Plumbum, yep I tried that. The Toshiba rep. recommended 3 minutes, didn't help. Did it help you?
rgn2000, are you able to burn and play a disk when it finally recognizes the disk? The problem your having sounds really close to whats goin on with me.
James

Yes, I am able to burn once it finally recognizes. Today I came home from work and turned it on and it seemed to be working much better. It recognized like 3 or 4 DVD's pretty quickly. Then it started getting tempermental again. I thought I had it.

:-0
Rob

I have the Toshiba XS52. I have a question about display settings. I have 2 directv receivers hooked up to this unit a Sony Ultimate TV and h20 HD receiver. I have an HD Samsung 16:9 TV.

When I play content from my standard TV Sony Receiver it displays on my TV as 16:9 stretched which I do not like, the second I hit record on the recorder it changes to 4:3. When I stop recording it goes back to 16:9 stretched. i would always like it to display 4:3 when viewing that receiver through the recorder. I have tried to change every setting on the recorder with no avail. Any advice to get it to display standard broadcasts in 4:3 while not recording.

This is a wild a$$ guess, but my Comcast cable box has 3 output settings:

16:9, 4:3 Letterbox, and 4:3 Pan and Scan

I have played with the 4:3 settings and have seen differences, but I can't really say I understand completely what the differences are.

Rob,

I've been using the Maxell yellow DVD-R discs and I would say, at best, it recognizes the disk on the first load. Usually it says disk is damaged, I try a 2nd time and it works.

I have burned a few dozen disks and once it is recognized it is OK.

I had one disk that really didn't want to be recognized. I played around with the unit and thought there might be some effect of what menu or screen output was on the ability to load a disk. I seemed to have success by loading a pre-recorded disk, and then the trouble some one. But eventually, I got it to work. After it was recorded, it seemed to be easily recognized.

This is a wild a$$ guess, but my Comcast cable box has 3 output settings:

16:9, 4:3 Letterbox, and 4:3 Pan and Scan

I have played with the 4:3 settings and have seen differences, but I can't really say I understand completely what the differences are.

The crazy thing is when I have the sat receiver connected directly into the TV it is 4:3. But when I rout it by svideo through the recorder it goes to 16:9.

What do you get when you set the satellite receiver to 16:9 (that's the size of your TV screen, right?)

If I turn off my machine for a decent period of time, the discs are read quickly for like maybe 4 or 5 discs and then I run into the problem again. Like I said, this unit is a year old and never had problems in the past. I want to try the firmware upgrade, but am afraid I will screw things up.

:-)
Rob

What do you get when you set the satellite receiver to 16:9 (that's the size of your TV screen, right?)
It appears to look exactly the same whether it is set for 16:9 or 4:3 maybe slightly better but still stretched look. I am wondering that since I am using composite cables to the TV from the recorder if it is trying to upconvert the signal?

I have looked at every setting on the recorder that deals with screen size and no matter what, even if all are set at 4:3 it still stretches the picture unless it is recording.

Have you noticed this: When I'm watching something thru the 32 and not recording, I don't get DD 2.0 however, when I'm recording, I get DD 2.0

I will test but can't do it until Tuesday. Will get back to you.

First you need to burn it to a cd-r not cd-rw., ( I used Nero 7). I did the 13 not 14 and now I can use TDK 4x RW's .
The RW's are even usable on the computer! (read my previouse post)
I was sweating bullets, but calling tech support for an explaination on why my new TDK's wont work would have been worse, so I rolled the dice and it paid off!
Go for it!
;)

I was there when my system corrupted a DVD-RAM again over the weekend. I was mostly doing a long recording specifically to see if it WOULD corrupt it. (I was recording 6 hours of, gasp, Worlds Wildest Videos, or whatever Spike calls it that they run fairly often..)

I should have, but didn't, see whether I could go into Chase Play mode during the recording.. but I suspect I could have.. as soon as the recording finished, it said the disc was corrupted. Seems to happen after I record "a few hours" (yeah that's vague) on a DVD-RAM.

I haven't noticed the same problems on DVD-R or DVD-RW. (I think I have ONE DVD-R and ONE DVD-RW that the machine thinks is corrupt.. unfortunately an unfinalized DVD-R). Guess I really need to take the machine in to see if the DVD drive is messed up. Need more DVD-RWs to back everything up..

I have mine for about 1 year, filled the drive in about 3-4 mos and have since been burning to make room for HD space.

I experienced this problem when I was working on a SuperBowl editing job as follows:

Recorded SB, 5 hr recording, chaptered commercials.
Made seperate Playlists of Pregame, Q1, Q2, HT, Q3, Q4, Postgame.
Copied Q1 (33min) to produce real file,
Edited Q1 for each individual play (about 90 chapters),
Copied the edited Q1 (8min),
Erased the Copied Q1 (33min)

Well, what happened was I was playing back my 8min Q1 and the image froze. Couldn't get it to stop , play, pause, etc.

Switched from HD to DVD and things worked.

Switched back to HD and things worked... well sort of:

Where it froze, it paused for about a sec, started playing from some other file for a sec or two, froze for a sec, and then resumed playing.

I'm thinking I might have some serious defrag slivers that are just too small. I've done micro chapters of about 1 sec in the past but always copy result into playlist which I burn. However, when I first had the deck, for a while, I would delete chapters and keep the remains. I know this is FORBIDDEN!!

As far as getting the Needs Defrag, does this occur without warning? When you get the message, does it disable recording to HD, does it disable playback from HD? I hope if allows you to record to DVD else you've just lost the contents of your HD.

I sure wish they had a defrag ability. Wonder if the newer HD recorders defrag?

On well, thanks in advance,
Tom

I guess this isn't directly related to the XS32, but is copy protection in general.

Well, I have a cable box for another short period (on a 3 month promo where box + hbo + supposedly on demand is cheaper than I was previously paying for expanded basic)..
So I wanted to record The Sopranos..

It's recording to DVD-RW for a few mins, then gives the alert saying copy protected, paused recording. After trying a few more times, I realized that I *could* record to the hard drive.. But it won't let me move it to DVD-RW.. (I wanted to be able to share the DVD with my parents who don't have a cable box.)

Will it let me record to DVD-R? I don't think so, but I'll try that next.

If it will let me move to DVD-RAM (which I think it will), I presume someone could find the 'copy protected' bit, flip that, and then be able to put it back on the hard drive normally?

Oh, the interesting thing was that it was recording fine UP UNTIL the Sopranos started. So it's really an easily turn on/offable capability.

Plus I say 'supposedly' for on demand since hitting the on demand button on the remote isn't doing anything. (It just goes to channel 1??) It was right after I got the box -- but said try later or something. I think because I'm splitting the signal, it's not getting some digital signal it requires to do on demand. I'll try plugging the coax directly into the box to test it -- but I need the splits for my 2 tivos & xs32!

mattack, well that sucks.

I wonder if the Toshiba has all "tivo" DRM crap in it. In other words, you could record to your HD but it will erase itself in something they set, like 2 weeks maybe.

Tom

PS. Somewhat OT, but check out their responses to legal threats! http://thepiratebay.org/legal.php

6 Volt

It appears that you may have a fragmentation problem. As a general rule, you should have at least 80% disk space open. The more open space the less chance of fragmentation. I keep mine at least 50 %, by copying stuff to disk. While there is not a defrag utility, formatting the HDD solves the problem. Of course this erases all of the titles, so you would have to first back them up to disk.

On another note, Does anyone know about the new software upgrade from Toshiba? I received it but have not loaded it because I heard that it just improves the ability to play disks in the Toshiba. My concern is recording DVD and playing them in other machines. I’ve been playing disks from my Toshiba in a JVC, and it has worked well. However, I recently had problems playing Memorex disks in the JVC.

SGM 26

ewwwww... keeping my HD at 50%. Now THAT would be discipline!

I've got to get that Superbowl stuff unloaded....

I wonder if the Toshiba has all "tivo" DRM crap in it. In other words, you could record to your HD but it will erase itself in something they set, like 2 weeks maybe.

Umm, this has NOTHING to do with Tivo.. I have no idea why you're disparaging Tivo.
(As I've said, I'd far prefer to have a recorder _with_ Tivo, as long as I had the same ability I have now -- being able to edit a recording and being able to record multi-session.. neither of which you can do on the combo Tivo/DVD recorders.)

BTW, I read one of the other threads after I posted my previous one. Apparently a lot of people think Toshibas do copy protection "more" than other recorders.. (which seems kind of silly, since I believe all of them are required to follow the same spec.)

BTW II -- I am unable to record it (Sopranos) to DVD-RW or DVD-R.. So there's no way to get it onto removable media so others can watch it. As much as I hate videotape, and even though my VCRs are halfway dead (and may eat tapes in my attempts), I may actually attempt, for the heck of it, to record to VHS then back to the recorder to see if the DRM remains. and/or record from the cable box to VHS first then to the Toshiba.. it probably won't work but would be interesting.

BTW III -- I am still very likely to rent this season of Sopranos on DVD (in a year or two whenever it comes out), so this DRM issue isn't a HUGE one.. at least I am still able to time-shift.

Mattach,

There is a DRM protocol where you can record on HD, it will live there for 1-2 weeks, and you CANNOT copy it to digital media. I thought this was already demonstrated in Tivo and also cable/satellite boxes with DVR built in (some are actually Tivo.)

It sounds to me like the Toshiba has all that DRM implemented.

I think it is interesting that the DRM implemented in an electronic appliance is NOT disclosed.

There is a DRM protocol where you can record on HD, it will live there for 1-2 weeks, and you CANNOT copy it to digital media. I thought this was already demonstrated in Tivo and also cable/satellite boxes with DVR built in (some are actually Tivo.)

It sounds to me like the Toshiba has all that DRM implemented.

I think it is interesting that the DRM implemented in an electronic appliance is NOT disclosed.

1) I know all of that. But you're still disparaging Tivo for no good reason.
2) This copy protection stuff *IS* disclosed. It's mentioned in the manual.

The Toshiba manual is rather long. I've read a lot of it but I don't remember reading that something I might record on my hard drive might be erased automatically after so long. Do they actually say that in the manual?

If only a temporary stay in the HD is a possibility, does the Toshiba warn the user that this file is conpromised? Or does it mysteriously disappear?

Regarding Tivo, I think it is a fascinating product, however, the subscription fee is the obstacle for me. Of course, not being able to add harddrives etc. is a problem with Tivo and all other HD recorders.

From my memory, Tivo was around "before" 5C and BF at least as far as open discussion went. I believe people who bot Tivo at BB thought it was simply a HD recorder. However I remember there was a big hubbub when Tivo owners "discovered" stuff was not staying on their hard drives.

Of course this is not Tivo's fault, however, I don't think they were making it clear to people who bot them that down the road, half the functionality of Tivo may be circumvented by 5C etc.

Who knows, maybe the Tivo Hackers will be the first to circumvent the DRM nonsense being forced down our throats.

But, whatever the reason, Tivo is financially is trouble, right? So the bottom line is that the market has decided that its not a good value if that is true.

Regarding Tivo, I think it is a fascinating product, however, the subscription fee is the obstacle for me. Of course, not being able to add harddrives etc. is a problem with Tivo and all other HD recorders.

I don't know if you literally mean "subscription fee" or "monthly fee". If you really mean the latter, then you missed your chance.

I have 2 Tivos and pay no monthly fee at all. I paid lifetime (actually one was an eBay purchase which I at the time intended to use without a subscription -- this only works for series 1s, and now I wouldn't use a Tivo without a subscription, I'd use a hard drive recorder designed for use that way, like I got.. my xs32).

But they got rid of lifetime. At least as of last week, Best Buy still had some lifetime service activation cards on the shelves, and Tivo has guaranteed those cards will still be valid for 2 years, and they will work for series 3 Tivos.

Also, while it is not supported by Tivo (until Series 3, which will have a SATA port on the back), it is VERY easy to add a hard drive to a Tivo.

I just thought of another "paranoia" thought about upgrading firmware in the Toshiba.

I would be concerned what kind of DRM they might be secretly including with that upload. For one, I don't know if the 32 has Broadcast Flag enabled. Although not law, I'll bet there are products out ther that already have this present just waiting to "take orders."

I wish they had all the DRM logos printed on the faceplate, like they do Dolby.

Isn't the existing stuff -- copy once, etc., the same as broadcast flag? If so, it already has it.

All the different rules of the different anti-copy systems out there completely confuse me.

I would think that it is NOT broadcast flag because BF is supposed to be over the air, right? So what they use on cable and satellite is a different system? (I'm guessing.)

I think DVD's and MP3 stuff have the ability for copy once rules.

For one thing, what is the difference between 5C and Broadcast Flag?

But even if you have one functioning system, they can change the law and change the rules of that system. If it is a cable or satellite box, they will upgrade it automatically. Something like the Toshiba would be thru a firmware upgrade.

The FTC requires specifications and rules about their measurement. Interesting the anti-copy stuff is virtually secret.

WD40 overspray WILL damage chips. Don't lube it with a thin oil (Aerosol propelled) saturatols that help the oil penetrate. use GREASE if at all poss. IF NOT HOWEVER YOU MAY MIX GREASE AND HEAVEY OIL(90WT) TOGETHER THEN INJECT THE MIXTURE. P.S. Thank you for the info.Peace. Roulette

A TINY squirt of WD40 does the trick. Probably, you could do this from the outside using the extender tube. The bearing end of the fan is facing outward.

Since my box is out of warranty, I opened it and disassembed the fan to clean it and then lubricate it.

For those interested, the HD is a Maxtor Diamondmax 16.

The DVD RAM drive is Toshiba SD-W3002.

All the significant ICs are on a circuit board under the drives, so I wasn't able to see them without removing the drives (which I'm not ready to do. Maybe after they fail).

Disassembly PDF attached.

glg

What type of universal remote do you use with the tosh 32? I'm thinking of a Logitech Harmony, but want to see what you think b/f purchasing. How well do they work? etc.

Thanks.

I think Harmony's remotes are the best! I am currently using the 880 and it's the 3rd Harmony model I've tried and by far the best!! It's a breeze to set up and configure to exactly what you want to do. And if you do need help, their phone support is amazing and they will stay on the phone until everything is working just the way you want. You can't go wrong with any of the Harmony remotes (IMO).

Let us know what you decide...

Anyone here with a xs32 or xs52 using 16x blanks? Are they working out OK? The 8's seem to be disappearing.

Anyone here with a xs32 or xs52 using 16x blanks? Are they working out OK? The 8's seem to be disappearing.

XS32 owner.

I bought some FujiFilm Dvd-R 50pk spindles when they were on sale.. the package is labeled with text, "1X to 16X" and also, "Compatible with 1X to 16X Drives & Recorders." I've had no problems so far (I'm about half way through a 50pk).

Btw, these are labeled as 'made in Taiwan', not Japan, so I hope I dont have problems in the long run.

Anyone here with a xs32 or xs52 using 16x blanks? Are they working out OK? The 8's seem to be disappearing.

I have not tried the 16x disks but I have found problems with some of the 8x. These were Imation and Memorex. The problem is that they may work on my Toshiba sx-32 but will not play on other machines. The problem is that they only play about half way through and then freeze. I have thus started checking them on another machine to insure they are OK. I have used TDK with good success, and have recently, based on the recommendation of some forum members, bought some 4x Taiyo Yuden from supermedia. They have been working very well and were on sale.

It's not a help request, but here's another very strange thing that I had happen.. (and I was afraid it corrupted the hard drive again).

I was moving some musical performance recordings (e.g. the musical performance on a Letterman show) to DVD-RW just to get some stuff off the hard drive.. I intend to try to lump them together later (i.e. by artist) when I get multiple songs by the same artist.

I now have two titles where if I try to record that specific title, the XS32 completely HANGS. Not only that, but the video is frozen too -- I had it showing one of the line ins, and the video completely freezes (though I can still hear audio if I really wanted to 'watch' with no video).

I've been slightly curious for a while whether the previous hang/corruption I had back in October was caused by me not waiting long enough.. so this time I waited 10 mins (even after I noticed the video being hung) before force powering it off.

It came back up fine, and neither the hard drive nor DVD-RW was modified. In 2 out of 3 tries, the record light never even came on for the DVD.. in one case it did, but as far as I can tell it didn't actually write anything..

So I'm not going to move stuff to DVD while it's recording to the hard drive from now on most likely.. (so that I can safely force power it off if it hangs).

I will try a different DVD-RW, and even maybe waste a DVD-R to see if it happens there too. At least the two recordings so far are ones I don't really care about (I *think* I may have one of them already on DVD-R, an Alicia Keys performance.)

WD40 overspray WILL damage chips. Don't lube it with a thin oil (Aerosol propelled) saturatols that help the oil penetrate. use GREASE if at all poss. IF NOT HOWEVER YOU MAY MIX GREASE AND HEAVEY OIL(90WT) TOGETHER THEN INJECT THE MIXTURE. P.S. Thank you for the info.Peace. Roulette

I beg to differ I have been a PC engineer for over 15 years and have always lubricated CPU & Power Supply Unit Fans with WD40 and have never had any problems with damage to chips. I find that if you lubricate first with WD40 this seems to clean the bearing and then follow up with something heavier as Roulette suggests. I use an oil called 3 in 1 which is somewhere between a thin sewing machine oil and a light motor oil. It may, however, only be available in the UK where it is found in hardware & cycle shops. Generally once the bearing starts to get noisy you will only get another 6-9 months of satisfactory operation out of it anyway. Ebay seems to be a good source for unusual sized fans.

I'm trying to burn a DVD-R from HDD and its been at 0% done for 30 minutes.

This has never happened.

Everything seemed OK until it just got "stuck."

There doesn't seem to be any way to interrupt it - I don't want to pull the plug on it obviously.

Help
Tom

_____________________

Did Force Off (Hold Power Button down for 5 seconds)

Had to fool around with it to finally reject and DVD - couldn't get it out!

Is now recording on the same DVD but did lose a couple titles and thumbnails I assigned to a couple titles - the ones that I was trying to record.

I think what I did was started to do the recording, but right before I got to the end, I backed out and split the title into two, then tried to record, I don't think I backed all the way out of the record sequences before I did the title split.

Seems to be Aok

During the steps to burn to DVD, everything works, but when the unit starts burning, after about 1-2 minutes, it freezes. In fact, the TV video passing thru the unit even freezes. The VU meter freezes. But the audio is uneffected.

The edit I'm trying to burn is a complex one done with a number of steps:

Taped Superbowl,

edited out commercials,

Process each Quarter as follows:

bookmarked the start and end of each play (starts at QB audibles and ends at whistle) over 90 chapters per quarter.

make playlist of just the plays

dub the playlist back to the HDD

merge plays as per possessions, results in about 7 chapters per quarter.

Then make final Playlist where I assemble the 4 quarters, 3 commercials (chapters from an original), a few originals.

Then dub this Playlist to "eliminate" an issues mixing playlists, chapters, and originals. (over 30 chapters)

What is strange is than when I insert this Original into the DVD burn "bar", it takes about 30 seconds for the red vertical line to appear. Pressing enter immedialy after the red line appears results in the Original thumbnail appearing.

With just this one entry, I get this freeze.

Somehow, I am concerned that even though I tried to launder the chapters, perhaps they maintain ID's that go up over 90 even though I merged them.

I really don't have a clue why its not working.

I suppose I could do a rate conversion dub to blow out the chapters and see if that would burn. That would be a real PITA because I'd have to reinsert over 30 breaks which probably would not appear exactly as the originals.

Any thoughts?

Thanks in advance,
Tom

________________________________________________________
EDIT

Just merged the chapters in the Original and tried to burn.

Still took 30 sec for the red line to appear.

