Looks like they have something called "Seatools for DOS" that may do the trick. Apparently an ATA drive can't be low level formatted like and old MFM drive. But I wouldn't do anything until I tried it in the DMR with the jumpers correctly set. Cal
Provided the drive is jumpered correctly, it really doesn't matter if the drive was partitioned and formatted on a computer. If the drive is a Maxtor, there's MaxBlast which can erase the boot sector and partition information. But even then, the Panasonic will just format the drive when it's connected. I suspect something else is wrong. Either there's still a power supply problem or the drive is bad. The error messages described were the same when I tried to install a Seagate drive that required more current than what the E85 is designed to deliver. I ended up putting back the stock Samsung drive which was then formatted and works fine.
OK Guys [Gals], here is where I stand. I was able to do a low level (zero fill) format on my hard drive, took about 14 hours, although I now believe that there was nothing wrong with the hard drive. Roger, you were right, there was a problem with my DVD. Somehow some of the plastic parts got dislocated inside the hard drive that would not allow the laser to fully engage. I was able to put them back in place but now I have a whole new set of problems. Following your instructions for setting the system to the factory defaults from an early post, I did it. Now my system is stuck at "TEST *L1". I have followed the instructions from every post in this thread to try and get rid of it but nada, zip, zilch. Nothing I do will make it go away. When I shut the system down, I have to hold the power button for 10 seconds to get it to shut off and return to the clock. If I just tap the power button, I get the disappearing bars that stop at one on each side of the LCD. I have tried taping the power button until it gets to one bar on each side and then simultaneously holding down the Up/Down channel buttons..... nothing. When I do a soft restart, the system gives me the dreaded PLEASE WAIT and then displays the CH indicator, for channel with two dashes next to it [CH--] followed momentarily by the "TEST *L1" display. I am however able to see a video feed through the system. When I do a hard restart, the system does the same thing as a soft restart. It goes right to the PLEASE WAIT display without me touching the power button. Additionally, I was momentarily able to enter the TV guide menu to setup my preferences, but I have not been able to get back into that. I have been able to hear both the DVD and hard drive spinning. Anyone have any other ideas our posts that I may have missed. P.S. my hard drive is still unformatted. I have not been able to get to a menu item that will allow me to format it. Thanks, Sean
Well I am happy to say that my panny is up and running just like new but not without a lot of headaches. In the end after the low level format of my hard drive and putting the plastic pieces inside my dvd player back in the right place and a zillion other little fix attempts here and there it turned out to something very very stupid. When I put the hard drive back into the system, I put the jumper in the wrong slot. I had it in the master instead of the cable select position. On a hunch I just decided to try a different jumper position; what did I have to loose. I had already given up hope that it was every going to work again. As soon as I powered the system up I knew that I had fixed it. The LCD started displaying messages it had not displayed before and what was the most exciting part, the system informed me that the hard drive needed to be formatted. THERE IS A GOD. I was also able to update the firmware using ROGER's download, and it worked just like he explained it would. Below is a rudimentary diagram of where the jumper should be. The RED X's signify the jumper position. X X X O X X X X X X Thank you all for your help; I will keep an eye on this thread in the hopes that I might be of assistance in the future. Sean
Can anyone please tell me where I can go in Los Angeles (or where I can send) TWO PANASONIC DMRs for repair? I have a Panasonic DMR E85H that I cannot get to work (just suddenly stopped and now displays LINK *1) and a Panasonic DMR EH55 that will no longer write to discs (no matter what brand I use) except for DVD RAM discs. I have read through the entire forums and attempted several fixes but nothing has worked. I am not electronically inclined-- so changing out possible bad capacitors in the DMR E85H is definitely not an option for me. I would obviously rather fix the units rather than junk them and cannot really afford to buy new ones. Any reputable repair persons out there? (Panasonic repair seems to be a joke... So I would rather bypass them if possible). Do I have any options?! Thanks!
