Bob I don't have an external box. Just straight cable to PVR and Gamecube to L3 input. I happened to get a RF modulator switch at Blockbuster today for $1.99 (clearance). I am trying to set this up, so kids never touch PVR and can play games at any time. By the way all Blockbusters are clearing out most electronics equipment, I also got a DVD/CD repair machine kit for $1.99. Thanks, Ron
After a power interruption, my E95 stuck with U99 error. After one hour of effort, I finally got my recorder back. What I did was, as soon as I turn the unit on, I kept pushing on "stop" on the unit (not remote) numerous times, then suddenly I saw "Bye" on the display panel. I then turn the unit off and then turn it back on again, I notice all the previous TV guide data was erased. This is just like reset the TV Guide setup. All the content in the hard drive remain intact. Hopefully, this trick will help you.
Just push it and *hold* it until the unit powers down (about ten seconds). Then unplug the unit for a couple of minutes. If you don't do this, the problem will likely recur. Any data left by the crash will *not* be lost by either process. Then the crash took your data. The normal recovery proces will not. bob
I encountered a fatal U-99 error. Fortunately, it was still on warranty, because it was sent away, and the mother board replaced. I was without the machine for more than a month. As a new board has been installed (I would have cost $400 CDN if not on warranty), do you think I need to install the firmware? Did I purchase a lemon? And now for something completely new: I can't tell you yet if it works well or not. I decided since I was going to have to re-install it into my Home Theatre, it was time to upgrade. I bought a new TV, and rented a higher end HD digital box (Motorola DCT 6412). I have been unable to figure out how to connect the Panny to the system so it can record HD movies. There is no Coax output from the Motorola. I have tried S-Video, and component cables, and connecting video/audio ins and outs. I suppose I can connect it 'upstream' from the Motorola, and not have the ability to record HD. I'm told I can record on the Motorola, but cannot put the movies onto DVD disks. If you've read all the way through this, thanks for sticking with it. I'm a Newbie, if you couldn't tell.
I have an E85 that was made in March 2004 even though I bought it in Feb 2005. I just checked the firmware and said 850DL. Do I need the firmware file that I saw on here earlier. I had already downloaded it and burnt it on a CD but when I saw the 850DL I wanted to ask. Could they have updated them? I havn't had the U99 error but it is picky about DVD Media it will use. I only use panasonic disks with this recorder and they are costly compared to the other disk I use for my E80(which I like better than the U85)Appreciate any comments. Thanks.
I had good luck with Maxell blanks. I tried burning to a Sony blank but it came up with incorrect format. I was trying to use Nero to burn on PC. Maybe I didn't finalize correctly. I went out of town and didn't have time to check. Is there a list of good and bad blanks to use with this unit? Thansk in advance
Comments on recent posts: The current version of the main firmware is 950DL. If you have a lower number, you really need to upgrade. Read my document for further details: http://www.dxcc.com/dmr-e85h.htm - There is a lot of info for E85H users in there. As for what brand of DVD-R blanks work best, I was using the "Memorex 4X" with great success. They have gone to 8X now, but still work fine at 4X speeds (The unit records at 4X). I would avoid any 2X blanks. I also have tried a number of other brands. The TDK 8X work fine. I have had lots of trouble with the "special" brands like "Office Max" or "Staples", etc. The real clue is the time it takes to begin a dubbing operation. I always have the "high speed" copy selected in the "Setup". It can copy a 2 hr (SP) disk in less than 12 minutes. If you don't use the "high speed" method, it takes almost an hour to dub a full DVD. When you "start" the dub, watch the timer. With the Memorex or TDK blanks, it starts to count in less than 10 seconds. With those off-brand blanks, it can take 30-40 seconds to start (or it will just "fail"). Good Luck! Roger.
Thanks for the reply. I upgraded and now says firmware is 970DL. I have used Memorex and fujifilm disks with no luck but work fine in my E80.I will have to try some others in small packs. Thanks again.
Thanks for the reply. I upgraded and now says firmware is 970DL. I have used Memorex and fujifilm disks with no luck but work fine in my E80.I will have to try some others in small packs. Thanks again.
Media is *everything*. I used to use cheap off-brand DVD's and got 30-60% rejects (on other readers). I switched to Prodisc 4X silver DVD-R (DVD01X0121) that I bought on-line for 30-40 cents each. 100 burns, no Frisbees. I bought 200 Taiyo Yuden 4x Speed 4.7GB DVD-R Silver Lacquer (part number 01-DRTY901-F) from thetechgeek.com for $59.98, because I've heard great things about them. I figured for thirty cents each for T-Y media, how can you go wrong? So far, I've gotten halfway through them and only had one problem--one I had once before. It lookd like bad media, but isn't--so it's worth mentioning here. I had a couple of corrupt video files that apparently got corupted during an earlier "An Error Has Occured." Any dubbing inclding either failed and either destroyed the disk or left part of it unavailable. It looked like a batch of bad DVDs. If I hadn't had over 50 successive successful burns from a 100-disk spindle, I might have blamed the media. Once I had found the corrupt files by the process of elimination, I was able to locate the bad area by calculating *when* it failed and edited it out. No more media problems. bob
Just a note, Since I upgraded the firmware my Fujifilm disk DVD-R that I buy 100 at a time work in my E85 now. Could the upgrade corrected that?
