Hard Drive upgrade for Pioneer DVR-520H

[gshelley61]

Well, just an idea gshelley61:

you told us earlier that your burner CAN read CDs, but not DVDs, isn't it? So, not sure that your firmware (the one in DVR-107AX) is dead, since it is able to read CDs. This kind of problem suggests a bad lens. What I suggest you is to get a cheap DVR-107 (working) for PC, then retrieve the lens to replace the lens of your drive.
If you have a bad lens, il will solve your problem.

The question is: did you have increasing problems to read a DVD, or were you unable to read DVDs suddenly? In the first case, it comes most of the time from the lens. In the second case, it is often a hardware failure (even though it may come from the lens also...)

Hope this can help you...

The firmware or this DVR-107 seems very different than the one of a PC unit: there is no jumper at the rear of this burner Difficult to read the firmware

Yeah, it quit reading DVD's suddenly. The new lens idea is a great suggestion. I'll look into that. Thanks!

[donglejack]

Well, if it stopped to read DVDs suddenly, it may be the hardware itself. Anyway, I think you can find a 107 on ebay, at no more than $40. Be VERY careful when you remove connectors of the lens on the main PCB...

Note for people upgrading their hard disk: the steps mentionned earlier in this thread perform very well, and the image of id disk found on eMule is the good one. I sent to Seagate the hard disk for an exchange, and I got exactly the same reference in return (ST3160022ACE). Even in this case, you must use the id disk...

[gshelley61]

Thanks to donglejack and others who helped me out, I was able to repair the DVD burner in my 420H by replacing the lens reader assembly with one from a used consumer DVR-107 burner. After that, I was able to enter the CPRM ID number and load the service disc with no problems and it is up and running just fine now!

You definitely cannot use a standard consumer DVD burner, not even the Pioneer DVR-107. The one in the the DVD recorder apparently has unique firmware or something. If you hook up any other type of DVD burner to the unit it says "Can't Use" on the display. So, if you have a bad burner you either have to repair it like I did, or buy a replacement from Pioneer (it's nearly $300).

Tonight I replaced the stock 80GB Maxtor hard drive with a 320GB Maxtor hard drive... no problems at all. That's up to 141 hours in SP mode!

Thanks again to everyone who contributed to this thread. Now, is anyone going to attempt a hard drive upgrade on a new 531, 533 or 633?

[dvp7]

Anyone can tell me how to burn the ID disc image from the Nero? Mode 1, Mode 2, or other else?

[yogee]

dvp7!
I wrote a PM for you!

[Zorglub666]

dvp7!
I wrote a PM for you!

It will be great if you could put your response in the forum (if usefull) to help future upgrader if needed...

[dvp7]

Now I realise that the disc is not working.

[Sam Ontario]

For those of you who have a pocket PC (Ipaq or other) instead of a Palm handheld device, "Vito Remote"

http://vitotechnology.com/en/products/remote.html

appears to work as a Pronto Remote Control. I would guess there are other programs that will also work with PPCs. After you install Vito Remote on your PPC, extract the Pronto.zip file posted by robke51 near the bottom of the first page of this thread, and copy the service.ccf file into the Vito Tech\Devices file on your PPC. (You do not need to convert the ccf file). Then open Vito and check the box next to the device labeled "service". Your PPC will now display the remote control buttons.

Don't forget to aim the IR port of your PPC at the unit you are trying to control: my Ipaq 4155 IR port is on the bottom left of the unit, so I have to read the screen upside down as I enter the buttons. I have not tried upgrading my hard drive, but this program allowed me to access the service screen without any problems.

David

Will this vito program work on iPAQ H3760 which is a pre-PPC2002, CE3.0, I think?

[Sam Ontario]

Has anyone tried it on a Pioneer DVR-533H yet?

[gshelley61]

As soon as someone gets hold of a service manual and verifies the process and service disc are the same as for the 520, I'd be willing to try it on my 531...

[canon10d]

Just an update to my earlier posting offering to loan out the service remote and disk. As I am emigrating very shortly, I will not be loaning it out anymore.

However, for those located in the UK and possibly the rest of the EU, there is a company in England that will sell you the remote and disk. They are SEME Nedis (www.seme.co.uk). They will give you a quote valid for 30 days, but once they find out you are not a service engineer, the price will magically increase. Best to say nothing until specifically asked.