Froze the same.

Will try rate conversion dubbing I guess.

There is something very fishy about this!

________________________________________________________
EDIT

Tried to burn a DVD using the dubbed to HDD "plays" intermediate files - 1 play per chapter, about 48 chapters per quarter.

Froze much quicker than my previous attempts. This would indicate that perhaps it is a chapter problem. I could understand a problem of 4 files w/48 chapters each. But my original file was only about 36 chapters total.

I wonder....

When playing back this stuff, occasionally, there would be a pause in the playback probably due to fragmentation at a particular point in the recording. Part of my reasoning to make an Original to burn was to eliminate any aspects of this problem.

...I seem to recall that the very first time this unit got "confused" playing something back was when I was working with the first 48 chapter file of this project. it was bizarre. playback seemed to bounce from one file to another. (I don't mean botching chapter order during playback but actually spilling over into another file if memory serves me....

___________________________________________
EDIT

Just did a rate conversion dub of the Original edit. It was 4.0 and I converted to 4.4

Assembled the rate conversion dub with all the other files as per the original intent and SUCCESS!

As soon as the red bar appeared momentarily, I "knew" it was going to work.

Could there be problems with a 4.0 file and a DVD set at 4.4?

Could I have had different bit rate files in the original assembly of files? and could this have been a problem?

Could my HDD being almost full (about 1 hour free space left) be an issue?

Could HDD fragmentation be a problem?

The manual says you can have 100 titles and 100 chapters, but nothing like 100 titles w/100 chapters each. Maybe it is 1 title and 100 chapters. Who knows, maybe when you get to 4 titles, you can't have 48 chapters each. Or at 5 titles you can't have 1 title w/36 chapters. Maybe it has to do with the length of the title names.

TEST CASE: Put 40 chapters in the rate conv dub and see if it will burn.

if it does, maybe the easiest to Xfer the bookmarks is to write the time of each bookmark and pause to that time and mark it.

It is now 3:17 AM
What a mess.

I've been having problems burning DVDs for the past few months. It will go through the burning process, then it goes through the finalizing process both apparently work fine. The "burning is finished do you want to burn another DVD?" dialogue box comes up. I select No so it tries to load the just burnt DVD. This is where the problem shows up. It tries to load the disc but fails and gives me the DVD is damaged or dirty message. I find this strange as the DVDR is able to load the DVD's upon initially sticking them into the machine. It's only after the burning process does it fail to load them. I am using Memorex 16x DVD-R's. Discs from this spindle used to work fine (I've probably successfully burnt 30 or so from this spindle) although with the occasionally failure (the failure being the same one a I described above). It's just now that last 5 or 10 attempts at burning have failed.

I looked through this thread and noticed that this spindle is 16x, whereas the previous large spindle I used was Maxwell 8x. So I thought that maybe it's just the write speed problem. Thinking that i'd need to get my hands on the firmware update (i'm in Canada so i'm thinking once I can manage to get a hold of them I should be able to get them to send me the firmware upgrade mailed to me and i'd be fine). So I thought i'd just grab some other brand of discs that are rated slower to tide me over.

So I picked up a 10 Disc set of Verbatim "up to 16x". I managed to burn two discs with no problems (same programs that wouldn't burn on the Memorex discs). Sounds ok to me. Just means I will have to wait for the firmware update so I can go back to using the Memorex discs, until then pick up some Verbatim ones to tide me over

But this is what's confusing me. The Memorex 16X discs used to work. So why now are they suddenly failing me? And if it's the write speed problem then why is the problem coming in trying to load the disc right after the burn/finalizing process and not say when I initially stick the disc into the machine?

I finally checked my system to see what version i'm running and i'm' running ZL11 for the software and 1415 for the drive. That has me worried as that is the same version that was mentioned earlier as the firmware upgrade going to. So now i'm thinking getting an firmware upgrade from Toshiba isn't going to help.

So am I looking at a case where I have to run out and grab a bunch of discs rated for slower write speeds and expect that eventually my XS-32 is not going to be able to use the blank discs that are produced? I haven't gone out and looked at the Verbatim discs to see if what the large spindles run for and what sort of availability is out there. (I picked up my 10 disc set from London Drugs which had that 10 set on sale. They had a spindle of 50 for only slightly more but they were listed as being 80 minute capacity, way too low for what i want). Now i'm worried that my DVDR is going "unusably obsolete" (that is obsolete in that I won't be able to buy blank discs for it not the standard obsolete as in something's better and faster), just barely a year after I bought it.

Or is this a case of I was lucky with the first half of the spindle of Memorex discs but now my luck ran out and I should just buy better discs. I'm considering buying a bunch of Verbatim discs and clearing everything on the DVDR off, reformatting the system and seeing if that helps. I'm hoping that I will be able to find a pack of better quality lower write speed in a 50 or 100 pack and use them instead of the Memorex discs. But if I can't or they disapear in a few months... Am I looking at replacing my DVDR within the next year?

Regarding your first paragraph, I had the same thing happen.

I was able to "read" the DVD on my computer but it was not properly burned - there were problems with the last ISO.

In my case, I had 6 titles that just fit on the DVD.

What I suspect is that while the 6 titles fit, there wasn't room for the finalizing stuff or title/chapter thumbnails.

That is just a theory of mine. I've never had this problem when there was a fair amount of extra space on the DVD.

Regarding your first paragraph, I had the same thing happen.

I was able to "read" the DVD on my computer but it was not properly burned - there were problems with the last ISO.

In my case, I had 6 titles that just fit on the DVD.

What I suspect is that while the 6 titles fit, there wasn't room for the finalizing stuff or title/chapter thumbnails.

That is just a theory of mine. I've never had this problem when there was a fair amount of extra space on the DVD.

I considered that as well since I was squeezing 3, hour long episodes onto a disc when I normally just put 2 on. But I tried just burning one episode to a disc and it failed as well. And when I used the Verbatim disc I was able to get the 3 episodes on it, so it shouldn't be a space issue.

I've been having problems burning DVDs for the past few months. It will go through the burning process, then it goes through the finalizing process both apparently work fine. The "burning is finished do you want to burn another DVD?" dialogue box comes up.

I've never seen this dialog box.. How are you burning discs?

(I am NOT insinuating that this is at all involved in your problem.. I'm just curious. Nowadays I always either use "high speed dubbing" from the contextual menu, or "dub selected items" from the Edit page.. I have used the similar Edit one that dubs several items AND finalizes in one step in the past, but I don't remember it ever putting up that dialog either.)

Thats a good one! I've never used those 2 methods to burn a DVD!

But it is the one that Finalizes all in one step - I'm sure that's the one I use.

I know for a fact that when you dub you don't get the create another disc question.

I've never seen this dialog box.. How are you burning discs?

(I am NOT insinuating that this is at all involved in your problem.. I'm just curious. Nowadays I always either use "high speed dubbing" from the contextual menu, or "dub selected items" from the Edit page.. I have used the similar Edit one that dubs several items AND finalizes in one step in the past, but I don't remember it ever putting up that dialog either.)

I'm using the "DVD-Video Creation" from the Edit Menu. This is the one where it brings up the thumbnailed list of your recordings, you select what you want to copy (showing how much space you have left on the disc so you can try to squeeze an extra episode in depending on how long the commercials ran), then it goes to the screen where you name your disc, then the screens where you set up your menus for the disc then after everything is set up there's the final dialog box asking if you want to continue. You select yes and it burns to the disc, then finalizes the disc then after that it comes up with the "Do you want to copy another" screen. Which if you select no it tries to load the disc and the process is complete. Or if you select yes, then it opens the disc tray so you can replace the disc with a new one and it'll (presumably since I havne't tried it) start burnign the same programs to a new disc. You probably have used this process but have just forgotten about the final menus screen after it finishes if you havne't used that menu for a while.

I've never really tried burning any other way as this process seems to be the best way to do it. Since I always burn everything to my disc at once (no burning one program, then leaving it for later to burn another program then finalizing the disc). I've never seen a reason to do each step manually. That way I can get everything set up at once then let the machine go to work so I can wander off and do something else for the 15 to 20 minutes or so it'll take to complete. I'm thinking manually doing each step means having to do some of the set up, start the burn, then come back to the machine when it's done to set up the menus and the like, then start the machine on the finalizing, leave it and come back.

I might try it the "manual way" just to see if that's what's causing the issues with the Memorex discs but in theory it shouldn't make a difference. BUt then again i'm not sure why i'm getting the problem after the disc has been finalized and when the machine tries to load the disc. IF it's having a problem finalizing the disc shouldn't I be hitting an error during that process and not after it's supposed to be finished? If it's not finished then why would the menu screen asking if you want to do another has you remove the disc and nsert a new disc if the jut burnt dic isn't finalized? Since if you hit yes to that question it doens't try to load the disc at all, it just spits it out looing for a new disc. IT's a weird time for me to hit an error. But then again maybe it's not burning the disc properly, and the DVDR just doesn't realize it until after it's done and tries to load the disc...

Perhaps i'll set it to test the disc when it burns to see if that makes a difference...

I might try it the "manual way" just to see if that's what's causing the issues with the Memorex discs but in theory it shouldn't make a difference. BUt then again i'm not sure why i'm getting the problem after the disc has been finalized and when the machine tries to load the disc. IF it's having a problem finalizing the disc shouldn't I be hitting an error during that process and not after it's supposed to be finished?

**Not necessarily. When a "bad" dvd is burned, the burning takes place as just like a good one. This is an open loop process.

If it's not finished then why would the menu screen asking if you want to do another has you remove the disc and nsert a new disc if the jut burnt dic isn't finalized?

**It got to that menu so it thinks it did the job correctly.

Since if you hit yes to that question it doens't try to load the disc at all, it just spits it out looing for a new disc. IT's a weird time for me to hit an error. But then again maybe it's not burning the disc properly, and the DVDR just doesn't realize it until after it's done and tries to load the disc...

**yep

**Try this problem disk in a computer DVD drive. Try playing the ISO's directly. My bad DVD with same problem was definitely a bad burn.

**It is possible that maybe there is a buffer under-run during burning? would the Toshiba issue a warning if that happened???

I bought some FujiFilm Dvd-R 50pk spindles when they were on sale.. the package is labeled with text, "1X to 16X" and also, "Compatible with 1X to 16X Drives & Recorders." I've had no problems so far (I'm about half way through a 50pk).

Btw, these are labeled as 'made in Taiwan', not Japan, so I hope I dont have problems in the long run.

Let me update that.

I've had problems as I neared the bottom of the 50pk spindle. I got 3 coasters out of 5 discs in one span. I wasn't doing anything different than usual (that I know), so I have to assume it was the discs' lack of quality.

These blanks are not nearly as good as I had originally thought.

(showing how much space you have left on the disc so you can try to squeeze an extra episode in depending on how long the commercials ran)

All of the other methods of dubbing tell you how much is left on the disc too.

When I'm recording something like 'er' (which I guess is the only show I regularly record for keeps anymore.. everything else is individual segments or musical performance shows), I often edit/dub each show to a DVD-R and then finalize after it's full. You get the same thermometer when dubbing one by one.

I recently acquired Toshiba RD-XS32 and want to copy contents from HDD to DVD-RW (4x). I am having great difficulty. Will some angel out there send me step-by step procedure? I have spent hours without success.

Hello:
I also own RD-XS32 and am having great difficulty copying contents in HDD to DVD-RW(4x). Have you tried this? Will you be so kind to send me step-by-step procedure? Thanks

I recently acquired Toshiba RD-XS32 and want to copy contents from HDD to DVD-RW (4x). I am having great difficulty. Will some angel out there send me step-by step procedure? I have spent hours without success.

At least the XS32 does NOT support 4X DVD-RWs. Only "1-2x".

Contact Tivo and tell them you'd be interested in firmware to support new DVD-RW
speeds. (I believe that's technically possible.)

I'd pay for new firmware to support 4X DVD-RW.

I've been having problems burning DVDs for the past few months. It will go through the burning process, then it goes through the finalizing process both apparently work fine. The "burning is finished do you want to burn another DVD?" dialogue box comes up. I select No so it tries to load the just burnt DVD. This is where the problem shows up. It tries to load the disc but fails and gives me the DVD is damaged or dirty message. I find this strange as the DVDR is able to load the DVD's upon initially sticking them into the machine. It's only after the burning process does it fail to load them. I am using Memorex 16x DVD-R's. Discs from this spindle used to work fine (I've probably successfully burnt 30 or so from this spindle) although with the occasionally failure (the failure being the same one a I described above). It's just now that last 5 or 10 attempts at burning have failed.

I looked through this thread and noticed that this spindle is 16x, whereas the previous large spindle I used was Maxwell 8x. So I thought that maybe it's just the write speed problem. Thinking that i'd need to get my hands on the firmware update (i'm in Canada so i'm thinking once I can manage to get a hold of them I should be able to get them to send me the firmware upgrade mailed to me and i'd be fine). So I thought i'd just grab some other brand of discs that are rated slower to tide me over.

So I picked up a 10 Disc set of Verbatim "up to 16x". I managed to burn two discs with no problems (same programs that wouldn't burn on the Memorex discs). Sounds ok to me. Just means I will have to wait for the firmware update so I can go back to using the Memorex discs, until then pick up some Verbatim ones to tide me over

But this is what's confusing me. The Memorex 16X discs used to work. So why now are they suddenly failing me? And if it's the write speed problem then why is the problem coming in trying to load the disc right after the burn/finalizing process and not say when I initially stick the disc into the machine?

I finally checked my system to see what version i'm running and i'm' running ZL11 for the software and 1415 for the drive. That has me worried as that is the same version that was mentioned earlier as the firmware upgrade going to. So now i'm thinking getting an firmware upgrade from Toshiba isn't going to help.

So am I looking at a case where I have to run out and grab a bunch of discs rated for slower write speeds and expect that eventually my XS-32 is not going to be able to use the blank discs that are produced? I haven't gone out and looked at the Verbatim discs to see if what the large spindles run for and what sort of availability is out there. (I picked up my 10 disc set from London Drugs which had that 10 set on sale. They had a spindle of 50 for only slightly more but they were listed as being 80 minute capacity, way too low for what i want). Now i'm worried that my DVDR is going "unusably obsolete" (that is obsolete in that I won't be able to buy blank discs for it not the standard obsolete as in something's better and faster), just barely a year after I bought it.

Or is this a case of I was lucky with the first half of the spindle of Memorex discs but now my luck ran out and I should just buy better discs. I'm considering buying a bunch of Verbatim discs and clearing everything on the DVDR off, reformatting the system and seeing if that helps. I'm hoping that I will be able to find a pack of better quality lower write speed in a 50 or 100 pack and use them instead of the Memorex discs. But if I can't or they disapear in a few months... Am I looking at replacing my DVDR within the next year?


I have also been using Memorex discs but they are only 8 x. If I try to fill the disc over the halfway point, the data in the last half is corrupted. I have tried several Memorex and Imation discs and found this problem to be consistent to these two brands. The problem is that my xs 32 acts as if the disk is fine. However when I attempted to play, it fails at about the halfway point. Sometimes discs will play in the xs 32 but sometimes it will not. They will always fail to play completely in other machines. The good news is that I can dub the data back to the xs 32 hard drive, and it will play completely.
I have tried Taiyo Yuden and TDK, and they work well. I have checked by finalizing the discs and playing them all the way to the end at fast speed. As I said, the Memorex and Imation always fail while the others play. The whole point is that all discs are not equal, and you can not tell by looking at them. I used recommendations from forum members, and then tested the discs.

Memorex disks have lots of horror stories. I'm sad to hear Imation is a problem.

Of course, TY is King.

When I burn a dvd, I see if it will start playback, if it does, I go to the last chapter and see if that works.

I picked up a 50 pack of Maxell 16x since I have used them ebfore and don't recall having too many problems with them. What's people's experience with those? (I havne't been able to crack it open and try them out yet).

I picked up a 50 pack of Maxell 16x since I have used them ebfore and don't recall having too many problems with them. What's people's experience with those? (I havne't been able to crack it open and try them out yet).


I have a pack of Maxell –R x8, and have not experienced any problems with them. I have also been using Maxell –RW x2 regularly for over a year and they have been doing fine. I have been recording, erasing and rerecording with very good results. The xs 32 is only supposed to work with –R x4 and –RW x2. I would stay away from the 16x

As I mentioned, and 6volt confirmed, test them by recording a complete disc and going to the end to see if they work. Generally, if this test works, the pack of discs will be good. However, if it’s something you really do not want to loose, then check it through after finalizing.

I have a pack of Maxell –R x8, and have not experienced any problems with them. I have also been using Maxell –RW x2 regularly for over a year and they have been doing fine. I have been recording, erasing and rerecording with very good results. The xs 32 is only supposed to work with –R x4 and –RW x2. I would stay away from the 16x

As I mentioned, and 6volt confirmed, test them by recording a complete disc and going to the end to see if they work. Generally, if this test works, the pack of discs will be good. However, if it’s something you really do not want to loose, then check it through after finalizing.

Thanks. I havne't opened the spindle yet so I thought I'd check since I could still have returned it. But once I open it up and try a disc I don't think Futureshop will take them back if I have problems with them

I thought of starting a new thread for this, but I don't think I will...

So, over the weekend, I was being brave(/stupid?) and started dubbing to DVD-R while recording again. Since the incident that caused my hard drive to be 'corrupted' last October, I haven't often (if ever) started dubbing while recording -- though I think I have had cases where I was still dubbing while a scheduled recording started.

ANYWAY.. So this time, I got an error (I think Error 14, I don't remember for sure) while recording.. AND WAS STUCK AT THE HIGH SPEED DUBBING page.

Virtually no keys on the remote would work.. I couldn't hit STOP twice on the recorder to stop the recording, couldn't view the list of programs, couldn't start a DVD, etc..

One of the few keys that DID work was the one that changes the display on the front panel.. Cycling through that, I DID see that the recording was (seemingly) still going on.

So an agonizing 2 hours later (it even stopped and started at least one more scheduled recording -- even though I could record one long ~3 hour recording, I do typically have the 3 NBC late night shows as separate recordings since the length/days vary for two of them)... it actually came back to life. It had even said something like "the menu will close" when it switched from one recording to another, and of course it didn't actually do that.

After this, it loaded the hard drive fine and seems to work. (The existing recordings on that DVD seem fine -- I haven't tried cleaning that particular DVD yet or trying to finalize to see if that DVD is actually unwritable from now on.)

So I admit now there is a very small bit of doubt that I may have indirectly contributed to the original corruption. I *still* think that there shouldn't be this kind of a bug where the unit seems completely frozen.. (also, in my original scenario, the hard drive was almost full, so I still am not absolutely sure that the recording would have stopped fine... and I'll have to go back and check my original report, but I *remember* that only the display brightness key worked that time).

Well I finally got around to trying to burn some programs again. The Maxwell 16x didn't burn. Same problem as before, goes through the burn, then the finalizing then can't load the disc after. I tried copying one program to a new disc "manually (ie. just the normal dub to the disc not the dub and finalize option) and after it went through the burn process it tried to read the disc and hit the error. Tried a few more times. Smae problems..

Then i tried to burn using the Verbatim dic which I was able to successfulyl burn 2 discs a few months ago.. Nope won't work this time. What the frig. Am I looking at a crapped out machine now or what? I've unplugged the DVDR and will let it sit for a bit "reset itself" and then try again.

Anyone have any suggestions what else I can try? I'm starting to think my machien is toast as a burner...

Well I finally got around to trying to burn some programs again. The Maxwell 16x didn't burn. Same problem as before, goes through the burn, then the finalizing then can't load the disc after. I tried copying one program to a new disc "manually (ie. just the normal dub to the disc not the dub and finalize option) and after it went through the burn process it tried to read the disc and hit the error. Tried a few more times. Smae problems..

