Looking for replacement for Cyberhome CH-DVD 300

[inmate1577]

Recently my reliable Cyberhome CH-DVD 300 has been acting up and rejecting movies, even new releases. I tried swapping it out with another DVD player, a basic Memorex DVD player but when I went to burn a DVD to the slave recorder I get "cannot record". The slave DVD burner is a Sony RDR-GX300. I never had this problem with the Cyberhome.

I'm going through a stabilizer AKA "little black box" and I was wondering if new DVD players, even the cheapies, recognize a protected DVD or is it something with the Sony?

I'd like to replace the Cyberhome with another "cheapie" but dont want to get one that denies recording to the Sony.

Just wondering if there are any recomendations for a player that WONT have this problem.

Once again sorry for any repeated questions, I'm not up on the tech lingo as far researching players. But thanks to this site I did purchase the Sony and its been fantastic!!!!

Thanks again for any info!

[hech54]

If you are attempting to copy a factory DVD from a player to a recorder...it is copy protection that is stopping you.

[jman98]

inmate1577 - Why are you using the term "slave" when you are referring to a stand alone DVD recorder. The terms "slave" and "master" are used in referring to devices in a PC that are on the same IDE channel. Using terms incorrectly is really not helpful.

You will be 100% unable EVER to copy a commercial DVD with a DVD recorder. The copy protection will stop you, as hech54 says. My best guess as to what is going on is that you were using the Cyberhome to play DVDs and it was stripping out the Macrovision on the video output, which enabled you to feed it to a Sony DVD recorder and thus record DVDs that way. Current DVD players don't turn off Macrovision. Some used to do that, but while players can get away with going into multi-region mode (there is no legal justification for the region code system and Hollywood doesn't want to see a court shut it down), Macrovision is a VERY VERY litigious company and they have basically forced all DVD player manufacturers to NOT allow Macrovision to be turned off in the player. Several forum members have had, shall we say, "encounters" with Macrovision's legal department over DVD decryption software and were forced to stop working on said software, so I can guarantee you that Macrovision has basically forced everyone who makes a DVD player to not ever allow Macrovision to be turned off. So what you were doing worked because you had a player old enough to allow you to record video output without Macrovision in it. I'm not aware of any current player that will allow this.

What you want to do is not really the best way to go about this process. It's much much better to just rip DVDs to your PC and then burn them back to DVD+/-R discs than to do what you are doing. You might want to look at some docs on how to rip and burn. DVD Shrink might be of use to you in converting dual layer DVDs to single layer.

Finally, welcome to the forums, but in the future please try to write your questions better. What you wrote is really a mess and very difficult to make any sense out of.

[mats.hogberg]

@inmate1577: Please use a subject that describes your question!
You can change it by editing your first post. (Edit button top right above the post)

Try to choose a subject that describes your topic.
Please do not use topic subjects like Help me!!! or Problems.

/Mats

[inmate1577]

Maybe I didnt make myself clear enough. I'll try again. First of all a player is the master, a player that is also a recorder is also a slave. In-line between the master and the slave is a "black box" which with the Cyberhome has always been able to record ANYTHING, copyrighted or not. The blackbox eliminates copyguard, macrovision, etc etc.....

The problem I'm having is with the cyberhome, it is having a hard time recognizing DVD's and now its starting to skip, etc which means its on the verge of probably crapping out. When I hooked up the cheap Memorex DVD player, the Sony would not record the image. Hooking up the Cyberhome again, there was no problem recording the image. I need to replace the Cyberhome unit and have a new master unit that wont pull the same shenanigans as the Memorex.

I've also done the PC software method, it is not remotely as reliable as the Sony stand-alone.

I explained the "black box" in my post, so I know that you cant go straight from a master to a slave without an inline "buster" with protected videos/dvd's.

I worked in video duplication , including copyrighted videos for 18 years, so I understand about copyguarded, macrovision video signals.

[mats.hogberg]

As you know the video business, you know you're doing an digital -> analog -> digital conversion? Far from the best route. Next step (down the ladder) would be to point a mini-DVD video camera at the TV, and "duplicate" the DVD that way.
Take the PC backup route. If the Cyberhome is good (besides it's starting to go bad) - why not stay with it and buy a new one?

/Mats
PS! I changed your subject for you this once... DS
PPS! ...and moved it to the DVD Players section DDS

[jman98]

I've also done the PC software method, it is not remotely as reliable as the Sony stand-alone.

The fact that you would even say this makes me question your so-called "knowledge" on video matters. If you don't understand what is wrong with, as Mats pointed out, going video -> analog -> video than I'm very glad I'm not one of your customers. Probably you are just like one of my friends - if anything takes more than 2 clicks on a PC, his brain shuts off and he just refuses to learn how to do it.

I provided a completely reasonable explanation for why your process worked in the past and is failing with a new player. Perhaps your magical "black box" doesn't really get rid of Macrovision like you think. I don't know.

Ripping to a PC is SUPERIOR IN EVERY WAY to what you want to do. It totally fixes your problem. Totally. If you are just adamant that you are going to copy DVDs in this bassackwards way of going digital -> analog -> digital and you are also such a video genius, then surely you know exactly how to fix your own problem and need not bother us any more about it.