My Philips 3576 has stopped dubbing onto DVD-R's

[PhoneMatt]

I went to empty my hard drive today, and transfer shows to disc. When I put a disc in the machine, it gave me the error about there being a problem with the disc, and to eject the disc. I noticed that when the disc was loading, the blinking lights on the onscreen bar got almost all the way done, then the burner started clicking. The disc never fully loaded and "Dubbing" was greyed out. I unplugged the machine for 2 minutes to reset everything, but it didn't help. The machine will playback previously recorded discs and will dub onto a +RW. My -R's are Verbatim and the +RW is a Philips. I tried 4 different -R's, from different places in the spindle- no luck, so I'm pretty sure it's not the discs. Has anyone else had this problem?
Matt

[wabjxo]

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[PhoneMatt]

About 20. I thought that that would be enough to cover any needed overhead.

[wabjxo]

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[PhoneMatt]

I've been using these for a while. They are MIS- I bought a few spindles when they were on sale. Haven't had a problem with them. In fact I'm copying the DVD-RW to them right now. The discs seem good. I'll check the "Make Recording Compatible" setting. I think it's on, but not sure.
I suppose I should ask- are there any things to watch for when copying a DVD+RW to a-R? I know that the RW didn't have to be finalized. How will this affect the -R? (I've never had to do this before, and, if my burner is going, I've got a bunch of stuff to copy.)

[wabjxo]

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[usually_quiet]

Where did the dubbing process end? At a commercial?

We have been seing reports indicating DVD reorders are sometimes finding copy protection in commercials. Dubbing to a DVD-R would stop when the copy protection was detected in the HDD recording, though I'd expect that there would be some kind of error message warning of copy protection. Dubbing to a DVD+RW might still work if DVD+RW is CPRM compliant media for the Philips 3576.

[wabjxo]

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[usually_quiet]

The 3576 doesn't do VR-mode so -RW discs can be initialized for that mode and, of course, it doesn't do -RAM, which are VR-mode so CPRM-compliant.

I made a mistake. I meant +RW, and corrected it in my post about the same time you repled.

[Edit] It doesn't matter anyway. I looked at the pdf manual, and found there is no difference between the recording modes used for the two types re-writable media, so it neither is CPRM compliant for this model.

[PhoneMatt]

No, there is no noticeable dust or cat hair. The unit is in a cabinet- with lots of room and ventilation, ( Yeah, I have read that entire long thread.)
I just took the +RW put it in my computer, fired up Nero and did a disc copy. Burned the +RW contents to a -R. Seems to work alright when I played it back in my Panny. Had the menus and everything. Is this just dumb luck?

[wabjxo]

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[PhoneMatt]

Seems to be a miscommunication. I am only using the Panny for playback of the copied disc. I am copying from Philips HDD to _RW. Then duping _RW onto _R on my computer. The menus were made by the Philips, Obviously, the -RW was not finalizeed. My question was whether this would screw up the copy. It looks like it didn't.
And, yep, cancelling the timer was one of the first things that I did. I only wish that that was the problem.

[joecass]

Seems like whatever Minus R discs you're using, are incompatible with the Philips..... have you tried using Plus R discs ? The Philips burner is still operational if it can burn to DVD+RW, which by the way are automatically finalized when you hit the eject button on the machine. I would try other brands of Minus R discs, I've had pretty good luck with Sony -R's, they seem compatible with all my dvd recorders and computers.
You didn't say whether the copied -R discs made on your computer play back correctly on the Philips - ? I would also put one of the blank DVD-R's that won't work on the Philips - on the computer and use Nero to identify the write speed and manufacturer I.D.

[lordsmurf]

MIS DVD-R? Are you sure?

I suggest Verbatim DVD+R for these machines.
Philips is an RW Alliance founder, and their equipment always works best with DVD+R media, from a good manufacturer (SONY/Taiwan, or VERBATIM)

[samijubal]

The Philips recorders are Funai and they have always been -R/RW recorders. When my recorder burners have died they quit reading R discs but will still work with RWs for awhile longer.