Then i tried to burn using the Verbatim dic which I was able to successfulyl burn 2 discs a few months ago.. Nope won't work this time. What the frig. Am I looking at a crapped out machine now or what? I've unplugged the DVDR and will let it sit for a bit "reset itself" and then try again.

Anyone have any suggestions what else I can try? I'm starting to think my machien is toast as a burner...
I purchased my XS32 a few years back, and other than slow loading of discs, have not had any burning problems. I don't use 8x or 16x, just stick with the 4x. Another thread member recommended Taiyo Yuden (TY) DVD-R's, and I'm working on burning my 4th spindle of 100 TY DVD-R ("Value Line", a.k.a. 4X) with no coasters. Cost $25.99 for 100 at www.supermediastore.com. I use them not only because they work, but the quality of the coating of these discs is high, which should make them last for decades and good for archiving videos. If I need to make a lot of copies fast, I use my PC.

I purchased my XS32 a few years back, and other than slow loading of discs, have not had any burning problems. I don't use 8x or 16x, just stick with the 4x. Another thread member recommended Taiyo Yuden (TY) DVD-R's, and I'm working on burning my 4th spindle of 100 TY DVD-R ("Value Line", a.k.a. 4X) with no coasters. Cost $25.99 for 100 at www.supermediastore.com. I use them not only because they work, but the quality of the coating of these discs is high, which should make them last for decades and good for archiving videos. If I need to make a lot of copies fast, I use my PC.


Thanks, i'll see if I can find any of the 4x speed discs or even an x8 since that's the speed I was using before with little to no problems. But in my area all i'm finding are the faster ones.

I unplugged my machine and let it sit without power for a few hours. The plugged it back in and tried to burn again. I managed to sucessfully burn to a Verbatim disc. But the Maxwell had the same problems. Arg, looks like I have another full spindle of useless to me discs...

They may still work in your PC burner (assuming you have one).

Anyone try those Sony DVD-R's that are on sale at Best Buy right now?

Thanks, i'll see if I can find any of the 4x speed discs or even an x8 since that's the speed I was using before with little to no problems. But in my area all i'm finding are the faster ones.

On my shopping expedition for dvd-r blanks, I too found that the faster discs (8 and 16x) were much more common on the shelf than the slower ones. In the user manual for my older model Toshiba recorder, it specifically says to stick with the 2x and 4x discs. I hope these slower discs do not fall completely out of availability for at least a few more years.

The warnings on the faster disc packages are most ominous, as well. It says that using them in a drive intended for the slower discs could damage the drive. I also remember it mentioning that damage will occur if the machine gets locked up for a prolonged period while attempting to record on a hi-speed disc. That sounds like some scary stuff and a stiff penalty for inadvertently using a disc of the "wrong" formulation. I am wondering if anybody here has ever observed a recorder get damaged in this way?

One thing I noticed while I was labelling a few of my un-labeled DVD-Rs..

Some finalized DVD-Rs still let me go to the content menu of the DVD-R, some (at least one) don't. Just to make it clear, I can still play the content on the DVD-R fine.

Was there something I did to make the DVD-R not let me still go to the content menu? The built in content menu is a bit more convenient than the finalized menu.

Also, this is probably related to being able to read the data off of my corrupted hard drive. but I have a few DVD-Rs (and RWs actually) that now say they can't read. At least with the DVD-Rs, are the files in a known state even unfinalized? i.e. is there any way to read the bits off and reconstruct the data?

The HD in my RD XS32 seems to be going south. Is it possible to replace it with a larger drive or do I need to contact Toshiba for a replacement?

Apologies if this has already been answered but I couldn't locate a thread using the search function.

The discussion in http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=653912&page=2
is now claiming that you can replace the hard drive.

My own experience suggests otherwise however.

I would suggest you contact Toshiba and tell them about the problem though.

This isn't a help question, just something I remembered from reading a thread on tivocommunity where people were wondering if a Tivo could handle a long recording.

You know how the XS32 won't let you manually make a recording over something like 9 hours?

There's another bug where it WILL try to record for ~24 hours.

To reproduce:
1) create a repeating recording that straddles midnight (e.g. 11:35PM-12:37AM, NBC)
2) after midnight manually stop the recording (hit stop twice on recorder)
3) go into the scheduled recording list and turn off then on that same recording
-> it will start recording. But now the time bar will show e.g. 24:30 as the length of the bar..
I've never let it actually go for more than a few mins (or even past the original 12:37AM stop time to see if it REALLY was going to stop here), since if it specifically doesn't allow me to record >9 hours, I don't want to see what it's going to do with this "weird" 24 hour recording.

Guys, Gals,

Just bought this unit and it's great. Only one thing I'm encountering, though. And I'm hoping someone else has experienced this and may have a workaround.

We have Dish Network satellite service and receive a lot of channels that are 4-digit (not pay-per-view where we'd possibly run into copy protection, etc.). I'd like to be able to set up my box to record from a 4-digit channel at a certain time, but the Record Menu only has 3 digits in the channel input. Is there some way around this?

Thanks,
Jim

To record in advance automatically here is my work around.
1. Route your Dish through a line in then out to the TV. I use L1
NOW USING THE DISH REMOTE
2. Use your standard method that you would use on the dish to record, such as go to the guide, scroll to an upcoming show, click info to see the start and end time. Remember the times and date.
3. Then cancel and select the show as if you were recording onto PVR. The timer menu pops us. Instead of choosing PVR, chose AUTO -Tune - 1 minute early just in case. (This has now set your dish to automatically change to the channel youve selected when the show is on) and SAVE.

NOW USING THE REMOTE FOR YOUR RD-XS32

4. Go to the rec menu, set a timer record, and choose L1 as the source instead of a channel. Set the start date and time, and end time to match the time you noted on the info screen above in step 2. Record to the HDD so you don't have to worry if there is a disc in the unit.

Thats it!
Now when you show comes on the DISH will change to the channel and your xs32 recorder will start recording at the same time.
As a enhancement, If you have a favorite show, you can choose to repeat every week in step 3, and do the same on your xs32. :)

Anybody know what is the IF code for Viewsat VS2000 Extreme FTA?

And I doesn't understand the Editing function! I have tried to creat chapter and delete them but I don't have specified enough time in my chapter...can I reset or modify my chapters lenght?

Thanks

Has anybody tried the new Toshiba German firmware for the RD-XS32, which is located here: http://www.toshiba.de/consumer/dvdsupport/89/ Looks like this adds 4x compatibility. Interesting.

Translated loosely by geekhelp on videohelp.com:

English translation of German pdf.

New firmware for the Toshiba D-R1/RD-XS 32 for the improvement of the medium compatibility of the DVD of multi-drive assembly: NOTE: There are two different hardware versions of the D-R1/RD-XS 32. The firmware (L.G.) 1314 and 1416 are for different hardware versions of the DVD of drive assembly. 1. Please you guarantee before an update, which basic version (13 or 14) in your equipment was blocked. This can be examined in the set UP menu. There the L.G. versions of the drive assembly and the software are indicated. The first two numbers indicate, which drive assembly hardware version is in your equipment. 2. Before the update you unpack the downloaded ZIP file. 3. Provide a CD-R on basis the contained image file (* img) over "disk of image provide" in your fuel program. Additionally the ZIP contains - this guidance of file. 4. The file system of the resulting disk cannot be read by a DOS PC. We recommend a burning speed of 2x. 5. You reinvest this disk into the D-R1/RD-XS32 and to switch it off and then. (U.U. must repeat you the procedure several times, if you receive an error message). If the disk should not be accepted, use please a CD-R blank of another manufacturer. 6. Follow the further instructions of the D-R1/RD-XS 32. With the L.G. versions 1314 and 1416 are made possible the compatibility around DVD- RW for media with quadruple (4x) scanning rate of the following manufacturers: 1.TDK 2.JVC 3.MITSBISHI 4.VERBATIM Please you adhere exact to these data and the instructions of the equipment during the update, in order to avoid a defect at your recorder. Note for the Downloadseite: Note: Before the Download please absolutely read: The product is supplied without warranty for defects and without guarantees of any kind - neither expressly nor implicitly -, including the implicit guarantees for the marketability or suitability for a certain purpose. If the software program in any form should prove as lack afflicted, then the quality and product achievement risk lie concerning the software program completely with you. They take over all costs of all necessary maintenance and repair work. Limitation of liability. If one of the warranty exclusions specified above should not apply or if the following limitation of liability should not apply, then the adhesion exceeds or compensation in the context of payment of damages achievements for requirements of any kind in connection with your use of the software program or the documentation - regardless of any juridical systems - not the royalty (if applicable), which you for the software program and the documentation paid, and/or which part of the purchase price, which you for the product, with which the program and the documentation were together sold or supplied, is be added and the software program and the documentation to have paid to that.

Please let everybody else know if it works! I may try this over the weekend.

[QUOTE=JK27]Has anybody tried the new Toshiba German firmware for the RD-XS32, which is located here: http://www.toshiba.de/consumer/dvdsupport/89/ Looks like this adds 4x compatibility. Interesting.


I called toshiba and they sent me a software upgrade to version 1416. Apparently they were sued and are providing the software to those who ask. The phone number is 1 800 631-3811. They say the upgrade is to increase the ability to use various media. I never loaded it because I have started using TY, and most of the problems have ended.

sgm:

Kudos to you for the great info. I just called them. You do need to know which software version you have (starting with a 13xxxx or a 14xxxx). Gotta check that and they'll be mailing it out. Thanks, sgm! :cool:

P.S. Just read farther back in this thread and found out that the new firmware news had been posted months ago. Serves me right for not keeping up on the posts in this forum!! Better late than never ... :o

JK27

Glad I could help

Let me know if you see any improvement after the upgrade. As I said, I just switched to better disks instead of upgrading. However, some of my -RW have been coming up bad, and I have not found any -RW that are as good as the TY -R.

Hi

did anyone of you tried to replace the SD W3002 drive from your XS32 drive with another one?
I have a brother model, the D R1, which isn't working well for some time now. Only the Toshiba DVD RAM sold with the unit still agrees to be written.

Also, does anyone have the firmware update for a PAL device in French or English?
Or is the German one containing english text? Did anyone tried that German firmware?

sgm:

Have been looking for news of this update. Possibly I missed details somewhere in this thread. Can you say whether the firmware update in question addresses DVD-R vs DVD+R compatibility?

Seems my external DVD-recorder drive (Sony DRU 710A), which writes only DVD+R etc. cannot create a disk the RD-XS32 will read, at least with any reliability. I think I can produce readable disks in my oldish version of Nero, but Sony's Vegas and related DVD authoring products (at least in their basic, disabled versions) are creating some sort of problem.

Reading the current online (Archived) specs for the Toshiba (on the US site), it seems I should consider myself lucky it reads anything written to a DVD+R disk.

PS: Oddly enough, the DVD+Rs written with Sony software play just fine on my "junky" 13" Toshiba with built-in DVD player, and, of course, on my computer, as long as the system is stable.

Considering this machine is not going to support HDV (etc) in any significant way, replacement is all but inevitable, since I recently acquired a Canon XL H1 (HDV camcorder) and will be wanting a way to use its HD features, short of building a full broadcast editing suite. Still, given that these disks have shown themselves incompatible with this and a few other older machines, I'm trying to see what I can do to make the DVDs I create (especially from my own footage) as compatible as possible without degrading video/audio quality any more than necessary.

Right now I've been shooting in HD mode and downconverting to SD video so they'll continue to work on standard TVs and DVD decks. But just in distro to ha handful of friends with less than the newest players, I seem to be running into problems of playability on some/not all of those machines, even when producing DVDs in the crude mode possible directly from the Toshiba deck, and (of course) on DVD-R disks.

Btw, except for the early debacle of not realizing the Toshiba only recorded DVD-R disks (and trying to record on DVD+Rs) I've had no disk compatibility problems to speak of, where writing is concerned, at least. I hesitate to say it, since most, I'm sure, are better informed than I was, but if you are having problems writing to disks, you might double check that you're writing to -R or -RW, not +R or +RW which, aside from the + or -, usually show little in the way of differences in packaging. In fact, I returned my first player to Best Buy and even (or maybe especially) there they missed that obvious little detail -- I only managed to clear it up by accidentally running into someone on the floor who'd spent a good deal of time learning and selling the various DVD recorders available at the time.

My apologies to anyone who might feel insulted at my stating the obvious. Seems to me there's a lot that's pretty sketchy about these devices, especially in their first few generations, and I'm sure that most of the problems that others have had and reported here are characteristic as well, at least for some fraction of the machines active in the wild.

And I doesn't understand the Editing function! I have tried to creat chapter and delete them but I don't have specified enough time in my chapter...can I reset or modify my chapters lenght?


Are you talking about auto chapter creation, or manual?

You can't delete very short (less than 1 second or so) chapters, BUT you can merge too short chapters with adjacent ones and then, if need be, define a longer segment to be deleted. If the segment you want to avoid is very, very short, keep the undeletable short chapter(s) and create a playlist to exclude the tiny bits you want to cut. Then record to DVD using the playlist.

Using playlists has the added advantage of allowing you to redefine chapters using the auto feature (or your own choices) to make breaks on visible frames rather than the black frames you'll often get when editing out commercials from broadcast programs.

Ebbixx

As I said in my original post, I never loaded the upgrade. I simply started using TY disks since they are said to be the best and are the only ones listed in the manual. I believe the upgrade is to widen the scope of disks that the recorder will use. However Toshiba, for business reasons, has not supported the +R format. The phone number for Toshiba is: 1 800 631-3811. I suggest you call them and ask. Make sure you know your system software version.

sgm,

Thanks for clearing that up. At least one thing I'm pretty sure of now, this will be the last Toshiba product I'll have purchased, given how many DVDRs now support both -R and +R disks.

Soon enough, I'll be needing to find an HD-DVD or BluRay recorder anyway, so it sounds like there's little cause for me to worry about the upgrade, especially since my unit doesn't seem to have had trouble with any other brands of -R disks.

Thanks again!

In the UK I emailed Toshiba support for the upgrade CD ( after having been told by them previously that an upgrade was not available).

I phoned the contact number supplied in their reply & after a long series of menu options got through to someone who could help.

He asked some info re serial number place & date of purchase and promised a disc would be sent later in the week.

The next day the disc arrived from them with a compliment slip ( no instructions however)

Inserted disc in drive after a short time a message came up something like "Upgrading firmware do not turn machine off" A short time later machine seemed to freeze ie tv picture locked and stayed like this for some time. I just started to phone Toshiba up to query the problem when another message came up telling me to "hold the power button down for at least 10 seconds" obviously to reboot the machine.

On restart software version now shows ZL12 & dvd drive software 1414

Top marks to Toshiba for quick delivery but it would have been nice to have had some instructions & a warning about the longish wait whilst the machine was in the frozen state.

Have not yet had chance to see if upgrade has made any difference but I have had a lot of problems in the past with finalizing, I wonder if this will be any better now. Will post results when I have had chance to test.

Oops on checking, dvd software is 1414 should be 1416 I believe, have emailed Toshiba about this and am awaiting a reply

Anyone having trouble with the Auto Clock Set?

I have a JVC DVHS that auto sets off the cable while the Toshiba can't seem to find the signal.

Or rather, the Toshiba finds a signal that is +4 hours ahead/greater than the current time.

So I manually set the Time Zone to Eastern and I get -1 hour difference, or no daylight savings time.

I know England is + 5 hours but I wonder what is +4?

Iceland?

______________

I thought I was joking about Iceland but that is correct. In fact, +4 hours right now is GMT.

Hummmmm....

So I'm manually selecting Eastern and Summertime and hopefully, that will correct whatever signal the Toshi is finding.

GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) is England since Greenwich is in England. England is now 5 hours ahead because of BST (British Summer Time), which is like our Daylight Saving Time, that is 1 hour ahead of Standard time. GMT is British Standard Time, and GMT does not change during the year.

Good luck with the Toshiba.

Yes, the UK is +5 and GMT is +4 (my uncle was a HAM.)

I think the problem is that there can be many channels that do a time code - that is why you can force the time zone to Eastern and also force DST. So I set it to Easter, and DST=yes and I'm getting a reasonable time. However, the PBS station is NOT the one that is providing the time. They contacted me and said their signal was AOK but the Toshi will not recognize that channel.

The Pani DVHS auto timed perfectly last night, then this morning it was set at GMT again, so I had to manually force zone and DST on that one too.

10 years ago this was never a problem because ONLY PBS provided the time code.

Very interesting. I have not run into this problem (fingers crossed).

I keep getting an ERR-14 message everytime I try to create a new DVD. I am using Verbatim DVD-R's, I have use over a hundred of these same ones without a problem. I tried about 6 different blank DVD-R's with the same result. The manual says ERR-14 - "DVD disc access error detected" Anyone else run into this problem, if so did you get it corrected? Hopefully the DVD-R drive is not bad, it will still play DVD's.

I think the drive and/or discs may be going bad. I'm seeing this on DVD-Rs too, old unfinalized ones. It can read the old stuff fine.. but when I try to add new stuff, it fails... (and finalizing fails too)

Has anyone at all been able to replace the DVD drive while STILL being able to read unfinalized discs from their previous drive?

Hello All.

I just finished reading all the posts here and could not find an answer. So I thought I would ask.

QUESTION: I recently moved and now I have to settle for regular analog cable through Rogers, cause my new building does not allow SAT.
I Set the PVR to record 2 shows. ( 1 at 9:00 to 9:59 ) and the other ( at 10:01 to 11:00). Now many of you already probibly know is the recorder needs 5 mins to set itself to record. This caused a big issue. The last 4 mins of my 1st show was cut off and then got a message the the recording is corrupt, after whatching 54 mins already. Tried to watch the 2nd show and got the same recording error right away.

When I had BEV SAT. I let the SAT box change the channels and time and left the PVR to Line1. It worked great.

I really dont want to invest the money into the digital box through rogers because I am a long haul Truck Driver and well I would be wasting more money for only being home 4 days a month.

If anyone has a fix for this, I will be one happy Trucker, to be able and see all my shows in one weekend again.

Thanks in Advance for your help and suggestions.

I don't have an answer to your question, but you CAN set recordings to start/end at the same time.. That is, 9-10:00, and 10:00-11:00.

It'll just annoyingly append ":NEXT RECORDING" (plus some more that I forget) to the end of the first recording.

It'll actually end part of a minute before 10:00, but you'll usually get the whole program.


BTW, I had mine hang in a scary way over the weekend that made me think again it had corrupted the hard drive.

I started dubbing a playlist from the hard drive to the hard drive. The thermometer filled almost completely almost immediately. (It's around ~5 minutes total, two chapters). The screen said 71/100 and the front of the unit said 1/100 .. or vice versa, I forget which one said which.

I waited until the next recording was scheduled to record (because in retrospect, the hang that caused mine to corrupt a year ago probably would have eventually fixed itself after the recording finished, based upon other quirks I've seen).. nothing happened.. So I force powered it off..

Coming back on, it WASN'T corrupted.

I'll try dubbing the playlist to a DVD-RW at some point.

Oxx44

Are you using the Toshiba RD XS-32? That is the subject of this thread and that is what I am using. While the recorder needs time to set up to record, It does this while you are watching another show or while it is recording. I set mine to end at .59 and start on the hour. It gives me exactly 59 min in the last recording. If I end and start on the hour, it gives me an overlap message. It will however accept the program. but I have never tried it with this overlap.

Mattack

Are you using the Toshiba RD XS-32? If so, Ill experiment with leaving the overlap.

