Not sure if I have done that yet... but one of the white plastic arms on the side was out of position, so I hope it helped to put it back. Yeah I removed the front at the same time as the cover before I started looking at the DVD. I wish I hadn't, but that ship has sailed now... Thanks, will take a second look at that tonight. Any clues on what the correct position is?
I'm a newbie to writing on forums, but I've read this thread many times for info regarding my E85H. The advice here is better than anything offered by Panasonic. I have a machine that is currently Out of Service following a U99 error (caused by dividing) that cannot be resolved. No combination of key presses will revive the thing. The DVD drive won't open, so I can't update the software. I unplugged the machine for 2 weeks, then pulled the HD power cable and powered on, at which point it got stuck at *TEST L1. I have decided to retire the hard drive on the off chance that I can someday recover its contents. I need advice on the choice and installation of a new drive. I currently have a 120GB Maxtor DiamondMax 16. It has worked like a charm since a repair place installed it several years ago. I've looked around on the web and see lots and lots of drives. I'm not a computer person and know next to nothing about hard drives. All I have to go on is the currently installed drive. I need to know about RPM (5400 or 7200), cache size (2MB or 8MB), and terms such as EIDE, ATA, PATA, SATA, etc. The Maxtor is ATA/133. I've been told to get a 160GB Western Digital that runs quietly and stays cool. Also, as a not computer-savvy person, how difficult is the replacement? I've already had the box open. I can see the connections. Are we talking pulling two cables, switching boxes, and plugging things back in? Or do I need to be wary of static electricity and possibly frying the whole machine with one false move? I can always go to a computer shop and ask them to do the installation. Thanks everyone for the seemingly endless amounts of information. I saw posts from 2005, I had no idea they were still coming.
izmay, The drive is quite easy to physically remove and replace. When you unscrew and slide the top cover of the DVR backward, you'll see a brownish flat flex ribbon cable near the top, front, right side of the DVR just forward of the hard drive. Take care not to damage that cable when you ultimately replace the top of the DVR back on and slide it forward. The specs for the drive in my machine are: Features/Specifications: * Samsung SpinPoint SV1203N 120 GB IDE Hard Drive * General Features: * 120 GB formatted capacity * UDMA/133 data transfer rate * 5400 RPM spindle speed * 5.56 ms average latency * 8.9 ms average seek time * E-IDE/ATAPI interface * 3.5-inch form factor * Power Specifications: * +5V, 0.6A * +12V, 0.5A * Regulatory Approvals: * cULus * TUV * CSA * Semko * CE * C-Tick * BSMI * MIC Package Includes: * Drive only Additional Information: * Notes: * Model #: SV1203N * Requirements: * IDE controller * IDE cable * Available 3.5-inch drive bay * Available 4-pin Molex power connector You will want to replace your drive with an equivalent IDE or E-IDE drive. A couple of years ago, I pulled the drive from one of my E85H DVRs and installed it as a slave into a 1999 WIN98 PC with an E-IDE drive controller. The BIOS recognized it. I FDISK'ed it. I formatted it. I downloaded a test utility from Samsung called Hutil and ran it against the drive. It tested fine. I doubt your problem is related to the drive unless it simply won't spin up or you had a head crash. However, if you do decide to replace the drive, it won't matter what the capacity of the new drive is as long as it's at least 120 GB. The DVR will not make use of anything over 120 GB. A larger capacity drive is fine, but you will not get any more recording capacity than if it were 120 GB (i.e. machines sold in the USA). You can download an installation manual for the Samsung drive here: http://safemanuals.com/user-guide-instructions-owner-manual/SAMSUNG/SV1203N-_I This manual tells you what the jumper positions on the back of the drive mean. I presume you know what a jumper is, but in case you don't, you'll see one or two little black plastic rectangles pushed over a pair of pins on the back of the drive. Each jumper is only 2-pins wide and so each jumper electrically connects (i.e. jumpers) two pins together. This establishes the personality of the drive (e.g. slave, master, or determined by the drive cable "cable selected"). I recommend you write down the positions of your jumper(s) after you remove the drive. You'll need to replicate the personality on your new drive, should you decide to go that route. Good luck.
