I got a Toshiba HD-DVD player at Goodwill and it works great except for playing DVDs and it won't upscale any of them unless they are really old because it says they are copy protected and will only play them in 480P.
If I rip the DVD and record a copy without copy protection it will play them properly but that's a lot of trouble. Is there anyway to bypass that error and make it play properly on newer discs?

Check the menu on the player, make sure it's for 1080i. Next, the TV you use must have an HDMI connection and you must use an HDMI cable from TV to the player.

be warned Toshiba's HD-DVD players are notorious for throwing this error and then when you actually check it is upscaled anyways. The messages were often erronious.

If you're using component video it will not upscale standard dvds. If you use HDMI it will. At least that's how my two Toshiba players work.

If you're using component video it will not upscale standard dvds. If you use HDMI it will. At least that's how my two Toshiba players work.

A lot of the smaller companies (Mill Creek, Timeless, etc.) would upscale to 1080i, but all of the large companies do not.

Mill Creek and Timeless made HD DVD players?

The HDMI connection won't work to play anything and only gives me a pink screen so I have to use the component input. The older discs would play but all my newer ones with copy protection wouldn't. The messages were not erroneous and it always plays in just 480P. I can see why HD-DVD lost out to Blu-ray since not being able to play DVDs is a big drawback and HDMI incompatibility is a problem. Oddly my new Sony Blu-ray player won't play all my DVD's properly either even using HDMI.

I can see why HD-DVD lost out to Blu-ray since not being able to play DVDs is a big drawback and HDMI incompatibility is a problem.


The problem is either with your new-but-used "Goodwill" HD-DVD player, or your setup. I have no problems playing regular DVD's and HD-DVD players can be the best at upconverting/upscaling 480p to 1080i.

I've got an HD-A2 I bought new that will not play dvd's and stopped playing HD-dvd's half the time. Less than 100 hours on it. Luckily I've got two A20's so when one dies I have a backup. I'm done with Toshiba though. Good luck!

The HDMI connection won't work to play anything and only gives me a pink screen so I have to use the component input. The older discs would play but all my newer ones with copy protection wouldn't. The messages were not erroneous and it always plays in just 480P. I can see why HD-DVD lost out to Blu-ray since not being able to play DVDs is a big drawback and HDMI incompatibility is a problem. Oddly my new Sony Blu-ray player won't play all my DVD's properly either even using HDMI.

HDMI compatibility is an issue with Blu-ray players as well. And the HD-DVD players were of the best SD-DVD scalers ever and still sought after by many for that very reason.

On the HDMI thing? If you were to reset your equipment in a certain manner I'd bank it works fine.

On the HDMI thing? If you were to reset your equipment in a certain manner I'd bank it works fine.

Reset how?

The HDMI connection won't work to play anything and only gives me a pink screen so I have to use the component input. The older discs would play but all my newer ones with copy protection wouldn't. The messages were not erroneous and it always plays in just 480P. I can see why HD-DVD lost out to Blu-ray since not being able to play DVDs is a big drawback and HDMI incompatibility is a problem. Oddly my new Sony Blu-ray player won't play all my DVD's properly either even using HDMI.

I have been using HD-DVD equipment for a number of years now with minimal issues. It plays HD-DVDs and DVDs upconverted great.
Maybe we can help with a bit more detail.
What exactly is your HD-DVD player model (then we can check instructions & settings in the manual).
Are you connected directly to a TV or going through a receiver? Do the receiver and/or TV have hdmi capabilities?
Do I understand you correctly that you are using a component cable connection?
I'm hoping if you give us a bit more detail, someone will have a brainstorm and help you get your HD-DVD bargain player working correctly in your setup.

What exactly is your HD-DVD player model (then we can check instructions & settings in the manual).

It's a Toshiba HDA30. It does a great job playing a couple of my really old DVDs, one without copy protection and one that I recorded myself but none of the newer ones. Since it runs Linux I was originally hoping that someone would come up with a firmware hack to make it ignore the copy protection error and go ahead and play DVDs but since it's obsolete I guess that's never going to happen now.

The reset?

Unplug the display, the AVR if it's involved, and the soruce for maybe 30min.

Plug in and turn on the display and put it on the correct hdmi input, then plug in and turn on the AVR and once again get it on the correct input for the problematic source, then plug in and turn on on problematic source.
If you have no AVR then just eliminate the avr STEP. Sometimes HDCP has to get reset in this manner before it will renegotiate a new or different source.

It probably only has to be a few minutes but I have run into some displays that seem to take longer than others to force a renegotiation of HDCP.

PS: Your way best bet for upscaled SD-DVD is to get the HDMI working.

