Thanks for taking the time to doucment. So you have had no disc problem? All recorded discs could be viewed and finalized? I am doing better finalizing immediately. It was finalizing after the disc had been laying around awhile that was the problem.

The majority of the discs are okay but there were some issues, some are media-related, others are with the FR mode.

I only had about 3-4 discs that were totally toast.

The most common problem I have is refusing to finalize. Others have reported that those discs seem to finalize without a problem in the 2006 models. I haven't tried that though.

The FR mode seems to be fragile. I now avoid stopping the FR mode especially when the DVD is almost full. This seems to have reduced finalization issues.

I also try to edit right after the recording ends if editing is needed, which is a good thing for an organizational point of view as well :) This I started doing after I edited the titles of my first music videos DVD in one session (30 or 40 titles total on DVD-R) after it was almost full and now it refuses to finalize and even take some of the edits (first and only time i had a DVD refuse to accept the edits). Now I leave a bigger buffer when i have multiple titles (eg 10+): I don't know if it has any real effect but I dont want to jinx it :-)

I suspect that trying to finalize after the disc has been laying around for a while is a bad idea. I always burn a disc in one go, from blank disc to full and finalized all at once, rather than burn a little here and a little there, eventually finalizing when it's full. A disc can tolerate fingerprints/dust/dirt once it's been burned, you can wipe that stuff off and it will play, but if that stuff is present while burning, the result is usually a coaster.

I suspect that trying to finalize after the disc has been laying around for a while is a bad idea. I always burn a disc in one go, from blank disc to full and finalized all at once, rather than burn a little here and a little there, eventually finalizing when it's full. A disc can tolerate fingerprints/dust/dirt once it's been burned, you can wipe that stuff off and it will play, but if that stuff is present while burning, the result is usually a coaster.

Yes this is the ideal thing to do, but in some cases (eg music videos) it is not practical for me to keep all the sources around and the DVR fills up quickly...

I did not have any finalization problems that were related to the time the DVD had been around (some have been almost a year even). The problems were either FR-related (which I also got with a DVD burned the same time) or massive editing of many many short titles on a DVD that is almost full (eg 20min LP left), which I learned the hard way not to do again :)

Alright then, you've done it that way so you would no, I can't be sure the "little-by-little" way is a bad idea but I suspect it might be. But if it's impractical to do it that way then of course you must take the chance. Sounds like it hasn't caused you any problems so maybe I am being overly careful. In my case there's rarely any downside to waiting until I have a full discs's worth of material, and since I typically will Real-Time copy to the DVD, I really have to do it that way, to get the right optimized bitrate for the total amount of material going on the disc.

Hello, I've had my ES-20 for some time now, and I'm having some troubles with power failure.

1. About 2 months ago, I had a long power failure. When the power came back, I started to have some problems with the cable reception. It seems like I have to disconnect the antenna(not the video cable) that goes from the DVD-RECORDER to the TV, and this will keep the signal smooth. This is not good, as you may think, because now I can't watch my TV when I'm recording something.

2. Yesterday, there was another power failure. Now, when I turn the DVD on, anything that I try to watch is giving me a "splitted" screen. It looks really bad, is like its showing the image duplicated.

Any ideas/similar problems.


I'm having the same problem with the split black and white screen as well. I've hooked it up with several different TV's and tried every combination I can imagine (and some I made up just to see what would happen). It's not just split and in B&W either, it's kinda in "Scramblevision" as well. It doesn't record in this way though, I can take the DVD out and play it in another DVD player and it's fine.

Has anyone else heard of this?

Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks.

That symptom could be explained by your recorder sending out Progressive Scan signals (480p), but your display not handling it.

That symptom could be explained by your recorder sending out Progressive Scan signals (480p), but your display not handling it.


It used to work fine? Could it have been somehow changed? Any ideas?

Well, in the quote of maxfelipe you made, he mentioned a power failure. Are you sure you haven't had even a brief interruption of power?

In any event, what you need to do is check what mode it is in (Progressive or Interlace). I realize that will be difficult what with not being able to see the screen. Some models have a switch that allows you to change it, since if it's wrong you can't see a menu to change it back. Your User Manual may help you find out how to change between 480p and 480i.

Or try hooking it up to an HDTV that should support 480p.

It used to work fine? Could it have been somehow changed? Any ideas?


I've tried to adjust it but I can't see the screen well enough to know what it says... Do I want the 480 or the 480i?

Well, in the quote of maxfelipe you made, he mentioned a power failure. Are you sure you haven't had even a brief interruption of power?

In any event, what you need to do is check what mode it is in (Progressive or Interlace). I realize that will be difficult what with not being able to see the screen. Some models have a switch that allows you to change it, since if it's wrong you can't see a menu to change it back. Your User Manual may help you find out how to change between 480p and 480i.

