DVR-R09-XP needed

pantangs · Member Joined: 08 Mar 2005

Can someone tell me where i can purchase this cd writer burner for my pioneer DVR-R09-XP. Its from my dvr-533/hs unit.

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

You can't just buy one: they're only available as "service parts" for $200+, if you could even find a Pioneer parts source that still had one and was willing to sell it to a private party. There is another option, however: look for a standard-issue DVR-109 PC burner and swap its controller board with the one in your dead DVR-R09-XP. I have been doing this for years with a number of 531 recorders I've repaired. The best part is, by reusing the old controller board the recorder will recognize the new drive as being the old one and not ask you to use the service disc or service remote to reinstall the CPRM codes!

The circuit board is fairly easy to swap: you need to carefully remove the foil grounding tape from the four bottom corners of your DVR-R09-XP, set them aside, remove the screws, remove the black cloth tape from the bezel, remove the bezel, take off the bottom plate, and remove the old controller board by carefully disconnecting the three white + one gold ribbon cables and unsnapping it from the burner. Take your new DVR-109 burner, open it up the same way, remove its controller board, replace it with your recorders controller board, connect the ribbon cables, reassemble the drive. Place the foil tape that covered the screws on the old drive over the screws of the new. Carefully wrap the black cloth tape around the bezel of the new drive. If the old drive has any foam or foil stuck to the top of it, remove it and put it on the same places of the new drive. Install the replacement drive in your 533, turn it on, and all should be well. Note however the 533 and 633 seem more twitchy about repairs than the 531 for some reason: the DV input on the x33 motherboard adds some sensitivity and they will occasionally reject a replacement drive, even with the original controller board plugged in. BUT, at roughly $40 for a brand new DVR-109 burner from surplus dealers on the web, its worth a try. I've never had it fail on seven 531s although it didn't work on two 633s I repaired.

You can only use a DVR-109 as replacement, and you MUST swap controller boards for this to succeed, there is additional CPRM copy protection firmware on the original board that the recorder looks for on startup. Its almost never the controller board that fails on the DVR-R09-XP, its the laser assembly which just weakens. Toss the whole thing and just recycle the controller board. Good Luck!

BornABruin · Member Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Location: United States

Does anyone know a source for the DVL-109 drive? It seems to be quite unavailable at all the sources I've looked at.

BornABruin · Member Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Location: United States

Opps. I meant DVR-109 for the part number...

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

Take a look at currently active eBay listing # 120289607531. You would need to ask the seller to confirm the model number, it is not clear in the label photo, but I am pretty sure this is the retail DVR-109: it looks just like one of my own spares which have a very specific appearance (the honeycomb-top case).

BornABruin · Member Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Location: United States

If I have a 533 and the swap the controller trick doesn't work, can I put the controller back in the old drive? I have a drive that will copy at 1:1 speed but not on high speed. I always get a "cannot complete disk" error.

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

Yes, you can swap the controller back to the original drive. But don't worry: the controller board swap ALWAYS works. I have done this on the older model 310, 510 and 520 Pioneers as well, sometimes even putting in a different year burner. As long as you have a Pioneer recorder-specific board in the replacement Pioneer burner, it will work (unless of course your spare already has a lot of miles on it- if the spare is worn out, it won't perform any better than your original drive did). Where the 533 and 633 get more twitchy than the 531 is the hard drive- as long as that is working normally, they will usually accept the replacement burner without incident. BUT: once the hard drive starts to crap out on the 533 and 633, it creates a domino effect of the entire recorder getting wonky and becoming painfully resistant to any and all repairs or parts replacement. Its almost as if when the HDD corrupts on the 533 or 633, it corrupts something in the motherboard as well.

I don't know exactly why this is specific to the 533 and 633 but not the 531, the only difference is the lack of DV input on the 531, but time and again when I service these the 531 is repairable while the 533 and 633 end up in the scrapyard. Anyone with a 533 or 633 needs to take VERY good care of its HDD, because when it goes it takes the entire machine down with it. ALWAYS keep at least 20% free space available on the hard drive of those two models. AVOID leaving lots of heavily edited material on their HDDs for extended periods of time: back those videos up to DVD and clear them off the HDD asap. A little extra effort at HDD housekeeping chores can prolong the useful life of those two quirky units by a wide margin.

BTW, if the burner seems to burn reliably at 1x but fails consistently at high speed, your problem could partly be incompatible blanks. Dye formulas change frequently witout notice from the mfr, a disc brand that worked perfectly for you for the last two years can suddenly stink when you buy them this week. Currently the only DVD-R media I use on older Pioneers is TY 8x Silver Premium and Sony 16x (preferably made in Taiwan- the Malaysian Sony is not as compatible).

BornABruin · Member Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Location: United States

Thanks for your reply. That explains a lot of things.