Regarding my earlier post Toshiba Uk now tell me that the only upgrade that they supply is the one to upgrade from software version z11 to z12
Has any one from the UK or in any other locality (apart from Germany) managed to upgrade the DVD Software from 1414 to 1416 using the download available from the German website http://www.toshiba.de/consumer/dvdsupport/89/ ????

As I feel that using this will have to be my last resort but I, obviously, do not wish to crash my machine.

Does anyone know of any major regional differences in the recorders (apart from region codes)

Your comments & advice would be appreciated

Are you using the Toshiba RD XS-32? That is the subject of this thread and that is what I am using. While the recorder needs time to set up to record, It does this while you are watching another show or while it is recording. I set mine to end at .59 and start on the hour. It gives me exactly 59 min in the last recording. If I end and start on the hour, it gives me an overlap message. It will however accept the program. but I have never tried it with this overlap.

Yes I am.. if I weren't, I would have stated that, since this is an XS32 thread.

I get the overlap message all the time, but make "overlapping" (start/end at the same time) recordings all the time.

does any one know how to program other remote controls to control this dvd recorder it always just sais dr2 when i put a code in

Had a DVD stuck in the drive opened up DVD Drive to remove (what a cheap & tacky unit) & now Kaput.

Does anyone know of a replacement DVD Drive that will work in this unit ( preferably one that is available in the UK ) or is it like the hard drive that can only use the same make & type of unit.

Have tried an Nec ND 4550a but when fitted gives the disc reading error (disc unusable or dirty) even when just trying to play any DVD even pre recorded.

Any help would be appreciated.

KDBCOM

Previously I pulled this info. from this site. Try a seaarch. I never did a replacement but this post sounds hopeful.

"Great advice on this site. I've replaced the DVD drive in my RD-XS32 with an LG-GSA-H10N DVD recorder and it works better"

There has to be something going on with the DVD drives because my rd-xs32 was fine for a year then all of a sudden it would not read discs properly (the same brands I always used). I found that if I turned the unit off for an hour or so, it would read the discs better for a few and then it would get bad again. Error 14's I also got and did not for the first year.

I was happy there was an upgrade so I got it from Toshiba and everything loaded fine, I now have 1416. No help though, I still have problems reading discs so when I want to burn some DVD's I make sure I have it off for an hour or so and it works fine for a bit. Still no ideal.

:-)
Rob

I obtained the 1416 upgrade from Toshiba but it would not load. It says that disk is dirty or damaged. The machine does read most disks but does have some problems. I received a second upgrade disk from Toshiba but it did not work either. They said to send the machine in, but I don’t think I’m ready for that, especially when it still works.

Has anyone else had problems with the 1416 upgrade?

What countries are you guys in as Toshiba say they dont have an upgrade to 1416 in the UK. Would one from another country do ??

What countries are you guys in as Toshiba say they dont have an upgrade to 1416 in the UK. Would one from another country do ??


I am in the US. Since the US version will not work for me, I don’t think you would have much luck with it in the UK. One difference that my machine has with those in the UK and even some in the US is that when the power goes off, it loses the programmed recordings. I have it hooked to an UPS.

Successfully changed the DVD with the LG GSA-H10N
Obviously had to remove the Front Panel & the drawer Front on the new drive but apart from that the changeover was easy.
Software level now shows up as JL10.
Most functions seem to work but I don't seem to be able to play audio CDs nor a couple of DVds recorded on other machines. Pre recorded DVDs seem to work & I think that I am able to play unfinalised DVDs previously recorded on the Toshiba.
DVD manual states the the drive is region specific (region 2 as I am in the UK) but it gives 5 changes of region until it locks on to the region you choose (from the 5th & final DVD inserted )

This LG drive looks like a good replacement (if you are not worried about the CD playing feature)

Having replaced the DVD Drive, as in the last post, should I upgrade the DVD Software on the machine to version 1416 or should I keep the current DVD software as JL10 that came with the LG Drive ???

I suspected this for a long time, but this component has a substantial loss of video response (detail) when compared to other video components I have.

I have everything connected from a JVC JX-S900 switcher and moved the Toshiba to another channel on the switcher to eliminate the switcher and there was no improvement.

I suspect I may have more problems because I have a faint diagonal line noise pattern that can be seen in low light images. The angle of the diagonal lines is about 5 degrees from the horizontal.

I've disconnected the video connection so that I was sure I was running off the SVHS and still the loss. (Watching Narnia, you can't see the kids freckles and the detail in Tomlis' cave walls is massively noticeable.

I was trying to find some sharpness setting, but there doesn't appear to be one.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks
Tom

_______________________


I've been swapping out cables trying to find the cause of this and it still looks like the Toshiba. I swear its almost as bad as VHS video freq resp.

_______________________


I suspect the "pass thru" signal is no such thing because when this unit locks up, it freezes the pass thru image. This means it is definitely being converted to digital memory.

With this in mind, my "problem" could very well be merely that the image quality of this recorder simply isn't that good.

Yikes!

I was looking at the "editing" abilities of the HD (hard drive, not hi def) DVDs in WalMart (Philips and Polaroid) and they have virtually no editing ability to speak of.

Any thoughts with later Toshiba models - I'll bet they all don't have the extensive editing ability of the 32.

Other manufacturers?

It would be nice to do +- and DL.

Regards,
Tom

I only have the 32, but as far as I've read here, the later ones have basically the same features, especially regarding editing.

the only feature I can think of off the top of my head that the later ones don't have apparently is the ability to start a recording, then set the "end time" in the contextual menu. Basically a very convenient way of starting a live recording then record for a certain period of time. (I use this ALL the time when recording shows from my Tivo to the XS32)

Mattack,

I was looking at specs on the 52 (and 34) and if I have it right they STILL only read and write DVD-R.

No +R and no DL.

I think that is pathetic considering what is out there these days.

I have never been confident in the DVD burning quality of the Toshiba. Slow loading, not recognizing discs, finicky on media, etc. , etc.,... The fact that they are sticking with -R just doesn't make me feel warm and fuzzy.

Oh, my 32 is real finicky on CD's. In fact, I didn't realize it actually placed CD's because the few that I was listening to simply were not readable in the Toshi.

But ewwww.... the editing power of the 32 series is monumental.

The 2006 Toshiba models are a little better, adding -RW, but still no +R, +RW, -R DL or +R DL.

I agree that the choices for recordable media are very sparse compared to other units like the Panasonics and the Pioneers.

Regarding 6volts statement earlier
Quote
" I suspect I may have more problems because I have a faint diagonal line noise pattern that can be seen in low light images. The angle of the diagonal lines is about 5 degrees from the horizontal. "

I too have a strange screen occurance.

When viewing a program via the xs32 you get a shadow of the program that works its way across the screen from left to right. However, if you are recording you do not get this if you have recorded it to hard drive. It seems to have happened since changing the scart sockets over & changing av1 & av2 (after replacing the DVD unit which became faulty)

I have always been able to record fine to a DVD for 2 years, but recently I have been getting err14 flashing on my display, which I know is a disc access error. If I have it turned off for a while and record right after I turn it on it seems to record, but then when I play the disc it will get halfway through and I get a dirty disc message on whatever player I play it on. I look at the disc and it is not dirty, but I do notice a definite line where it looks like there are 2 different recordings if that makes any sense. Usually by looking at a disc you can tell where something has been recorded, if you look at this one, you can tell, but the recorded part is separated in 2. Most of the time it will not record anything though. Any ideas?

Brian

Hi! It is possible to put the RD-XS32 region free?

Has anyone tried to output from a pc via firewire to the XS32 or XS52? The application would be to edit video on the PC using editing software and then send it back to the XS via firewire for recording to the HDD or burning?

I have video editing software on my laptop PC, but no DVD burner.

Thanks in advance.


On another note, has anyone tried to output from the XS32 to a PC? Is it even possible? The burner on mine has crapped out and I have a lot of home movies on the HD that I can't save to DVD. Whenever I try to burn a DVD, it seems to work, but when you try to play the DVD (whether on the XS32 or another DVD player) it freezes after about six minutes.

Check this thread for the LiteOn drive replacement. Seems to work OK for DVD but will not play CDs.

I am new to this forum. The DVD drive on my rd-xs32 appears to have cratered. The disc will not spin after loading and I am looking to replace the drive.


Does anyone know if the gsa-h22li will work in place of the h10l for replacing the dvd drive. I am trying to buy from a local retailer and it seems that the h10l has been replaced by the h22li. Will I need to update the bios on the rd-xs32?

Thanks

Regarding 6volts statement earlier
Quote
" I suspect I may have more problems because I have a faint diagonal line noise pattern that can be seen in low light images. The angle of the diagonal lines is about 5 degrees from the horizontal. "

I too have a strange screen occurance.

When viewing a program via the xs32 you get a shadow of the program that works its way across the screen from left to right. However, if you are recording you do not get this if you have recorded it to hard drive. It seems to have happened since changing the scart sockets over & changing av1 & av2 (after replacing the DVD unit which became faulty)

Since changing out the scart sockets (?) and changing av1 & av2 (?)

What components are these? It may be that this area may be very sensitive to lead routing or something similar.

I am new to this forum. The DVD drive on my rd-xs32 appears to have cratered. The disc will not spin after loading and I am looking to replace the drive.


Does anyone know if the gsa-h22li will work in place of the h10l for replacing the dvd drive. I am trying to buy from a local retailer and it seems that the h10l has been replaced by the h22li. Will I need to update the bios on the rd-xs32?

Thanks


I just tested a HP DVD840 which is basically a LG GSA-H20L. The GSA-H22L will probably work as long as i is DVD RAM capable. It is easy to test it out without actually taking out the old one. Just follow the directions from this link:

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

Also when you test it, make sure for ejecting and closing the tray to use the button on the Toshiba unit and not the button on the DVD burner itself. If you use the button on the actualy DVD burner, the discs won't load and I was doing that thinking that the HP DVD840 was not going to work, but when I used the button on the Toshiba unit everything worked like a charm. Loaded previously unfinalized discs as well.

:-)
Rob

Does anyone know where you can get a new fan for the XS32? Mine is making a lot of loud noises and I am thinking if I can just replace the fan things will be ok.

I seem to be having more of the recordings that I can't use high speed dubbing -- they hang the recorder. As far as I remember, I have NOT ever seen this on a full recording. But most of the things that I dub to DVD are small snippets from talk shows (usually musical performances). When they were originally dubbed from my Tivo, I end up with 2 chapters, a tiny bit from the beginning (tivo info about what the show is), and then the musical segment.

I *have* been able to do a real-time dub some to DVD -- of course in that case it is just playing and recording simultaneously.

Anyway, I found out one thing that *might* be a slight hint about which recordings this happens with. When using dub selected items, I noticed that at least SOME of the un-dubbable items would not show a blue area taken up when you select them in the bottom section.

In other words, you select an item in the top section, hit enter.. it moves the insertion bar down to the bottom and immediately fills in part of the disk full thermometer. (Then you pick exactly where you want to put it, and hit enter again and it adds it to the list of items to dub.)

For at least *some* of the non-dubbable items (I ran into 4-5 of them last night), I noticed that the blue bar would NOT fill in when the insertion point showed up in the bottom section.

I paid attention, and other items that should have filled up the same approx amount (~5 minutes, 2.0 LPCM) did fill in sections when doing this.

I have to pay even more attention to see if I ever do run into an un-dubbable item that DOES show the blue bar fill in, or items that are dubbable that don't show the bar fill in... But this seemed at least somewhat related, even if it's not a causal relationship.

Since changing out the scart sockets (?) and changing av1 & av2 (?)

What components are these? It may be that this area may be very sensitive to lead routing or something similar.

They are the 21 pin ( I think you call them perital ) sockets for Audio & Video in and out.

For some strange reason when I connected them back as they used to be the machine did not function properly however by reversing the AV1 & AV2 plugs it works as it did ( & should) but I now have this Video interference, most weird

Does anyone know where you can get a new fan for the XS32? Mine is making a lot of loud noises and I am thinking if I can just replace the fan things will be ok.

Try ebay or a good computer wholesaler ( but measure up your fan first) from what I remember from opening up my XS 32 I dont think that it was a standard computer size Fan

I have lubricated PC CPU fans in the past but you only usually get about another 6 months quiet life out of them.

Hope that it is not the hard drive going faulty as these appear to be impossible to replace according to previous posts

Wow, my XS32 does not have SCARTS on the back panel. It has a completely different layout from the URL that shows how to replace the DVD drive.

Are the SCARTS in European models???

Wow, my XS32 does not have SCARTS on the back panel. It has a completely different layout from the URL that shows how to replace the DVD drive.

Are the SCARTS in European models???

Yep Mines a UK Model with 2 x Scarts

I probably should open the case and just poke around with a stick to see if my noise interference pattern is sensitive to anything physical inside.

Hi all - anyone know if its possible to do a factory reset on the XS32?? If so how??

I just tested a HP DVD840 which is basically a LG GSA-H20L. The GSA-H22L will probably work as long as i is DVD RAM capable. It is easy to test it out without actually taking out the old one. Just follow the directions from this link:


Also when you test it, make sure for ejecting and closing the tray to use the button on the Toshiba unit and not the button on the DVD burner itself. If you use the button on the actualy DVD burner, the discs won't load and I was doing that thinking that the HP DVD840 was not going to work, but when I used the button on the Toshiba unit everything worked like a charm. Loaded previously unfinalized discs as well.

:-)
Rob

I was able to successfully replace my broken drive with a HP DVD840. It is able to read unfinalized disks and finalize them. Except for slower at loading discs it seems to perform excactly the same as the previous drive. The link with the instructions was helpful except I did not understand the part about powering down the unit with the drive door opened. When I did that the door closed anyway. I landed up hooking the drive back up before installing it so that I could open the door to get the face plate off of the tray. Thanks for all of the help from this forum. Glad to have my unit back working again :)

Randy,

Does the HP drive play CD's? (I think people previously said the LG didn't.)

Thanks
Tom

Randy,

Does the HP drive play CD's? (I think people previously said the LG didn't.)

Thanks
Tom

I put a CD in the drive and it played but I could not get any of the functions on the remote to work and it finally locked up the unit and the only way to get it back was to unplug it.

I was able to successfully replace my broken drive with a HP DVD840. It is able to read unfinalized disks and finalize them. Except for slower at loading discs it seems to perform excactly the same as the previous drive.

Do you mean slower than the STOCK drive in an XS32? It really is awfully slow at loading discs, I wouldn't want it to be worse.

So just to absolutely be clear -- you were able to read unfinalized discs made with the ORIGINAL stock drive on this new drive? Both DVD-R and DVD-RW?

Can you use 4x DVD-RW?

Do you mean slower than the STOCK drive in an XS32? It really is awfully slow at loading discs, I wouldn't want it to be worse.

So just to absolutely be clear -- you were able to read unfinalized discs made with the ORIGINAL stock drive on this new drive? Both DVD-R and DVD-RW?

Can you use 4x DVD-RW?

It is slower than the stock drive in loading discs that I have created. It will play unfinalized DVD-R as well as DVD-RW. However I have not been able to get it to play RAM discs.

Have not tried 4x DVD-RW.

mwave.com has the HP-DVD840 for $39.99 plus shipping.

http://www.mwave.com/mwave/viewspec.hmx?scriteria=AA46000&RSKU=AA46000

Has anyone else tried any other model of DVD drive replacement? Are the two (or three) models listed so far being mentioned specifically because they support DVD-RAM? Also, for those of you who have successfully replaced your DVD drive, are you now able to use DVD +R/+RW disks as well (if the new drive supports this format)? I am not concerned with DVD-RAM, and just need to replace my DVD drive. I have found a few new DVD drives for under $30, but they do not support DVD-RAM.

Thanks!

I haven't found too much about which 8x media works with stock firmware (specifics including UPC code)

and while a number of people have explained how to do the German firmware upgrade, I haven't heard much about what people experienced after the upgrade. I'm a bit concerned about the German upgrade because the European models are truly different with SCARTs on the rear panel.

OK, so I have finally finished reading through all 626 posts in this thread! From what I can tell, a lot of people are having problems with the DVD burner (on the RD-XS32) -- especially once the Toshiba unit passes the 12-month (out of warranty) point. My problems started with the inability to read -RW disks that were created on a PC. -RW disks worked fine all the way up the 13-month point, then started to occasionally give the "Disk is dirty" message. Now -RW disks do not play at all -- including the same -RW disks that worked fine a few months ago. Additionally, I can only play -R disks (also recorded on a PC) about 50% of the time, and there is no particular pattern. For example, I can play the same -R disk one day, whereas on a different day, it says "Disk is dirty".

Now, I am starting to have problems recording to -R disks -- again, using the same brand, speed and even spindle of disks that worked fine a few months ago. I use the one step method (I think it is just called Create DVD), where you select a title from the HD, name your DVD, select the colors for the title and chapter menus and then select record. It will go to 100% complete, then go through the finalize stage. After that, it asks, "Create another DVD?" I say no, and it will either stop at that point or immediately say, "Disk is dirty". When it does stop (appearing to have been successful), it will not play all the way through -- nor will the DVD play on a PC or other DVD player.

So far, I have tried to replace the DVD recorder with another unit (an older Toshiba brand 2X/1X) which produced the exact same results. I have not yet tried one of the "successful/compatible" brands listed previously in this thread. I also tried the firmware/software upgrade disk, but it made no difference at all. My unit is a U.S. version.

During the first 12 months, when -R disks recorded just fine, it always produced an even burn, meaning no color variations on the recorded side of the DVD. Now it produces alternating shade grooves similar to an old 45 record. Does anyone think this might be a power supply or capacitor problem with the Toshiba RD-XS32 unit (as oppsoed to just the DVD burner)?

Aside from changing out the DVD recorder with one of the two brands listed in this thread, what has anyone else done? I am very leery of purchasing another Toshiba unit (based on so many people with similar problems, and Toshiba's horrible customer support), but other Hard Drive/DVD recorders like Panasonic do not seem to be much better.

Sorry this was such a long post!

Also, as a side note, I had the loud fan problem myself. There are two ways to fix this: One is to remove the fan and spray it with a little WD-40, or preferably Silicon spray. Second is just to get a replacement 50mm fan. The problem with getting a replacement fan is that it will be hard to find the same type of connector, meaning you might have to cut the wires and splice the original connector (maybe not something that most people would feel comfortable doing).

Hmm, I think I've noticed 'alternating groove colors' on DVD-Rs for as long as I've had it.

Though I did have one DVD-RW corrupt on me the other day, and I wasn't even writing to it!

I put in the DVD-RW, started to dub the second recording to the hard drive. The dubbing failed at some point and it said check the drive or something like that. At that point, I *could* see the recordings on the DVD-RW. I even FF-ed through the recording that had failed to dub to the hard drive (though I was FFing at one of the very high speeds, so I realize I could have skipped over bad spots).

I shut down the recorder and ejected and reinserted the DVD-RW, though I don't remember if it was in that order. Now it says there's nothing on the disc.

It was only a couple of documentaries, and the one I was trying to dub to the hard drive I care about even less.. But there was one other two hour recording that had one of the Secrets of the Dead episodes and I think a Nova in it.. Again, not the biggest deal in the world..

But it's VERY surprising to have a disc go bad when I wasn't even recording to it or deleting titles.

At some point I'll just reinitialize the disc and see if it still works..

The WD-40 spray is only really a short term option ( I have been using this for years on PC CPU cooler fans but the fans seem to go noisy after a fairly short time). A better bet is to try and use a heavier based oil ( I use 3 in 1 oil) but to do this successfully you really need to take the fan out and get a lot of oil inside the fan and then leave it to drain out for a day or two. The best option is really to change the fan. I use crimp connectors when changing PC fans.

