Spent over 3 hours Tuesday reading the whole thread. I've ovned an e85 for close to 2 years and have never seen the dreaded U99 (knock on wood). I have had problems recording which this thread led me to believe is related to the TVGuide function. his thread also helped me learn how to disable that feature - which I did last night. I still have a remaining problem which was not mentioned in this whole thread and may net be related. I'm hoping somoeone can point me to another appropriate thread or maybe even have an answer to my problem. If not, I'll slink away quietly. My symptom is that sometimes a scheduled recording does not record. The recording is always schedueled manually , not using the guide and not using the VCR+ codes (or whatever they are called now). We do most recording to HDD and so I don't know if a CD recording would have the same problem. After some experimentation by my wife, we discovered a couple of data bits. The problem occurs if we stop watching a recorded program from the HDD (maybe from the CD, but we haven't tried that) before the end of the show (by pressing STOP on the remote). Play stops, the E85 returns to the navigator screen and we switch off. If we turn the e85 back on, the PLAY indicator on the unit is flashing. Nothing is playing, as expected, but future scheduled recordings will not start. Before turning the unit off (while still in navigator), PLAY was not flashing and not on. On subsequent trials, we discovered that the after stopping the playback (now the navigator screen is showing and PLAY is not displayed on the unit), if we exited Navigator, then PLAY would start flashing on the unit (and scheduled recordings would not start). Hitting STOP again on the remote turned off the flashing PLAY and future recordings work. Any thoughts on this? Our workaround is to always try to remember to press STOP an extra time and turn the unit back on after turnign it off to see if PLAY is flashing. Of course we don't always remember. This symptom did not go away after a hard reset. Have not tried a factory reset. We do have the latest FW from Panny.
Occasionally a program doesn't record, but I noticed that it's always the same channel (!) but it does record each time but only if the machine is already on. So my solution is simply to set it to also record a program just before that one starts; but on another channel.
MikeinGH, That's a normal function of the E85, when you hit stop one time, ... go on to do something else, and then go back, and hit play, it resumes at the spot that you hit stop (I use it quite frequently, it's actually more like pausing playback, with the option of doing something else, and then coming back to the point that you paused.) There really isn't a work around other than 1. Hit stop the second time or, 2. press the "return" button to exit the Navigator screen (and I'm not 100% sure on exiting navigator resolving it either, but pretty sure of it) I don't think I've scheduled a manual recording in years, so I'm not sure if it is truely unique to manual or guided recording, but I'd guess it's common across the board, probably a flag set somewhere in the software of the E85 that does it. Would be nice to see a F/W upgrade to take care of the problem, but I don't honestly expect to see any future F/W upgrades for the E85 ever. P.S. no "slinking away quietly" around here we make as much noise as we can, ... who else is going to stand up, and champion the cause of E85 users everywhwere if we don't !!!! (yeah yeah, I know, makes us sound like comic book heros, but, ... hey, why not?!?
RX7Fan, Thanks for the response. I hadn't associated the symptom with the feature of restarting a playback where it was stopped. I agree with your suspicion that it's likely a bit teh FW isn't clearing when it should. If the bit is indicating "playback in progress" or some such, you'd think it wouldn't block a recording from happening since I can nornally record one program while watching another. Are you aware of a normal state of the machine wehre the PLAY indicator flashes? It's not something I've seen in the manual. Mike
Mike, Yep, that is pretty much the normal indication (going from memory here) when it is playing and stopped, it flashes. I look for that to know if I'm going to be able to pick up where I left off, or if I'll have to do some fast forwarding. But as far as I can recall, that's the only time it flashes, in normal play, it is lit solid.
