Help! New Panasonic DMR-EH50S freezing and having issues!

[dvd-dude]

I just purchased a Panasonic DMR--EH50S from B&H's web site last month and have been very pleased with it so far. The TVGuide features worked, the recorder seemed rock solid... just what I had come to expect from my past experience with other Panasonic DVD/HDD recorders. However, things have suddenly taken a new twist.

One night the recorder was working fine. The next day I awoke and the power had gone out sometime during the night/morning. When I tried my DVD Recorder (probably the next day) suddenly things were all messed up. The only conclusion I can come to is that it was recording something off the timer when the power went out.

So I tried to figure out what was wrong for two hours last night. Here were some of the symptoms:

-The TopMenu/Nav menu would cause the unit to freeze
-The Setup menu wouldn't appear, it would just bring up a black screen
-The Features menu was the only one I could access, but unfortunately I can't navigate it for some reason - only see it.
-I could access past recorded programs and play them without issue by using the "play" and "track" buttons, except the most recent one would freeze a few seconds into it (I have about 11 recordings on the recorder so far).
-I could record something new and play it back but it was skipping a little... lagging
-I saw one channel (the last channel the unit was on) but couldn't change the channel (I could enter a new channel but it wouldn't change). Even the composite Inputs would give me the same cable channel.

Needless-to-say I was very frustrated by this. So I started going through the manual. I know that the remote is working and in sync with the unit because it will display the Features menu, play and skip existing tracks (as long as I don't use the Nav menu), change recording speeds and power the unit on and off. I also know it isn't a progressive scan issue. After trying some of the basic suggestions I tried holding the CH up and CH down buttons on the unit together for 10 seconds. It reset the clock and the channel memory. But then when I turned it on I got nothing... it would sit on Ch1 and think... for 30 minutes I let it think before I held the power button in for 10 seconds until it turned off again and I unplugged the cable and the power. I then went to bed fearful I might physically harm the unit if I tried to mess with it anymore that evening.

The next morning I reconnected the power (but not the cable) and turned the unit on. Once again it did the same thing.

Here's the current symptom:

-The unit turns on but doesn't respond to the remote or onboard controls at all. It just shows "CH1" and keeps thinking (the little dots on the unit's front that move to let you know the hard drive is doing something). I've let it do that for an hour and still nothing and I've turned it off and back on about a dozen times to no avail.

So I'm hoping someone here has experienced this problem and can at least help me identify what it is. However, I have a bad feeling it isn't anything I'll be able to fix. My best guess is the hard drive is screwed up due to the power outtage - not that it was surged but that the information is all confused because it was cut off in the middle of doing something. Of course I've already thrown away the box so I'll probably end up having to buy a box, packing materials, pay to have it shipped to Panasonic so they can fix it and send it back to me. Only at that point I'll be too afriad to ever use it again because if the power goes out while it's recording the whole unit goes on the fritz... I live in new england and the power goes out often - especially in the winter! I can't believe Panasonic doesn't prepare the unit for such a situation.

Any advice, suggestions, or just plain sympathy is appreciated. Thanks!

-DVD-Dude

[handyguy]

I'd unplug it from wall over night. Sometimes it only takes a minute. Unplugging any appliance resets it.

[dvd-dude]

Unfortunately that didn't solve the problem. I unplugged it from cable and power for 24 hours, once plugged back in it was doing the exact same thing. Completely unresponsive.

[jmoc]

My DMR-eh50s is doing all the exact same things now. Were you ever able to fix it?

[Krispy Kritter]

Typically, if resetting (unplugging for x amount of time) does not fix it, then it is time for a repair shop if it's still under warranty, replacement if not.

[handyguy]

You should have it on a UPS or a surge protector. When the power comes back on, there is a large power surge. It probably requires warrentee service.