I strongly suggest you also try 1-800-211-7262 for the 3 year extended warranty for $139.95. Don't say it is broken......just say you want the ext. warranty. I just extended my first machine (first extended warranty will expire in Apr. 2008) After it is covered, call in and explain problem and they should refer you to a dealer in your area that can service you. I live in Hawaii and have had to take the DMR 85 in for repair twice - to a local JVC dealer (who handles the Panasonic repairs) and had had excellent repair and service both times. Sure beats paying the $130 - 1 time only fee. These machines are so erratic that I firmly believe in the warranty as I can't go in and do all the stuff a lot of you on this board do. In fact, my 2nd machine will be going in for a check soon....it grinds DVDs when I put them in to dub! Yikes!
If you can see an L1, I think that is a sign that you are closing in on the solution. If I recall correctly, that is much preferable to the Please Wait. My suspicion is you had a bad connection from the board under your dvd tray to the hard drive and that you would have ended all the turmoil simply by removing the cable and reinstalling it. K
Magnum, one of the posters in here talked about just walking into a computer building shop in his town and hiring a guy to swap out the capacitors for him. It was cheap, and easy for someone who solders all day long. K
Kassel... Thanks! I saw the capacitor discussion before... But I can't seem to find it in the thread since. Do you (or anyone else) remember the part name/number for the capicitors and where they are located in the unit? I remember someone saying they bought them for $8 at Radio Shack... but aI can't find the darn post. I'm afraid this thing is going down the garbage chute if I can't figure this out rather quickly. Thanks in advance for any help!
Magnum 19: I would suggest ordering a Service Manual for the DMR-E8H(P*)(*or whatever the last letter is on your machine. You can download it for $11.99 at Service-Manual.net. The caps are located at 1270 and 1271 on the power board. They are Part # F2A1C6810023 (680uF 16V)and can be ordered at HTTP://SERVICE.US.PANASONIC.COM for about $2.00 each plus shipping. There may be other bad caps as well. A visual should discover the bad ones. Also, using "Ctrl F" to search the pages of the manual can be very helpful. Jaspaul43
quoted from Magnum19 E85 machine bad capacitors: as suggested earlier in this thread I used two radio shack capacitors described as follows: 1000µF 35V 20% Radial-lead Electrolytic Capacitor Model: 272-1032 Catalog #: 272-1032 $1.59 Paid an electronics shop guy $5 to solder them in - working great since then, several weeks (machine symptom was eternal message "Please Wait").
Hi All... Can anyone tell me the difference between the E85H and the E95H machines? I have the E95H and most of you talk about the E85 machine. It seems like I have similiar problems and wonder if the two machines are similiar. Thanks.
Funny because your question made me realize that I have the E95H but usually refer to it as the E85H just in error! From what I read here, the problems are all the same. As far as the technical parts of the machine, I am strictly a "take it in to repair" person so someone else will have to answer that for you! One thing I really dislike on this machine is that you have to type in the title for the show everytime, whereas newer models allow you to save the title and pull it up when you need it.
I too have a DMR-E85H and have just had my first panic. Can someone direct me to where I can find the latest firmware?
My machine has started to behave oddly and I haven't seen it mentioned before. When I try to dub some titles onto a DVD at high speed it has an error, but when I do the same titles at 'normal' speed it does it fine. Any ideas? Faye Comcast - Western Phila suburbs
For those of you that just can't find it to read the thread from the beginning, here is a link that was on page 1. It will take you a site that has the firmware upgrade and the instructions on how to make the CD and the process to upgrade the device. Here is the link, again: http://www.dxcc.com/dmr-e85h.htm
My first post here. Thanks to all who have worked to make these machines usable! I have a Mar 2004 unit that has worked so-so. My problem has been that the unit occasionally destroys DVD-RAM disks during the erase procedure. I only recently got the dreaded U99 and that has brought me here to find a solution. I finally got my last RAM disk out of the drive but I can't get the unit to do anything more than boot into a test sequence then U99. I bought a Toshiba recorder w/HDD that does RAM and it records well and erases w/o error, but the Panasonic has the best software by far. I plan to try to replace the capacitors if nothing else works to get the Panasonic working again. I want to know if anyone has any ideas about reclaiming the DVD-RAM disks that the E85 has disabled and can't be written to by the Tosh or even a computer. I am thinking that a poorly regulated power supply may have caused the DVD burner in the E85 to damage the disks and eventually take out the whole machine.