I've had the only burning successfully at 1x with a number of different brands of disks -- noteably Verbatim, TDK, Maxell, Fuji (Taiwan), and Sony. I haven't looked at the manufacturer codes so who knows, they could all be from the same source.

Any suggestions as to reliable brands of DVD blanks for a 533?

It sounds like the 533 will work OK until the HD goes out. I've thought about buying another recorder as a backup. Philips aseems to be one of the only mfgrs left out there that sell DVRs with HDD. All the rest don't have a hard disk so they can't edit. I used to edit and burn on a PC with Adobe Premiere which was very accurate but rendering took forever on my old slow PC. Plus my wife did'n't like having video cables strung across our living room to where my PC was.

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

The safest media for any recorder made before 2006 is Taiyo Yuden 8x, because they haven't changed their dye in five years. Everything else is a gamble. The Phillips 3576 is a very nice unit, also the only DVD/HDD recorder with an ATSC tuner. The editing interface is rather crude compared to the Pio 533, which takes some getting used to before you become comfortable with the Phillips.

BornABruin · Member Joined: 04 Aug 2008 Location: United States

Thanks. I'll try those blanks.

Eric

chito · Member Joined: 15 Oct 2008 Location: Philippines

can anybody help me , I have a message on my writer "no disc" with my dvr-530H, dvr-r09-xp, how will I troubleshoot it, thanks.
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na

fdidonna · Member Joined: 22 Oct 2008 Location: Italy

Hi Chilo,
the only way to solve the problem is to find a DVR-109 and swap the controller from the DVR-R09-XP to DVR-109.
I had your same problem and i have been lucky to find on eBay a DVR-109 for 15 Euros. It arrived today, i just did swap the controller and my 530H works fine again. It's not easy to find a DVR-109, it's easier to find a DVR-110 but i'm not sure it works the same.

lacywest · Member Joined: 28 Aug 2001 Location: California

lacywest · Member Joined: 28 Aug 2001 Location: California

I checked the Pioneer burner I have in my USB 2.0 enclosure ... it is a the one you are looking for .... I have no problem keeping it if you need it more.

I have lots of burners and that one got used somewhat but not very often. It truly does have some life left ... let me know.

I have it in a Bytecc USB 2.0 enclosure ... I can replace it easily enuff.

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HeXen: Edge Of Chaos - Tue Sep 15, 2009 7:12 pm ... They still need mappers to finish the conversion.

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

Only the 109 or A09 drives will work in a Pioneer 531-533-633 recorder. The older 106, 107, 108 drives are too large to fit in the recorder and the 110 and later drives use a different controller board that is incompatible. You need to swap the controller boards as described earlier in this thread.

fdidonna · Member Joined: 22 Oct 2008 Location: Italy

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

You should not see any loss of video quality, unless your replacement drive is used and worn out. The original burner in the 530 and 630 series is a stock 109/A09, the *only* difference is a slight alteration in its firmware chip that identifies it to the recorder as a "recorder" burner instead of a "computer" burner, and allows the recorder to store its nine-digit copy protection code. (This is why you need to swap controller boards, and if you look closely at the two boards they seem identical).

If you are seeing a consistent, distinct loss of video quality there may be something wrong with the laser or other parts of the burner you installed. You might need to try another. Also, check all your cables and wires to be sure no connections are loose, and be sure you have high-quality recording speeds set (its easy to overlook the recorder being accidentally set to LP mode, which will look worse than SP).

fdidonna · Member Joined: 22 Oct 2008 Location: Italy

der_Fuchs · Member Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Location: Germany

Will this method also works with the DVR-433H?
I bought this one 2.5 years ago here in Germany and the DVD Player does not work any more. Pioneer wants to have appr. 200 EUR for repair.
On Ebay I found the DVR-109DB - would this be the right part?

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

Yes, the 109 should work in a DVR-433H, which is also a 2005 model and very similar in appearance and features to the North American 531-533-633 models. If your model has a diamond-shaped menu controller surrounded by four buttons in the center of the front panel, it uses the 109 burner.

der_Fuchs · Member Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Location: Germany

Hey, this sounds good - I will try this and thank you very much. I can get the burner for a quite good price in ebay. Will keep you informed if it works...

Seeker47 · Member Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Location: A State of Mind, USA

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

In reply to seeker47, yes, the Pioneer drives one might harvest from older Macintosh computers would work equally well in Pioneer DVD recorders as the drives one could pull from a PC. The only difference in the Mac version is a flag in its firmware that signals the MacOS it is an "Apple"-supplied burner, thus allowing use of the bundled iDVD software and correct booting from CD/DVD. (Apple wisely dropped this proprietary practice awhile back).