Or try hooking it up to an HDTV that should support 480p.


Hot Damn!

That did it. I woke my wife up to help me look for anything that looked like a "480" anywhere. After about 20 minutes sure enough she found it.

Appreciate the help man. I also need to download the firmware for the scheduling issue, I read the entire thread but I still get the feeling the the new firmware may not fix the issue?

What do you recommend?

Thanks man. I won't be able to watch the Steeler vs. Jags game and I needed to record it. You're a life saver.

Hahhah glad I could help. You hang around this Forum long enough and pretty soon you can recognize when someone has the same problem that you read about before.

But I don't think I can be much help with the firmware or scheduling problems since I don't have the ES20. And I don't use TVGOS. I just set Timer Recordings or if I really want to be sure, I try to be there to start the recording, even if it's way early. Record to HDD and edit the extra off the front (and back) later.

I appreciate the discussion on disk problems. I have found that if I finalize right after recording, I do not have a problem. All the problems I have had (and there were many) were on disks that had been recorded, stored for months, and then I tried to finalize.

Anything new on the updated firmware? The new season of shows has started and already I've missed one due to this piece of crap.

Anything new on the updated firmware? The new season of shows has started and already I've missed one due to this piece of crap.

I haven't tried any of the firmware updates since I don't use the daily/weekly timer scheduler, and I don't want to risk QAing Panasonic's firmware when I am fine with the way it is now. I think Mike99 may be a good source for firmware information.

Hey! Thanks for all the great info, little of which I actually understand, however. I was wondering if anyone has advice for resetting both the unit and the remote in terms of "remote code". I have two panasonic DVD devices, one player and one recorder, side-by-side. I changed the code on the ES-20 so it wouldn't interfere with the other DVD player, but something happened (likely user error) and I can't use the remote. I just get an RC1 error. I tried the correction on page 14 of the manual to no avail. I have had this in a box for about six months waiting until I moved to set it up and now I can't get it to function at all without the remote. I have tried the PLAY/RECORD button combination with the tray upen, but that didn't work. I left the batteries out of the remote and that didn't reset the code. Ideally, I would like to know how to enter the SETUP menu so I could change the main unit code to Channel 2. I tried contacting Panasonic regarding this issue and all I got was an automated machine which ended up giving me the number of a local repair shop! Thanks for any advice... DW

Hey! Thanks for all the great info, little of which I actually understand, however. I was wondering if anyone has advice for resetting both the unit and the remote in terms of "remote code". I have two panasonic DVD devices, one player and one recorder, side-by-side. I changed the code on the ES-20 so it wouldn't interfere with the other DVD player, but something happened (likely user error) and I can't use the remote. I just get an RC1 error. I tried the correction on page 14 of the manual to no avail. I have had this in a box for about six months waiting until I moved to set it up and now I can't get it to function at all without the remote. I have tried the PLAY/RECORD button combination with the tray upen, but that didn't work. I left the batteries out of the remote and that didn't reset the code. Ideally, I would like to know how to enter the SETUP menu so I could change the main unit code to Channel 2. I tried contacting Panasonic regarding this issue and all I got was an automated machine which ended up giving me the number of a local repair shop! Thanks for any advice... DW

This should be helpful: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=7621462

Basically you have to change the remote to the frequency used by the recorder so you can operate the recorder, and then change them both to your new code of choice using the Setup menu in the ES20.

I also had a panic on this issue right here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?t=671225

If these don't help let me know...

I have been using this thread as a reference when using my ES20, but have come across something not mentioned. If answering, please note that I am new to digital, having always been a vhs user.

I purchased the dvr player in December and have used it occasionally for recording, playback and general dvd rental. About three months into the relationship, I received the "disc cannot be played in your region" on brand new yoga discs labeled for my region. After unplugging the unit overnight, the discs played. However, I am receiving this error all the time now no matter which disc I play, i.e., rental, home formatted or newly purchased movies.

Does anyone have an answer to this problem? I wanted to post here before calling Panasonic.

Thank you for any help you might be able to offer.

I installed the firmware update and it had no effect on this problem or any other problem. Did anyone in this forum get an improvement by installing this firmware update?

I also just found a potential pitfall in the Scheduler when recording from IN2. The scheduler automatically changes it to Channel 2, so everytime I have to remember to change it back to IN2. This is when entering the data for a new recording. Once the entry is there with IN2, it always records from IN2. So the pitfall is only when creating the entry, not when it starts recording. A small thing, but a potential pitfall - it got me a couple of times :-)

Let's say you want to copy an old VHS tape to DVD, or a program from your DV or DVR in FR mode, before you go to bed, or before you head out for the day. The start time would basically be right now.

