DMR-E80H Dead

[pbt1234]

I have had a Panasonic DMR-80H that has performed flawlessly for ~7 years. It recently began to record very gittery video. Shortly after that, I got the "an error has occurred" message and was instructed to press the "enter" button. I did that and then got a message, saying "check disk". Now the machine is in a loop with these two errors and will not recover. Firt, not sure what all this means. Second, I am afraid that I may have lost some video that I was transferring to this machine just prior to these issues occurring. I read in some forums of a flat rate repair for Panasonic of $130, anyone know if that is still available, even for my older recorder?

Also, I am evaluating whether I should just purchase a new machine (either Magnavox or Phillips 3575/3576). I read through some posts here and others and even the manuals, but did not see one feature that I really liked on my pany mentioned - shorten segment. Is that option on these other two boxes?

Are the 3575 and 3576 really the same - I have not been able to see a real difference . . .

Are the features on the Magnavox the same as the 3575/3576 since they are all made by Funai?

Thanks in advance for input!
pbt1234

[wabjxo]

The preference between the Magnavox and the Philips 3575/76 is for the Philips... larger HDD, much better remote (even tho the Philips remote is small, takes getting used to), otpical as well as coax digital audio out, better tuner (to some), and some other things I can't remember now.

The difference between the 3575 and 3576 now appears to be the Front-End (FE) FW, which apparently operates components on the input side, like the tuner.

[orsetto]

I have no idea what the Panasonic "shorten segment" feature does, not having owned an older Panny myself, but if you're anything like other Panasonic cultists you are not going to be happy with another machine. You should look into the Panasonic $130 flat fee repair and get your unit refurbished. I am not being cute when I use the term "cultist", each of the "vintage" recorders operates in a specific way that their users get attached to: asking them to use anything else makes them ill, especially Panasonic owners. Get your old Panny repaired, you'll be happier. Info on the flat fee system is floating around the AVS Forum somewhere, Panasonic recently changed the contact info and shipping address for their flat fee service and AVS keeps more up to date on that issue than we do here at VideoHelp.

If your DMR-80H proves too old to repair, you are going to have to grieve its passing and make do with what is left on the market, which isn't much. If you want convenient shopping, get the Phillips 3576. It is reasonably priced, has a good ATSC tuner, and most of the features of the DMR-80H. It does not operate as elegantly and may not have certain editing niceties you are used to, and its remote is from hunger, but it is the *only* DVD/HDD being sold new in stores as an official USA model. We're lucky its as good as it is, since its the only choice.

If you're more adventurous, and don't care about ATSC tuning (because you have cable or satellite or whatever), you can shop eBay or online dealers for a new or "open-box" current-model Pioneer 450, 550 or 650. These operate a bit more suavely than the Phillips, have slightly better remotes, and proven-durable burners. Alternatively you could look for a used Panasonic similar to your DMR-80H, but understand these have a rabid following and used ones command insane prices- they are probably not worth it unless you have money to burn. For the $400-500 people are asking for a used Panasonic, you could buy TWO brand new Phillips machines or a Pioneer-and-a-half.

[wabjxo]

Here's the Panny repair center info:

Panasonic Service Center
1590 Touhy Ave
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007

1-888-439-2676

[wabjxo]

I have had a Panasonic DMR-80H that has performed flawlessly for ~7 years.[/

Just curious, when did you get your E80H... I thought they were first available in Apr-May 2003?

[handyguy]

Does your Panny need a new HD? Why not put one in? I can't figure out if its your HD or your dvd drive. Laser would need some cleaning after 7 years too. Also, unplug from wall overnight & then plug back in & see if this resets it.

[JeffM]

Second, I am afraid that I may have lost some video that I was transferring to this machine just prior to these issues occurring.

It sounds like you've lost the entire drive!

Once the HDD dies, it renders the unit useless. Error messages make the unit power off and on in an endless loop.
You can't even use it to play DVDs anymore.

You can get it repaired or read my post. Do it yourself HDD replacement:
https://forum.videohelp.com/topic346050.html

I'm sure you can get a replacement HDD off the Internet for as low as 50 bucks.

If you do get it repaired, I wouldn't expect them to try and save what data you already have.
They will probably just throw the old HDD out and replace it.

[wabjxo]

If you do get it repaired, I wouldn't expect them to try and save what data you already have.
They will probably just throw the old HDD out and replace it.

That's what the Panasonic Service Center did on my BIL's EH85. He got a new HDD (blank), DVD Drive, and four other components for the flat-rate $130 they charge everybody.