[PhoneMatt]

LS- sorry, should have said MIT. I always use Verbatim -R's because I have a machine that will not play +R's. (So much for a bargain.) I've used -R's since I got the machine in May and never had a problem.
joecass- The copied -R plays perfectly on the Philips and all of my other machines. ImgBurn shows it as an MCC03RG20.
I spoke to someone at Philips last night and went through a few rudimentary tries at a fix, but none of them worked. I'm going to call them back this afternoon. They said that they would walk me through a couple of diagnostic steps. At least it's still under warranty, but hopefully it will be something simple.

[PhoneMatt]

Well, folks, just to put an ending to this-
I spent about 30 minutes on the telephone, with Philips support. We did all kinds of button pushing, plugging and unplugging, cable pushing and even a "could you put the phone near the burner, we may be hearing a strange sound". End result? Burner failure. Guess I got one that was defective. Then they got my address and told me that they would ship me out a new unit and a return tag, to ship back my old machine, within the next 10 days. I expected to have to go to an "Authorized Repair Facility", but they are doing everything. This also gives me 10 days to pick up some more +RW's and get 40 hours of shows off of the hard drive. (What do you mean watch them????)
All in all, I'm not thrilled that my unit died, but the way Philips handled the whole procedure more than satisfied me. It's nice to see a company stand behind their products.

[PhoneMatt]

OK, the next time that I sound so optimistic about a company, please shoot me!. To date, I still have not received my replacement. Why? Because there will not be any more 3576's. In fact they have been out of them at Philips since October. So I have spent the last 2 months being jerked around by Philips. They will no longer replace any of their 3576's, they will buy them back. (If you read the warranty, they do not repair, they replace or refund. And look at your extended warranty- most don't kick in until the manufacturers warranty expires.) It took me nearly 6 weeks and a lot of calls to some really rude people to get an answer. As one woman at their corporate offices explained to me, they are leaving the Consumer Electronics field. All of the people left in "Customer Relations" are looking for new jobs. There are some very bitter people there. (I will admit that their Tech Support are very polite- and as helpful as they can be. But they aren't given any information from the other departments. They didn't know that the unit was no longer being made, nor did they know that it was out of stock. No one bothered to tell them. Once you have to go past them to the next level, wear a flak jacket. The sh*t flies fast and furious.)
Don't get me wrong, I loved my 3576, and am spending the time to find another recorder with a HDD. Yeah, I've been spoiled. I'm not out any money, because I bought it at Sam's. They'll take it back. I just think that anyone buying one should go into it with all of the facts.

[samijubal]

Good luck finding one for a decent price now. Check this out:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVDR3576H-Recorder-160GB-Built/dp/B0013WM0BQ/ref=pd_bbs_...4407015&sr=8-1

They are actually selling at that price or someone is manipulating the numbers, it said 3 left a week or so ago.

I should have seen this coming when the local Walmart had stacks of them for $200, I could have made some easy cash.

[SmokieStover]

Try made in Taiwan Verbatim +R 16X. If they work, replace the DVD player that will not play +R.

Here's a disk scan showing the media ID.

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[lordsmurf]

Good luck finding one for a decent price now. Check this out:
http://www.amazon.com/Philips-DVDR3576H-Recorder-160GB-Built/dp/B0013WM0BQ/ref=pd_bbs_...4407015&sr=8-1
They are actually selling at that price or someone is manipulating the numbers, it said 3 left a week or so ago.
I should have seen this coming when the local Walmart had stacks of them for $200, I could have made some easy cash.

I doubt many fools will buy for 200-300% markup. Being "for sale" and "sold" are not the same.

[samijubal]

Look at the number of units left, about 5-6 days ago there were 3, now there's 1. Never underestimate what a fool and his money will do. Many millions have been made from fools and money. Yesterday both those were $599. They keep going from $599 to $849. Ships within 1 to 3 weeks means they sold the 1 they had left for $599.

[victoriabears]

In many ways Ebay is a good guide as to what you would have to pay, and if I were you I would go with a pioneer, you can get them in the USA:-

The Philips just seem to be creating too many problems, reliability wise, or go the computer PVR route.

It seems that the TV companies are heading towards us not being able to archive anything, which for me makes me luagh, as the interest in North America to archive is SO much less than in the UK, which had the largest take up of VCR's in the world.

