Problem with Sony RDR-GXD500 DVD Recorder

[FearMor]

I am a true newbie here.

I have a Sony RDR-GXD500 DVD Recorder which broke down in that it failed to "see" either blank DVDs or pre-recorded DVDs put into it. I took it to the local Sony repair centre and was told by the engineer there that it needed a new "loader" whatever one of these is. The bad news, he told me, was that Sony no longer supply loaders for this model.

Perhaps some learned member of this forum can tell me what a loader is and what it does and, better still, where I can get one.

My biggest problem is that I have a fair number of DVD-Rs which I had not got around to "finalizing" when the machine packed up. Is there any way I can recover the data on these disks even if I have to buy expensive software to do it?

Any help will be most gratefully appreciated.

Alasdair.

[DB83]

I am probably 'wide' off the mark but my take on a 'loader' is the electronics that sense that the disk tray has been closed from open and then 'fires' up the laser.

If Sony can not supply then you would only be able to get one from another identical working unit. And if you had an identical working unit there is no point in cannibilising that for these electronics (even if you could)

You can rip the data off an un-finalised disk with isobuster

And ONE topic is more than enough. The mods will not gives you any gold stars for the double post.

[fzabkar]

Service manual:
http://elektrotanya.com/sony_rdr-gxd-500.pdf/download.html

The loader is the DVD unit. It consists of the optical pickup, motors, tray sensor, etc. The drive electronics and signal processing is on an external PCB, as opposed to a DVD drive where the electronics is integrated onto the drive itself.