Hi,

I have this recorder and have never been able to figure out how to program it so that it regularly records at a specific time during one day a week. For example, I want to program it so that it automatically records a 1 hour show every Monday at 8:00pm. Is this possible? Has anybody done this?

I'm looking at the manual and I can't figure it out.

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it seems I can program it for a specific time and date. Or for a specific time that occurs every Sunday to Saturday, a specific time every Monday to Thursday, a specific time every Monday to Friday, a specific time Monday to Saturday, or a specific time everyday.

I can do this for a specific time and date. But then I have to keep manually reprogramming it every week. I just want to program it once and not worry about it.

Hi,

I have this recorder and have never been able to figure out how to program it so that it regularly records at a specific time during one day a week. For example, I want to program it so that it automatically records a 1 hour show every Monday at 8:00pm. Is this possible? Has anybody done this?

I'm looking at the manual and I can't figure it out.

Unless I'm reading it wrong, it seems I can program it for a specific time and date. Or for a specific time that occurs every Sunday to Saturday, a specific time every Monday to Thursday, a specific time every Monday to Friday, a specific time Monday to Saturday, or a specific time everyday.

I can do this for a specific time and date. But then I have to keep manually reprogramming it every week. I just want to program it once and not worry about it.


Use the down arrow below the enter key to scroll through all the options. You first will see the days that you mentioned, but if you keep "scrolling" the other options will appear ie., every Sun, every Sat, etc.

Use the down arrow below the enter key to scroll through all the options. You first will see the days that you mentioned, but if you keep "scrolling" the other options will appear ie., every Sun, every Sat, etc.

Wow! Thanks so much! I can't believe I never saw that. I suspect it might be because I always used the UP arrow and that just scrolled through each individual day for the next month or so and if I did use the DOWN arrow, then I probably didn't scroll down long enough. :o

I just replaced my DVD-R drive with an LG GSA-H10NI and it worked perfectly. I tested a Verbatim 8x DVD-R and it worked perfectly, lot quicker load time as well. I will test some other media and cd's and post back the results.

Hi pinpan....I am thinking of swapping out my dvd drive for an LG - can you still use the DVDrams in their case - or if not, can the drawer be changed??

cheers

Hi pinpan....I am thinking of swapping out my dvd drive for an LG - can you still use the DVDrams in their case - or if not, can the drawer be changed??

cheers

I haven't tried a RAM disc yet I will try it tonight and post back tomorrow.

Hi pinpan....I am thinking of swapping out my dvd drive for an LG - can you still use the DVDrams in their case - or if not, can the drawer be changed??

cheers

I have the LG Drive (the model 20 I think) and you cannot use the DVDrams in their cases but it is not difficult to remove the rams from their cases. I am sure that it would not be possible to change the drawer & why bother when it is so easy to just remove the rams from their cases.

I have one of these damded machines, I manage to make it work sometimes,
did you chage the dvd-r yourself, I would possibly think of doing that.

I just replaced my DVD-R drive with an LG GSA-H10NI and it worked perfectly. I tested a Verbatim 8x DVD-R and it worked perfectly, lot quicker load time as well. I will test some other media and cd's and post back the results.

Can you try a DVD-RW higher than 2X an see if it works?

Also, can you read/modify *unfinalized* DVD-R and DVD-RW made on the original drive?

I had success with maxell 8x then after about 50 no more,
sony were ok too only up to 8 x, amazingly I bought some cheap DATAWARE and they work ok
occasionally I get a failure but if I do Rate coversion dub in same Bit rate it ussually works.
But Now get this. I tried to record Jarhead off the Movie network onto the HDD and it wouldnt record. Copy protected material. tried several times and on the thumbnail is said compy protected material not allowed. That is no fun. You are away and want to record a movie just to watch and you cant even do that. So I guess the future for this machine will
become more and more limited. I can understand not copying it to dvd but now more and more movies are uncopyable.
I guess the networks are pushing through some cp thing more and more.
Jarhead was the only one I have encounted so far but more to come I am sure.
I am going to read through the HP or LG replacment dvd once mine totally stops working
I guess I have managed to burn about 300 dvds over 3 years or so. RAM no workie anymore.
I had sent it to Toshiba twice in the first year, The first time I got it back from purolator the connections were all smashed in and had to send it back to them.
When it was there They upgraded it to ZL 14 1416 or somthing I forget now. But it didnt really help much except for burning 8x discs for a while. Never worked with 1 - 16x discs
anyways at least the Hard drive still works fine so its not a total loss.
and if I dont replace the dvd drive can always copy to another dvd through component
although the quality will suffer Its a last resort for this Machine from Hell.

oh yeah my fan is making noise, if I turn it off it and reboot it usually is ok.
time to oil it I guess

I've just replaced the drive with the latest LG GSA H22N/H12 cost 31 euros here in Spain!!

Job was fairly easy, just had to remove the front from the new drive and remount it using the original brackets.

Seems to work OK - will read a -RW that it wouldn't before, also reads the DVD RAM OK without it's case!! Can't be any worse than the 'old' one (almost 15months!!!)

I'll try a few other tests when I get time.

I have one of these damded machines, I manage to make it work sometimes,
did you chage the dvd-r yourself, I would possibly think of doing that.

Go for it.

It is a relatively easy job to change the DVD unit ( there is a post earlier with a thread that gives full instructions & pictures so you can see what is involved first)

Mine seems to record much better now I have changed over to the LG unit

Good luck with the changeover

The post is in the Tosh XS32 DVD Burner thread not this one

Here is the link to the instructions (with thanks to member caz66)

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

Anybody know what is the IF code for Viewsat VS2000 Extreme FTA?


I am interested in this as well.

thanks

I have one of these damded machines, I manage to make it work sometimes,
did you chage the dvd-r yourself, I would possibly think of doing that.

I guess I am among the few owners who like this machine.
I am new to this thread and bought my recorder about two years ago. I bought it in Jan 2005 primarily for hard drive recording since I was tired of waiting for the Sony HDTV HD recorder, which was supposed to be available in Dec 04 but didn't do so until the middle of 2005. I used it together with an cable company HDTV receiver to record HDTV programs, and was very pleased with its performance and features. These days i use it only to record standard tv. I would have bought the recorder even if it didn't have a DVD burner. After i got the unit, i was happy to have the burner and made quit a few recordings before it started to produce coasters.

A few weeks ago, I got it back from Toshiba authorized repair to fix the DVD problem. I sent it there because of Visa extended coverage. Toshiba has agreement with this company to charge flat fee of $139 so Visa paid except for cost of shipping to repair location. If your recorder is less than 2 years old and paid for with credit card you may be able to do the same.

If not, replacing drive is easy to do. In fact, yesterday the repair company shipped me a new DVD drive since my recorder still makes faulty DVD-R recordings. They apparently replaced my DVD unit with like type instead of new one. They wanted me to ship the recorder but to them but I offered to put the drive in myself to avoid having to ship it back again and lose the unit for three weeks.

I installed new DVD drive today. It was easy to do, and above link showing installation procedure was very helpful. However, the new drive didn't fix my problem: DVD-R recording plays ok on the Toshiba recorder but on my Toshiba DVD player, it produces a distored image. Picture starts lower on tv screen and is magnified. Anyone else experience this defect.

Ray

Has anybody tried NEXXTECH DVD-Rs with their XS32? I bought a pack at Circuit City on Saturday. They were $3.99, and I wanted to try a brand besides the Fry's house brand, most of which seem flaky in my latest pack (the machine seems to burn them, but then upon trying to bring up the content menu, it says the disc is dirty or damaged... the DVD is a coaster).

So I put in one of these NEXXTECH ones, and I *don't* get the bizarre drive noises I've been getting on some DVDs lately (these noises have been described in this and other threads in the past).

Upon trying to dub, I almost IMMEDIATELY get the -14 error. I tried another, same thing.

These are 8X discs.. so are my Fry's ones. But I was able, on the same day, to record some more *and finalize* an older Fry's disc..

So it doesn't seem 100% to be the drive being bad, but it also seems likely.

I'm wondering if anybody else has used these NEXXTECH ones on an XS32.

After drive replacement I seem to get lines at the top of the picture when I play the DVD on a computer. Picture quality though is ok.

I've been eying up a Polaroid 2001 and have a Toshiba RD-XS32.

What is completely lacking anywhere AFAIK, is a popular website to list experiences trying a certain media in a certain recorder.

I don't think there is any such area on this web site unfortunately since I think this is one of the key sites for this kind of information (if I'm wrong, please educate me.)

Assuming I didn't miss anything and there is NO such area at this site, I would suggest www.videohelp.com as a candidate site for people everywhere to log there experiences.

The site is another prime site, however, their logging method is rather complicated since they ask for so much information on the media. In particular, the logging is done relative to media rather than recorder.

I have mentioned this to them, and they said they will be adding a simplified, intuitive method for logging media from a specific recorder page.

I think it is imperitive to have an up-to-date database of information given the compatibility issues regarding this stuff.

Regards
Tom

I am trying to install an HP840 in my RX32. It has not burned a DVD in some time, but has played them and I am able to view shows from the HD. In the Esbuilders article, it mentioned setting the dvd to "master", I can't find a switch and if it is done on the menu it won't come up, I assume because of the 7071. The HP powers up and opens and closes on it's button, not on the remote button. On a search, I found one reference to an intermittant 7071, possibly related to the HD, but no elaboration on it. I freely admit to being "somewhat" challenged :confused: electronically, so any help would be appreciated. Fortunately, my new 2001G is on the way and the HP840 can go in my PC to replace a bad one, but I would like to have the Tosh working again. As an aside, I bought a Panny 58GU60 after much reading on AVS. Great tv, thanks for the info. Dave

Nextoo was able to enlighten me about my problem on another thread. Thanks all Dave :)

Could you give the info here? (or a link)

Also, how much was this burner? does it do dvd-r, dvd-rw, dvd-ram? Does it do > 4x DVD-RW?
does it see unfinalized DVDs from the previous burner?

sorry, those are all of the questions I care about, since my burner's dying (I _think_.. or else I got REALLY unlucky with media..)

I have my RD-XS32 because it has such impressive functionalities - maybe the best attainable. ...because everything else sort of sucks with regard to the burner and media.

So what models have owners here been eyeing up?

Another newer Toshiba?
The popular Pioneer?
The Polaroid (stone age functionality)?
A Panasonic?
A Sony?

I'm leaning towards the Pioneer but am basically uninformed.

Things like excellent picture quality in LP would be incredibly usefull.

Maybe the biggest would be what manufacturer offers the best support, i.e., firmware updates. My guess is that no one offers firmware like a Lite-On CD drive, right?

Tom

Tom,

I have both the Tosh 32 and Pio 543 (same as 640 except smaller HDD). The Pio has very good PQ and accepts all kinds of disks including DL's without problems. However, the editing, menu creating options, background images, etc, are either very, very limited or not available. Hence, I use the Tosh for more involved editing, combining titles, etc. I use the Pio for basic time shifting, basic editing out of ads and quick high speed burns.

The Pio remote is very basic (that may be a good thing) compared to the complex Tosh remote. I learnt how to use the Pio in no time, whereas I needed to "study" the manual and get tips from forums like this one to understand how to edit out ads.

By the way, no such thing as "a playlist" when you edit out ads. With the Pio, you can use a "copylist" but it seems that most people edit out ads from the original. It is easy and you are provided with a view of how your title has changed before you confirm the deletion of any sections. I have become so quick with the Tosh method, that I sort of prefer it, but with the Pio, basic editing is faster once you "unlearn" the Tosh method.

Almost forgot, one big bug about the Pio is that Title Names are NOT carried over from the Timer recordings. You are shown all the info, date, channel, etc, but have to re-name (if you wish) the titles after they are recorded. Pio has just released a firmware upgrade for this.

Hope this helps
Gary

Thanks Grocky!

I guess the true relavant issues are PQ and media compatibility.

While all the Toshi edit stuff is impressive, it is not necessary to get rid of commercials.

One specific question about editing out commercials: with the Toshi, you do bookmarks, then burn the desired chapters or a playlist of the desired chapters. You DO NOT delete the commercials since this would fragment the hard drive excessively. I assume the Pio lets you do the commercial edit w/o fragging the HD? (BTW, the Pio doesn't have a defrag function? that would be too good to be true.)

6volt,

Yes, Pio has defrag function (page 105 in manual). Send me a PM with your e-mail if you want me to send you the manual

The Pioneer DVR-640H-S manual is available on line here. (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/vgn/images/portal/cit_11221/310077353DVR640HSOperatingInstructions.pdf)

Well, my XS32 has suddenly decided it no longer wants to load discs. Whenever I put a disc in (blank, pre-recorded, etc), I hear a couple of quiet, but noticable, thunking noises (in time with the blinking "Loading" icon) and then it stops almost immediately. It doesn't sound like the drive is spinning up at all. Needless to say, it never figures out there's a disc in the drive.

Is this probably a sign it needs a drive replaced? I actually have a spare LG H22L (long story) which I have no problems giving up in order to fix the Toshiba, if it's possible.

I have the 1314 update disc but I never got around to running it. Doesn't it only update the DVD drive's firmware?

This is one of the original ZL10 units... it sounds like most people who have been replacing drives have ZL11 (or higher?).. can anyone confirm an LG drive swap works in a ZL10? I'm really concerned about taking it apart, but at the same time I have a ton of stuff on the HD that I need to rescue, if possible. (quite honestly, I have that horrible sinking feeling in my stomach just thinking about what to do..!)

(this is too weird, I just had to replace a DVD burner on my computer with almost the exact same problem of not recognizing media)

Thanks in advance for any help...

So does anyone know how to change the channel line up so it is in numerical order, i dont know why anyone would want it anyother way...

I honestly don't know what you mean. Are you saying that you hit channel up and go from 2 to 4, then to 3, or something weird like that?

I honestly don't know what you mean. Are you saying that you hit channel up and go from 2 to 4, then to 3, or something weird like that?

Same here.

mattack - you are the resident expert on Toshiba. Let me know if you figure it out.

I am talking about using the TV guide on screen interface, the channels are not listed in numerical order. Its very fustrating to use this way

Well, my XS32 has suddenly decided it no longer wants to load discs. Whenever I put a disc in (blank, pre-recorded, etc), I hear a couple of quiet, but noticable, thunking noises (in time with the blinking "Loading" icon) and then it stops almost immediately. It doesn't sound like the drive is spinning up at all. Needless to say, it never figures out there's a disc in the drive.

Is this probably a sign it needs a drive replaced? I actually have a spare LG H22L (long story) which I have no problems giving up in order to fix the Toshiba, if it's possible.
Before taking any drastic measures, try a lens cleaner first...a simple, $10 investment...to see if the laser lens has built up dust/debris preventing a good read. Run it twice if necessary? Wal-Mart has them hanging up over the CD/DVD discs.

So does anyone know how to change the channel line up so it is in numerical order, i dont know why anyone would want it anyother way...

In the TVGOS, go to Setup, select Change channel display, then follow the onscreen instructions.

it seems the only way to change the way channels are displayed in the on screen guide is to manually change each one, am i missing something? Thanks for your help

Before taking any drastic measures, try a lens cleaner first...a simple, $10 investment...to see if the laser lens has built up dust/debris preventing a good read. Run it twice if necessary? Wal-Mart has them hanging up over the CD/DVD discs.

It really seems that the disc isn't even spinning. (it gives up trying to recognize a disc after about 10 seconds, or less, which is REALLY short for an XS32 ;) ) There's no motor noise or anything. No error message on the screen about unrecognized disc or something. I think the clunking is the motor trying to engage but not going.

I think I have a disc cleaner lying around somewhere, I can try popping it in, since it's not like I'll care what it does to the head. :)

Thanks for the suggestion.

I am talking about using the TV guide on screen interface, the channels are not listed in numerical order. Its very fustrating to use this way

You must be talking about a different recorder.. the XS32 doesn't have TV Guide On Screen.

heh, dont i feel stupid, i have the xs35

Just to follow up, I just got done burning my first DVD from an LG H22L installed in the XS32, and it went very smoothly. Followed Paul's instructions at http://www.esbuilder.com/rdxs32/rdxs32-replace-dvd.htm and, except for a couple nerve wracking moments pulling the tape off the old DVD drive, everything went very smoothly. I did put the drive into a computer before installing it in the XS32 to be sure it worked, and to set the drive's region code to 1 (US/Canada). If the drive you pick has a firmware update available (most do, except the H22L) I'd definitely update the drive's firmware in a PC before putting it in the XS32 to have the best possible compatibility.

Haven't fully tested it yet, but am very happy it resurrected the XS32. :) And the resulting burned disc is so much better than the XS32's original insanely crappy burner. I'd almost recommend anyone who isn't afraid of taking it apart to upgrade just to get a better unit! It seemed to burn my 16X Verbatim DVD-R disc at 4x, just like the original, but does recognize discs much faster. There does appear to be a slight delay before the DVD spins up, which I don't remember.

It seems to have the "recognizes a CD but won't play it" issue, but that's not a big deal at all.

BTW, LG's drives use 2 different chipset families, Renasys and Panasonic. The "suggested" drives use the Panasonic chipset, which might be slightly more compatible with the original Toshiba drive. I haven't gotten to checking in the original drive yet to see if I can tell. But the Panasonic chipset drives are the LG 4164, 4166 (Which is the HP 840 so many have had good luck with), H20L, H20N, H22L, H22N. They might work better overall and I'd assume they're all about the same compatibility-wise with the XS32.

Thanks to all involved with posting the directions and those with success stories.. made the decision to dive in very easy.

(I kind of wish I had an H22N instead of H22L, I hate losing a Lightscribe drive to the XS32 but I'd rather have the 32 fixed!!)

(More info about LG drives is at http://club.cdfreaks.com/showpost.php?p=1289278&postcount=6 )

Jim
Quote
(I kind of wish I had an H22N instead of H22L, I hate losing a Lightscribe drive to the XS32 but I'd rather have the 32 fixed!!)
Unquote

What is the difference between the h22n & the H22L & pardon my ignorance but what is a Lightscribe drive it is a term that we don't use in the UK ???

Lightscribe is a disc labelling system you use on a computer, you have to buy special discs for it. When you're done burning you can flip the disc over and label onto it. It's not the greatest quality but pretty nice. (it uses the DVD burner laser to burn the label on, so it's only monochrome)

LG makes Lightscribe and non Lightscribe models. The Lightscribe models cost $10-$20US more, usually, for the added functionality. (there are some physical differences in the pickup head, to help it position the laser for labelling) The H22N's (no Lightscribe) burning quality, from most reviews, is spectacular. The H22L appears to be much more hit and miss for some reason, despite the fact the drives should be identical. I never could get the H22L that ended up in my Toshiba to have anywhere near as good of burns as many H22N reviews, which is why it wasn't living in a PC at the time my Toshiba died.

The H22L is not a bad drive, and if you're lucky you get a pretty good one that's a good burner, but it seems the H22N is a more consistent unit.

Additionally, LG has released a 1.01 firmware for the H22N which improves burn quality even more, and nothing has come out for the H22L.

But since I had the drive, and it was well out of the return window to take it back, I used it for the Toshiba repair. If I had it to do all over again, I would find an LG H20N or H22N for the replacement, though. (and I'd definitely recommend hooking it up to a computer and doing 5-10 burns just to be sure the drive is working properly before opening up the Toshiba and putting it in there! While it wasn't difficult, it wasn't something I'd want to do again anytime soon!)

Thanks for that info Jim

On checking it appears that I have an LG GSA-H10 which was the latest one here in the UK when I changed mine over. It seems to be much more reliable than the awful Toshiba drive that was in the XS32. There are still a few DVDs it won't read though.

