Panasonic ES20 lock-up issue

[pmatthews1]

I just purchased a Panasonic ES20 this weekend. On my first recording - a transfer from 8 mm camcorder tape - the unit declared that this signal source could not be copied. After this, it wrote data to the disc (DVD-RW), and froze up. I could not eject or even turn the power off.

I pulled the plug and then the unit started up and I could eject after some time. I inserted the same disc and was then able to record the material normally. However, the unit locked up again after finalizing.

My second recording did not lock up the unit but did give me the "not able to record message" once. I restarted the source tape and it recorded and finalized just fine.

Are these issues known problems with the ES20 or does this unit have a problem? Should I return it for another?

[gshelley61]

It sounds like it is behaving oddly, or maybe is having trouble with your video source (dropouts, perhaps?) or the blank media you are using.

BTW, you should have used a new blank disc the second time. The first one may have had a glitch on it from the interrupted recording... that may be why it had trouble finalizing.

Still, it wouldn't hurt to exchange that unit for another one just to be certain it is not the unit itself having problems.

[pmatthews1]

I actually re-formatted the disc when I re-used it. It seems that I need to start the camcorder first before I hit record which may cause me to lose the first second or so of material.

I ran across another issue with this unit. This may not belong in this forum but I just tried to open the burned DVD for some re-authoring using TMPG DVD Author Pro 2.1 (Trial version). However, Author Pro could not recognize the DVD and gave an error stating:

"File not supported. (error code 0x80048003)"

I noticed that the DVD did not have an AUDIO_TS folder. I copied the files to my hard disc and manually added an AUDIO_TS folder but this did not work either.

What is the problem and what can I do about it?
Is this a compatibility issue with many DVD recorders?

[gshelley61]

Assuming the recorded DVD-RW is in Video format and finalized... and it plays OK in standard DVD players... try this:

Backup the disc to your computer's hard drive with DVD Shrink, re-authoring it "movie only". That will extract the main video file and re-author the DVD file structure. TMPGEnc DVD Author should have no problem accessing the DVD-Video file then.

[handyguy]

It probably doesn't like the manf of the media you used. DId you use genuine Panasonic media to test? Use only -r not +r media.

[ofbarea]

Try following these recomendations: https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?p=1167134#1167134

Also a firmware upgrade may add addional media support: https://forum.videohelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=288885