DMR-HS2 "Recovery" problems

[Steve Kahle]

I've had my HS2 for 2 1/2 months now and it is starting to fail catastrophically. It seems to happen only when I'm accessing the DVD drive for reading or writing. If I just use the hard drive for recording/watching I'm OK. What is happening with the DVD drive is this: I have had two DVD-RAM disks, one a TDK Type II (cartridge) and the other a Maxell Type I (no cartridge) stuck in the drive. I'm not talking about a mechanical jam here - what is happening is that there seems to be some kind of a read error (U11 error, sometimes U99) which causes the HS2 to shut down completely. When I power it back on it goes into "Recovery" mode and then shuts back down. If I turn it on again the same thing happens. It took me a couple of hours of constantly power cycling to finally get it the eject the TDK DVD-RAM disk. Now the same thing is happening with the Maxell DVD-RAM. I have been power cycling for over an hour now but the HS2 will not give it up. Does anyone have any idea what's going on here? What is happening with the "Recovery" process and how can I get the disk out?

[PeterDVD1]

Hi Steve,
I had recovery-problems with the HS2 when I used "cheap" DVD-Rs. What helped to unload the disc were the following steps:
1. While the Standby ist OFF (i.e. the HS2 ist sitched off), push the "open"-Buttom for the ejection of the DVD
2. Now the HS2 starts und "recovery" beginns until usually a message appears on the sceen saying something like "The Medium has to be formatted" or so. Igrnore all messages and push the "OFF" -Button on your remote to shut down the HS2
3. Now again push (while the HS2 is shut down) the "open"-Button for the DVD-unload. Now again "Recovery" appears, but during the recovery this time the drive opens and ejects the DVD.
4. Close the cartridge and shut down the HS2 again. Next time you switch it on, "recovery" appears again, but afterwards you can use the HS2 normally.
I hope this helps!
Greetings from Germany
Peter.

[Tearren]

Hey Steve,

I recently experienced the recovery issue too. I cycled through awhile as you did running in circles. Finally I just unplugged it for a few minutes, plugged it back in, and turned it on. It went in to Recovery mode again but after that worked fine.

Good Luck!

Tearren

[nle1]

How can I ever ....EVER repay you people !!!!!! Especially Tearren !!

I've been playing with (learning) our new HS2, along with trying to make multiple copies of several things I recorded off TV for friends --- both on the HS2 and my PC (a Vaio PC with Gigapocket ... a video capture system). I've had no trouble burning my "el cheapo" brand of DVD-R's in either my PC or the HS2 - about 20 now. These disks all play fine in all the DVD's (at least 6 or 7 now) they've been tried in. I then used the DVD-R copy from the HS2 to move the VIDEO_TS file over to my harddrive in order to burn additional copies on the PC rather than the HS2, and then burned a couple of disks on the PC. I was POSITIVE that I've tried one done like this before on at least one of our DVD players and it played (this WOULD have been the natural next test). Anyway, the disk I burned on the PC tonight (from the file "made" on the HS2) would play on the computer. But putting it into 3 different DVD players, I got a C 13:70 or C 13:00 message (whatever those mean). So I worried it had to do with the combination of el cheapo disk and FR. So I put it into the HS2, figuring it would be the most like "mother."

And that is why you people just saved my heart, my soul, and my marriage. It went into total stuck mode. But I remembered having seen this thread JUST THIS MORNING and brilliantly and extremely unusually, had actually noted down the url for it in my "DVD Recorder notes" file. I say a SPECIAL thank you to Tearren, because I didn't even have the opportunity to try cycling thru "recovery." I couldn't even get it to do THAT! No button - including the power button - had any effect on anything. But I unplugged it, kept trying to tell myself to be calm, prayed I hadn't just destroyed hubby's new recorder (as he wings his way to Europe for a 2 day meeting he didn't want to go to) and meanwhile also hoping that we didn't lose the contents of the harddrive (we hadn't tested that yet!).

Sure 'nuf -- I plugged it back in ... it went thru Recovery for about 10 seconds, I hit open and IT DID without even blinking.

Without you people, the only honorable thing for me to do would have been to commit hari kari. Yes - I MAY have been able to call Crutchfield or Sony and get good advice, but maybe not --- and it CERTainly would have taken more than the 5 minutes my ordeal lasted.

All I can say is
.... and now on to plan B - what does recapturing on the Gigapocket look like ....

NLE

[typh00nz]

HELP EVERYONE! I too tried to format some Memorex DVD-RAMS. None of the new ones would format, so I put in the one used Memorex DVD-RAM, and it still was working perfect. I then deleted one item on it, and the unit shut down after erasing. Every time I repower the unit, it says RECOVER and will not eject the DVD-RAM. I am able to switch from HDD to DVD, but on neither setting will it eject. It usually goes into recover for about a minute, then a tiny green light flashes the word dvd, then for a split second the word READ is displayed, then bye and it depowers. Please help! On which setting were others sucessful at ejecting- did you have it on the DVD set? I even unplugged it for about 60 hours, yet it still knows the correct time, and behaves the same...

