I fixed my Philips DVDR 3455H dvd/hdd recorder

[Pikey]

Hi Penny;

So - now I read your e-mail exactly........

[QUOTE=winapenny;2035483]

Grateful if you could share more details:
1. What Ubuntu version you were using; 7.10
2. How to you "mount" the DVDR3455H hard disk (command line or Disk Utility);Using Ubuntu's own "mount disk" option
3. What kind of file system did you recognized; Don't remember - but it wasn't DOS or Linux.
4. How is the video files you "copied" looks like? Readily playable in your Windows PC? No - I tried and Ubuntu wouldn't play them and nor would windows. They went onto the new disk in the DVD recorder and then I downloaded them as usual.

Many many thanks! De Nada!

Penny

[rphenix]

I've tried to do similar, put the drive into Ubuntu, and mount it but there is no valid partition table so no partitions to mount.

[bithead9]

Is this a liteon clone? If so there is a HDD hack to expand the supported hard drive size to 512GB.

[rphenix]

Its fairly easy to upgrade the internal drive, just replace with another larger IDE drive, burn a cd with the latest firmware from the phillips website burnt as in the instructions they give, then once the firmware had been loaded go into the dvd player menu and erase the drive which formats it in its own native format. I've got a 320GB drive in mine now. Unless you mean theres a hack to expand to a larger drive but keeping the existing data? If so can you provide a link to it? I've got the original drive and spare IDE drives around so happy to give it a go and report back.

[bithead9]

Cool. I know some mfg. limit the drive size according to the model you bought. Liteon and Philips have both done this. But the Philips one was aliteon clone... The Ilo is another, and the Gateway. There are a few more too.... Glad it was so easy for you. Does a SCANDISK (if that exists in your unit) not cause any problem with larger drive ? And do you get all the space of a new bigger HDD too? f so that is great!

[allskar]

Hello,

i have one problem. My hard drive burned out. now i'm trying to exchange it to new one but i have one problem. I can't find FIRMWARE to my PHILIPS DVDR 3360H anywhere :/

Anyone hae any idea where i can find it?

[dphirschler]

I think I found your firmware here (on Philips' website).

http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DVDR3360H/58&scy=AT&slg=en

http://www.p4c.philips.com/cgi-bin/dcbint/cpindex.pl?ctn=DVDR3360H/31&scy=AT&slg=en

Check the model number carefully. It appears there are two variants. I had to choose Austria for the country.


Darryl

[allskar]

Thank You.

But there is Firmware upgrade not just firmware. Is it the same?
I'll try tommorow and we'll see..

[dphirschler]

Thank You.

But there is Firmware upgrade not just firmware. Is it the same?
I'll try tommorow and we'll see..

It's the same. A firmware upgrade might be an improved version of the stock firmware. Compare the version numbers. Usually, the newer firmware improves performance and removed bugs. But if you need to get the original firmware, that could be difficult unless it is on Philips' website as well.


Darryl

[allskar]

Thank You!

I work's i was close to put it to the garbage

So for sure it works also for DVDR 3360H

[sditmer]

I came across this thread hunting for possible fixes for my 3345. It had been working just fine - all functions. A surge or something came down the wire that messed up the power board on my plasma (thank God for extended warranty plans!) and messed up the cable box. so, I had the TV fixed and called cable to deal with the box. I didn't take note of the HDR until some time later. It has no video output other than a white screen with a black vertical line. The front display is very dim, almost illegible. The DVD drive opens and spins, the harddisc spins, the cooling fan runs. I'm pretty handy so replacing boards is a piece of cake - if I know which board to replace and where to get it.

Anybody got any clues? Thanks!

[dphirschler]

If I had to guess, I'd say the power supply got fried. Most likely it's a separate board, but I do not remember.


Darryl

[Dickiemint]

A Philips disk format can be copied to another disk in Windows (or any other OS as disc is bootable) by using
Easeus disk copy. Download the ISO file and burn to a CD. This CD is bootable. Boot into Easeus and follow instructions for copy disk. The Philips original disk, of course, must be OK in its machine. On the new disk the format will be overwritten. Whatever format, or not, doesn't appear to matter on the new disk. Disk copy recognises Usb so both disks can be put into Usb caddies.
You can probably abort copy disk around 2Gb (Poss 1GB) as 80Gb takes about 2hrs. I have done both and actually the 2Gb copy loaded easier into machine, the 80Gb messed me about.
My machine is a 3300H but I assume same format on all later Philips.

[bithead9]

I'd say crack that unit open and post us a picture of the innards. The power supply may have protection diodes. If so you will see a burn mark or if you are handy with an ohm meter you can check for continuity. It really does sound like a fried power supply board. Some voltages I guess are getting thru (white vieo you describe). But not all are correct. Maybe the 5V line is hosed.

[tech-guy]

Hi,

I followed the instructions posted by dphirschler: I formatted the WD HD [the original 160GB that came with the player] using Swissknife once, but after that I tried using WD Format utility (FAT 32). Then I used the Upgrade code available from the philips site. (upgrade code for DVDR3455H/97). However, as soon as the upgrade is complete, the player/ recorder reboots and actually keeps on rebooting....

