Can't record T.V. programs?

[jay1234]

Hello all,

I've been coming to this site for years and just now coming into the forums section, but I have a question. Last September, I purchased a dvdrecorder and hooked it up. I couldn't figure out how to get it to work so I brought it back. Once I was going through my dvd's, I found that I did have it working right as it recorded about five minutes of television.

Fast forward to today and I just brought a RCA DRC 8052 dvdr and when I try to record tv programs, it says "Can not record copyrighted programs" Did I luck out with the recorder before? or is this brand of dvr not capable of recording from TV?

I looked on the first few pages of the forum and didnt see anything, so I figured I'd ask

Thanks,
Jay

[kush]

Sounds like your cable/satellite provider blocks recording..Or in other words has the no copy flag set (self imposed broadcast flag if you will). I think that 1 of 2 things happened previously for you..

1) Old recorder didn't respect the flag
2) Assuming you had the same cable co back then, they didn't have the flags implemented then.

Best suggestion I could give is search around the net for places that may or may not have a hack for your recorder - kind of like the region-free hacks for players.

[jay1234]

Thanks for your reply Kush.

Do you know of any players that has the hack available?

Everything has stayed the same, same cable company, same tv, even the same location of the tv.

I'll spend some time looking around the forums to see if I can find a hackable player but my problem is I'm new to this so the jargon is new to me.

[kush]

I can't really tell you where, because I don't know if they're available (for any recorder let alone yours), nor am I sure they exactly want those kinds of infos around these parts - (DMCA concerns since VH is hosted in the US right?)..Although I don't see why this is really any different an issue to region code player hacks.

Anyway, bottom line is this: there is likely *nothing* you can do about it. However, if there is any way around it like player region hacks, they're bound to come in one of two forms..

a) remote control disabling via entering in a certain sequence of keys
b) firmware update (ala PC burners for such things as improving media compatibility - probably from the manufacturer - something that would need to be burned/used like a burned movie/etc - snowballs chance in hell here )

..I guess even more remotely, you may find somewhere in the depths of the internet someone that can add a chip to the box ala game console hacking to intercept the no copy flag, or solder new/desolder old chips from the internals (not something to do yourself unless you designed the thing yourself!).

Sorry if I got your hopes up - I'm pretty much only crushing them here, but to be honest I'm pretty much talking from my a$$. But seeing how the tech manufacturers and copyright holders have been acting in recent years, with (IMHO) a total disregard for consumers rights - things don't look good for your particular case. Personally, if I were you, I'd see if I could get the same model as previously (seemingly) worked, or at least one from the same maker. Also, another possible workaround would be to try one of the lesser kown Chinese brands (like the Apex/Cyberhome's of the player world), since they may not bother (with the checking/observing the flag) - same as with players with aforementioned remote control region hacks.. Sure would save alot of time & frustration over googling for any references of your brand and/or exact model and possible workarounds.