 1999 Windows 98 PC into which I installed the Samsung drive to run a test program you may download from Samsung. I don't think replacing the drive will affect your U99 problem, but you might consider a "super quiet" drive should you decide to replace it. The drive connectors are standard. I had to change the Master/Slave/Auto jumper on the drive to place it into slave mode when I installed it into my PC. You can usually download a manual from the drive manufacturer to see how the jumper needs to be set. I suggest making a note of the original position of the jumper before you change it.
Beckmen... You said, "If a show doesn't record, I can usually find it online instead." What do you mean by that? What kinda shows are you referring to? Thanks
I am throwing this out there just as a possibility just because I have seen this with many other recorders that intermittently won't record some over the air programs. Many broadcasts now have copyright protection. It is especially becoming very common with satellite services. A lot of recorders will not record broadcast material if it is copyrighted. Some of them will give a message while others will just quietly refuse to record the program without giving any indication of why. I do not know if the DMR-E85 is susceptible to this. I don't remember seeing any come into the shop with this complaint.