I have no connection whatsoever with SEME Nedis other than being able to purchase the Pioneer service remote and disk from them.

Having read the comments of gshelley61 above, SEME also sell the service manuals for about £25 which is what I was quoted when I orginally enquired about the one for the 520.

[Sam Ontario]

As soon as someone gets hold of a service manual and verifies the process and service disc are the same as for the 520, I'd be willing to try it on my 531...

Pardon me for side tracking a little, any differences btween 531 and 533H? How do you find the writing speed/quality of 531H from HDD to DVD-R disc?

[shakur96]

Hi - if there is anyone in the UK who has the service remote and disc they would be prepared to loan to me please let me know. My hardrive's died and I need to replace it. Can offer a significant deposit and cover any costs. I asked canon10d but no luck as he's emigrating. If anyone else could help I would be forever grateful.

[Bill Gates]

This eDonkey stuff sucks.

I've watched several sources that the network claims to have 100% of the image come on and sit idle while mine send and send and send, it's been sitting at 98.68% for a day now, at least bitTorrent works.

Hi everyone,

I have been downloading pioneer_service.nrg from BitTorrent, but it has been stuck at "99.2% complete" for about a week now and nobody seems to share a comlete file anymore, so could someone please share the complete pioneer_service.nrg file at BitTorrent for a while again, so I can download the remaining 0.8%?

pioneer_service.nrg.torrent:
http://www.torrentspy.com/search.asp?mode=torrentdetails&id=296781
http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3331089

Thanks in advance

[gshelley61]

Pardon me for side tracking a little, any differences btween 531 and 533H? How do you find the writing speed/quality of 531H from HDD to DVD-R disc?

The 531 and 533 are identical, except the 531 does not have a firewire DV input. The HDD to DVD high speed burn is very fast, and works just fine. The quasi two-pass re-encoding feature (going from a high bitrate encode on the hard drive to a lower bitrate encode to disc) works in real time, and is a very useful feature. I've been playing around with recording at XP+ (15Mbps) on the hard drive, then re-encoding to SP on disc... it works very well and produces a better looking finished DVD with fewer compression artifacts than recording at SP to start with.

[Bill Gates]

This eDonkey stuff sucks.

I've watched several sources that the network claims to have 100% of the image come on and sit idle while mine send and send and send, it's been sitting at 98.68% for a day now, at least bitTorrent works.

Hi everyone,

I have been downloading pioneer_service.nrg from BitTorrent, but it has been stuck at "99.2% complete" for about a week now and nobody seems to share a comlete file anymore, so could someone please share the complete pioneer_service.nrg file at BitTorrent for a while again, so I can download the remaining 0.8%?

pioneer_service.nrg.torrent:
http://www.torrentspy.com/search.asp?mode=torrentdetails&id=296781
http://thepiratebay.org/details.php?id=3331089

Thanks in advance

Doesn't anybody have the complete pioneer_service.nrg and are willing to share it at BitTorrent for a short while?
I only miss 0.8% of the image, but nobody shares the complete image anymore, so I would be grateful if somebody are willing to share it - just until the remaning 0.8% can be downloaded.

[henkje61]

Can someone please help me?? I have the instructions, i have the service dvd and i bought a brandnew HP rx3715 and i installed the pioneer remote software on it. My ID number of my 5100 starts with three zero's. And what is not working on my handheld with the remote software? Exactly, the zero button. Am i doing something wrong?? Does anybody know how i can fix this? My original harddisk is broken and out of warranty. So i cant use the recorder at the moment (and then you know how much you mis the harddisk recording). Thanks.

[Sam Ontario]

The 531 and 533 are identical, except the 531 does not have a firewire DV input. The HDD to DVD high speed burn is very fast, and works just fine. The quasi two-pass re-encoding feature (going from a high bitrate encode on the hard drive to a lower bitrate encode to disc) works in real time, and is a very useful feature. I've been playing around with recording at XP+ (15Mbps) on the hard drive, then re-encoding to SP on disc... it works very well and produces a better looking finished DVD with fewer compression artifacts than recording at SP to start with.

Thanks for the info.