[pbt1234]

All -
Thanks so much for your feedback and input.

JeffM - I read through the post you recommended, but wasn't sure about some details when replacing the HDD myself. Can the drive be a 7200 RPM? I recently pulled this drive from the kid's computer and it is a 40GB, based on the info in your post, this is not a problem, correct? Also, do I need to format the drive in a PC before installing it? The one I have again is just a pull from my kid's PC, therefore I did not format it.

Again thanks to all who have contribured or posted.

pbt1234

[JeffM]

I recently pulled this drive from the kid's computer and it is a 40GB, based on the info in your post, this is not a problem, correct?

I wouldn't put a 40GB HDD in a recorder expecting 80GB or more.

I would find a HDD as close as a match as possible to the original capacity and drive speed. I recommend the
Hitachi Deskstar 80GB ATA/IDE Hard Drive, Model No: HDS721680PLAT80, 7200 RPM.

And the type of formatting I mentioned in my post is called a low level format. It simply zero-fills the HDD, nothing else.
I suggest doing it if the drive is not new or has data already on it.

[pbt1234]

Thanks to everyone for your help! I took JeffM's advice and found a hard drive (used) EXACTLY like the one in my Pany. The process to change it out took 10 minutes tops and then after a quick format, I am back up and running! It feels so good to have my recorder back up and going and for a meer $37.45.

I purchased the drive from DISI (http://stores.ebay.com/DISI-Your-Online-Drive-Source) at eBay. They shipped the item I purchased within hours or purchasing and it arrived very shortly as described. Each drive they recertify comes with a one year guarantee, so I felt like I could not go wrong.

Again, thanks for everyone's help in getting my pany back up and running! What a great feeling.

pbt1234

[orsetto]

Gotta love this forum and its members for making such low-cost "happy endings" possible!

Thanks to JeffM and waxjbo , this might set a record for shortest repair thread between "problem posted" and "problem solved". Cool beans!

[dmre80hmike]

Does anyone know if there is a way to recover data recorded on the Hard Drive of a DMR ES80H. I pulled a previous Hard Drive and replaced it only to find out that using an IDE HD box with a USB plug hooked to my Mac I reformatted it for Mac then put it back in the Pana and it allowed me to reformat in Pana super secret Panny format and it was raised from the dead and worked fine.

[orsetto]

A couple of people have mentioned using Unix-based hexadecimal code reader software to salvage video from a hosed Panasonic hard drive. But it is painfully slow, extremely tedious work that is not for the average hobbyist. It requires piecing together many file fragments and a lot of guesswork: there's no "GUI" or visual cue to what exactly you're assembling, and you can't just put the drive back in the Panasonic and expect it to use its navigation features- the files have to be assembled, copied and restored to MPEG2 on a PC. On the whole it isn't worth doing except to rescue irreplaceable personal videos: anything else should just be re-recorded or purchased on commercial DVD.

[Dishwatcher]

I also own a DMR 80H for many years. I had some problems with it around year 2 or 3, but fortunately I had an extended warranty from circuit city and it was fixed for free. ( I did lose all my HD data one time tho )

Now (in the past 2-3 days) I am getting the "no read" message on dvd -R's that I insert. I get this on 90% of the disks I insert new and recorded (it does read pre-recorded and finalized), but for some reason it will still read blank SONY (only) dvd-R and I can still record and copy on these. I ordered a lens cleaner and I hope that will help, but from what I've read they seem to have very limited help with this. I also read about performing a reset, but before I even try this I would like to know if that will affect or erase the video thats on the HDD ? As of now I have NO probs recording/playing the HDD.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

PS: To pbt1234 and others, I recently (finally) upgraded to a 55" Sony HDTV so I decided to upgrade my dvd recorder. After doing much research I almost bought one of the Pioneer's with the large HD, but after loving my Panny I wound up buying a new DMR-EH55. Yes these are discontinued, but I found some on ebay from a Canadian dealer. I probably overpaid, but after using it a couple of months I am VERY happy with it. It does EVERYTHING the 80H does... PLUS it records/plays almost every dvd format (including DL) and it operates much more smoothly and performs functions (record, erase etc) much faster too!!! In addition it has many enhanced features in tittling and other areas. It has the built in TV Guide programming, but you can do manual also. One more feature I love is that it has an HDMI output with 1080i upscaling. Oh and the 200 GB HDD is great too. I do not know how the other brands stack up with this, but I am very happy I got one before they disappear !!!

