luvshisex, I haven't complained about it on this thread, but this is the only reason I'd appreciate a remote eject button. Several DVD's I've rented at Blockbuster recently won't recognize the "Top Menu" button (i.e. you know, the function that's overloaded on the Navigator button while you're watching a DVD). The only way to get back to the Top of the DVD's menu is to eject the DVD and re-load it. Then you have to wait for all the copy protection messages to play again which the DVR prohibits scanning through or jumping to the next segment.
I assume you've tried the sub menu button & it also didn't work. Well, I can't tell you how to eject from your remote, but I once got a free dvd with a pizza delivery that didn't have a top menu & I know what you mean. Try hitting the stop button twice & then the play or enter button. Hmm. Or hitting the hdd button and then the dvd button. ...
The other day I discovered that you don't actually have to hit the blue (or is it green key) dozens of times to move a entry up to the top of the list. You can just enter a number when you are in move up/down mode and it will move the channel to that position in the list. For example: if you are 100 entries down and type 3, the channel will be moved to the third position from the top of the list. I leaves you where you were in the list, 100 entries down in the example, so you can continue moving entries up from there. In one trip down the list you can send all of your favorite channels to the top, then go to the top and put them in order with the green/blue buttons. Cal
By the way, the listings problem (at least in my geography) appear to have cleared up and things are working great. I think we had a one-week glitch from TVGuide that there's no problem with the Panasonic itself. I did check on firmware and there doesn't appear to be any new updates, so my previous speculation was truly idle...
Hey thanks for that info. Had this thing for several years now and I still don't know all of its tricks. I will remember that if it ever happens again. - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * - * I thought about updating the firmware to what is on Panasonics site (US) but I think it said mainly just fixes "compatibility with newer media" which I don't understand. I use Verbatim 8X DVD-Rs and a few HP Lightscribe 16x DVD-R's (when I want to fancy up a label or can't find my Sharpie) without any trouble. Don't know who makes the HPs, haven't tried to read an id yet, but they write fine in the Panny. Methinks that it really just has the bugfixes that the Japanese firmware had a few years ago. Probably doesn't have the region free part though. So I guess if I changed fw now it would be considered a downgrade. But I dunno. I know of NO way to go back to an earlier fw so I am not going to change just to find out. Anyone tried using the currently specced (on their website) firmware? Can anyone actually tell me what the changes are? I haven't found a changelog for it and don't expect to, it seems that consumer electronics (non-"computer" stuff) never really have a changelog when new fw is published. Later,
Sorry about the previous Quote (tired out after a long day pi----g about with pana recorders) If you get u99 and self check come up on an 85 your data will not be gone if someone doesn`t try to fit a new hd. A power supply repair will cure all u99 errors without messing with the hard drive. A common mistake is made when these units are in for repair when some twit hooks up a new drive and lets the machine format it--still doesn`t cure u99 but as the new drive has been formatted, the data on the old perfectly good drive is lost forever. When a drive is connected up to a panny unit the disk drive and some boot code from the digital pcb has to be written to the hard drive.If the old drive is tried afterwards then the firmware writes the same code onto the drive and formatts it--bingo your data is lost. Hope this clears up the hard drive problem Repairman
A rather mis-leading statement. You CAN receive U99 errors that have nothing to do with the power supply. The U99 error is also the result of communication problems, be it marginal supplies, hard drive errors, or downloading the guide data. I've received a number of U99's after losing the guide data, and waiting for the download to sync up. Once it gets going, I won't see a U99 for months.
My U99s have always been guide related, as far as I can tell. None in about six months now [knock wood][/knock wood].
This is not a misleading statement as I repair these things for a living--day in day out. U99 is a comms error between disk drive,av decoder board and the hdd--usually caused by one of the lt rails between all three boards falling. These rails are +3.3v . +1.2v. +1.3v and most important is the +2v reference source that the 1.3 and 1.2volt regulators need to stabilise these rails. When this reference source fails or falls the 1.2 or the 1.3 volt rails cease and then the micro on the av board stops sending data back on one of the bus rails and the famous U99 appears. All the above is proveable with a simple digital meter and the required extention cables. Its so common now that I rarely use my meter to prove this fault, just fit the kit of parts I have assembled and the customer goes away happy and I never get a comeback
Then why do I only get a U99 after a guide data crash/resync? If I had a marginal supply I would get U99's all the time, not when the guide data is downloading. I'm sure a marginal power supply will cause U99's, but if you placed your power supply upgrade in my system it would still get U99's after a guide data crash/resync. The 2 failures simply aren't related.