MikeinGH You probably got one made after April, 2003--or upgraded--in which case, U99's rarely occur. Some discount houses were still selling pre-4/2003 machines in late 2004. At least *that* symptom has been addressed many times. Search under "Phantom Recording." I'll reiterate: The surest way to set up an Ex5 for future "Phantom recordings" is to let it go into stand-by with a recordable DVD in the drive. This may not be what you've done--but it is important enough to mention again, since you mentioned CD recording (and I presume that you meant DVD recording). Hey! Good observation! I've noticed the Play light flashing several times and often wondered (but not enough to actually research it) why. What you said farther on makes perfect sense. In fact, if you were to start a recording (either manually or timed) while it was flashing, I'll *bet* it goes out--simply because you'll lose your "bookmark" when it starts recording (an aggravating feature that is *not* duplicated by any of my ReplayTV units--thankfully!). I'm curious if this fixes *all* of your Phantom Recordings, or if maybe that when you get them, you just assumed that you'd forgotten to hit Stop twice? Remember that *NO* reset (soft, hard, or factory) is complete without the oblgatory UNPLUG for at least 30 seconds. It's the Power-Loss Reset that seems to clear out Phantom Recordings. I bought a couple of Christmas Tree remote power switches (the kind where the On-Off button is several feet from the plugs) so I can "unplug" each unit by simply flipping a switch that I have placed by the side of the unit. You can do this equally well with power strips or X-10 modules. ...Which is why you don't get U99's. They are almost entirely indicative of lower-level firmware. bob
Many thanks for the posts on the Panasonic DMR E85H dvd recorder on this forum and other forums about the : SELF CHECK : problem which goes into a continuous loop taking 10 minutes to 30 minutes before the recorder will sign on or may be just not sign on at all (DEAD)and other problems Mine developed this fault about 2 years after I purchase and the machine had very little use mainly recording to the hard drive. It finally died on me. Reading the forums I decided to do the repair it myself The problem is that it as a poorly designed PSU (power supply) NOT COOLING THE VOLTAGE REGULATOR…….IC part No. STRG6353 made by SANKEN ELECTRONICS in China .This is marked on the PCB board IC 001. THE PART IC STR-G6353 CAN BE PURCHASED AT NIKKO ELECTRONICS FOR AROUND £5 EACH I bought 2 one for a spare over the internet with next day delivery………………………www.nikkoe.com THE REPAIR 1. DOING THIS IS ENTIRELY YOUR OWN RISK AND I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE OR INJURIES INCURED. 2. DISCONECT ALL MAINS POWER AND REMOVE MOULDED TWO PIN PLUG FROM RECORDER. 3. Remove top cover….one large silver screw at each side…..three small black screws on the back. 4. Remove the hard drive top retaining metal cover which as the black ribbon cable also attached to it then pull out the ribbon cable from the hard drive CAREFULLY then also pull out the power connection plug to the hard drive remove hard drive. 5. You will see that there is a plastic rubber moulded insulator to reduce vibration from the hard drive….remove this. 6. Remove the bottom hard drive retaining plate (four screws) to get access to the power supply PCB board. 7. Removing the PSU board (card)….Remove the small black screw where the mains electric enters the machine then pull and gently tilt towards you. This should take an average twenty minutes at most to get the card out. 8. I took the card and the IC to a local T.V repair shop who took just five minutes to replace WHICH I RECOMMEND BECAUSE THE CARD IS DOUBLE SIDED WITH VERY SMALL SURFACE MOUNTED COMPONENTS WHICH CAN BE DESTROYED VERY EASILY.They charged me £5 9. RE-ASSEMBLE Worked fine for me without having to replace any more components. Hope this helps without getting ripped off for the repair.
Just thought I would jump in and report another E85 oddity. I rarely use the DVD drive in my recorder but last night I watched part of a DVD-R. I powered down the unit without remembering to remove the disc from the tray. This morning I noticed that the clock on my E85 displayed "12:13P" instead of the correct time of "8:13A". The clock advanced normally...was just four hours ahead. I then remembered the disc in the tray so I powered up the E85, removed the disc and powered off. Time immediately went back to the correct time: "8:15A"
What happened to the marking function? My older Pannys have it. But my e500 does not & it's not in the manual. It's that function where you mark where you are, so that later you can start from that point again.
dukebruno: I have long held that one of the worst things you can do with an Ex5 is to power it off with a writeable DVD in it. (Still don't know if a DVD-Video causes problems, though.) However, this is the first time I've seen it confirmed that it messes with the clock. That would help explain why recordings do not come off as scheduled. Thanks, bob
handyguy: Is it gone from the remote, or just not working on your recorder? Remember that it doesn't work while recording. If it's missing from the remote, try using the old remote. bob
Quote: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- What happened to the marking function? My older Pannys have it. But my e500 does not & it's not in the manual. It's that function where you mark where you are, so that later you can start from that point again. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- On my e85, we do something called "chapter divide". I think there's a button on the remote called "chapter", or maybe it's the green and blue pressed at the same time (SWMBO doesn't let me actually use the remote myself). It's in the manual though.
