Hi folks; newbie with a question - I've had a look around online but can't find any similar problem, so any and all help appreciated! Nutshell: I bought the unit new about a year or so ago, used it happily with no problems, and then two days ago it started refusing to dub from HD to disc full stop (or dubbing part of a programme then stopping). Most commonly it shuts the machine right down within about 5 seconds of starting the dub. Troubleshooting: it's definitely not reacting to a single type of DVD-R, not a problem with using wrong-speed discs, and not confined to SP dubbing. I had initially thought it was only balking when asked to add a second programme to a disc with one already on it for some reason, but it's now also doing it to blanks. It occurs regardless of programme length, whether the programme's been edited, or whether the programme was a tape dub or off-air. The HD is less than half-full at present, although it has at times been within about 5 hours of full. I understand that some programmes on-air can stop you recording them (although I don't know if Australia does this?). Is it the case that if I'd inadvertently recorded one of these off-air then tried to dub it, the machine could then stop all other dubs of anything else from being made? (It's probably a silly question, but I can't think of any other infringement that could have happened - we don't have Pay TV, and I've never tried to copy a shop-bought DVD.) It's still recording off-air or off-video to the HD okay, (touch wood!), just not letting me put it to disc. The machine is essentially as it came out of the box - no mucking about with settings or software or what-have-you. (Shamefully perhaps, I know nuffink about the innards of these things and leave them well alone.) If any kind soul can help me identify whatever's gone wrong (and tell me whether/how it may be fixed, fingers crossed), I would be very grateful. thanks in advance for any advice arjuna the sadly techno-challenged
Hi Arjuna - did you get a resolution to your problem as i have the same issue and cannot find a fix! I never had this problem before and nothing (that I can think of) has changed...
Hi Sanjb. I'm afraid that so far I've received no advice - argh; I did however find one other complaint online. In that instance the owner had apparently been told that if he had reformatted the HD ages and ages ago it wouldn't be happening (so he junked the machine, far as I could tell). Assuming better late than never, I cleared the drive and reformatted it a few times; the end result seems to be that now I can use high-speed dubbing okay; most times LP dub works okay; but SP remains a bit of a lottery. Either it will work or it won't; no predictors that I can see. One new problem however is that if the machine is turned off with a DVD in the drive, it now refuses to start up at all (stop plus up-channel or whatever it is - see manual - overcomes this long enough to take the disc out, thankfully). I tested the did-I-trip-copy-protect theory (the problem seems to be that if the HD sees blank tape on the end of anything it assumes you're being Naughty and labels the material undubbable - bit of an annoyance if you're archiving and don't want to have to sit there hour after hour) but the incidence of the problem doesn't seem to increase after that's happened *and* it still lets you dub it anyway, in a variety of modes. So I'm still at a loss for a cause. Admittedly I've not talked to the store I bought it from - but as its staffed by salesmen not techies they didn't seem likely to be helpful. Short-term solution - keeping only a limited amount of material on the HD and formatting regularly seems to be keeping it at bay. Mostly. Touch wood. (bleah)
You can obtain some material for a test by plugging the output into the input. That should give a "copy protect free" title to test with. I routinely fill up the hard drive, divide titles, and dub without problems, since I upgraded to the latest firmware. Have you tried a DVD-RAM ?