Doing this with a timer recording has the benefit of turning the ES20 off automatically at the end and including a title. If you do a live FR mode recording, it won't turn off the ES20 when the recording finishes.

Where there's a potential issue is (you guess it) when using FR. If the start time elapses, but you haven't turned off the recorder yet, and you are editing the schedule entry to adjust the start/end time, the Scheduler does not corrrectly reflect the new FR mode duration. I do not know how it gets recorded. I wasn't curious enough to let it record to see what it would actually do...

Tray will not open -display says "lk on" I have tried pushing the stop button on the machine and the up arrow channel button like the manual says, while the machine is off, but nothing. A working ram disk is in it; the machine plays the disk fine.
I cannot change the ratings screen in setup. i do not know if that is related to this problem. What is the fix?

Tray will not open -display says "lk on" I have tried pushing the stop button on the machine and the up arrow channel button like the manual says, while the machine is off, but nothing. A working ram disk is in it; the machine plays the disk fine.
I cannot change the ratings screen in setup. i do not know if that is related to this problem. What is the fix?

Try pulling the plug and reconnecting.

Thanks for the tip but I had already tried that - since the inital post I was able to access the ratings screen in the set up and place the rating at 8 but to no avail - the tray remains locked...

Try this post's suggestion (http://archive2.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showthread.php?p=5714034&&#post5714034) and the following post if that doesn't work.

Thanks WABJXO! That was the cure: hold power and stop button on the unit for 5 seconds or until it says UNLOCK. Simple. Too bad the manual does not give those gems out.

You're welcome, and thanks to vferrari for his original post on your solution!

I can no longer record movies from my Scientific Explorer 8000 using 16x, only the 8x currently work. I always get the error to please check the disc. I have tried different spindles, brand and pulling the plug. The new discs record in a friends Scientific Explorer 8300 with a ES20, but not in mine. Would the dvr model be the problem or have I somehow changed a setting?

There is a firmware upgrade for the ES-20 available to improve compatability with 16x DVD's. I have an ES-10 and have used 16x without any problem with the firmware upgrade( for the ES-10 of course).

http://www2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/vDownloads?storeId=15001&langId=-1&page=DVDFirmware

I can no longer record movies from my Scientific Explorer 8000 using 16x, only the 8x currently work. I always get the error to please check the disc. I have tried different spindles, brand and pulling the plug. The new discs record in a friends Scientific Explorer 8300 with a ES20, but not in mine. Would the dvr model be the problem or have I somehow changed a setting?

I doubt the cable box has any effect on the ability to record onto 16x media. Did you try recording on the trouble 16x media from other sources such as the ES20's tuner, or a VCR or any other Line-In source?

I have used 8x and 16x brands interchangeably without any problems relating to the 16x speed. The only media so far that got me the "please check disc" error and other related flakiness was the Staples "Made in India" DVD-R 16x in the green/yellow packaging. Everything else 16x/8x, (including other Staples boxes) I tried works fine. What brands of media are you having trouble with?

When the ES20 gets into "confused" or "dizzy" mode because of bad media, it sometimes may take 2-3 reboots before it gets back to normal again. After a "bad media incident" you may get errors even with media that is okay. I have a couple of test DVD-Rs that I use after I get a media-related problem to make sure it's okay before I put new media in it.

After reading the responses to my question, I have unplugged 3 times and tried to record using fr, schedule and live tv. I do not have a problem watching movies. I am leery about trying the firmware upgrade right now. I have tried Fuji 16x and Dynex 16x, all discs have been -R. I have never had a problem before with Fuji DVD-R and BB exchanged spindles with me when I said the discs were bad. I do not have a VCR & not sure what you mean using the ES20's tuner. I switch to Video 1 to record & play.

'Check Disc' means it can't read the disc. Make sure they are brand new and fresh out of the packaging. If you have tried several (good) brands of discs (Verbatim for example) and can't get anything to load, it could be an indication that the DVD drive is starting to fail. But you say it reads commercial (pressed) discs okay? Then it's more likely that the firmware is the problem, those new 16x discs probably aren't covered by the old drive firmware. Checking that it still works on a disc brand/type/speed that it used to work with will (help) rule out a drive problem other than out-of-date firmware.

After reading the responses to my question, I have unplugged 3 times and tried to record using fr, schedule and live tv. I do not have a problem watching movies. I am leery about trying the firmware upgrade right now. I have tried Fuji 16x and Dynex 16x, all discs have been -R. I have never had a problem before with Fuji DVD-R and BB exchanged spindles with me when I said the discs were bad. I do not have a VCR & not sure what you mean using the ES20's tuner. I switch to Video 1 to record & play.

Okay here's a couple of things to try to narrow down the problem:

1) If you have any DVD-RAM discs (eg the DVD-RAM disc that came in the box with the ES-20), can you record on them right now?