Vulcan .... I don't suppose there's much more one needs to know about a hard drive ;o) Thanks for taking the time to write up all the details. I may have to replace my E85H hard drive as well. Of all those specs you listed, is the fact that it's an IDE or E-IDE drive the only critical one? Thanks EdP
EdP, I bet an IDE drive can be controlled by an E-IDE drive controller. I believe the leading E in E-IDE means Enhanced. You cannot install a very old technology drive such as MFM, nor a newer technology drive such as SATA, so yeah, I would say the E-IDE spec is the most critical requirement. As long as the replacement drive is equal or higher performance with regard to the other specs compared to the original drive, I doubt you'll have a problem, but perhaps another board member who is an electronics tech or EE or simply more competent with hardware issues could comment.
I believe previous posters mention that the drive should be a 5400 RPM unit - that the 7200's may draw too much current and cause power supply problems.
I thought I'd add my experience in case anyone is keeping score. Some time ago I had the classic symptoms of the C1270/C1271 problem (I don't remember, but I think that's the "Please wait.." problem; whatever it was, I remember thinking at the time "That's it exactly!"; even the periodic dimming of the display). That was maybe 6-9 months ago. I followed the excellent instructions provided here by yankee10 and others around p. 64 and the unit has been fine ever since. Well, until last week. The unit was completely dead - the front panel wouldn't even light up, and there was just a slight, periodic flash on the TV screen. And the Olympics are just a couple of weeks away! I came back here and found gymmy's post on p. 72, opened the unit up again and, sure enough, now caps C1260 and C1261 were blown. My contribution to this august body is that cap C1413 (6.3V 1500 uF) was also blown - no questioning it. I don't know whether C1413 was a factor or if it was only C1260/1 that did me in, but the E85 is back up and running again after replacing all 3. At this point, I suppose I should just replace every electrolytic on the entire power supply board, but my soldering is dicey enough that I'd be tempting fate. Thanks to all... It's now no longer a matter of money but the fact that you can't get anything like this unit any more.
Hi Everyone: I've been reading through most of the 2007-08 thread entries, interesting stuff. I am a newbie to this thread with a 4+ y-o machine. It's been solid and steady for me until oddities have hit in the last 6-9 months. Here's a list of current issues 1) First to go was the ability to burn straight from HDD to DVD on some content. After a firmware upgrade (burned onto the CD and installed) and frequent resets, it seemed to do the trick. 2) Next was the ability to finalize any DVD-R. I can still record straight to DVD-R and play content (burned or bought), but finalizing is now out. The latest in the last month are HDD issues. 3) When recording content, at the end of recording, it would stop, go into self check, come back up and say there was an error. Originally the show would appear and be watchable, but now it doesn't even show anymore. This is a continual loop now. (I have been recording to DVD and watching on the unit the last few weeks, works fine, but not a great solution.) 4) Next was the inability to delete content from the HDD. It would go into self check, say there's an error, start it over and it acts like nothing happened. 5) Now it says I need to format the hard drive. I attempt to do so and it gives me an error, and to try again, and it goes tries again, goes into self check mode comes back up and says there was an error -- and the viscious circle continues. Which has taken me to here. Any ideas guys? I have never had a U99 issue, but am at a loss for a solution at this point. Thanks! Rosey
Rosey, There is a heck of a lot of great info on this thread prior to 2007. Like this for instance: * To initialize ALL parameters to factory defaults: With the unit OFF, press "Skip Rev" ( |<< ) and "Time Slip" and "Open/Close" for 5 seconds. Those instructions are referring to the buttons on the unit itself, NOT THE REMOTE CONTROL. I would disconnect the antenna from the RF input of your unit before you perform the factory reset. This way, you know that the unit won't receive any TV Guide data until you're ready for it to do so. I'm presuming here you actually have the unit hooked up to an RF source from an over-the-air antenna or a cable box. Power on the unit. If it gets to the initial configuration screen, enter the configuration stuff like you did before, but keep the antenna input disconnected. It's possible the unit will permit you to reformat the hard drive at this point. If you have no highly desirable "must see" programs recorded, perhaps that is a good idea in your case. Give it a try. If it works, then you're probably on the right track. If it doesn't work, try the reset again. However, power off the unit using the power button on the unit itself. Press and hold it for at least 10 seconds. Unplug the unit for at least 30 seconds. If you still can't reformat the drive, then you probably have a hardware problem. A lot of problems apparently begin when a provider changes the way they broadcast the electronic TV guide. To most who have posted on this thread, the TV Guide feature is indispensable. They choose to live with the uncertainty the TV guide downloads (Ads & Program listings) will screw up their machine at some point. That's their choice, of course, for the convenience of a TV Guide that might make their life easier for a year or more before they are plunged once again into TV Guide hell. I always have the TV Guide download disabled and it eliminates one heck of a lot of potential problems. That's what I recommend until you observe your problems have ceased following the reset/reformat - that is - presuming you don't have a hardware issue. If you choose to disable the TV Guide download, after formatting, see page 43 of the manual. If you don't have the manual: Press Setup button on the remote; Press up or down arrow to select Channel on the left menu; Press >; Select up or down arrow to select Auto Channel Setting on the right menu; Press Enter; Press < or > to select Yes; Press Enter; Before you press Enter again, reconnect the antenna input. Press Enter; The channels are scanned and then you may perform an auto clock setting. At this point the TV Guide download is disabled. You may then set up timer programs manually by using the remote's Prog/Check button. If the unit is ever returned back to factory defaults, you'll have to run through the procedure again to disable the TV Guide download.