[typh00nz]

One additional piece of information: In between the RECOVER and the dvd, READ, I get the "U11" error.

[Tearren]

Hello!

It is a good sign that you can change from DVD to HDD at least. Sometimes you can't even do that. Something similar happened to me, and I couldn't open the DVD drive from the unit itself. Try pressing the open/close button on the remote, this worked for me, don't know why.
If it doesn't it might just be jammed, but let us know if that helps...

Whatever you don't try to force it.

Good luck,
Tearren

[nle1]

Oops. I'm really sorry. But that wasn't my experience . Unplugging from the power for just a few minutes was enough. I don't remember for sure, but I think it came back as being on HDD when the recovery finished. I closed my eyes, said a prayer, and gently pressed the open drawer button and it worked. Maybe you can try to quickly hit HDD when it starts to flash DVD?

One other point --- the Memorex DVD-RAM I have didn't need formatting -- it came formatted. Could your apparent "need" to format be related to the past comment by PeterDVD1 of Jan 10th when his machine started to freak out?

Afraid it may be time for the recorder dr if his method doesn't work.

Good luck to you...
NLE

[typh00nz]

Thanks for replies, yes forcing the ROM area open would risk breaking it, and would void the warranty. The thing that sucks with me is I bought this new/sealed from someone that sells many of them on EBay, and I am not even sure he is an authorized Panasonic reseller. At least Paypal has a record of the sale from October as I do not even have a formal receipt. I will check with my local BESTBUY about if they have serviced any of these before I send this far off, if I am not able to get it to eject. Panasonic also gave me the address and telephone # of an independent service center about 90 miles away.

[Golem]

Yup, it's an annoying trait of this recorder. The best method for "RECOVERING" a disk being held hostage by the HS2 is patience. There is no need to unplug, punch buttons, or get the hammer out...just walk away and come back in about 15 minutes, or so. By this time the unit has finally figured out that the medium is not compatible and will allow it's extracation without the use of force, tools or excessive expletives.

The HS2 is the basis for one great addition to anyone's must-have toy list but there are a few tweeks and additions that need to be attended to.

Regards,
Golem

[typh00nz]

Thanks GOLEM! I think my big "tweak" (once this RAM is removed one way or another) will be to sell this unit on EBay, while I will still be able to get close to the $700 I paid for the unit. Ideally, I would make this sale, just before a new, improved Panasonic recorder came out. Anyone know when Panasonic will have a new unit out? How about Sony? Sony should make a consumer box based around the technology used in their DRU-500AX PC unit! : Of course, once the RAM is out it will not go back in, and all my brand new DVD-RAMS are going to be sent back to buy.com for a refund.

[typh00nz]

OH MY GOD! Got it the hard way. I know people said not to force it, but I pushed eject let the unit power up, and tugged at each edge of the metallic cover on the front of the DVD drawer. Well, as soon as I tugged it a bit, the drawer was trying to open yet, could not or did not want to push itself open very far. I tugged a little harder so that I could pull this actual drawer out a bit, and it opened itself completely and spit the RAM out. Thank Goodness! This was one of the big double-sided ones enclosed in plastic, I wonder if I should ever put a Memorex one back in? If it rejammed, I think the same process would work. If anyone else has trouble, i can explain exactly what I did. Thanks!

[Golem]

Good to hear you got it out! Sounds now like you may not have had a disk read error causing the "RECOVER" mode but instead a mechanical problem. Just the same I'm sure you are quite relieved.

Btw, I believe it is possible to remove the RAM disk from it's cartridge and use it solo if you think that it was the cartridge causing the transport to jam.

Regards,
Golem

[Unimaginable Horror]

I own a DMR-E30 and have had the exact same issues with Memorex DVD-RAM as described here. At first, one disc that I purchased worked absolutely fine and recorded perfectly while a second disc refused to format no matter what I tried. Then, just today, I tried to delete one item off of the "working" Memorex DVD-RAM disc and the machine went berzerk - the menu on the tv screen flashed then went to black and the machine shut itself down. After several tries of powering up and down and hitting the eject button I finally got the machine to cough up the disc.

I then put the disc in my Panasonic LF-D521 DVD-RAM drive and was able to read, play and export the items on the disc using the Panasonic DVD Movie Album software. However, I cannot delete individual items on the disc.

Memorex DVD-RAM is awful and should be avoided. DO NOT BUY!

I have had zero issues with Verbatim DVD-RAM and Panasonic DVD-RAM.

[MOTUfan]

HELP!!!!!!

My brand new not even a month old Pamnasonic DMR-E85 wont function. I put in a cheap DVD-R, a Sonic brand from shop4tech with a little star on it and got a U99 on my display. And at first when I hit power the tv would ocme back on for about 10 seconds, then the guide would pop on and then it would go black sdreen with U99. And now after trying it, it just goes straight from standby/self check to U99. Can anyone help me?? What should I do?????


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