LG RH387 doesn't recognize blank discs

[warthogweb]

'Disc not recognized' and then it spits it out. Lots of discs - same result. Not tried recorded discs but I have another machine for these. I just want to move stuff off the HDD.

Help will be really appreciated.

Martin

[hech54]

You MAY be able to pull the data off of the HDD with the software from this site:
http://ifndef.altervista.org/index_eng.html
There are 3(?) different ZIP files on there that contain tiny, free programs that can possibly read and work with the files on the HDD.
You'll obviously need to remove the HDD and hook it up to your computer.

[hello_hello]

Sounds like you need a new burner.

Whoops..... I just realised it's a DVD recorder, not a PC/DVD burner, but it still sounds like the laser has problems.

[warthogweb]

Thanks guys. I will try to move the files from the HDD but all I really want to do is to clear the HDD so I can start to record on it again. The rest of the machine works well. I will clean the lens though but if that doesn't work, the problem is in the DVD writer.

[warthogweb]

Cleaning the laser didn't work but I read somewhere on this forum that a standard DVD writer can be substituted externally??

[jman98]

Cleaning the laser didn't work but I read somewhere on this forum that a standard DVD writer can be substituted externally??

That is absolutely not true. Either you misunderstood what you wrote or what you read is wrong.

A very very small number of older DVD recorders were able to have their DVD writers replaced by consumers with the off the shelf writers in the past. I haven't heard of this being true for years though. Usually the manufacturers use custom connector cables from the motherboard to the writer and those cables require strange connectors on the writer that off the shelf components don't use. If you are an electronics expert, you might be able to figure out a way to connect those weird custom connectors to an off the shelf drive, but there's no guarantee that the drive will work even if you do that. Usually what happened is that the recorder used a specially manufactured drive and you have to find an exact replacement for it. Those strangely built drives aren't available to the public through normal means, although sometimes you can find them on Ebay. You take the risk that the seller may either deliberately or unknowingly be selling you a bad quality drive. You'll have to do research to see if anybody has posted what model burner your recorder uses and try to find a replacement. If you can't find the info, you'll have to open the drive and try to figure it out. This can be harder to do than you might think with some models. My father had an old DVD recorder (I have forgotten who made it) and I opened it up and the burner didn't have any identifying marks on it. I wrote down every number I found on the burner and did an internet search and I couldn't find any reference to the numbers I found. I remember only that the company that made the recorder pulled out of the North American market a few years after my dad got his recorder, so there was nobody to turn to for repairs and he ended up buying a Toshiba to replace it.

For all practical purposes, today's DVD recorders really aren't consumer repairable, although if you can find a replacement burner you can try just swapping out the old one and hope it works. If you really can't live without what you recorded, the safest approach may be to contact LG in South Africa and ask them what it would cost to repair your recorder. It won't be cheap and it may even cost more than a new recorder, but if you really can't live without your disk recordings it may be your only realistic option.

[warthogweb]

Thanks jman98, it seems sensible but expected. Several friends have simply ditched theirs and bought another. Some of the stuff on the HDD is worth saving, most, not so I will try and recover from there if I can. I may be able to take the output through my TV capture card.

[hech54]

Older LG and their European clones(Medion) DID have replaceable burners. They used standard "off the shelf" burners BUT you needed to change the outer housing (aka "loader"). Instructions are on the site I mentioned above BUT, I'm still not sure your LG model is covered on that site.