I was able to replace my DVD drive with an NEC 3550 model (no DVD-RAM support). I had the Toshiba case removed and the NEC drive sitting on top of the built-in drive, all running perfectly for about a week. I then swapped out the drives (following the swap procedure listed above) and put the cover back on again. The drive still works fine, except it does not close on it's own (using the Toshiba open/close button, on the top or from the remote). When I press the open/close button, it will open fine, but when it tries to close, it goes in about 1 inch, then opens again. If I physically push the tray in manually, then hit the close button (on the Toshiba), it will close and work fine -- meaning it will play/record, etc.

It didn't have any open/close problems when it was sitting on top of the original drive.

Does anyone know what might be causing this problem?



As a side note, I can now use TDK DVD-RW's at 4x (after formatting them first), as well as TDK & Ridata DVD +/- disks at 16x. It still burns at what I believe is 4x, but it is successful on 16x labeled disks now. I figured someone would probably ask. :-)

Could it be hanging up on the [silver] door on the XS32? (some part of the NEC's tray maybe hooking onto the door?)

You did remove the tray faceplate on the NEC drive, correct?

It might have possibly been the IDE connector wiggled loose at some point? I noticed the IDE connector seems VERY loose on both the stock drive and replacement drive. Make sure it's in tight.

Could it be hanging up on the [silver] door on the XS32? (some part of the NEC's tray maybe hooking onto the door?)

You did remove the tray faceplate on the NEC drive, correct?

It might have possibly been the IDE connector wiggled loose at some point? I noticed the IDE connector seems VERY loose on both the stock drive and replacement drive. Make sure it's in tight.


Yes, I removed the entire mounting H/W, replaced the rails and properly seated the NEC drive. I also removed the entire faceplate (both parts) from the NEC. The IDE connector is actually on fairly tight in my system, both originally and now with the new drive.

I do see a silver latch connected to the XS32 door, on the inside -- what I imagine the old drive used to help open the XS32 door, but it does not appear to be able to interact with the NEC drive, since the (NEC) door button is is on the front, like most drives. (I am only using the Toshiba button to open/close the NEC). The original Toshiba drive appears to have been somehow tied (to the silver tab) by the bottom/side of the drive where the manual open button is. Do you think that matters in any way? When the NEC opens, it simply pushes against the Toshiba silver door without any problem. I have tried holding the Toshiba door down/open manually, to make sure the NEC is not getting caught up on the Toshiba plastic -- but that didn't make any difference.

I was able to replace my DVD drive with an NEC 3550 model (no DVD-RAM support). I had the Toshiba case removed and the NEC drive sitting on top of the built-in drive, all running perfectly for about a week. I then swapped out the drives (following the swap procedure listed above) and put the cover back on again. The drive still works fine, except it does not close on it's own (using the Toshiba open/close button, on the top or from the remote). When I press the open/close button, it will open fine, but when it tries to close, it goes in about 1 inch, then opens again. If I physically push the tray in manually, then hit the close button (on the Toshiba), it will close and work fine -- meaning it will play/record, etc.

It didn't have any open/close problems when it was sitting on top of the original drive.

Does anyone know what might be causing this problem?



As a side note, I can now use TDK DVD-RW's at 4x (after formatting them first), as well as TDK & Ridata DVD +/- disks at 16x. It still burns at what I believe is 4x, but it is successful on 16x labeled disks now. I figured someone would probably ask. :-)

The replacement drive is too close to the front of the machine. When you swap the drive out the replacement drive has to sit back about a 1/4 -1/2 farther in the case. When positioned this way the front drive flap/cover will operate properly.

Unscrew the side bracket screws and slide the drive back a bit and you will see how it works.

This creates a new set of problems because for the drive door to operate properly the bracket screws will not line up with the bracket holes. My answer - duct tape. The miracle fix it solution for everything. And also found on every stage, movie set, sound stage, television set on the planet. You can duct tape the drive securely in place. It worked on a DKR2 I have - same drive setup as your XS.

Haven't fully tested it yet, but am very happy it resurrected the XS32.

So I guess like $40 including shipipng is the cheapest you can find it?

Also, you answered the DVD-RW question.. So my other common question -- can you
use UNfinalized discs from the previous drive?

I've got tons of unfinalized discs, and will have to copy back to the hard drive (hoping the discs are still good) then burn new discs if you can't use unfinalized discs.

Yeah, the H22Ns are around $35 or so before shipping. I'm really debating getting another one, they seem to be disappearing VERY quickly as LG's released the H42 family (Which is Renesas-based, not Panasonic).

I actually haven't done much with DVD-RW with the new drive. I need to throw one in and try to record to it.

I only have one unfinalized disc and it's something I can't replace if it's messed up. I have access to another XS32 so I don't want to risk it. I can try making a new, unfinalized disc on the other XS32 and move it over, I guess...

I just found out something yesterday that is quite interesting yet bothersome. First of all if you look at some of the posts in the thread dedicated to the replacing the DVD drive you will find people having problems loading previously unfinalized DVDs while others having no problem after installing a new dvd drive.

I have installed an HP840 drive and am buring DVDs no problem, finalizing, and playing DVDs. Before fully installing it, I had checked to see if it loaded an unfinalized disc and it did.

Well yesterday I was trying to load a another unfinalized disc and it was not loading. I knew that I was able to before so I tried another and it also failed. After some testing, I found out that I was able to successfully load unfinalized discs that still had some room to record on. The discs that were pretty much full did not load. I was finally able to load a couple some how though after leaving it in DVD mode and the DVD in the machine and powering down and starting back up. It worked on a full disc. Then I was able to load another right after that without turning off. The next DVD failed and I tried to recreate what I did before and I was getting failures. Basically I get the message that the DVD may be dirty or need to be cleaned which I know is not the case.

All I know is that if I put a DVD that is 3/4's filled it will load no problem.

I have no idea around this at all or why it would be a problem. It seems ridiculous, but it is definitely happening on my end.

Quote from Master Shake

I was able to replace my DVD drive with an NEC 3550 model (no DVD-RAM support).

Unquote

That is strange I was unable to get my NEC drive (with DVD Ram) to work in my machine So I had to use the LG.
UK models though so they may be of different spec to yours.

Quote from Master Shake

I was able to replace my DVD drive with an NEC 3550 model (no DVD-RAM support).

Unquote

That is strange I was unable to get my NEC drive (with DVD Ram) to work in my machine So I had to use the LG.
UK models though so they may be of different spec to yours.


Which model of NEC? and do you know if you set the region code? -- meaning, was the NEC drive brand-new, out of the box? or did it come from a PC where the region code has already been set? Some of the problems I have seen (by reading other posts) are with people trying to install a new drive right out of the box (without a region code selected).

I still haven't figured out the tray loading issue, but given that the recorder now works again (and with DVD-RW 4x & DVD-R 16x disks), it is easily something I can live with.

Which model of NEC? and do you know if you set the region code? -- meaning, was the NEC drive brand-new, out of the box? or did it come from a PC where the region code has already been set? Some of the problems I have seen (by reading other posts) are with people trying to install a new drive right out of the box (without a region code selected).

I still haven't figured out the tray loading issue, but given that the recorder now works again (and with DVD-RW 4x & DVD-R 16x disks), it is easily something I can live with.

The tray loading issue is because the replacement drive sits too close to the spring loaded cover/flap. Every time it tries to close it opens again. Read this:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=9702908&&#post9702908

edit - let me clarify a bit. The spring loaded drive cover when it closes winds up hitting the eject button on the replacement drive. The OEM drive does not have an eject button. To fix this you have to sit the replacement drive back about a 1/4-1/2 inch. This way the drive cover when it closes will not hit the eject button on the replacement drive.

I actually haven't done much with DVD-RW with the new drive. I need to throw one in and try to record to it.

I only have one unfinalized disc and it's something I can't replace if it's messed up. I have access to another XS32 so I don't want to risk it. I can try making a new, unfinalized disc on the other XS32 and move it over, I guess...

Yeah, I'd be VERY happy if you'd try these things:

Unfinalized DVD-R from original XS32 DVD burner
Unfinalized DVD-RW from original XS32 drive
DVD-RAM originally recorded on original XS32 burner
4X DVD-RW on new drive


Thanks..

Which model of NEC? and do you know if you set the region code? -- meaning, was the NEC drive brand-new, out of the box? or did it come from a PC where the region code has already been set? Some of the problems I have seen (by reading other posts) are with people trying to install a new drive right out of the box (without a region code selected).

I still haven't figured out the tray loading issue, but given that the recorder now works again (and with DVD-RW 4x & DVD-R 16x disks), it is easily something I can live with.

Model NEC 3550 and it was already set up for region code 2 (I live in the UK) as it came out of my PC where it still works fine.

The Toshiba came up with an error code (can't remember which) when I tried to use it

I have installed the LG GSA-H22L into my RD-XS32C model ("C" evidently meaning that it's the Canadian unit). Old drive was failing.

DVR's software version is ZL11.

DVR, with new drive, plays pre-recorded, region 1 DVDs flawlessly (old drive skipped and paused). DVD-RWs also work fine (both reading and writing), at least for the things that I've done. This includes the playing of unfinalized DVD-RWs burned by the original drive.

DVD-RAMs that were burned by original drive play flawlessly on the new drive.

Problems are:

DVD-Rs burn fine but only if I do not finalize (dubbing functions work, "DVD-Video Creation" does not since this includes finalization). Finalization makes DVDs unusable, anywhere.

Cannot format DVD-RAMs. Whether or not I can write to an already-formatted DVD-RAM is unknown.

This is a new LG drive. I made the mistake of not first setting the region code for the drive from my Windows XP PC, as JMSCOTT42 indicates he did with the same drive (too bad I didn't read that message until after I had finished the work). Perhaps this is the problem? If anyone has the answer I'd appreciate it since having to disassemble/reassemble the DVR to temporarily move the drive to a PC will take a bit of effort.

I'm thinking that I might save this effort since I have seen anecdotal evidence on forum posts that a DVD drive will set its region code itself once a certain number of DVDs have been played (5 is what I've read). I'm passed that point and still no change in behaviour, though, so I question what the trigger is. If the behaviour is that DVDs with different regions need to be inserted and that the fifth new region gets the nod then that's, obviously, too risky!! I'll end up having to learn Japanese. Too much effort.

So... I'll bite the bullet, moving the LG around, if I don't hear back from anyone knowledgeable in this, and then report back.

To JMSCOTT42: what specific RD-XS32 model do you use? What software version? (something newer than ZL11?)

Thanks for any input.

Have you tried deleting a recording from an existing DVD-RAM? (Only do it if you can sacrifice the WHOLE thing in case it corrupts.)

My unit is a ZL10, one of the first ones in the US, for better or worse. :) I haven't tried DVD-RAM at all since I don't use them much for video (mostly data).

I absolutely have no problem finalizing discs at all. The only issue I'm having right now is a new spindle of Verbatim 16x DVD-Rs that I bought isn't burning as well as past discs. I am 99% sure it's a media problem, though, as a TYG01 (Taiyo Yuden) disc I burned looked OK. I am guessing there are some major-dud Verbatim DVD-Rs out there as the last one I burned looked horrible. [the first Verbatim 16X DVD-R I burned, from a different spindle that I only had 3-4 of left, burned amazing]

Edited to add: I actually realised I have had a few ERR -14's on finalizing, but I am chalking that up to a bad disc here and there. Are you getting errors, or are the discs just not working once finalized?

Did you confirm your H22L worked properly in a computer before installing it? I wonder if you got a defective drive. :eek:

Sorry I haven't been able to do the other testing yet, it's a matter of having me, the other XS32, and some discs in the same place at the same time. :)

I did not first put the H22L into a PC. I'll do this today since I'm still inside of the two-week, no-questions-asked, return policy should I discover that the drive is indeed defective. I doubt it though since, as I mentioned, DVD-RW writing works flawlessly (including formatting and finalization).

I'll also resolve my regionalization concern this way. Perhaps there's other stuff that gets initialized during this process? JMSCOTT42, do you remember the stuff you were taken through when you put the H22L into the PC?

Funny that you mention the ERR-14 messages. That's always the error message that I get when trying to finalize DVD-Rs. When formatting DVD-RAMs, I get ERR-01 messages. In both cases, the DVR seems to hang for a considerable period of time as if waiting for the drive to do something that simply doesn't happen. Then I get the error message.

In the case of the DVD-RAM formatting attempts, I can see that formatting does indeed start (by looking at the surface of the resulting disk) but that it fails about mid-way. Each format attempt, on any disk, always fails the same way and with the same amount of physical progress on the disk (again, when I examine the disk itself). This points to hardware/firmware rather than the physical media.


How did you know to set the region code for the drive on the PC first?

Thanks for your feedback.

I've been getting the ERR -14 more often, and like you, always on finalize. Not all the time, though. Maybe once every 3-4 discs. It is a bit worrying. I do notice the Verbatim discs I am using are not running as well in the quality scans as the last spindle that I was having great luck with. (I bought a ton of Verbatim 16X DVD-Rs at Best Buy to stock up and they appear to be a really bad batch, they don't burn well in my PC burners either) I am hoping it's just media problems and once I find what this drive really likes, at 4X, the problems will go away.

Either that, or I will be back to my old method with the XS32, burning to DVD-RW and then reburning on the PC where I can get a much better burn.

As for the H22L -- the drive started life as a burner in my PC. I had used it a few times, wasn't totally happy with its burn quality, but was outside my return window. It's not a BAD burner, it's just not as good as other drives I've used. So I knew it was working. The fact it uses a Panasonic chipset is probably why they tend to work well in the XS32 (and why they're not the greatest burners, since Panasonic chipsets are known to be kinda flaky). I just set the region popping in a known Region 1 disc to play on my PC and it asked what region code the drive should be set to. I had read-- somewhere in this thread, not sure where now-- that someone else suggested that you do that before putting the drive in. I figured it couldn't hurt.

The "C" is evidently the Canadian version, the unit I have. DVR's software is ZL11.

Pursuant to my previous post, I moved the H22L to my PC to ensure that a region code was indeed set for the drive. Once Windows XP saw the drive, it loaded the drivers automatically without any prompts. Perhaps this means that the drive's region code had indeed been set already by the DVR or perhaps, since I'm in Canada, Windows XP automatically sets the region code to 1 without asking me. I did check the driver's properties/region tab to see that it was indeed set to region 1 and that I have 4 changes remaining.

While the drive was in the PC, I did take a moment to copy a DVD, that I know is good, something that I made perhaps a year ago, to two separate blanks from the batch for which I have had zero success when the drive was in the DVR. Both recorded flawlessly. Furthermore, anything that I attempted did work whilst in the PC. The only thing that I could not do was format a DVD-RAM, discovering that I had none left (more on that later).

So, after moving the H22L back to the DVR I tried to burn another DVD-R. Again, failure on finalization with a coaster being the result. DVD-Rs will not finalize on my DVR with the new drive (not that I have yet seen). My batch is Imation 16X but I do have some older Memorex 8X which have worked in the past in the DVR with the old drive. Again, failure at finalization.

My conclusion is that this particular drive does not work fully on the RD-XS32C. Certainly, on the PC, the driver and/or supporting software tailors itself to match the drive to the particular PC (stuff like buffer underrun protection, max speed selection based on media and computer's throughput, etc.). I suspect that the Toshiba DVR doesn't have these smarts, being specifically set for the factory-installed DVD drive and not engineered for drive transplantation!

Thank goodness this is just a hobby for me. I had fun hackin' around but will be much more wary next time!

Hmmm... perhaps ZL12 would give it those smarts?
Hmmm....

And... to follow up on my earlier DVD-RAM reference. I've now found comments in the forums with respect to the formatting of DVD-RAMs (as opposed to erasing). Evidently you can easily, and permanently, damage them by doing this (selecting DVD-RAM format from the SETUP menu on the DVR). Oops. This stuff is my own anecdotal rambling on the forums, of course. I guess I'll be more careful in the future. Hmmm... perhaps that means that DVD-RAMs will work on the H22L if I only erase? Hmmm...

Try better media. Imation and Memorex are considered some of the worst media made. I'm having the occasional finalization errors on Verbatim, which is considered some of the best! :) The one Taiyo Yuden disc I tried worked beautifully, so I may need to dip into my reserve of TY media for more testing. I think the drive just goes super-extra-picky burning at 4x, not to mention a lot of this 16x media isn't the greatest burning that slow.

But what's interesting is that it's only the finalization that's choking here. I can fill a DVD-R if I dub to it without finalizing. But then, of course, it reads on no other player in the house so finalization is kinda important to me. That tells me that a slow drive writing speed might not be the problem.

My thinking is that the DVR is indeed not slowing the drive (which is why I contend that ZL12 might work here, I think ZL12 exists). The DVR manages to keep up when it's simply streaming from the HD but finalization involves some processing and then the DVR cannot move quickly enough.

The reason that DVD-RWs work is that the maximum write speed for these is 6X for the H22L and that seems to be tolerated by the DVR. DVD-Rs are written much faster (although the indicated 18X is evidently only achieved with a wider cable). I'm thinking that the drive is getting perhaps close to the 16X max for the Imations, too fast for the DVR to do any heavy work.

Yah know... I'm putting some rather heavy "chaptering" onto the DVD-Rs in my tests. That's what gets placed on the media during finalization, I believe. An interesting experiment would be to simply pump out a two-hour recording without any chaptering and see whether or not finalization works then. That could explain why you're getting some success in your burns. Perhaps you're not doing much chapter work.

My two cents. I'm by no means an expert.

( I suppose finalization might be done on my PC. I don't know if that's even possible. Heh... something to play with... I can see my wife, from the corner of my eyes, inching that sledge hammer ever closer to my PC.)

Toyzzz
I have fitted the LG GSA10NBAL which formats the Dvd-Ram without trouble & as far as I know finalises the Dvd-R ok as well.

Don't think that the Zl12 software will help you with your problem as I think that it is only applicable to the Toshiba drive.

I did not set my region before fitting the LG drive into the XS32.

I am in region 2 (Europe) as I live in the UK.

I think the drive firmware is up to ZL14.. but again, that may very well be just for the original drive.

I got a newegg.com email for a product watch that I set up at some point in the past.. probably for a drive listed in this thread:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=27-140-019

It says it's an HP drive, but isn't the same as the "LG" people are talking about? (Maybe not a good thing, with the inability to finalize..)

Thanks for the input jmscott42, mattack, kdbcom.

I'm tempted to draw to the conclusion that as drive speeds increase, compatibility with older machines decreases even though the interface for these drives remains the same. The older DVRs simply don't have the smarts to force the newer drives to work at their pace (something that PCs do inherently by way of drivers).

The LG drives that are reported as working on the RD-XS32, if memory serves me correctly, have lower numbers than the H22L that I have struggled with. This likely indicates their relative ages.

For clarification, the ZLnn firmware, be it ZL11, ZL12, etc., is the DVR's firmware. This remains intact as DVD drives are switched. The drive firmware, having numbers 1415 and then 1416 (after I upgraded), was in the original Toshiba drive. Now that that drive has been replaced, the DVR indicates the LG's firmware to be "1.0" (matching that reported on the PC when I put the drive in it so the DVR is reading this correctly).

I'm confident that the people at Toshiba upgrade the firmwares in order to minimize their costs in supporting their DVRs while still under warranty. This has meant having to expand compatibility as media evolves and differentiates but also, perhaps, to handle the increased performance of replacement drives. I see media compatibility being improved in the drives themselves (and, therefore, with drive firmware), getting these drives to better recognize different media and the speeds (other stuff?) to select for optimum performance. Drive handling improvements are in the DVR firmware's realm.