Even in the UK the quality of TV has dipped so low, have you seen the number of re-makes of TV shows (eg: The Prisoner) and movies, creative minds are not what they were.

http://shop.ebay.com/items/__dvd-recorder_W0QQTypeZDVDQ2520RecordersQQFeaturesZHardQ25...86Q2ec0Q2em282


http://cgi.ebay.ca/PHILIPS-DVD-RECORDER-WITH-160GB-DVR_W0QQitemZ270341130119QQcmdZView...1%7C240%3A1318

http://shop.ebay.com/items/?_nkw=philips+dvd+recorder&_sacat=0&_fromfsb=&_trksid=m270....r357&_osacat=0

[FulciLives]

For that price you might as well import a Pioneer HDD DVD recorder.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[orsetto]

Any time Amazon lists an item with insane prices, it means they have their head up their ass and are allowing some scumbag to try to take advantage of a discontinued product or momentary shortage: ignore those idiots. The 3576 does seem to be on the way out of production, but Wal*Mart online recently restocked its twin the Magnavox H2160 which is a better machine anyway. Look for that.

LordSmurf vehemently disagrees with me on this point, and I respect his opinions based on his much wider experience than mine, but my personal experience with 16x Verbatim -R media mfr'd since 2007 has been uniformly spotty. Half the discs in a spindle will not burn on any of my older hardware and often not even in brand new Pioneer 460s, which will usually burn anything. Verbatim is not what it once was since its manufacturing chain was reworked three years ago. So don't assume failure to burn Verbatim (or any brand) means your recorder is defective: it could be the media is a trifle "off". I don't use + media of any kind, I settled on - just to simplify my life, but reports indicate the Verbatim + is more consistently good than the - so you may want to try the +. Phillips/Magnavox units do in fact prefer + in any case, so its worth a shot. Different superstores in different regions get different cases of Verbatim, if you try both the + and - and can't get consistently good results, use something else, perhaps try Sony. Myself, I gave up playing media roulette years ago, the 16x stuff sold in stores is just too flakey. I now buy 8x media exclusively, Taiyo Yuden, Verbatim DataLife and Sony, from online suppliers. I don't think I've ever had an 8x disc fail to burn, but I've made enough 16x coasters to start a landfill.

[victoriabears]

The international versions?

Can they be bought from the originating country, say via a friend in Singapore etc?

Realising of course that using any warranty is difficult, just always wondered where the resellers in the USA get them from and how much they mark them up.

[samijubal]

I have to disagree on the Verbatim issue. I've used nothing but Verbs since the Valueline TYs got too flaky a couple of years ago. I've never had any problems with them in any standalone or PC burner. I've used +Rs and -Rs, MIT and MII both, all have performed flawlessly in anything I've put them in.

[PhoneMatt]

800 bucks? Well, if someone wants to buy one that needs a little work, I guess I could be persuaded to sell it for 400 or so. It's an electronic handyman's delight. (If you check the Philips parts site, the burner is available for $103.00, but it too is out of stock.)
I've tried the Verb +R's, no dice. It will only record on RW's, + or-. But I've got to agree with Samijubal. I've never had a problem with the Verbatim -R's in any of my recorders or players. (Interestingly, my local Sam's Club just got in a shipment of DL +R's made in Singapore. Aren't they supposed to be good?) I'm looking at at the Magnavox for now. I know that it's still Funai, but maybe I just got a bum deck. If it lasts a year or two, as opposed to the 6 months my Philips lasted, maybe there will be something else out there to replace it with.

[SmokieStover]

My burners and a Philips 3576H prefer +R media. Never had a problem with Verbatim +R 16X, but a spindle of 50 takes care of my burning needs for 9 to 10 months. So the ones I have must be about 8 months old.

Funai is not a name that inspires confidence and I had several reasons for never, ever buying a DVD recorder, but I did buy a Philips 3576H the week before Thanksgiving 2008. No problems so far. Best feature is the QAM tuner....all extended basic cable channels are in the clear on our cable system. I have a good antenna, but have never connected it to the Philips. The ATSC tuner would be a big plus for antenna only TV viewers.