[Bill Gates]

For those of you who has no Pioneer GGF1381 Service Remote, PDA or Philips Pronto remote, this might be very useful:

Here I found the Pioneer GGF1381 Service Remote codes converted to use in WinLIRC:
http://groups.google.com/group/sci.electronics.repair/browse_frm/thread/1fe98dedd8d168...6c1b881104d858
Then you can use a Windows (or Linux?) PC with a serial port and some simple IR hardware, emulating a Pioneer GGF1381 Service Remote.

WinLIRC: http://winlirc.sourceforge.net
(WinLIRC is the Windows equivalent of LIRC, the Linux Infrared Remote Control program.)

LIRC Serial Port Transmitters: http://www.lirc.org/transmitters.html


Download Pioneer GGF1381 Service Remote configuration file for WinLIRC here:
pioservrmtggf1381.cf

If you test this file, plese let us know if you can get it to work or not. I'm not able to test it myself at the moment.

Contents of pioservrmtGGF1381.cf:

#
# this config file was automatically generated
# using WinLIRC 0.6.3 (LIRC 0.6.1pre3) on Tue Jun 14 15:51:41 2005
#
# contributed by
#
# brand:             pioservrmtGGF1381
# model:
# supported devices:
#

begin remote

  name  pioservrmtGGF1381
  bits           15
  flags SPACE_ENC
  eps            25
  aeps          100

  header       8656  4120
  one           643   391
  zero          643  1460
  ptrail        643
  pre_data_bits   16
  pre_data       0xEA15
  post_data_bits  1
  post_data      0x0
  gap          37783
  toggle_bit      0

      begin codes
          stop/eject               0x0000000000004BB4
          dig/ana                  0x0000000000006798
          disp                     0x0000000000001EE1
          esc                      0x00000000000002FD
          test                     0x00000000000042BD
          cx                       0x00000000000047B8
          rep.a                    0x0000000000007689
          rep.b                    0x0000000000006E91
          stereo                   0x00000000000056A9
          p.run                    0x0000000000004AB5
          a.mon                    0x00000000000043BC
          tv/ldp                   0x00000000000007F8
          -speed                   0x0000000000004EB1
          +speed                   0x0000000000000EF1
          a.side                   0x00000000000026D9
          b.side                   0x00000000000046B9
          <<scan                   0x0000000000003BC4
          >>scan                   0x0000000000007B84
          <x3                      0x00000000000032CD
          x3>                      0x0000000000003AC5
          <ll.stillstep            0x0000000000007A85
          stillstep.ll>            0x0000000000006A95
          l<<chapterskip           0x0000000000001AE5
          chapterskip>>ll          0x0000000000005AA5
          pause                    0x000000000000738C
          play                     0x0000000000000BF4
          1                        0x0000000000003FC0
          2                        0x0000000000005FA0
          3                        0x0000000000001FE0
          4                        0x0000000000006F90
          5                        0x0000000000002FD0
          6                        0x0000000000004FB0
          7                        0x0000000000000FF0
          8                        0x0000000000007788
          9                        0x00000000000037C8
          0                        0x0000000000007F80
          clear                    0x0000000000002ED1
          +10                      0x00000000000003FC
          frm/tim                  0x0000000000003EC1
          chap                     0x0000000000007E81
          chp/tim                  0x0000000000001BE4
          search                   0x0000000000005EA1
      end codes

end remote

[dvdtam]

Dear friends,
I manage to have a Palm Vx with all software needed for service remote.
I already bought 300GB HDD waiting for replacement.
Lastly, the torrent pioneer_service.nrg is hanging, I am at 65% now, anybody kindly seed it for 4-5 more days?
I will need just 3-4 more seeders.

Thank you so much in advance.

[Bill Gates]

Dear friends,
I manage to have a Palm Vx with all software needed for service remote.
I already bought 300GB HDD waiting for replacement.
Lastly, the torrent pioneer_service.nrg is hanging, I am at 65% now, anybody kindly seed it for 4-5 more days?
I will need just 3-4 more seeders.

Thank you so much in advance.

Sure.

Also remember to seed it yourself for some time after completing, to help out others in same situation.

[BitBasher]

My ID number of my 5100 starts with three zero's. And what is not working on my handheld with the remote software? Exactly, the zero button. Am i doing something wrong?? Does anybody know how i can fix this?

