Well with all the problems of my E95 rejecting/self-checking on almost every DVD I was inserting (made in India and Taiwan TDKs), I went on a "dvd recorder w/ hard drive" hunt about 2 weeks ago. Located a reasonable EH 75E on-line at Circuit City that I could pick up here where I live. Finally took it out of the box today and so far it seems good although only connected to cable with No cable box! Remote is a bit different so called into Tech Support this morning to ask a question. In the process, mentioned the concern with DVDs being rejected by the E95. So told me that they would send me the Firmware upgrade that will enable the recorder to accept 16-x DVDs. Tried to tell her that I was using 16x before and they worked but.....she said I need the firmware upgrade. So I hope it comes and works after I install it. In the meantime, I continue to go through the same process of watching the E95 self-check on almost every DVD I insert, reject some, accept some, yada, yada. Tried to locate the firmware on line to no avail so hopefully the CD arrives and I can install the upgrade. After I bought the EH75V, I thought I must be crazy to get another Panasonic, but I am hopeful this one will be okay, esp. since it is so difficult to find these with hard drives now and I can't live without one! BTW, I never did use the dry cleaner as one of the Panasonic tech support people told me I had to.....figured she did not know what she was talking about. Thanks again to those who shared info with me on this problem.
I recently came into possession of an E85H, and I'm having issues getting TV Guide set up and was hoping someone may have some insight. I have Insight digital cable in Columbus, Ohio, and from my cable box I hooked upboth the AV cables (to L1) and the coaxial cable to the E85H. When I received the used E85H, it was missing the IR blaster, and while the manual said to only use the Panasonic IR blaster I tried the one from my JVC VCR,and it appears to work. The cable box search established code 083 as the one that changed the channel to 09, but I can't get any data to load. WhenI turn off the E85H it seems to be searching for the proper channel, as it changes the channel every minute or two, but when I check the next day nothing has loaded. Also, the next day the E85H is still changing the channel every minute or two, which is a little irritating while watching TV. I thought the issue was with my cable provider, so I gave up and set it up like I had cable with no box, and set a couple manual channels to disable the Guide function. A couple days later I was going to do a timer recording, and I saw promotions and a channel listing with no data. I went through the Guide set up again and tried a couple other variations, which only caused the promotions to disappear, and I gave up again. Several days later, the promotions are back, and I was given several channel listings to choose from. Knowing it wouldn't work with my cable box but curious as to what would happen, I selected a channel listing that looked similar to the local channels, but this morning I had no promotions again and no data. The questions I was hoping someone would have answers to are the following: 1. Is there a listing of cable box codes anywhere so I can confirm that 083 is really the proper code for my box? 2. Does anyone know, or know where I might be able to find out, if Insight is passing through the TV Guide data, or if they are blocking parts or all of it? 3. Does the IR blaster really have to be the Panasonic blaster? I can order one, but I hate to waste the money if it won't make a difference. 4. If the IR blaster and TV Guide functionality are working, how long should it take for the E85H to stop changing channels every couple minutes? Do I need to let it run this process for more than 12 to 16 hours I have tried? I know it may take longer for data to download, but the constant channel changing the next day makes watching TV unbearable. Thanks in advance.
my unit e85h decided to go u99 on me... this is the 2nd time. 1st time unit would crash when trying to burn a dvd. I felt that was ok, HDD still worked so I can live with it. But today it looks really messed up. I tried the open/close, <<back and time slip to reset the defaults. Unit will reset. clock flashes 12:00 Power on the unit I hear the HDD unpark, the dvd drive runs for a second (No disc in drive) and then it says "test * L1" on the lcd screen. It sits there for about 20 seconds and then it goes to u99. This really hurts as the HD has the last 3 episodes of 24 on it... I have not tried to do a firmware upgrade. I have been hesitant to do that beacuse I bought this unit from best buy and I bought the 4 year extended warranty. Since best buy does not cary anything close, I think if I take it to them, they will just refund my money and toss my unit. I really like the panasonics edit features! I would hate to loose it. Any Ideas what my problem might be. Any ideas on how to get it back to working? I am pretty sure there are no good replacement options. I recently purchased a toshiba rd-xs35. Its an intersting unit, but I don't think it has the edit features that panasonic has.
I have the exact same problem. I actually drop my unit off with my local TV guru and am waiting for his response. When I get the verdict, I'll post the results.