It doesn't matter where you pull the replacement burner from, as long as the basic model matches the one in your recorder. They need to match in order for you to get away with swapping the controller boards, giving your replacement drive the firmware from the recorder. The DVR-107 drive you pulled from your Mac is suitable for the Pioneer 220/225/320/420/520/720 recorders of 2004. The DVR-106 is for the 210/310/510/810 of 2003, and the DVR-109 fits only the 531/533/633 models of 2005 (including most of the European x3x models like 433, 530, etc). The similar-looking DVR-108 and DVR-110 are NOT recorder-compatible and should be avoided.

Beginning with the Pioneer 640 recorder in 2006, burners changed from Pioneer generic to a very specific Sony supplied burner which is impossible to obtain a replacement for except thru Pioneer/Sony service. The new design sandwiches the recorder's entire motherboard (including the encoder chips) inside the burner casing, making it a bad idea to try and disassemble at home. Fortunately these new burners have proven twice as durable as the Pioneer drives used in the older recorders. (Its a strange phenomenon, but the old Pioneer burners when installed in a computer will last three-four times longer than the same drives installed in a recorder chassis- perhaps ventilation was an issue).

Seeker47 · Member Joined: 20 Jul 2005 Location: A State of Mind, USA

der_Fuchs · Member Joined: 29 Oct 2008 Location: Germany

@orsetto:
DVR109 works in my Pioneer DVR433h perfect. I get one in ebay for 13 EUR! Took jut 1h to change it and save approx. 200 EUR.
Thanks a lot!

Monky · Member Joined: 16 Feb 2009 Location: United Kingdom

Orsetto
This is an excellent posting. I have a 433H which has a faulty drive.
Is this the drive model which will replace it. (Pioneer DVR-109XLB1 DVD/CD Writer)

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Pioneer-DVR-109XLB1-DVD-CD-Writer_W0QQitemZ ... dZViewItem

Also the ribbon cable that attaches to the writer looks like it might be have got damaged on mine, when I removed it. Is this a standard cable that can be purchased.

Thanks in advance
Monky

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

Yes, monky, that is the correct generic replacement burner for your 433. Unfortunately I can't advise whether the ribbon cable can be replaced easily: you would have to bring it to a computer parts store and see if they can match it. If not, you'll have to try a Pioneer parts dealer, and they can be tough on "non-professional" customers. The ribbon cable might be sold only as part of a package with a full replacement burner. I honestly don't know, but I'm glad you brought the subject up for others to consider: the (possibly proprietary) ribbon cables in these recorders are fragile, so due care is necessary to avoid damaging them when removing/reinstalling hard drives or burners.

Monky · Member Joined: 16 Feb 2009 Location: United Kingdom

Thanks Orsetto, I think the cable may be ok, Im gonna give it a go anyway. The alternative is a new Pioneer DVD Recorder and that's something Im happy to buy as this recoder has given me great service up until now.
Monky

Monky · Member Joined: 16 Feb 2009 Location: United Kingdom

Orsetto

Was able to get a Pioneer 109 drive. Also got a new cable here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FPC-ZIF-RIBBON-CABLE-AWM-20624-TOSHIBA-1-8- ... 240%3A1318

The recorder doesn't seem want to open or close the drive. When I press the eject button on the actual drive when it's in the machine it opens, so Im guessing it's getting power. The recorder will actually close the drive when it's open. I put an original dvd in the drive and the recorder and tried to play it and it says NO TITLE.

Think mabye it's just not going to work, any ideas.

Thanks
Monky

orsetto · Member Joined: 31 Oct 2007 Location: NYC

Monky, thanks for posting the generic info on the ribbon cable! I'm sure that will be very useful for some of us.

I'm sorry you're having trouble with the 109 drive, it should work. It's been awhile since I visited this thread so I don't remember if you understood about swapping the controller boards? The symptoms you describe are what happens if you just put the generic 109 burner into the recorder: you first need to remove the green controller board from inside both burners, swapping the old board from the "bad" burner into your new one. If you did do this, and are still having problems, check to be sure you put the foil pieces back on the burner case and replaced the black cloth tape around the front bezel- these don't appear to do anything but if they are missing something shorts in the recorder chassis. Or you may have forgot to reconnect one of the three ribbon cables inside the burner: it is easy to miss the tiny gold one that threads thru the middle of the controller board, and the two white cables need to have their collars locked or they don't connect properly. Other possibilities would be the motherboard ribbon cable replacement is not compatible, or the new drive itself may not be working right: did you test it in a PC before putting it in the recorder?

This burner replacement trick has never failed me with any North American Pioneer, and several members here on VH have verified it works on the European models equally well. I'm confident if you re-examine your installation you will find some minor adjustment will get it working for you too. If not, let us know and we'll try to think of other possible fixes.