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  1. I'm on the verge of giving up.

    I have a Daytek P-30 and for all intents and purposes, it works exactly as you would expect. playback works perfectly. i've even managed to crack the region code and make it region free.

    Only one thing-recording does not work.

    I've tried DVDr+, DVD+r/w, DVD-r, DVD-r/w all. message shows 'loading' then a scratching noise again and again and . . .
    With DVD+R there is a difference. it comes with a 'preparing' message. after a while it comes up with 'data disc' on the screen and 'file' on the player window.

    yes. i've successfuly tuned the player to tv station of my choice.

    please help me record.
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  2. I'm a Super Moderator johns0's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2002
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    canada
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    Daytek is crap,just junk it,I've had a Toshiba dvd recorder for the last 4 years and it works with no issues.
    I think,therefore i am a hamster.
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  3. Banned
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
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    Freedonia
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    Did you buy this used? If you're under 30 years old then I am just going to shock you to your very core so sit down. People on Craigslist and Ebay sometimes sell crap. Sometimes they either don't test those old models at all or they barely test them or they know they worked 3 years ago when they boxed them up and they just assume that since then that they are still OK. Or they know they don't work and they deliberately cheated you, gambling that it may be too difficult for you to prove your case. I don't do Craigslist but my understanding is that they make it clear that your are on your own for any transactions there.

    I can't promise you this will help, but most people in the world buy low quality discs. There is some very small chance that if you use better quality media it MIGHT work. Don't count on it, but it is possible. The only consistently high quality media these days is Taiyo Yuden (you must buy it online) and Verbatim (avoid their Life series but everything else is good). I don't have a lot of experience with DVD recorders but I have seen DVD-RW be problematic so you should avoid those. Sounds like DVD+R would be the best ones to try based on what you've seen. Again - no guarantee at all, but better quality discs MIGHT work. Or they might not because of what I said above.

    If you live in the USA or Canada and you want region free playback, you'd be best served to buy a DVD player, not a recorder, that you know can be made region free. Reliable sellers include:
    http://www.220-electronics.com
    http://www.world-import.com
    You can get a region free DVD recorder if you must, but they are expensive. Your recorder will last longer if you don't use it for playback and recording both.
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  4. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    United States
    Search Comp PM
    Google returned a few references to the Daytek P-30 dating from 2004, so its probably 10 years old. Ten years ago some DVD recorders could not use RW media and most DVD recorders could record to DVD+R or to DVD-R, but not both. It sounds like Daytek is a DVD+R machine. However, it may not be able to use some recent media or 16X media on account of being so old. Verbatim DataLife Plus 8x (not the same as their Life series) and JVC Taiyo Yuden DVD+R 8X would be the best discs to try.

    http://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-Silver-DataLife-Spindle-94852/dp/B0002IQ1F8
    http://www.amazon.com/Taiyo-Yuden-Silver-Lacquer-Premium/dp/B007BL1R9O

    In your place I would probably save my money and get a new Magnavox DVD Recorder/DVR from Walmart's online store. I have been using one for a couple of years and I'm happy with it. It is not region-free.
    Last edited by usually_quiet; 31st Jul 2014 at 09:07.
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  5. i was hoping that someone would mention that the only way this might work is to make the machine think it is a Liteon!

    there was a reference to this by a member called 'oldfart' many years ago. i simply was not able to implement it!

    you see my friends, that 'junk' as someone rightfully called it, cost me just $50/ and i could just fling it out the window and get a spanking new Toshiba or Magnavox or Samsung recorder, but then where is the challenge?...that sense of achievement?

    it may have to do with change of firmware... any ideas other than that of johns0 is welcome.
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  6. Member
    Join Date
    Aug 2006
    Location
    United States
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    IMO you likely wasted $50 on a questionable item, and are now wasting time trying to make it work better with different firmware. However, it is your time to waste. There is some hacked firmware available to download here, if you have not looked there previously, but you have to become a member to gain access to it: http://www.digitalfaq.com/forum/vcr-repair/402-liteon-ilo-daytek.html
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