(I suspect a Toshiba engineer might chuckle here. My wife is definitely rolling her eyes.)

All of this to say (and to help me figure this out) that I do suspect that an upgrade to the ZLnn firmware might help get the DVR itself to be more efficient in moving data to and from the drive and in, perhaps, forcing the drive to better accept the DVRs relatively slow throughput.

So... the new drive remains in the DVR. What I've gotten out of this is reliable pre-recorded DVD playback (which the old drive was no longer doing) and continued DVD-RW function for playback and recording. I've lost DVD-R recording (playback works) but I do this rarely anyway and can still transfer DVD-RW to DVD-R via my PC on the odd occasion that this would be needed. DVD-RAM recording wasn't working with the disks that I had but I had damaged these in the original drive. Jury's still out here but, again, DVD-RAM is something I don't use normally.

I will upgrade the ZLnn firmware since I suspect one caveat here: I'm using older DVD-RW disks. It wouldn't surprise me that newer disks might get my new drive working a bit faster and then just outside the capabilities of the DVR. Hopefully an upgraded DVR firmware will help the DVR to force the drive to play nice.

Is there actual firmware available to update the ZL portion? I was under the impression that the "ZL" firmware was NOT available.

I will say, writing off the LG H22L may be a bit premature, since I have had better success than you have. I've also read of problems with the LG drives' quality control and people are getting very good, and very bad, drives. This may be nothing more than some very flaky drives. I think the H22L is a fine replacement, the question is is it a problem with the drives. (keep in mind, the only reason I had a spare H22L is I wasn't thrilled with its writing abilities in my PC and took it out and it was after the return window that I could've gotten rid of it)

I've burned 10-15 DVD-R discs on my H22L equipped XS32 and have had 3-4 finalize errors, mostly on less than stellar media. Discs that have had excellent quality scans have finalized fine. Discs from more questionable spindles have had more issues. Others haven't gotten anything to finalize.

I WILL say-- search around the web for people talking about the H22L. There's a lot of concern these drives aren't the best. In the case of the Toshiba, they may be one of the best possible matches, though, since they use Panasonic-based hardware and there's some speculation the original Toshiba drive did as well.

I'm sure there are some compatibility issues- the fact it won't play CDs anymore proves that -- but I'm not so sure it's has anything to do with speeds. I doubt an older 4-8x burner (That wasn't an exact match) would be any better all-around. The DVD drive is like a bucket and takes the data as the burner sends it-- the fact the burner can go faster doesn't mean the *Toshiba* has problems talking to it.

That said, if someone in the future wants to try, I'd get a Renesas-based LG (which are MUCH MUCH better writers in my experience than the Panasonic units-- the LG H10L I have is about the best DVD burner I've ever used). A few people have reported success, but I think you lose the ability to read previously unfinalized discs on a Renesas unit. The current LG Renesas drive is the H42N.

(Basically, what I am saying is I think the situation is being overcomplicated -- the H22L just isn't the best DVD burner on the market. Add that to questionable quality control and you have the potential for issues.)

What would be a VERY interesting test would be to put like a Pioneer 111 (the version with DVD-RAM support) or some other EXCELLENT drive in the XS32 and see how it works. (I'm not volunteering to do that ;) )

It seems as though there are so many variables when installing a new drive. I installed an HP840. Basically you can install any drive which is DVD-RAM capable. Anyways, I have zero problem burning and finalizing (but when finalzing it does not show the status bar move from 0 to 100% done). What I see as a problem is the unfinalized DVD's. Putting them back in the machine does not seem to work if they are close to full. If they are, say half full, they load no problem. But even the full ones can be loaded, the only problem is how? I have tried doing it from a power up and it has worked, I just have not found the right sequence. Now some people are also having finalizing problems. There is probably a work around on this the trick is to find out how. Maybe it is only finalizing at the same time as copying or only finalizing in a seperate step after the stuff has been copied to the DVD. Maybe it is turning off the machine after copying stuff and then turning it back on and then trying to finalize. But there still may be a way. Like I said, there are so many variables when switching these things.

Let me emphasize that I'm no expert. Indeed, I'm in software by trade, not hardware. But I love dabbling around in the stuff and have lost (errr... enjoyed) countless hours trying to push square pegs into round holes. I'll be only too happy if we get to the bottom of this particular problem and fully expect (pray for?) someone smarter than I am to actually solve it.

Further to the problem...

I don't write off the drive itself. The unit worked flawlessly while in my PC. Everything worked that I tested: DVD-Rs, DVD-RWs, DVD-RAMs (only reading in the last case, did not test writing to DVD-RAM). No apparent glitches, no audible re-tries, no funny noises... nothing. Flawless. I used the same media too, including DVD-Rs from the same batch that consistently failed when in the DVR. I then put the drive back into the DVR (remember that I also questioned whether or not a region setting was to blame). The problems that I experienced returned. All of them.

Furthermore, for DVD-Rs and DVD-RWs at least, my writes work flawlessly in the DVR. These are full SP writes, two hours worth, practically filling the disks, that then play just fine. But I cannot finalize the DVD-Rs. Consistently. Not a single disk that I've tried and more than one batch sampled.

So... I believe that it's not the media itself. It's not the drive's handling of that particular media. It's the connection between the DVR and the drive. There's some type of compatibility issue.

I think that that compatibility issue could be that my RD-XS32's programming, in its ZL11 firmware, relies somewhat on the drive's performance (how long it takes to do something) in its timing. The firmware sends out it's instruction to finalize, the drive comes back too quickly, starts writing, signals a buffer underrun which the firmware misses and boom. I could be wrong. Perhaps it's as simple as the fact that the instruction sets of newer drives have changed somewhat (that's where drivers on a PC isolate the OS from worrying about this). But that second option is questionable since you've indicated (JMSCOTT42) that your ZL10, an earlier firmware than my own, does succeed more often than not in DVD-R finalization. (Mind you, can you compare ZL firmwares between Canada and the US?).

I also think that I see a pattern in the posts that I've read here and elsewhere which relates to the advancing speeds of the newer drives and a greater incompatibility possibly stemming from this. I emphasize that this is my impression based on anecdotal evidence. But what the heck. I'm muckin' around anyway, I'll go with it for awhile.


All of this to say, that if you're someone reading this (and my goodness you're a patient person to get through my novels) and you arrived here because you're looking for feedback in preparation for what you anticipate will be a painless update to your ailing DVR then... be careful. There's enough anecdotal stuff here to at least indicate that this will need to be a labour of love. Quick and dirty this could very well not be.

So... my next step is to see if I can get an upgrade ZL firmware. But I'll think twice before applying it since the new drive does everything that I want it to do. What doesn't work I never use. So I may quit while I'm ahead (and hope that my existing, slower batch of DVD-RWs, will last a long, long time).

I just tried burning a DVD-R with less data. 30 minutes vs the 2 hours that I've tried in the past. Nothing fancy: "DVD-Video Creation" from the Edit menu.

Still failing in the same spot, always at finalization. I'm still at 0 success here for any DVD-R inserted. It reads and I can play the program but because finalization failed, again, this won't work in a DVD player.

I just tried burning a DVD-R with less data. 30 minutes vs the 2 hours that I've tried in the past. Nothing fancy: "DVD-Video Creation" from the Edit menu.

Still failing in the same spot, always at finalization. I'm still at 0 success here for any DVD-R inserted. It reads and I can play the program but because finalization failed, again, this won't work in a DVD player.

Have you triced first dubbing the file to the DVD first? Then after it is done, go into the Edit Menu screen and there is an option for DVD Finalizing. Basically you are going to do it in 2 seperate steps rather then having Toshiba so it one after the other automatically.

Also, after you have dubbed the file to the DVD, BEFORE YOU FINALIZE, hit content menu and swtich to DVD mode. Is the file there OK and can you play it? You want to see first if you are having a problem dubbing the file.

For DVD-Rs:
Dubbing, without finalizing, works like a charm. The resulting DVD-R looks normal, has the content menu. Ejects then will play again once reinserted. Predictably. Finalizing does not work as a separate action. Finalizing never seems to work.

The one test that I would love to try would be to write to an older 4X DVD-R, forcing the drive to slow down. That might prove my theory. But, the slowest disk that I have is 8X and that fails too.

That's too bad you don't have any older/slower media. I need to start looking through my archive for slower discs to see if I can get more consistent burns. I still would try to find some better 16X media than Imation or Memorex, maybe as a next test if you can't find any 4x media.

By the way, my XS32's H22L is definitely burning ANYTHING at 4x that I put in it. And the scans are consistent with 4x burns on the same media that I had burned trying to get a good result out of the H22L when it was in my PC. Every burn of a full DVD takes 15 minutes. Are you seeing faster burns than that with a full DVD?

I am still curious why I am having such up-and-down finalize problems on similar media. (even burning 2 copies of the same playlist to the same type of DVD-R from the same spindle)

Otherwise, it may very well be some compatibility glitch with the ZL11 firmware. (I have a feeling US and Canada firmware releases are the same, but handled by different Toshiba branches so they try to convince us they're different. It's not like the hardware is any different except maybe a French manual comes in your box and a Spanish manual in our box.)

I think someone previously in this thread actually got a replacement drive from Toshiba.

I don't remember if they said how much it cost. Whoever actually got the replacement from Toshiba, could you give the cost info?

Seems to me getting a real Toshiba replacement would be the best bet.. (but I suspect they want a LOT of money).

Getting a new Toshiba drive was actually my first route. I contacted an authorized repair centre. The person that I spoke to matter-of-factly said that ordering the unit didn't make sense due to its cost and that I would be better off buying a brand new DVR.

Over $400 Cdn. for the replacement is what he told me, although he did not give me the exact price.

It was an interesting conversation because I very much got the impression that this man had been asked the question *many* times before.

(LG GSA-H22L just happened to be on sale at Future Shop for $69. Figured it was worth a shot.)

I did some searching on the H22L and there is a lot of negative talk on this drive. It seems as though many people are having problems with it and are hoping for a firmware update and still none available. Some people are saying they bought it to replace there H10's and this one is worse. My HP840 is actually a H20L and it works fine with Sony DVDs on copying and finalizing. If there is any way to return it I would, or hopefully they will release firmware soon and that might do it.

Also on the 4x VS 16x, I don't think the XS32 can burn faster then 4x no matter which drive is in it. Mine burns at about the same rate that it did with my old drive. The Toshiba software limits it to 4x, just like if you tried to install a larger HD successfully, it would only recognize 80gb because it is locked in with the software.

So maybe future people need to explore one of the better DVD-RAM units, although like I said before it sounds like the Panasonic-based LG drives tend to be slightly more compatible on stuff like reading previously burned unfinalized discs.

More and more drives are coming with DVD-RAM capabilities so that may not be a huge issue. The LG H42N is sounding like a pretty good drive, (Renesas chipset based) so I wonder if that may be the best option for a while...

best thing to do it go to your local store and buy whatever you want to try and test it first before putting everything in place and closing the unit. If it does not work then bring it back. You can never know for sure. Buying it at your local store might cost more then online, but at least you don't have the headache with the tougher return.

Summary (details below): I suspect that this is what you should do when considering a replacement DVD drive. Of course, trying to get the exact same model for a replacement is the obvious route. That not being possible, try to source a drive with specifications as close as possible to the original (equal or above, of course). Don't get a drive that is leaps-and-bounds better. Here's my thinking:


I would be very interested in hearing from someone who has had better success (I am happy with the "subset" of features that my H22L now gives me) with a drive that is newer/faster than the H22L. I remain unconvinced that the problem isn't simply that the newer the drive, the lower the odds of success in this particular DVR, period (that's what I hope an updated ZLnn firmware would address). That being the case then any try-out from a retail store will be increasingly unlikely to succeed. Instead, readers should be sourcing older DVD drives perhaps from a list of "confirmed compatibles" that might be derived from all of this chatting.

One more tidbit with the H22L, and an observation of these drives in general, that I can put forward... My PC testing was with a 1.2GHz Celeron, just barely above minimum system requirements for the drive. As I've indicated before, the drive worked flawlessly. Consider this, though: If you were to rate the RD-XS32 DVR's "system level" in terms of a PC then I'm quite confident it wouldn't even be close to the minimum requirements for the LG drive. This being the case, then we're not talking about bad drives necessarily, we're talking about people putting this newer technology into older equipment for which LG is essentially advising against.

RGN2000: Certainly if these negative reports are from people who have installed these drives into PCs that meet the minimum requirements then LG should be looking for a problem. Are these reports, though, from people trying to do what I've/we've been trying? ... I'm reminded of my "square pegs into round holes" analogy.

System requirements for optical drives usually refer to the bundled software included with the unit. There's nothing keeping a slow computer from using a faster optical drive. The only issue might be if the PC's storage system (IDE hard drive, etc) could keep up with an 18X burn, but since the XS32 is only feeding it data at 4X that isn't the issue. I'm sure the H22L doesn't speak entirely the same language as the XS32 expects (or else CDs would work) but I have a feeling ANY drive of ANY speed would not work 100% unless it had Toshiba-specific firmware.

I think the problem is the H22L is a picky drive in general. And yes, just burning on my PC, the H22L wasn't the best drive at all. Many people just using it as a PC burner are less than impressed; check cdfreaks.com and cdrlabs.com... (but don't get confused with the H22N, which for some reason, despite being basically identical at the hardware level as the H22L, is an excellent burner and people generally REALLY like although there seems to be a high defect rate)

RGN2000: Certainly if these negative reports are from people who have installed these drives into PCs that meet the minimum requirements then LG should be looking for a problem. Are these reports, though, from people trying to do what I've/we've been trying? ... I'm reminded of my "square pegs into round holes" analogy.


These were people using it in PC applications, but I can't say anything about their specs and if they meet the minimum requirements. Jmscott42 just posted where some of the people are talking about the H22L.

Also you can goto the following thread:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=653912

There is a lot of discussion on replacing the DVD drive and what models seem to be working.

(I am happy with the "subset" of features that my H22L now gives me)

How can you be happy with the LACK of the most important (IMHO) feature of a DVD-recorder -- being able to finalize a disc so you can use it on another player/recorder?

Presumably your answer is going to be that you disagree that it's the most important feature.. but to me, it seems like being unable to finalize a DVD makes having a DVD recorder essentially useless, and a PVR would be better. (Since even if you intend to use the unfinalized DVDs *just* on this machine, eventually THIS drive will burn out, and even another Toshiba unit eventually won't be able to read the unfinalized discs..)

How can you be happy with the LACK of the most important (IMHO) feature of a DVD-recorder -- being able to finalize a disc so you can use it on another player/recorder?

Presumably your answer is going to be that you disagree that it's the most important feature.. but to me, it seems like being unable to finalize a DVD makes having a DVD recorder essentially useless, and a PVR would be better. (Since even if you intend to use the unfinalized DVDs *just* on this machine, eventually THIS drive will burn out, and even another Toshiba unit eventually won't be able to read the unfinalized discs..)

Finalization on DVD-RWs works on the H22L drive. It's finalization on DVD-Rs that fails. In the two years that I've owned this DVR, I've burned (and finalized) only a handful of DVD-Rs and I haven't played them since. I use DVD-RWs a lot.

The DVD-RWs can, and do, travel about the house, playing in all players (even in the cheap one that we got for free for spending $300 on groceries).

I really should test DVD-RAMs further, though, since they're much longer lasting. That's next. However, they're not as flexible in that many DVD players cannot play them.

I had just written a long question regarding if anyone had experienced their ENTER button on BOTH the remote and the RD-XS34 front panel failing to work only when trying to access/select menu items on any DVD, commercial and home-burned.

I was about to post it then asked myself, "Did you try a 'cold boot', as in unplug from the AC for a minute and plug it back in?" I said, "Nope." and so just now did that and now the Enter buttons work.

So, just a friendly FYI if you have strange or non-functioning operations like this (the ENTER button worked just fine for all other functions in the unit's menu system and HDD mode, just not DVDs).


Dean

For anyone looking to use an LG H20N/L or H22N/L to replace the XS32's burner, LG has (FINALLY!!) officially released a firmware update for these drives. It might help with some of the issues people are having. Since I'm pretty happy with how my drive is working I'm not going to yank it out to update, but it might improve the H22L's writing quality, which in turn might affect the ability to properly finalize/etc on a wider variety of discs.

I can't link directly to LG's site for it, but you can read the info here:
http://cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=23034

Last night I recorded the Oscars and the Barbara Walters special after the Oscars (I'm on the West Coast, it's after the Oscars not before).. (I ended up watching the Oscars at 1.5x speed, starting several hours late.)

So somewhere around 1/2 of the way into Barbara Walters' special, the XS32 put up the "this content is protected, the recording has been paused" alert. I manually stopped the recording, and tried recording again.. It paused too.

I then scrambled and started a manual recording on one of my Tivos (since the Oscars ran long of course the schedule wasn't correct anymore) for the rest of the show.

I also later (after a commercial break) started recording again on the XS32 for a minute or two, and it didn't pause immediately.

Upon catching up with the end of the recording, it did not seem to be at the start of a movie clip where it happened.. So I don't know what the deal was. This is the ONLY time I've ever seen that happen on regular "broadcast" channels (over analog cable though). Way back when, when I tried to record the Sopranos, it ran into this issue too (so I ended up just deleting the recordings).

This Oscars issue was only slightly annoying, since I actually wanted to keep one of the musical performances (and it wouldn't let me 'move' to DVD-RW). But it wasn't too big a deal so I just ended up deleting it when it finished.

If someone could try the new firmware on that drive, it'd be great to hear the results. I need a new drive. I still 'intend' on trying to contact Toshiba to see if in the US I could get it replaced with the real drive (so it'd absolutely work for a while).. but probably won't get around to it soon.

Last night I recorded the Oscars and the Barbara Walters special after the Oscars (I'm on the West Coast, it's after the Oscars not before).. (I ended up watching the Oscars at 1.5x speed, starting several hours late.)

So somewhere around 1/2 of the way into Barbara Walters' special, the XS32 put up the "this content is protected, the recording has been paused" alert. I manually stopped the recording, and tried recording again.. It paused too.

The same thing happened to me on analog cable. I even thought the same thing too, maybe one of the movie clips triggered the copy protection but it didn't happen at the time a clip was playing.

I did have that happen once before but I don't remember what particular program it was and I can't record anything from AMC at all. CP all the time.

Hrrrm, suddenly feeling a little concerned about the H22L (Sort of)... I tried to use a DVD-RAM disc in it for the first time (it's a Fuji blank, but made by Panasonic/Matsushita) and it wouldn't let me copy a program to the disc, saying the disc was write protected. It also wouldn't let me format. (it does realise it is a DVD-RAM disc, it just doesn't want to do anything)

These same discs worked fine in my E80, so I am a bit concerned that whatever the problem was that made LG drives somehow tweak DVD-RAM discs so that they didn't want to work properly in set-top recorders (CPRM copy protection?) is making the LG incompatible with the Toshiba's DVD-RAM functionality.

The discs are fairly recent 2-3x media, I'll have to try to find some older DVD-RAMs around here and try one, but this could be a big "gotcha" for some people. (I rarely use DVD-RAMs so I'm not toooo concerned, although I wish this would've worked since the big reason to get a LG was for DVD-RAM compatibility!!)

I'd appreciate some help with the IR blaster...

I've had my RD-XS32 for a few years now and have generally been pleased. Recently replaced the DVD drive with an LG one (on advice found via this thread), and reliability is much improved.

I've just signed up to cable TV (still not very common here in the UK), and the cable company have given me a Samsung 2110C set top box. It works well enough, but can't be programmed for future channel changes beyond the EPG, which only stretches about 24 hours into the future. Not much use if you're away on holiday for two weeks.