I have burned a few Sony +R 16X on the Philips. They played, but ripped to hardrive rather slow.....4X. Comparative disk scanning showed the Sony media to have a PIF rate over 10 times higher than Verbatim. Here's a scan of one Sony disk which had visible flaws after burning....it's a coaster.

[victoriabears]

have a look:-

Before you sling your problematic Panasonic in the bin, you may want to try cleaning the spindle. This has worked wonders for me on my current recorders: I have a 3 year old DMR-E55 recorder (a fantastic old machine which gets used to play & record EVERY day) and an LG GSA-4082B multidrive in the computer, but this method has also fixed many malfunctioning Playstation 2's, and DVD-ROMs, RAMs, CD drives, you name it.

The symptons of your Panasonic requiring a spindle clean are as follows. The machine may start to feel sluggish, particularly when formatting a DVD-RAM, performing erase functions, and may take longer to recognize discs. Then, you will start to get errors during recording and erasing, failed formatting, and the machine will not recognize some discs. Eventually it will be totally unpredictable and unreliable, and you may find that even after dismantling your machine and cleaning the lens most thoroughly, the problems persist. It may still play CDs and shop bought DVDs, those functions are the last to go. I will almost guarantee that this means a spindle clean is needed, although many would incorrectly blame these symptoms on a dirty lens, or even a defective laser, but the reality is, if the machine worked perfectly once, the laser is almost certainly fine. Panasonic use trusted circuitry to ensure a stable laser output.

The spindle is the little round platter inside your machine that your disc sits on. Discs go into the machine and there they are placed on the spindle, after which a circular magnetic grip clamps the disc into its final position, the disc being sandwiched firmly between the spindle and the grip. "Yeah, I know all this already" I can hear you shouting.

But the correct functioning of a spindle is absolutely CRITICAL in such a precise piece of technology as a DVD-RAM recorder, there is no room for error here as a dirty spindle will not spin the disc perfectly evenly - it can introduce wobble and jitter into the disc which even the cleanest lens will not cope with.

You do need to open up your machine to clean the spindle but it is well worth it if your machine is out of warranty. Take off the outer lid and locate the screws that hold the lid on the drive unit. There are usually four screws, two at either side. Remove those screws and that lid should now be loose, but don't use brute force - on my unit you have to jiggle the drive lid around a little towards the back of the unit. It will lift off.

You should now see the spindle. Notice the black rubber on the outer part of the spindle. With isopropyl alcohol and cotton buds, gently but thoroughly clean this rubber. It can sometimes look surprisingly dirty - carpet fibre, dust and tar from heavy smoking are the usual suspects in my experience. Clean the whole spindle too, then go back and clean that rubber again until it doesn't leave a mark on a fresh cotton bud dipped in alcohol. You may as well clean the lens while you are here. If you haven't cleaned a lens before, dip a fresh cotton bud in alcohol and brush the lens very gently with it, the lens will move slightly as it is spring mounted so don't be alarmed. Just be gentle. At this stage it's a good idea to clean the grip which is set into the lid of the drive unit. Now put your machine back together.

You should have a Panasonic that's as good as when you bought it. The first thing I would do is insert a DVD-RAM disc and format it. You should notice the speed difference, and of course, a successful format is a good sign in itself. My E55 first packed up 5 months after I bought it, and it didn't occur to me to clean the spindle even though I'd been fixing PS2's that way for a while. Well, it did, but it was under warranty and I got a replacement. That was nearly 3 years ago, and I have cleaned the spindle twice in that time, most recently yesterday, after a bit of erratic behaviour showed itself. But we are heavy smokers in this house - most people wouldn't need to clean it that often

Of course there are preventative measures you can take, like not putting in dusty or fingerprinted discs, cleaning the innermost part of discs you put in, and NOT handling a disc with its hole, just use the outside edge.

Anyway, I hope this helps somebody. The posts on CDFREAKS have been helpful to me for many years, so I hope I can put something back. It would be good if you could let me know if you fix your recorder using this method, and if you have any questions just let me know.

How has the recorder ben "kept", in a good ventilated area?,,smoke free home?and have you tried a lens clean or disc cleaner?

Have you tried the old "unplug" for a day and re plug it in, see what happens?