I seem to reach nowhere...

Any help is appreciated!

Thanks,

tech-guy

[bithead9]

What happens if you boot the unit with NO hard drive ? Do you at least get an error message ? If it does a continual reboot after removing the HDD you have a bigger problem. Again I will say that perhaps a picture or two may help in diagnosis. The higher the resolution the better. (especially of the power supply area of the main board). I presume you also tried to NOT format the drive and let the Philips try to do that at startup? Most of these units will handle formatting the hard drive. If you have the firmware maybe you need a patch for bigger hdd ? Is this a liteon clone? I am no tfamiliar with ths particular unit.

[tech-guy]

Hello,

At last and after several attemps, I managed to get my philips DVDR3455H/97 to work with my original HDD (160GB).

Thanks to the guys in this forum and other forums.

Problem Description:

DVDR keeps on rebooting and rebooting moving between HDD and DVD. So, what I did is Low level formatted HDD, then completely formatted it with NTFS (since the low level format was made in FAT32). I used the code availablein Philips website (the upgrade code). I inserted the upgrade CD in the dvd tray, powered up the recorder, it wen through the normal sequence of copy/load/boot/write/verify/boot and the DVDR was finally recovered!

Of course, since the upgrade code I used is meant for US based devices, I had to change the region code from 3 to suitable one for my region. After that, the player is able to play any DVD.


However, I now have a different problem!

The player does not record anything on HDD, whether this was time shift buffer recording or actual recording (REC).

This is really strange and funny at the same time!... A DVD recorder that does not record!

Appreciate any help!

Thanks,



tech-guy

[tech-guy]

Hello again!

Looks like I solved the problem related to recording and just now!

It runs out that you got to go the SETUP, to the settings for the TIME SHIFT BUFFER and erase the Hard Disk completely. This will reformat the HDD and let the player recognize it in its own format, the one suitable for all kinds of recording.

Now, I have a completely running DVDR.

Good luck to everyone,

tech-guy

[bithead9]

Well done. Glad you got it going! Documented for posterity on this thread. SO tell me is the HDD you low level formatted the ORIGINAL HDD or a NEW Wester Digital that you mentioned ? I am wondering if you can put a bigger HDD in there and do the ERASE just the same ?

[RBee]

Slightly different problem with mine; the tuner lost a station, then another one, then a few more.
I took it apart and noticed the level of DUST on the circuit boards, to be fair a lot of it may have been dog dander from the dog's bed that was within 3 ft for several years.
I vacuumed it out, re-assembled and most of the stations re-appeared.
Not satisfied I opened it up again and took a camera lens brush to it to loosen up the "sticky dust" layer - probably from dog skin oil. Vacuumed again and the tuner behaves like new.

I think it makes sense, additional paths (albeit high resistance paths) across PC boards can be significant at radio frequencies.

I am now considering a MUCH larger disc drive, heck terabytes can be had for under $100 now.

[LukeT4]

Hi Folks,

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

lmonfa

Thanks so much! It helped to fix the BLOCKED problem in my Philips DVDR3590H.

When I opened my DVD drive I saw (as in page 6 para. 6) my black drive belt had lost a bit of tension. Was not sure if I could find the new belt from the electronic shop, so I used an improvised method:

- Took out the old belt, took some piping tape (for water leakage) & row into a string, wrap the string around the larger wheel (on the left) 3 to 4 times (to increase the circumference of the larger wheel) & then tie a dead knot for the 2 ends, put back the old belt. The black drive belt now has better tension. The DVD tray opens without problem thereafter.

This could be a temporary solution until you find a new drive belt.

[dalesworld]

I have the problem of the lost tuner reception as well. I thought the problem was my outside antenna or the coax in the wall had been compromised by a critter. When I bypassed the DVR and went straight to the TV set my reception came back - not only did I lose stations when the DVR was on but also when it was off via the pass through. I'll try the cleaning route, but it seems like something else is wrong.

[OpelMan1]

Does anyone know if the "Philips DVDR3576H HDD & DVD Player / Recorder" sold in the U.S. uses the same technology as the Philips DVDR 3455H? I haven't found any posts on the 3576 model, also with a 160GB HDD, nor have I been able to get any information from Philips directly. They claim to have no technical information on this unit which was discontinued approx. 5 years ago. Such as shame that they don't provide Tech Support for such a great product.

I am looking for the HDD recording format (FAT32?), HDD type (still IDE?), source for the setup CD image (if there is one for this model), updated firmware to fix the annoying glitch that causes lockups during editing, the procedure for scanning for and repairing hard disk errors (if it's not FAT32), installing a new HDD (if a boot CD is required as in this model), etc. I would also like to find a list of the "System Error" codes displayed on the main screen and sometimes left in the Timer Programming screen after a recording, eg. SE1, SE2, SE40, SE49, etc. I am sure the latter ones refer to disk errors, but short of busting a unit and disassembling the code within, can anyone help?

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[ekamatra]

Does this work only for DVDR 3455H?
Anyone knows if it can be done successfully for other Philips DVD Recorder as well, such as DVDR 3300H or 3590H?

Thanks.