Saturday morning I found my E85 was ahead one hour, but I didn't have a disk in the dvd drive. Turned it on, didn't change. Brought up the guide, which also showed it ahead 1 hour. So I did a warm boot, pulled the AC power for a few minutes, then watched it perform a self-check and wipe out all the guide data. Grrrrrr It was back up by Sunday evening with a day's worth of guide data and today it's full. Not sure why it had a brain fart, but I guess we never do.
No wonder, if you did a warm BOOT. That implies ou pulled power with the unit on--a major NO-NO. *ALWAYS* power it allthe way down (until the timer light is out) BEFORE pulling power. If you do this, you will not lose programming--IF the DVD drive is empty. bob
i am in san francisco on comcast cable. all of a sudden my e85 over the past week is not getting updated guide or ads. has anyone else experienced anything like this of late?
VideoBob, No I did the warm-boot (hold power button for several seconds). Waited till only the clock was displayed, then pulled the plug.
sfstan: Yes and you always will. It is an inherent design flaw that Panasonic and Gemstar/TVGOS have not been (and never will be) able to fix. You are stuck with it. That said, there are some things that practically guarantee these symptoms, including powering it down with a recordable disk in the DVD (especially with timed recordings set), and using the "Divide Title" function of the edit menu. Once that triggers "Phantom Record" mode, nothing short of a shut down and unplug will fix it. Other causes are: * leaving the recorder on (it won't load programs when it's on); * not bringing it *ALL* the way back up after an unplug (it's still "OFF" rather than in "Standby"; * Not power-cycling at least once after a few hours of stand-by time (once it gets the clock reset and the stations loaded, it needs to go back into "ON" mode before it can set itself up to load programs); * local or national changes in download channels; * unwittingly deleting a download host channel (use the 753 159 852 code to identify both your host channel and VBI channel and make sure they are at the top of your channel list). This will also tell you the next scheduled download time. Note: These channels are listed in base 16 (hecadecimal), so channel "0x0f" is 15, "0x13" is 19, and "0x30" is channel 48. After reset, these will be either 0's or jibberish and your "Next D/L Time" will be "N/A." and * having recordings come on in the wee hours of the morning *and* mid-morning. It needs a 2-3 hour block to download its programming and no one has figured out their magic formula. If you leave it off from midnight to 7 a.m. (no recordings), then it will *usually* start filling in programming again. When I HAVE to record overnight, I leave it off until noon, to catch the mid-morning Download. Sometimes, this even works. All of the above are true whether you use a cable box or not. In addition, there are several other decoder-specific causes, the most common of which is actually *watching* your TV while the Panny is trying to download. Only one of you can control the decoder channel at a time. *ANY* break in download is permanant for that cycle. ...and keep that DVD drive EMPTY! dksmall: Bummer. Sounds like you have a new bug. Let us know if it (or anything not beaten to death here already) happens again. bob
I have the E500H. I use it extensively for mini-dv to hard drive dubbing via firewire for it's much faster than using my computer. One problem though. Ocasionally a frame will freeze on playback off dvd made from dubbing from hard drive. I thought maybe the hard drive was in need of defragging. But I defragged the drive, dubbed to the drive, and then onto a dvd, and still there's always one frame somewhere along the line that will freeze. The frame freeze last only a second and normally won't happen again for that one tape. The sound/video is always in sync, and the source tape has a continuos time. No problems when dubbing television to dvd or ram disc. Any ideas?
" i am in san francisco on comcast cable. all of a sudden my e85 over the past week is not getting updated guide or ads." Sometimes its a software thing, unplug machine for a minute & plug back in. I mentioned this before.
Self Cancelling Regular Recordings.....aaaargh! I have tried all resources and cannot find an answer why when I schedule a show to be recorded in TVGuide...come back to confirm that it is still set to record....come home....NOT recorded AND not scheduled to be recorded next week even when I choose to record Regularly or Weekly. Please tell me how to fix this bug...it happens all the time. Steve