Hi Rosey, The first thing to try is the power off and un-plug for 30 seconds that vulcan described. You need to do that from time to time and it may get you back in business without having to reformat. Cal
Rosey, I just want to be sure you understand to perform the "return to factory defaults", you must simultaneously press and hold all the buttons on the unit I indicated for 5 seconds. Not one button at a time. * To initialize ALL parameters to factory defaults: With the unit OFF, simultaneously press and hold these buttons on the unit for 5 seconds: "Skip Rev" ( |<< ), "Time Slip", "Open/Close"
Cal and Vulcan, Thanks so much for the info! I have pulled the plug on the thing overnight before and plugged in and powered it up the next day in hopes of it righting itself. It used to work but then these issues just started getting worse. I have never tried restoring factory defaults in that manner. I will definitely try that when I get home tonight and see how that goes and will let you guys know. If that works, I can live without the guide, though it is pretty helpful. Basically, I am just looking for a way to extend the life of this thing for a couple more years.
My E85 seems to have bitten the dust. I went to Sam's last weekend and bought the Philips equivalent for $260 or so. It has the HDD and a DVD RW but no TV Guide. I wonder if anyone wants this old machine with new caps. I wonder if I replaced the HDD with a similar 120 GB if that would help. At this point I think its a lost cause. Bud
let us know how you like the philips machine (with a new thread) - does it have built-in digital channels?
I would be int'd in that disabled e85, unless someone else particularly needs it now. My machine still works. I would miss the tv guide since I use it for all recording. I'm curious about whether the phillips comes with free TIVO, it sounds to me like there is no onboard TIVO type system? I am in CA. KingKassel@aol.com
Also, TVGOS support says that TVG/Crystal is working on a solution for the digital conversion, but no details yet.
Hi Vulcan, Cal and all, Ok, first off, thanks again to everyone for their input, really appreciate the help. I did a full reset of the unit as you guys mentioned. It defintiely started the process. The first thing it did though is this text came up when booting up: "TEST *L1" It sat there until I held the power button to turn the machine off and then it started back up on its own. It then did the usual as if it came from the package, I did all the settings, then attempted to reformat the HDD again. About 1/2-way through, it stopped, went into Self Check mode, started back up again and told me there was an error. Back to square one. As you guys mentioned, I am guessing it is probably a hardware issue, right? If so, where do I possibly go from here? I can still record from cable to DVD-R or DVD+-R but would rather find a way to get the HDD going again if possible. Thanks again, have a good weekend all. -Rosey
Just a thanks to the forum! My E85 (20040324) would not turn on but I could get to the TV Guide. It would cycle through please wait and disk error. I tried all of the resets and ended up with "TEST *L1". I removed the hardrive and there were two 16v 680's and one 10v 680 leaking on top. I went to our local radio store and purchased 4 35v,680uf capacitors and replaced all 4. It took all of 10 minutes to replace them and another 10 minutes to power up the unit. It still showed "TEST *L1" so I turned it of and back on and it came up to the setup screen. After entering my zip I was back and all of my recordings were still there. Thanks to all that posted!
dcat, nice to hear another success story from this site. You must be very happy. I know I was when my dead one came back to life! K