PS: Your way best bet for upscaled SD-DVD is to get the HDMI working.
You're kidding, right? I thought it was up to the component makers to be sure it was all going to work together. I don't know enough about HDMI to be able to redesign it to fix compatibility problems.
Also I'm pretty sure the TV is too old to know about HDCP.

No HDCP? Ouch... The manufacturers were made to agree to stop upscaling via component videeo / analog by the groups representing the content owners.

This is true of Bluray as well. Less the fact you say your display does not support HDCP, I still think I could play around with it and get the HDMI working as long as the HDMI is not broken. HD-DVD players never had any particular HDMI issues compatibility or other wise. Most all of us use the players via HDMI and use it to upscale our SD-DVD's bacause they are some of the best ever at that task. If your display does not support HDCP you should be having similar if not worse issues with any blu-ray player(s) as well.

It's a Toshiba HDA30. It does a great job playing a couple of my really old DVDs, one without copy protection and one that I recorded myself but none of the newer ones. Since it runs Linux I was originally hoping that someone would come up with a firmware hack to make it ignore the copy protection error and go ahead and play DVDs but since it's obsolete I guess that's never going to happen now.

The Toshiba HD-A30 is a superb HD-DVD player. It was my first player - and I only stopped using it to take advantage of streaming lossless audio codecs via my HD-A35. Maybe you are dealing with a broken player?
HD-DVD and Toshiba never had much sympathy for copy protection issues, maybe because Toshiba doesn't own any movie studios? So I doubt that is what your problem is.
Let's go back to basics. What firmware is installed on this player. You need to be on firmware 4.0, as it is the last & best (offered by Toshiba long after the format had been dropped by Warner Bros. = nice customer support). If this player is on something less - start by updating your firmware.
Then test again and come back and we'll try to help.

and here's a link to the firmware & Users' Guide for the A30 in case you did not have that to check your settings.

http://www.csd.toshiba.com/cgi-bin/tais/support/jsp/modelContent.jsp?ct=DL&os=&category=&moid=2809951&rpn=undefined&modelFilter=HD-A30&selCategory=2797338&selFamily=2805945

The HDMI connection won't work to play anything and only gives me a pink screen so I have to use the component input. The older discs would play but all my newer ones with copy protection wouldn't. The messages were not erroneous and it always plays in just 480P. I can see why HD-DVD lost out to Blu-ray since not being able to play DVDs is a big drawback and HDMI incompatibility is a problem. Oddly my new Sony Blu-ray player won't play all my DVD's properly either even using HDMI.

Isn't this the root of the problem? I've gotten rid of my XA2, but I thought they only up-converted via HDMI.

Isn't this the root of the problem? I've gotten rid of my XA2, but I thought they only up-converted via HDMI.

Yes - I expect so also. He needs to focus on getting the hdmi connection to work properly for video at least. I was hoping he would review the manual and determine he had something set wrong in the firmware. Maybe the hdmi on the player has failed (and that's why he found it at Goodwill?). But it could be a cable or the hdmi connection on the TV also?

The HDMI connection won't work to play anything and only gives me a pink screen so I have to use the component input. The older discs would play but all my newer ones with copy protection wouldn't. The messages were not erroneous and it always plays in just 480P. I can see why HD-DVD lost out to Blu-ray since not being able to play DVDs is a big drawback and HDMI incompatibility is a problem. Oddly my new Sony Blu-ray player won't play all my DVD's properly either even using HDMI.

Steve - That is not true about HD-DVD versus Blu-ray. You have a defective player (which is why it ended up at Goodwill). Scrap it, go online, and get a good one off ebay. I have the Toshiba A3 (HD-DVD player) and the LG BH200 (a combo HD-DVD and Blu-ray player) and both players do a great job upscaling DVDs. There is nothing wrong with the HD-DVD format. In fact, I prefer it.

caver3d

It's a Toshiba HDA30. It does a great job playing a couple of my really old DVDs, one without copy protection and one that I recorded myself but none of the newer ones. Since it runs Linux I was originally hoping that someone would come up with a firmware hack to make it ignore the copy protection error and go ahead and play DVDs but since it's obsolete I guess that's never going to happen now.

I got in on this one late. If you haven't solved your problem yet, try this. Go into the A-30's setup menu and make sure you have it set to output everything in the format you want. If it is set to "Native", it will output HD as HD and SD as SD (480i) to your TV Display. Set it to the native display of your HDTV (720p/1080i/1080p). And the handshake should occur effortlessly.

Then check your HDTV to make sure it is set up as native or preferrably, at the highest resolution setting in its setup menu. The TV should then accept the signal as is (upconverted by the A-30) or it will upconvert it from 480i to the highest resolution setting itself.

If that doesn't work you have a firmware issue (get update 4.0). Or you have a defective unit that Toshiba may fix for you or replace if you query them properly. They still support HDDVD that way to this day. And it is superb customer service.