Thank you for reading my post.
Dishwatcher

[Captain Satellite]

Dishwatcher, I kept getting that message a while back on my E80H. The very simple cure was to buy a Memorex laser lens cleaner. I didn't believe it would work when the others told me to give it a whirl and sure enough it worked.

[Dishwatcher]

Thank you for the reply Captain Satellite !!! I got the lens cleaner I ordered. (I had already ordered the allsop based on Amazon customer ratings) I put it in and ran it through the cycle and my E80H seems to back to normal !!! So far it had read every disk I put in. I guess the lens cleaners really DO work. (Especially if it was never cleaned in 5+ years)

[LorenAjack]

I have had a DMR-E80H for many years. I always had to purchase the special Panasonic DVD-R 4.7 GB to be able to burn from the HD to DVD.
Those are expensive and now HARD to find. Crutchfield is now out of stock.
Does anyone know if I can purchase standard DVD-r media, and if they
will work in this unit?

[jjeff]

'03___E80H______________80GB HDD, RAM, -R,
'03 model year added:First year HDD models added HS dubbing from HDD to -R, last year of eject on remote,

The E80H is a '03 recorder that will record to either RAM or -R discs. '03 was the first year you could HS dub from the HDD to a standard -R disc, instead of just RAM discs like the '02 HS2 Panny.
Any -R disc should work but because of it's age I would strongly suggest 8x Ty media http://www.supermediastore.com/taiyo-yuden-silver-thermal-8x-dvd-r-media-100-pack.html I see the discs you pictured are 8x and other than Ty's online 8x media is getting quite hard to find.
While current 16x media may work, 8x media should be easier on your burner and also give you less coasters.
With a machine of this vintage if you're hearing grinding from the drive when you edit or finalize your discs, the spindle probably needs cleaning. It's less than a 1/2 hour job and generally isn't too hard if you're at all handy.

Wabjxo(Wajo) missed deleting a few of his old posts early in this thread

[orsetto]

Wabjxo(Wajo) missed deleting a few of his old posts early in this thread

Not only that, in those posts he actually offers useful info for Panasonic owners! If he can do that, I guess we don't all have to be one-brand fanatics after all.

To LorenAjack, I would second jjeffs recommendation of the TY silver premium 8x DVD-R as a possible substitute for the Panasonic DVD-R you were using. In most cases, recorders that won't burn anything else will usually burn TY (almost all the early DVD recorders were designed around TY media specs, although of course there are exceptions). Buying one spindle of TY 8x DVD-R is a fairly cheap experiment: if your DMR-80H fails to burn it you can always use it in your PC or another recorder. According to the media mfr charts here on VideoHelp, the Panasonic-branded 8x discs you were using were actually made for Panasonic by TY, and would be identical to the current TY-brand 8x discs. Good luck!

[JCWBobC]

I bought my DMR-E80H in June of 2003 and had no problems until about a year ago when it wouldn't finalize any discs but the recording was fine. I started using one of my JVC DVD/VHS combos to finalize my discs until about a month ago when the Panasonic stopped recording to a DVD-R disc. I can still record to a DVD-Ram disc but that's it. Now I just use it to record programs that I want to watch but don't want to keep for my collection.

I'm just wondering if a DVD cleaner might solve my problem or is my DVD drive completely useless for DVD-Rs now?

Thanks,
Bob

[jjeff]

Bob, you've described the classic symptoms of a Panasonic that needs the spindle cleaned.
Generally it will record fine(sometimes certain brands will work better for one reason or another) but when it comes to editing the disc(changing thumbnails, adding a title, finalizing etc.) it will crash. Sometimes this makes the disc totally unplayable, other times it just makes it unfinalizable and as such only playable in a Panasonic DVDR. I've never heard of a unfinalized disc recorded in a Panasonic being able to be played or finalized in anything other than another Panasonic. How old is your JVC combo? It almost sounds like it may have been made by Panasonic?
Anyway here's a good link to a thread talking about cleaning the spindle on Panasonic DVDRs. http://club.cdfreaks.com/f106/fixing-your-panny-when-theres-fault-lens-cleaning-doesnt-help-210507/
Cleaning discs do nothing for the spindle, your only choice for cleaning the spindle is to basically take it apart and use a solvent.
A test I like to use to see if the problems are caused by a dirty spindle is somewhat unorthodox. I moisten the tip of my finger with saliva and then gently coat the bottom inner clear area of a DVD(coming out about 1cm from the hole). While it's still wet I insert the DVD in the recorder. If this quiets the drive down and allows me to edit/finalize the disc, it means for sure the spindle is dirty. The saliva provides just enough grip for the spindle to hold the disc during times when the disc needs to change speed quickly, such as during editing.
Good luck with your classic Panny, I really think a spindle cleaning may solve your problems.
Note you still won't be able to finalize any discs that are currently "unfinalizable", damage by disc slippage is permanent and those discs will only be playable in a DVDR.

