Panasonic DMR-E50 problems with large files

[luciofulci]

Hi All,

I've had an DMR-E50 for the last year or so and i've come across a strange problem.

When i do a short capture (TV episode for example) everything is fine, the disc plays fine and i can put it in my PC and make a copy using DVD Shrink or Nero Etc.

Even if i do 2 hours worth on a disc in 4 half an hour segments, everything is fine.

But, if i do a large capture such as 1h 45m the player seems to split it into two seperate segments, on the title screen after i've finalised i have one segment that runs for about 1h 30 mins then a second segment that runs for 15 mins.

The strange part is whenever i put a disc it's done this on into my PC to make a copy it gives me an error (a read error) once it gets near the end of the disc, i'm guessing it's when it reaches the second segment.

It never does this with short segments only a long one, does anyone have any idea why it's doing this? Doesn't seem to make a difference whether it's in PAL or NTSC and only does it on captures that have been split into two parts.

Any help is greatly appreciated as it's driving me roudn the bend!

Cheers

Adam

[bluebridge]

Even if i do 2 hours worth on a disc in 4 half an hour segments, everything is fine.

But, if i do a large capture such as 1h 45m the player seems to split it into two seperate segments, on the title screen after i've finalised i have one segment that runs for about 1h 30 mins then a second segment that runs for 15 mins.

I have had my E50 for about 20 months now, and I've NEVER seen this problem. I've transferred well over 60 different home-recorded 3- or 4-hour VHS tapes to DVD-R (using FR mode most of the time), many as one single recording filling the disc. I've never had a failure. I've also filled complete DVD-RAM dics with single off-cable TV recordings lasting 4 hours in LP or even 6 hours in EP mode. I've also recorded 6 hours worth of audio only from the radio in EP (just set the disc recording, left it running, and went out and left it to run out).
I've always used Panasonic's own-brand DVD-RAM discs and DVD-R discs (since there was a lot of chatter in the forums, at the time I bought the E50, about incompatible discs (usually DVD-Rs though).
Perhaps you have a problem with your disc??

There is a way to simulate your behaviour manually. Set the recorder up for a programmed timer recording. Then in the middle of the recording, press the stop button. The programme will stop recording and close that session on the disc; but because the timer recording hasn't finished, the recorder will start up again (almost immediately) and finish the timer recording in a second session. Indeed, in the early days, it took me a while to realize that the only way to interrupt a programmed timer recording is to press the TIMER button to switch out of timer mode (and NOT the stop button)!

The only time I've managed to screw up a recording (on DVD-R) was when I was adding titles to a programme that had only 1/3rd filled the disc. When pressing the Stop button on the remote to confirm and exit the title dialog, nothing seemed to happen. So I pressed it again, and again, and then got an error message, saying I had to finalize the disc. The recorded programme was safe, but the rest of the disc had been marked closed. I now know to be patient when I end titling.

If none of the above strikes a chord - I suspect you've got a faulty machine - sorry. Have you had it just inside or outside the guarantee period?

bluebridge

[Anonymous65]

If the recorder has problems writing to the disk, it will break up the recording into several chapters or chunks of video. This means that the disk doesn't work with the recorder and you will have to get another brand blank disks. If I use memorex media on the DMR-50, it will only record 5-10 minute chunks before it fails and then start recording another chunk of video. Use TDK, Sony, Maxell and similar high quality blank media and stay far away from the low quality media like Memorex.