Philips DVDR 3455H/37 has burner drive problems- SOLUTION-maybe

[Roberht]

My Philips DVDR 3455H/37 had a drive go out. It was stuck on BLOCKED so long it would not move on or reboot.
The drive comes from asatech.cc and can be seen on the screen.
I bought another machine because asatech.cc never answered my letters/faxs about retail parts in USA or HK.
I finally put a PC burner on the Philips 40 pin ata and molex connects and after opening the drawer w/ the external button, my original Philips DVDR 3455H/37 began to work again. (no burn, as the borrowed PC drive was a burn-out on dvd burn cycle, though the CD burn laser still worked and read functions all still worked. )

I got a Polaroid parts machine, and found a TSST (Toshiba/Samsung Storage) DVD+-R/RW drive model TS-P623 will work in the Philips DVDR 3455H/37 .

Polaroid has a more robust drive, needing more internal case space, but it seems less prone to fail.
Philips used the asatech.cc drive that is so slim that it is not robust.

I found a fix for the drive being faulty . . .maybe applicable to other Philips DVD Recorders.
I made a tool from a #10 stranded copper open-eyelet crimp-on wire end, bent to 90 degrees. A screw through it into a bic pen handle makes a small tool to reach the FACTORY SLOT UNDER THE BALKY DRIVE. A small white plastic slider moves, visible in that slot as the drive door opens, and is accessible in that slot.
When the drive jams (BLOCKED) use the tool quickly and refill the drive (NEVER EMPTY, NEVER LEAVE IT ON BLOCKED MODE LONG) fast.
Any PC stype DVD burner will plug in the 40 pin and molex power, but won't always perform, but will maybe get a machine going again that gets stuck in BLOCKED mode.

Switching HHDs from identical machines is touch and go- mostly no go.
Be happy with the factory 160GB HHD.

Help me find where retailers sell the TSST drives since I gave up on asatech.cc selling parts.
There may be a TSST drive that is less long than the TS-P623B/CTAN ver 2 that I found. A shorter drive may fit in the original Philips DVDR case .

I read the balky drive is a recurring problem.
What drive does the Magnavox H2160MW9 have???


rhedges9@yahoo.com

[wabjxo]

..

[Roberht]

I confused some by not being clear enough about which drive I referred to.

Every HHD is equal in space requirement, mounting, and ATA (that is PATA now that we have so many SATA) 40 pin and molex.

Burners vary greatly. A BURNER FROM The Magnavox H2160MW9 WAS THE QUESTION. !!!
Will that burner maybe fit in the Philips line??
Will it be ASATECH.cc ?? I suspect it is.
Who is a vendor foe TSST????

OH YEAH . . .ALWAYS LEAVE THE MACHINES ON "STANDBY" rather than ON. The drive spins constantly while on, instead of resting and waiting until the software calls for it to spin up like the PC burners we are used to using. That is why a PC burner can work . . .but is inconsistent, because it needs to be booted to . . .(in my experience . . .subject to discussion with others haveing differing experiences.)




Thanks.

[Roberht]

Well more info.
The firmware/software update Philips offers the 3455H will change the behavior of the DVD-Rom drive. I now have trouble changing blanks manually because the latest firmware makes the drive open and shut quickly. You will have to assess your situation individually.

I was unable to substitute a PATA FAT32 formatted drive into the 3455H . I believe that a different format (UNIX-LINUX) that registers in SwissKnife v.3 (primary - blue, unallocated - red, FAT32 lit up) may allow the software upgrade CD to finish installing.

Part of the firmware/software "improvements" are designed to undo the "blocked" mode drive-destruction. They however interfere with the manual assist that I adopted (moving the white plastic slider under the drive to open/close the DVD-Rom)
that has worked for over a year to keep my 3455H working.

OH yeah . . the TSST that has a 40 pin PATA and regular MOLEX is a 632.

rhedges9@yahoo.com

[lmonfa]

Hi Folks,

Following how to solved the BLOCKED problem at DVDR 3455H philips. I've posted some pictures about it.
Have fun.

lmonfa

[romanv]

Hi Folks,

Following how to solved the BLOCKED problem at DVDR 3455H philips. I've posted some pictures about it.
Have fun.

lmonfa

Dear friend,
thank you for your detailed description of the procedure. Could you just tell where to get this belt online what what size it is?
Thank you for your answer.
Warm regards,R

[tim2b98]

The belt change worked for me! I just took a belt off an old PC drive I had! Althought slightly smaller than the one I took off the DVD recorder,"the one on the Phillips may have streched"! It equaled more belt tension! Thanks!