Who here knows their technical stuff inside and out???

[suomalainen]

Hello All,

I have a Toshiba DVD Video Recorder D-R2. The model No. located on the back of the unit says "D-R2SU". Not sure where the SU comes from??? The DVD burner inside this unit is model SD-W3002. Some of the information I have come across on the internet suggest it's manufactured by Samsung. Yet, a search on the Samsung website did not reveal anything.

I have however come across a URL where one gentleman details how he swapped out burners on his Toshiba RD-XS32 HDD-DVD Recorder. This model is essentially just like my unit except it has a hard drive inside, is set to region 2 and is 220 volts. Other than that we have identical looking machines. This person posted his instructions at:

http://www.esbuilder.com/rdxs32/rdxs32-replace-dvd.htm

As can be seen in this example, his burner is being swapped out with the LG GSA-H10N DVD burner. At the conclusion of these instructions in STEP 5 it is said:


"As pointed out on the AVS forums this drive won't play unfinalized disks. For me this isn't an issue as I collate what I want to burn in advance and then create and finalise the disk in one go. If playing unfinalised disks is important to you the suggested alternative drive is the HP DVD840 (which is actually an LG GSA-H20L).

As mentioned by Eric Wilson (Memphis) the replacement drive won't play audio CDs. Thanks Eric."


I purchased the "GSA-H20L", NOT because watching unfinalized disks was important to me but rather because it was the only unit between the two descriped in the instructions that I could find. In any case, my unit is described as being a Hitachi/LG brand. It is stamped as being manufactured in January of 2007. The model is stated as being GSA-H20L.

On the burner of my GSA-H20L the firmware version is stamped as well. It is S853. I can go into setup on my DVD recorder and see this number as well so it's confirmed. The Toshiba firmware for my broken burner model SD-W3002 has two releases. These being DVD 1314 and DVD 1416. The one I was using was 1314.

Firmware updates for my D-R2 with original burner can be found at:

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/customersupport/model_firmware.asp?model=d-r2

My unit can also be found by visiting:

http://www.tacp.toshiba.com/customersupport/

and typing in the correct model number.

I have removed the broken SD-W3002 burner and replaced it with the GSA-H20L. No firmware updates were applied. As it stands, the GSA-H20L can play region 1 DVD's. When a region 2 PAL DVD is inserted The following statement comes on the television screen: "This is a PAL Disk. It cannot be played on this set". I can also play store bought MUSIC CD's in this recorder as well!!! Thus, leading me to believe that the statement above "As mentioned by Eric Wilson (Memphis) the replacement drive won't play audio CDs", is refering rather to the LG GSA-H10N and NOT the GSA-H20L which I used in my replacement.

Here is what I need help with. When I insert a blank TDK DVD-R disk into my DVD recorder I get the following message:

"A blank DVD-R is loaded."

However, when I try to record a television program I get:

"Recording failed. DVD disk might be dirty"


1. Could this be a DVD brand disk specific issue? Meaning,... change the DVD brand of disk I'm using and the problem goes away?

2. Should I try to upgrade my DVD burner (GSA-H20L) with firmware provided by HP for the model HP DVD 840? If so, how do I know which version to use? I visited"

http://h20180.www2.hp.com/apps/Lookup?h_lang=en&h_cc=us&cc=us&h_page=hpcom&lang=en&h_c...&submit=Go+%BB

And 4 different versions exist.

3. Or should I try to load the Toshiba firmware onto my GSA-H20L?

Would anyone happen to have any good strong advice to offer????

Thank You very much.

[aedipuss]

first i'd try a different brand of dvdr, verbatim or taiyo yuden preferably.

i'd only use an lg firmware update if there is one. anything else is likely to brick the unit. just because a different brand of drive works doesn't mean the firmware will.

[redwudz]

I'd agree with aedipuss, try some different brand discs first. If you really want to update the burner's firmware, pull it out and do that in a PC. It would be much less risky than using the DVR for that process. And you would only use a firmware update made for your specific burner, and even then there is a slight possibility of bricking the drive. I only use firmware updates when I have to.

My guess is the LG drive and those TDKs may not be compatible. But you could check the LG firmware updates to see if they address that particular problem before installing one. Since that is a somewhat older drive, it wouldn't surprise me that it may not work with some newer discs.

[lordsmurf]

Use Verbatim DVD-R. See www.nomorecoasters.com for info on blank disc quality.

[suomalainen]

Hello everyone!!!

Thank you very much for the advice and suggestions.

I purchased some different types of DVD's to see if changing the brands may improve my results in being able to burn DVD's. Unfortunately, the results were not positive. All attempts to record a program were met with failure. With each insert of a new DVD brand disk the same messages popped up on the television. I.E:

"A blank DVD-R is loaded." AND then "Recording failed. DVD disk might be dirty"

What do you all think? Should I now attempt a firmware upgrade? I looked the LG website but nothing suggests the upgrade will fix disk reading issues...

Or could I be trying something else?

Thanks again for Your help!!!

[suomalainen]

Hello again All!

I stumbled onto this website at url:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareDownloadIndex?softwareitem=pv-45140-1&lc=en...3198208&os=228

As you can see from this site and the attached picture the "Version" is stated as being "S853". Additionally, the settings menu on my DVD recorder as displayed on the television also confirm this fact. Please refer to the attached picture. Finally, the label on my DVD burner also states this too. See pic.

My question now is based on the evidence do these facts confirm WITHOUT DOUBT that this is a HP burner? AND THAT ANY FIRMWARE UPDATES NEED TO BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE HP WEBSITE AND NOT THE LG WEBSITE????????

What do you think and/or advise?????


Thank you very much.........

P.S. I have 2 additional pics I'd like to share but it appears that a post can only have 1 pic?

[suomalainen]

Here is the pic off of my television screen



dsc04634.jpg

[suomalainen]

And this is the pic from my burner



dsc04635.jpg