Mr Bill2 firmware upgrade should not hurt the stuff on the drive(24 episodes), and shouldn't hurt the warranty (not 100% positive on that though)
Try googling "The Great DMR-E85H Snafu" and read on that page for the firmware from the Japanese site. Works like a charm with NO issues. There have been at least one fw updates posted on Panny's NA site since I burned the J firmware to a cd and stuck it in. I have not tried them b/c I was afraid I would be unable to go back to the J firmware, and becuase I have not had any reason to change (knock on wood). For the lazy ones out there, I even hunted the link to the most-excellent "SNAFU" page for ya! The Japanese firmware is on it but don't just kype the file and run, it is an interesting read and the author went to some trouble to create the page. FW is a couple(?) years old but is what I would recommend, at least for all North American boxes. Use mostly Verbatim & the HP Lightscribe type discs now, no bad burns, no problems with 16x media. <SMILES>
Here you go KeatonBri, hope this helps ya out... The questions I was hoping someone would have answers to are the following: 1. Is there a listing of cable box codes anywhere so I can confirm that 083 is really the proper code for my box? Dunno about a separate listing but you should still be able to download the manual in .pdf format from Panasonic. It will have them. 2. Does anyone know, or know where I might be able to find out, if Insight is passing through the TV Guide data, or if they are blocking parts or all of it? Call them and speak to a tech (not customer service). 3. Does the IR blaster really have to be the Panasonic blaster? I can order one, but I hate to waste the money if it won't make a difference. IR-Blasters are almost universally a generic dumb device. If the plug fits and it seems to work, it works. 4. If the IR blaster and TV Guide functionality are working, how long should it take for the E85H to stop changing channels every couple minutes? Do I need to let it run this process for more than 12 to 16 hours I have tried? I know it may take longer for data to download, but the constant channel changing the next day makes watching TV unbearable. It'll never stop ol' bud. Your options are to live with it <YUCK!>, run coax directly into the Panny from a splitter, or do what most of us do and just turn the thing on when watching tv. You can change the settings for auto-off to six or eight hours (forget which) so it doesn't annoy you by shutting of while you are watching. BTW, sometimes you can run a separate coax feed to the Panny and it will still pick up the digital channels (in the TVGoS I mean, you can't watch 'em that way but if you have the cable box running into the S-video (etc.) ports it might not matter). That would p'raps be an option to leaving the Panny on all the time, although mine has been on whenever I've watched tv since the day I brought it home. Just seems easier to have it running in case I want to quick-record or set up a future recording or something.
thanks for all the info. I will next look into updating the firmware. Luckily, I was able to get it out of the test * L1 = u99 loop!! Not exactly sure how I did it, but I think it went like this: 1: unplugged the unit for a few minutes. 2: plugged it back in and it flashes 12:00 3: hit the power on on the unit. 4: when it said test * L1 on the screen, I held down the channel up and channel down to force it it to shutdown. here is where I am not sure what else I did.. I either unplugged it again and then used the open/close +time slip+ <<back. Or I simply powered on the unit. the unit came up showing channel 1 in the status box.(On a previous occasion I left it there and it eventually went to u99) This time I hit direct navigation as soon I got the status box and went to the stored shows. I was able to watch them, but erase/edit would not work (I wanted increase free space it was at about 75% used). At that point I powered down the unit. I might have unplugged it again(not sure). I powered it up again and this time I let it sit on channel 1 on the status box. But it did not go u99 on me. I think it went into setup mode. I set the zip and cable info. I was able to change channels and delete shows. I shut the unit down and it found the correct time. About 18 hours later I turned it back and It allowed me to pick the channel lineup for my area. Lets see if the tv guide populates now. If I feel really brave, I will see if the dvd wants to burn again.(putting a blank in made it go u99) Hopefully this might help someone. I had a thought and maybe a moderator or one of the original posters might be able to help.. I think it might be a good idea for someone to modify the 1st messages in this thread to add pointers to important posts like see xyz's message on page xx on downloading firmware. 58 pages is an awful lot to look through. Especially when you not sure if the hint posted in 2005 on page 2 should be superseded my the hint on page 55 posted in 2007. Maybe someone could post a FAQ on what to try 1st before you do something really stupid on the u99 problem...
mrbill2, Are you familiar with VideoBob's "power down and unplug" proceedure? If not have a look at page 42. You can frequently get out of trouble and not loose your setup information by using it. Do you know about the "753159852 screens"? I had a U99 loop similar to yours and was eventually able to break out of it by "power down and unplug". The thing that seemed to be key to breaking the loop was to power off the machine as soon as the TV picture showed up on the TV and BEFORE the guide screen tried to display. I posted a long message about it on page 52. It's too bad that the old timers have moved on. VideoBob was a great resource. A friend of mine recently purchased a DMR-E75. So far I guess he's happy with it. I'll have to get an update from him. Cal
Has anyone figured out how to mark your program point on a Panasonic HD recorder? You're watching a film & you want to mark that spot so that you can return to it. I can't figure it out. It was easy on my non Hd recorder.