I did one of the earlier posts that said by updating the software would also allow the recorder to use disks that the old software did not support. As i remember it has something to do with the disks saying 8X or having a write speed of 1X - 8X. The problem is it is getting harder to find DVD-R that will still work on 1X and 2X machines. The software update should allow 8X discs but I have not burned any at this time. I bought the Panasonic RVD-RAM discs and have backed up to them. Best Buy was selling the 10 pack for around $23.00. I bought two packs as this was almost half price. I hope this helps Keith
After updating the firmware I have had some very few problems - finally. The only odd part is that I have now recieved the U99 error 3 times. The first two I power cycled the machine at the unit and it did a self check and all was good. The third I was actually able to power cycle from the remote, again, no problems. I still don't know why it has U99'd, but has anyone else experienced this post update or am I just pressing my luck these days?
I have not received the U99 error anymore, but still get "An Error has Occurred" when I have a lot of programs on my E85 and detlete a large number of them. Yesterday, I had about 110 EP programs on a 120 MB drive and deleted about 35 scattered throughout. Later, I turned the unit on/off repeatedly while it was doing a scheduled recording (I turn it off to get my auto-sensing video switch to sequence to the next recorder, and back on to check for duplicates). I noticed that the icons no longer filled and that clicking on any icon took me back to the live (recording) broadcast. I was recording for program in a row and on the third, the "An Error has Occurred" message terminated it at the beginning. I powered down, it reset, and re-initialized (without losing any data) and all was well--except I had to restart the recording, having lost five minutes. Now that I think of it, I also used "Divide Title" for the first time in a while that day, and that might have triggered it. bob
I'm still getting U99 errors after updating my firmware to 950DL (dated January 2005). In fact, more than ever, as in two in the past two days. Very frustrating. I only get them when the machine is unattended. My hard disk is regularly more than 90% full.
I have done the update and I still get the U99 error. It seems to happen when I have a timed recording. I always get the show I recorded but then between the time of the recording and getting home it goes into this error. When I look at the display all it shows is U99. I have just turned it on with the remote and it goes through the self ckeck for several minutes and then it appears that everything is OK. I'm only using about 30% of the 120 Gig hard drive. I'm recording at the 4 hour level and show about 92 hours left to record.
I own a DMR-E95H which I think is pretty much the same as the DMR-E85H. I have owned it for a little over a month now and I have absolutely loved it. However today I woke up with a U99 error staring in my face. The machine was fine last night when I went to bed. I turned it off and woke up with the error message this morning. Looks like the firmware still hasn't fixed all the bugs in these things. I wonder if it will just keep getting worse?
Hello guys. I think I have a new problem for you. I have read all six pages of this thread and didn't see any mention of it. I have a DMR-E85H. Recently, the unit will not start a guide recording on time, if at all. An example....I have the unit set to record from 2pm to 3pm on one channel and then from 3pm to 4pm on another. This is on a Monday, set for weekly. The unit will not record the first setting at all then the second setting starts at 3:19pm and ends normally at 4pm. Any ideas? Oh.....I though maybe the guide was dinked up and deleted the Monday entry to reenter. This problem then moved to the the weekly scheduled Friday recordings. This is random BTW, it does not happen every week. Hopefully you are still reading......there are a lot of "setup" items I am not sure what they mean. The manual does not define what thes settings do. Also, when recording from the guide, if set to "regular" what does that actually mean? Again the manual does not define that. Thanks, Robert
Yes I have that problem also. It seems like it only happens when I record programs back to back. I try to leave a half hour space in between programs and so far it hasn't happened when I do that. If there are some programs that I want that are back to back I just set a timer recording and then use the divide feature to split them up. (So far no problems with the divide feature.) I don't know how long this will work though because I've only had the machine for a little over a month. I've never had it start recording a program late yet like you said yours did. Yesterday I was in a hurry so I thought I'd take a chance and try recording some programs back to back because sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Using the program guide I set it to record a program from 7pm to 8pm on one channel and then from 8pm to 9pm on another channel. I noticed that it didn't show the record icon on the second program so I went to the program guide and tried to get it to record again but it did nothing. It was like it thought it was recording it. I cancelled the recording and then it let me record it from the program guide. Unfortunately I had missed the first 10 minutes of the program by this time. I wish I could tell you what it means to record "regularly" but I have no idea either. You are right the manual is no help on that one. I even checked tv guide onscreen's website and couldn't find the answer.