I've found the code to make the Toshiba IR blaster change channels on the STB, but it seems to have difficulty getting the channel digits to the STB properly. Digits are picked up twice or not at all - so '101' might end up as '11_' and the TB fails to change. Scrolling through the channels manually with the Toshiba remote is also unreliable. Each click up or down actually rolls the channel setting on by 2 or 4 positions.

Has anyone encountered or cracked this problem before? I couldn't find any direct reference in the thread. Sorry for the longwinded post! Thanks in advance for any advice.

I've just signed up to cable TV (still not very common here in the UK), and the cable company have given me a Samsung 2110C set top box. It works well enough, but can't be programmed for future channel changes beyond the EPG, which only stretches about 24 hours into the future. Not much use if you're away on holiday for two weeks.

This isn't really an answer at all, but are most of the channels still analog like they are in the US? If so, you can probably plugs the cable directly into the recorder, and record non-premium channels directly on the XS32..

You could still use the inputs to record from the outputs of the cable box. (If you can set manual timers on the cable box for the future.. that's a lame workaround too -- set the cable box timers AND set the XS32 to record from a specific input at the same time..)

Hi Mattack,
Thaks for your reply. You're right, I can still record free-to-air channels directly into the Toshiba from the aerial on the roof, so it could be worse.

Getting the IR blaster working would be a great way of getting the most out of the cable service. I was hoping to use it as a workaround for the poorly designed cable box. The cable box cannot be programmed manually - only by putting 'flags' into the EPG, which doesn't stretch very far into the future. Pretty poor design I think - they should give you the option of progamming from scratch by date, time and channel.

Reading around the web, I gather unreliability of IR blasters is a common problem. It's as if the digits come out of the blaster either too fast or too slow for the cable box to take on board, and the cable box trips over itself.

On the plus side, it'll help limit the backlog of recorded TV shows that I always seem to end up with!

Thaks for your reply. You're right, I can still record free-to-air channels directly into the Toshiba from the aerial on the roof, so it could be worse.


No, I meant from the cable, not from an antenna/aerial.

Maybe it's not like it is in the US. In the US, even with "digital cable", a large portion of the channels are still analog and can be received with a "cable ready" tuner.
(Though I believe that more and more, the cable companies ALSO provide digital versions of the analog channels, so when people have cable cards or a cable box, they then automatically get digital versions of channels when tuning with the cable box/cable card device. In this case, the 'old' analog tuners can still get the analog channels.)

Hi Mattack,
It doesn't behave quite the same as that over here. My cable box is all-digital, and only forwards one channel at a time to the recorder. It's the cable box's poor timer facility that's causing me problems recording cable channels anything further than 24 hours in the future. The Toshiba IR blaster would have solved this problem for me, if it was prepared to play nice with the cable box (which it doesn't).

Not the end of the world though. Here in the UK, we get 5 analogue channels down the TV aerial. But you can attach what we call a Freeview box, to pick up digital TV down your aerial, which provides more than five channels (though less than you get via cable or satellite). The government is trying to push all consumers to digital TV by 2008, so they can sell off the analogue frequencies, apparently.

Anyway, to cut a long story short, the Toshiba has helped me in another way. I have Freeview digital TV from the aerial going into AV1, and my cable TV going into AV2. The Freeview box has an excellent timer that can be programmed way into the future, with daily / weekly repeats etc.

So now if I go away on vacation for two weeks, I have most channels covered, except for the relatively small number that I can only access through the cable box.

I'll continue to tinker with the IR blaster though, in case I can really get the Toshiba and the cable box working in sync. I think the principle of the IR blaster is a really good one, as you could do all your programming simply on the Toshiba, which would be a really elegant solution.

regards, - Simon

Inspired by Master Shake's post I tried my old nec 3500a drive (flashed with 2.1 firmware and no dvd-ram support) and it seems to work.

so far I have tried those dvd-r (generic 1x, 4x, and 8x; sorry forgot the brand) and dvd-rw (memorex(?) 2x) disks that gave problems to the original rd-xs32 drive, and I was able to finalize those disks and reload in the unit without problems. The nec drive also works with the official panasonic dvd-rw disk, but none of those dvd+r or dvd+rw discs work.

I also ordered a lg-gsa h42n today and will see how it works.

cheers,

HY205

Re Sijones2005 post

When I was about to buy my XS32 I enquired about the blaster code for the NTL cable TV box this was their reply

Quote "
The RDXS32 will control an NTL Pace box. The receiver brand code for the
NTL Pace box is not listed in the installation guide, If you were to
purchase this machine, the code you need to input for your box is 0042.
"Unquote

I did not use this method in the end as it seemed rather complex to set up so I cannot say that it will work

I to am in the UK

XS-32 Statistics Summary:

1) How many people have burned well over 300 DVD's? There is some mention that the DVD drive fails around 300 burns.

2) Anyone successfully burn 16x media? Which manufacturer/part number/description?

3) Anyone successfully burn 8x media? Which manufacturer/part number/description?

I was thinking of buying a pre-ATSC DVDR w/HDD from a "survivalist" mentality. However, I have no complaints with my Tosi other than media issues and maybe a 300 burn drive lifetime?

Thanks
Tom

I probably had around 300 burns or so (maybe 500, I dunno, never kept count) on mine before it failed, but the problem is, the burner built into the XS32 really, truly sucks. Failing is really the only thing it's good at. I never managed to get the firmware update on it before it failed (to see if it'd improve) but you'd be lucky to get a readable disc on 8x or 16x media.

I pretty much always burned to DVD-RW and re-ripped it onto the computer to burn a final DVD-R/DVD+R copy.

(I guess my point is-- be ready and willing to swap the drives. ;) )

I am lazy, but I have a drive swap question and don't want to scrutinize this thread which I have done many times:

I seem to recall when you do the drive replacement, you no longer have DVD-RAM capability? (I seem to recall that some sort of media was no longer usable with the drive replacement)

And then, as time marches on, will a replacement drive be available?

Oh and....

I REALLY LOVE the editing and mega menus of the 32 and have been tempted by the 34 and 35 models, but...

I haven't found any references that discuss what media they like!

I was going to guy a Pio 640 from B&H but waited too long - market exploded on them. So I went to local stereo shop and got one for $400 out the door. Since I'm low on funds and a very bad man (I sold it on eBay for $550.) I just couldn't see tying up $550 on a pre ATSC DVDR w/HDD.

I do have a bad feeling about the future and believe we may never see products that give us all the features of a tier A pre ATSC DVDR w/HDD... just the way we never got the features the Beta VCR had (it would record ANYTHING) when it was outmoded...

I am lazy, but I have a drive swap question and don't want to scrutinize this thread which I have done many times:

I seem to recall when you do the drive replacement, you no longer have DVD-RAM capability? (I seem to recall that some sort of media was no longer usable with the drive replacement)

And then, as time marches on, will a replacement drive be available?

You don't loose DVD Ram you loose the ability to play music CDs

He may have read one of my messages where I am having trouble with DVD-RAM all being seen as write-protected, even if it's brand new blank discs. Haven't figured that one out yet. Using Panasonic 2-3x discs, made in US. (with CPRM protection :/)

Hi, pardon me for intruding with dumb questions: I used to post here a long time ago and then didn't for a while.

Well, my first question is answered just by logging in. It seems that this board has no Search feature for anonymous users? You have to join?

Second - most importantly: WHAT HAPPENED TO TOSHIBA'S LINE OF HDD RECORDERS?? I spent half my day scrounging the internet to find any remaindered HDD recorder at all. Did the world end or something?

Third, I have burned way, way, way more than 300 DVDs on my XS32. Probably more than 500. I always use only Taiyo Yuden discs and almost never have a coaster. I guess my box is > 4 years old and still all original equipment, except the fan. Original fan would not shut up, so I took it out. With no fan, the unit overheats quickly (even in dead of winter) and fails on DVD burns. OEM fan is $30, but I had a pair of old 60mm CPU cooler fans so I bolted one inside the case and one outside the case. They worked fine; but are now starting to rattle like the old fan did.

If someone wants to give me the low-down on what has happend to the product line by email, it's: glgehman(at)magic-bullet.com.

glg

Most HDD recorders have disappeared, except for some small Chinese brands at WalMart. (seriously)

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=834513

XS-32 Statistics Summary:

1) How many people have burned well over 300 DVD's? There is some mention that the DVD drive fails around 300 burns.

2) Anyone successfully burn 16x media? Which manufacturer/part number/description?

3) Anyone successfully burn 8x media? Which manufacturer/part number/description?
Thanks
Tom
Over 450 DVDs with my first XS32 before the burner quit. A mix of TY, Sony, Verbatim, Phillips and Velocity.

200-300 in my XS54 before that burner died. All TY 4X.

99% of my burns are -R. I very rarely use my Toshibas for playing DVDs. Haven't tried any 16X. My XS32 will burn, but won't won't finalize any TY 8X. BUT, I can finalize every one of them in my XS54/4167B, even after the finalize error message on the XS32.

The only unexplained coaster I've had was one TY 8X. The couple of other coasters were as the burners were dying, mostly on my first XS32 when I kept trying different DVDs, not knowing it was the burner. A few of the Velocity -Rs no longer play, but I think they're just crappy media.

Conspiracy Theory: Every major manufacturer that invested heavily in HD and BR are going to stop making DVD machines to force people to upgrade. The little 2nd and 3rd tier manufacturers will fill in the void.

Too bad because the HTPC is starting to look better and better for a DVDRHDD (we need a universal acronym folks!) replacement.

I have a Toshi 32 w/~200 burns and was thinking of getting a 35. I really think the Pio 640 is probably a wiser choice - or some Pany.

What is sad is that the DVDRHDD's were abandoned just a little too soon so that the latest models were fully compatable with 16x media. It is a shame how computer DVD burners pretty much digest anything compared to these video units.

Conspiracy Theory: Every major manufacturer that invested heavily in HD and BR are going to stop making DVD machines to force people to upgrade. The little 2nd and 3rd tier manufacturers will fill in the void.

Well, with the bluray burners in the $500s nowadays, I'm looking forward to standalone recorders someday! (Even to transfer my existing XS32 recordings.. though I realize they're probably going to look horrible on big screens..)

Does anyone know if you put DVD video files on a Blue Ray disc, will it play on a BR player? (I don't think you can play CD music files if you put them on a DVD. You probably could "upconvert" them to a DVD audio format but then, what would be the point of doing that???

From an archival standpoint, I think I'd use HD-DVD since it uses a red laser.

Further, I have seen awful BR demos - and I mean totally awful. Compression protocols that result in VHS quality where they think they can get away with it. Anyone see the guy building the watches???

________________________

I figure spending 35 cents on a DVD which holds 1 movie is about all I'm willing to spend. Its funny but both CDs and DVDs can be bot for 35 cents. Do you ever think BR or HD DVD will approach 35 cents? I just can't see that happening. Just like 25 cent per gallon high test is gone and the "cent" key on the keyboard.

Does anyone know if you put DVD video files on a Blue Ray disc, will it play on a BR player? ...
I figure spending 35 cents on a DVD which holds 1 movie is about all I'm willing to spend. Its funny but both CDs and DVDs can be bot for 35 cents. Do you ever think BR or HD DVD will approach 35 cents? I just can't see that happening. Just like 25 cent per gallon high test is gone and the "cent" key on the keyboard.

I have no proof, but I would presume that both next gen DVD formats also support MPEG-2 (I believe MPEG-4 is the 'preferred' format, as well as "VC1" or something like that).. It would seem reasonable that they would support existing format DVD recordings, for these kinds of reasons.

Well, I remember when 5.25" floppy disks were a GREAT deal at $2 each, and even here we were thrilled when DVD-Rs went under $1 each (that was long before I had a recorder of my own).. I think BR or HD-DVD disks WILL get that cheap, or at *least* proportional to recording compacity to DVD-R.

What I'm concerned about is that a DVD has a specific file structure on it.

it starts with a VIDEO_TS directory that contains VOB, IFO, BUP files

So if you were going to put 4 dvd's on a BR, how would you do this?

4 VIDEO_TS directories?

My guess is you would have to somehow merge the 4 DVD's into a single DVD structure and put that on the BR. (I'm assuming that the DVD format would handle files totally more than 9GB - but then, maybe not.)

Now if that BR disc was played in a computer, I think a virtual drive would handle one of the VIDEO_TS directories (we have 4, remember) on the disc.

_________________

But consider the CD economy of putting them on DVD's. You could put something like a dozen CD's on a DL DVD, however, if you did, I don't think there would be any way to play them. Except on a PC w/virtual drive.
________________

I'm sure things will work out finally to our disadvantage...

My guess is you would have to somehow merge the 4 DVD's into a single DVD structure and put that on the BR.

yeah of course (but we're all speculating).

You'd need a new table of contents file that described the menus and actual titles for the BR. I only meant that I suspected that the resolutions/MPEG2 from DVD were most likely supported in the next gen formats, to make "relatively simple" conversion like this possible.

What I'm concerned about is that a DVD has a specific file structure on it.
it starts with a VIDEO_TS directory that contains VOB, IFO, BUP files
So if you were going to put 4 dvd's on a BR, how would you do this?


Until a company comes out with a one-click program solution, and if one would want to buy it, the way to do this would be to use a DVD ripper program, such as DVDdecrypter, and rip each DVD title to MPEG file's to a computer's hard drive. Repeat till you have as many single MPEG files to fill a BR/HD DVD. Then import the MPEG files to an authoring program that supports burning to the HD formats, such as the new versions of Nero/Ulead Movie Factory, etc. and create your BR or HD DVD.

This process is the same as creating a multiple title DVD from separate DVD's.

Just getting on board, very pleased to have this group to share RD-XS32 experiences. Not sure if I'm proceeding correctly here as I'm in "quick reply" But I have a question. The second RD-XS32 I just purchased on Ebay is a little older than the first has some fan noise (tolerable) first has very little and the second doesn't show the clock when off but works when on. Need I worry?
Thanks, GeoNB

Just getting on board, very pleased to have this group to share RD-XS32 experiences. Not sure if I'm proceeding correctly here as I'm in "quick reply" But I have a question. The second RD-XS32 I just purchased on Ebay is a little older than the first has some fan noise (tolerable) first has very little and the second doesn't show the clock when off but works when on. Need I worry?
Thanks, GeoNB


The FL select key, on the lower section of the remote controls the lcd display. However the time is always there when I turn mine off. There may be another default setting

Hi folks.....

I've got an RD-XS32SU unit that I've had close to 3 years now. Just the last couple of months the DVD drive started failing when I tried to burn DVD-R's. Mostly I'd get it to go all the way through the burn process and then when it would try to load the disc I'd see "The disc may by physically damaged or require cleaning" and then it wouldn't play.

Found another forum which seems to be mostly in Europe and found a couple of threads where folks had talked about replacing their DVD drives with an LG or LiteOn model....models which I can't seem to find available in the US.

At any rate, last night I decided to try taking the DVD burner out of my computer that I had purchased a year or so ago and see if that would work in the xs32. Got everything apart, put the NEC from my computer in, plugged in the xs32 and got "ER 7061" on the display.

The user manual says error codes in the 7000's are related to the hard drive but no more detail. I didn't touch the hard drive.

Took the computer drive out and put the xs32's DVD drive back in thinking that things would at least go back to normal........power on, still get ER 7061!!!

It begins the boot up process with the "RD Style" screen on the TV, then beeps and shows the first TV channel from the cable and the error on the unit's display. It won't respond to the remote or to any button on the unit, all I can do is unplug it.

Does anyone have any ideas as to why I now have a large doorstop? At least before it was recording and playing back of the HDD fine. Is there some sort of reset button I haven't found yet or an initialization disc of some sort I can download or something???

I was very careful not to kink or otherwise damage the rather fragile ribbon cables inside the unit........HELP!

Thanks,
Matt

Read this (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=653912&highlight=toshiba+xs) thread

Does anyone have any ideas as to why I now have a large doorstop? At least before it was recording and playing back of the HDD fine. Is there some sort of reset button I haven't found yet or an initialization disc of some sort I can download or something???
Just may be you have the "DST Bug."

Unplug any inputs to the XS32, then:

1. Set clock manually.
2. Turn DST OFF.

If it works now, you can hook inputs back up and wait for a FW update to correct the DST Bug (but leave DST OFF)...read more here. (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=846731)

Just may be you have the "DST Bug."

Unplug any inputs to the XS32, then:

1. Set clock manually.
2. Turn DST OFF.



I wish that was all it is but I don't think so. I displayed the error before I had the cable attached as well as after. Without it I just had "snow" on the TV. I can't set the clock manually because the buttons on the unit and the also the remote don't do anything. It's completely unresponsive to anything except unplugging!!

I'll look through the thread suggested by bingolong but a quick search for my error code came up with no matches. Hopefully there'll be something else in there.

Thanks for any more suggestions........

I'll look through the thread suggested by bingolong but a quick search for my error code came up with no matches. Hopefully there'll be something else in there.

Thanks for any more suggestions........
Did you double check that the power and data cables going to the HDD didn't come loose? The only times I've had 70xx errors with the original burner have been due to an HDD problem, or a burner cable problem. Triple check the burner cables and connections on the board, too. These Toshibas completely lock up with 70xx errors, so you'll have to resolve the problem before you can do anything else. If it helps, I've had 70xx errors many times with all the experimenting I've done, and I've always been able to fix the problem.

Is the jumper on the NEC set to master, and not slave or cable select?

rickc5,

Yes, I did check the cables but I will certainly check them again this evening when I get home. It does help knowing that there's potential for recovery from a 70xx error. I was afraid it was telling me the HDD got fried somehow. It'd be nice if there was a reference that said what the 70xx codes mean....I sure can't find one though.

Can you remember any of the other reasons you ran into 70xx codes?

As far as the NEC goes, yes, the jumper was and is set to Master. That's the position I have it set in my computer as well.

Thanks for the help!

Thanks SGM-26 I'm now using the FL Select Key to get some info. I managed to find the solution to the Time Display : Setup/Management Settings/ Eco Mode.
When (On) the Time won't show when unit is off. Since I have 2 machines I'm going with the economy setting.

Continuing with the second part of my previously posted question how are any of you making out with fans. One of mine is somewhat louder than the other.

Thanks,
GeoNB

rickc5,

Yes, I did check the cables but I will certainly check them again this evening when I get home. It does help knowing that there's potential for recovery from a 70xx error. I was afraid it was telling me the HDD got fried somehow. It'd be nice if there was a reference that said what the 70xx codes mean....I sure can't find one though.

Can you remember any of the other reasons you ran into 70xx codes?

As far as the NEC goes, yes, the jumper was and is set to Master. That's the position I have it set in my computer as well.

Thanks for the help!
I've seen 7000, 703x and 706x errors. I wrote down the reasons for most of the codes, but I don't have it handy right now. I get the 7000 error if I leave a DVD in my XS54 with an LG burner, and plug it in after unplugging it. Most 70xx errors were due to an unrecognizable HDD. I've tried a bunch of different HDDs and a couple burners in XS32s, an XS52 and an XS54, trying to find what works. See this thread for HDD info (I'll be adding an amazing XS32 HDD update today!): http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=840132

As long as you were careful and didn't burn out a circuit board, it should be easy to fix. You can get a new or refurbed HDD for under $40, and it's an easy swap and format. If it's a cable, you can get them from a couple of online parts sources for $20ish. Since it was all working fine until you opened it, I'm still leaning towards a cable coming loose, bent connector pin, or something similar.

According to the manual for the xs32, ER-7000 = Possible error detected in the HDD.

The manual suggests calling your nearest Toshiba dealer if you find an error code other than the ones listed in the manual. ER-7000 is the only listed error code in that number range.