When you hit stop in the middle of a recording, the display will start flashing "PLAY". You can then hit play again and it will resume play where you were. Hitting stop a second time will drop it out of that mode. I think you can shut the machine off when "PLAY" is flashing and it will still remember where you were. However, someone thought that flashing "PLAY" mode was interfering with TVGO download. Beyond that, I'm not aware of a way to mark a spot in a recording. I usually hit the [STATUS] button on the remote twice to display the time in the show, jot it down, then later fast forward at 100X to where I left off. Cal
I would like to remove the hard drive from my DRM-E85H, re-format and then reinstall... Can someone please tell me how to do this. I have removed the HD and instaled it in an external USB HD case... the computer can read the drive. What process do I use to format... I am guessing not the normal windows format. Thanks
xk150 why don`t you use the format option on disk management in the menus.. If you format it in a windows system you will still have to reformat the drive under panasonic disk management in the menu because during a panasonic format info is written to the drive so that the controller on the digital board knows what it`s dealing with. Its just as stupid as a windows system only moore so!!!
You can go to the exact spot of your recording by using the TimeSlip display. Once you hit this button on the remote, the upper right part of the screen will have a yellow box with "0 min" in it. Use the up/down arrow keys to enter the number of minutes you want to go forward or backwards, then hit enter. Then hit the TimeSlip button again to close that window.
When the TV Guide Onscreen says 'The Search for Data has Failed', does this mean it has stopped looking and you need to start over by clearing the setup and starting over. Also, could someone tell me how you get to the hidden screens for the TV Guide Onscreen that has all sorts of various data?
No-- it means that the DVR has not found the channel from which it gets the TV Guide. Give it 24 hours. To get to those screens you were asking about, the best thing is to read The Great Panasonic Snafu-- Google it and follow his worthwhile suggestions.
Thanks, Cal. I've been tied up for a while with multiple distractions, but look back occasionally. Then again, when I have a problem, I come back to read my own posts--and anything new. This is one of those times. After a month or two of distractions keeping me from unloading my drive, I started to save the 175-or-so files that were filling the hard disk on my E95. It had less than 20 hrs left--a sure signpost for trouble. I should have done a power down/reset before starting, but I got lazy--and paid dearly for it. During an early dub, it powered down and started a U99 loop, opening the drive (I couldn't get it to close for a while--now I can't get it to open, even using the [Power]/[Stop]/[Ch Up] trick). The [Up]/Down] power down didn't work, nor did either the Power Switch reset or the Factory reset [|<<]/[Timeslip]/[Open/Close]. Finally, in desperation, I just pulled the plug while it was testing. After waiting a couple of minutes and turning it on again, I was able to force a factory reset, but it now suffers the test*L1 loop. So far, I have been unable to get it to power down during the loop using the [v][^] reset, but just got it to do so using the "Hold the Power Switch 5 Seconds" method. I am now going to diddle around for a while and try to get my recordings back. I have the last 4-8 shows of a dozen series on the HDD and I do *not* want to lose them. I've seen a procedure on one of the threads on this list for swapping drives that didn't cause a reformat--by breaking and eventually re-connecting the "write" line on the drive cable--but I have not seen any real confirmation that this worked, so I'm saving it for a last-ditch effort. Nor have I found anyone who has found software to read the drives off-unit (it would probably be a *nix program). I may have to write one myself. Any input on any of those would be greatly appreciated. Meanwhile, Back to the experimental lab....:{ bob
Sure, If you are not recording or dubbing, simply hit the green [Chapter] button on the remote. It will set a "Divide Chapter" mark at that position and tell you. Hit [Enter], or [Return], or just wait and it will go away. You can then jump back and forth using the Skip [|<<]/[>>|] buttons. It's a great way to mark the commercials for later deletion as you watch a recording. It also marks your place when you stop between recordings or dubbings--or just quit for the night. bob
Panasonic Support, Download, Manuals, and Media Links.... FYI, Panasonic has changed it's firmware download page (although the old one seems to be there--but gives error messages when I try to download). This one works: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...oads?storeId=15001&langId=-1&page=DVDFirmware And here are the manuals for the E95: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...=11017&itemId=71487&displayServiceCenter=true and the E85: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...=11017&itemId=70437&displayServiceCenter=true For other models, search here: http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vProdSupportHome?storeId=15001&langId=-1 Also, Panny sells their 4.7 GB non-cartridge blanks for 99-cents (W/Cartridge=$1.99): http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wc...itemId=70437&displayTab=A&surfModel=DMR-E85HS Hope this is of use to you. bob
"If you are not recording or dubbing, simply hit the green [Chapter] button on the remote. It will set a "Divide Chapter" mark at that position and tell you." Odd you should mention that. I've been using that chapter button a few times unintentionally, but Ill see if I can get to the mark point too. thanks.