Did you get this problem resolved yet?

I was looking at the IR hex codes for service.ccf on my TCU7000, and most of them are in the condensed format (something like "900B 0068 0000 0001 XXxx YYyy"), except for zero and nine, which are full hex code sequences. This probably means they are a bit "dirty".

I haven't tried to use the service codes on my DVR-520H yet, but I do suspect that the zero/nine keys may be an issue, since the hex code is vastly different from all the other numeric keys.

I've made an attempt to UPDATE the service.ccf file with clean hex codes for the nine and zero buttons. I have NOT tested it, but feel free to try it out. The updated service.ccf file is attached to this message. Also included in the zip file is a text file containing the hex codes for some buttons on the service remote (both for the TCU1000 and the TCU7000).

Hope this helps!
Bit.

PS: I'm working on making a new .ccf file that will contain ALL 42 buttons on the service remote (not just the few needed for HD replacement). Stay tuned!

Get updated file here: servicefix90.zip

[henkje61]

Thanks BitBasher (and brobble).
This works!!!!
Sorry for my late reaction but i was very busy with working.
But this afternoon i loaded the corrected ccf file of you and it was a piece of cake!!!!
I am now the proud owner of a Pioneer DVR5100H with a 250 Gb Seagate harddisk.
Thanks again and if i can helpe you with anything??
Just let me know!!!!

[Kevmeister]

Just for clarification - is the hard drive in the Pioneer DVR-520H an ATA or SATA model? It would appear to be ATA from these threads?

And, regarding pioneer_service.nrg, there are seeds out there on BitTorrent. Unfortunately, my version of NERO fails when trying to burn the file with an error like "cannot write track at this position with this recorder".

Using Nero 6.0.0.15 - updating shortly.

If anyone has had that problem with the NRG file and solved it, I'd be interested to know.

[gshelley61]

ATA, 5400rpm

[NeilD]

Has ne1 completed this using winLirc, as without buying other hardware its the only way I can try this.

also if I screw it up will I be able to just put my original HD back in without further key presses

Thank you

N

[3to4]

Has ne1 completed this using winLirc, as without buying other hardware its the only way I can try this.

N

Hello, I have a DVR-520H and I would like to upgrade the HD, but I have no service remote or PDA. (I have obtained a copy of the service disk.) So, the only way for me is to try WinLirc. I downloaded WinLirc 0.6.5 and pioservmtGGF1381. I start WinLirc and loaded the pioservmtGGF. Then, I placed my PC near the DVR-520H and tried to send code like "play" for testing, but the DVR-520H did not react. So, I suppose it is not working. What are the correct Transmitter settings ? (Alhough I tried different combinations.)

Anyway, if this does not work, I will have to buy a second hand palm on eBay. But, there are so many models, so I don't know which model I have to buy. (I have several PC's, but I have never had a PDA.) Can someone recommand a suitable model? I will use it only for this purpose and I will not use it otherwise.

[Bill Gates]

Hello, I have a DVR-520H and I would like to upgrade the HD, but I have no service remote or PDA. (I have obtained a copy of the service disk.) So, the only way for me is to try WinLirc. I downloaded WinLirc 0.6.5 and pioservmtGGF1381. I start WinLirc and loaded the pioservmtGGF. Then, I placed my PC near the DVR-520H and tried to send code like "play" for testing, but the DVR-520H did not react. So, I suppose it is not working. What are the correct Transmitter settings ? (Alhough I tried different combinations.)

What kind of IR transmitter did you use for your PC? A home made or did you buy one, and what type?
Did you set up WinLIRC for the right COM port?

[3to4]

What kind of IR transmitter did you use for your PC? A home made or did you buy one, and what type?
Did you set up WinLIRC for the right COM port?

Thanks for the reply.
Well, I used a laptop (Toshiba Portégé 3490CT) which has an IR transmitter (Toshiba FIR Port Type-DO in the device manager), doen't it?
It is on COM1. (When I choose a different COM like COM2, WinLirc does not initialize. So, I suppose that COM1 is the right port. Am I doing something wrong?

[NeilD]

winlirc will not work with the irda builtin to your laptop, I have ordered one from here http://iguanaworks.net/ir/ its designed to work with winlirc.

As soon as it arrives I'll be trying it