[JCWBobC]

I use a DR-MV1 VHS/DVD recorder, the first model to be released & made by JVC, to finalize the discs. I was under the impression that any disc could be finalized in any DVD recorder, you just couldn't record on the disc. Since I was let go by JVC at the end of 2007 I haven't kept up on the Electronics scene as much as I used to so I could be wrong.

I will check out that thread but another thing i've noticed about my Panasonic is a clicking noise when I turn it on. When I was recovering data from the hard drives for the JVC Everio cameras one of the engineers told me that a clicking noise means their is a problem with the hard drive. I haven't had any problems with recording to the hard drive or dubbing to a DVD-Ram disc so it's confusing.

I'm confused by last paragraph as you don't edit the video on the DVD but on the hard drive. I can still divide the video or edit out commercials but when I try to dubb the video to a DVD-R the unit goes into RECOVER mode. I understand your point that if the spindle is dirty it may cause a problem when finalizing but the editing I don't understand.

I just popped a Sony 16x DVD-R in my Panasonic and am dubbing Monday Night Raw with no problem. First I divided the video to cut out the end of NCIS and then I edited out the first set of commercial to bring the running time down to 2:06 so I could high speed dub the video to the disc. I'm at 54 minutes remaining whereas before it would fail immediately when I started dubbing. I have 6 other DVD recorders in the house so it's not a big deal but the Panasonic is the best for editing and doing high-speed dubbing. With the JVC DVD Recorder with the hard drive if you edit anything it won't high-speed dub so you have to wait for it to dub in real-time.

Thanks for your help,
Bob

[jjeff]

Generally discs recorded on one brand of DVDR will not be able to be read on a different brand of DVDR until the disc has been finalized.
I'm at a loss as to why you're able to finalize discs recorded on your Panny on your JVC. Maybe Lordsmurf knows, he has JVCs and I think a older Panny.
What I was getting at with my last statement in my previous post was, generally if you have a disc failure(caused by disc slippage) when editing or finalizing a DVD it will do one of 2 things. The worst case scenario is it will wipe out your title and you won't be able to play the disc on any machine. The other scenario is you won't be able to finalize the disc. It will play in a Panasonic DVDR (any maybe your old JVC) but because the disc cannot be finalized it cannot be played in a standard DVD player.
I have several "unfinalizable" discs caused by disc slippage, before I learned how to clean the spindle. Again they play fine in my Panny DVDRs but not any of my players. When I try to finalize them they say something like "disc cannot be finalized".

[orsetto]

Panasonic and JVC had various cooperative arrangements in certain areas. Its possible Panasonic borrowed its basic DVD finalization routines from JVC (or vice versa), maybe thats why JCWBobC is able to finalize discs from his old Panny using his old JVC? Its funny this handy bit of info never came up before: further proof that Panasonic and JVC fanciers really do like very different machines, and would be unlikely to own both.

[lordsmurf]

My JVC and Panasonic can finalize each other's discs, yes. Discovered this years and years ago.

[vatkat234]

Somethings to think about. Philips do not record Closed Caption but I think they can burn Closed Caption into the video. If you do not care about Closed Caption then this is not a big deal.

I might be wrong about this so look into it. When burning a DVD-R the Philip DVD recorders do not recorded in 16:9 but record in 4:3. So if your tv is 4:3 you will see a fake letterbox with the black bars encoded.

You will hear different stories about Philip dvd recorders some are very good others say they suck. Read the reveiews over at Amazon.

It seems Philips changed they HD tuner in their recorders some units have a very good tuner others are crap.

You might want to take a look at the Panasonic DMR-EZ28K. It has no hard drive but has a HD tuner in it.

[JCWBobC]

Just a quick update. Since my last post i've been able to dub quite a few discs from the HDD to both a DVD-Ram and a Sony 16x DVD-R with no problems. I still finalize the disc in my JVC, which has been going to Loading more often, but the picture quality is great and no error messages.

Bob