It is misleading to claim that replacing the power supply will cure all u99 errors. Many pages ago in this thread, lots of people were receiving u99 errors that were exclusively related to the TVGuide updates. When GemStar figured out how to correct these errors, the problem went away. I had a u99 error problem that was cured by the bios update, until the GemStar problem was created. Once that was fixed, I have not seen a u99 in nearly 2 years--knock on wood. I still have the original power supply. Perhaps the majority of u99 errors are now caused by a faulty power supply because everyone unfortunate enough to have bought a dmr-e85h has fixed the other causes(pure speculation on my part), but still it is not correct to imply that if one gets a u99, replacing the power supply will fix the problem all the time.
Well.....came home to my 2nd U99. I powered it all the way off. Uplugged for a minute. Turned it on....got the hash marks for about a half minute. The display changes, but still have the hash marks. Machine never comes on totally. I power it off completely again and unplug for five minutes. Powered back on again with hash marks for half minute again. I am thinking at this point the thing is DEAD. Well, it finally came back on after about another minute. Looks like an update from Gemstar. I know this as I lock the video window on the guide screen. Everytime they send a program update (not program listings) it unlocks. Location: Brentwood, TN - 37027 Robert
I sat down on the rug in front of my Panasonic. I slid my rear end forward as I reached for the eject button. A spark jumped from my finger to the unit's case. I thought nothing of it and continued doing what I had planned to do. Next day I walked by it and noticed the U99 code. I haven't seen this in a very long time. I checked the TVguide listings just for the heck of it, and the fifth and sixth days were missing listings (which hasn't happened in a long time either). I thought to myself the heck with it, let it be. Within a short time all eight day's worth of listings appeared. Sparks happen.
Vulcanusa, I have had a Panasonic DMR-E85 for over 2 years now. Everything worked well until about about 2 months ago when I powered on the device and it got stuck on the "Please Wait" message. I have tried everything including letting the system sit for hours, unplugging the power and letting it sit without being plugged into an outlet, restarting the system over and over again. I have had no success and always get stuck on the "Please Wait" screen. I contacted panasonic and they told me it is a harddrive issue, but saw switching it out has not worked for you. Since you had tried, I wont bother to. Panasonic said I can send it in to them for $100 and they will take a look at it, but not necessarily be able to fix it. I would rather purchase a different unit than pay them 100 to inspect it and even more to fix it. I read back on page 7 that you had the same issue on one of your recorders. I have scowered the thread and did not see any resolution that you, or anyone else, has found to this issue. Have you been able to get your system to work or any more detailed knowledge on what is required to fix it? Thanks!
Since my recent post of my 2nd U99, I have noticed day seven and eight are not populating in the guide. I only hope it starts working again soon. The unit has been off at night too. Whatever Gemstar did, they need to correct it. Robert
Won't bore you with much of my story, which involves editing-related U99 messages (e.g. dividing titles, which I now understand is Russian Roulette). Being in L.A., I thought authorized Panny service would be competent. Since purchased almost 2 yrs ago, this is my third U99 lock-up, and only here did I learn of the firmware update yesterday. I went ahead and am getting a new hard drive, replacing it myself. This is the 3rd (the first 2 were under warranty, thus my going to the authorized places). I had to pull the cover to rescue the DVD-RAM in there, and will avoid ever keeping a disc in the tray. (None of the 'codes' I've seen thus far on the Forum function on my unit.) Have only made it half way through the 50+ webpages here, so am unsure if rtjoby, Roger (K2SMN), VideoBob or anyone else has yet figured how to get data off a locked U99 hard drive. Anyway, a huge thanks to all contributors to this. And, for what it's worth, I gave up on the TVGOS a long time ago. The brief time it did work for me, I found it so clunky that I just use the digital cable box to view listings and manually set recordings.
Please HELP!! Has anyone figured out a way to recover data from a disc pulled from one of these Panasonic machines. (My DMR100H locked up. The drive has not crashed, but the machine will no longer read the data and asks for me to format the drive.) I replaced the drive with a 250GB Maxtor drive which works to full capacity. I'm disturbed about losing the data from the old drive. There must be a way to recover it. Please help!