2) If you have any non-blank DVD-R you were able to write-to in the past (before the problems started), but did not finalize them, can you write to them the right now?


The ES20's tuner is when you connect the RF cable from the wall (or using a splitter) to the RF Input of the ES20. The ES20 has its own tuner so you record the analog channels (from 2 to 99).

I haven't used Dynex. I used Fuji DVD-R a few months ago, I am not sure if they were 8x or 16x. I had more problems with DVD+R, but it was not of the "check disc" variety, and it was infrequent and it usually involved FR. Sometimes they may change their provider but they have the same brand name (eg Staples), so media that used to be fine, may now be problematic. I had that happen to me with the Staples brand as I mentioned above. I think you may be experiencing a similar thing:

The blank DVDs you are using are probably made by the same people making the Staples I had a problem with. I don't have a way to check media codes, so this is only a guess/hypothesis, but it sounds like you are experiencing what I did with the green/yellow Staples 16x blanks!

Right now I use both 16x (Verbatim, Magnavox, Sony, Office Max) and 8x (Office Depot, Maxell) among others without problems. You can check the "Media Deals this week" thread for sales of these brands. I forgot what is on sale this week.

I have not installed any firmware updates. My ES20 is as it came in the box firmware-wise.

My suggestion: If you try #1 and #2 and everything is fine, then the problem points to the new media. New splindles of the exact same type probably won't change things.

Right now, I have all functions back. Last night when I went to bed, I only turned off the tv and forgot to turn off the recorder. During the night, the recorder turned off after being on for 6 hours. When I came home today & decided to give it one last shot, it worked!! I don't know if that had anything to do with it or crossing my fingers. I have tested several discs & also my DVD-Ram and everything is working right now. I did not have any unfinalized discs to try, but will save one, in case this happens again. When I am finished with these discs, I will switch to a different brand. I do alot of recording for my son & his kids overseas. I know the Fuji discs work on his German player & was hesitant to try another brand. I will send him a couple "tests" before I send a box that he can't watch. I never realized til lately how the media is not always what it seems. Thanks for your replies & I will post back if it happens again with a different brand.

Right now, I have all functions back. Last night when I went to bed, I only turned off the tv and forgot to turn off the recorder. During the night, the recorder turned off after being on for 6 hours. When I came home today & decided to give it one last shot, it worked!! I don't know if that had anything to do with it or crossing my fingers. I have tested several discs & also my DVD-Ram and everything is working right now. I did not have any unfinalized discs to try, but will save one, in case this happens again. When I am finished with these discs, I will switch to a different brand. I do alot of recording for my son & his kids overseas. I know the Fuji discs work on his German player & was hesitant to try another brand. I will send him a couple "tests" before I send a box that he can't watch. I never realized til lately how the media is not always what it seems. Thanks for your replies & I will post back if it happens again with a different brand.

I am glad everything is working fine now! Maybe the auto-shutdown triggered some sort of a self-check that cleaned up any lingering issues. I caught mine a couple of times doing self-checks at 5am (per the user manual).

I'm a new DMR-ES20 owner, found a display model at CC for $64.99+tax. I've noticed DVDs created on this recorder will not play on my computer.
I have VLC, MPC, and PowerDVD, none of these media players will play the Panny's DVD Menu, only VLC and MPC will play the VOBs.
The DVDs are finalized, and I've made test DVDs in every record mode: xp, sp, lp, ep, and fx.

Suggestions?

I'm a new DMR-ES20 owner, found a display model at CC for $64.99+tax. I've noticed DVDs created on this recorder will not play on my computer.
I have VLC, MPC, and PowerDVD, none of these media players will play the Panny's DVD Menu, only VLC and MPC will play the VOBs.
The DVDs are finalized, and I've made test DVDs in every record mode: xp, sp, lp, ep, and fx.

Suggestions?

I don't have any experience with PC drives/playback, but here are some questions that may help other forum users with more experience to answer it:

1) Does it happen with all media types (eg DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM) or some of them?
2) What media brands are you using?
3) What is your computer DVD drive?
4) If you finalize the DVD with "First Title" instead of "Top Menu", do you still get the same problem?

1) Does it happen with all media types (eg DVD-R, DVD+R, DVD-RW, DVD-RAM) or some of them?
I'm using Verbatim DVD-R x16
2) What media brands are you using?
3) What is your computer DVD drive?
LG and Liteon


4) If you finalize the DVD with "First Title" instead of "Top Menu", do you still get the same problem?
Top Menu: only VOBs play, no menu

First Title: Menu plays when DVD tray is first closed, but the media players I have, VLC, MPC, and PowerDVD, will not play the menu again. So double on the video file cause the media players to quickly open then close the file.

I have now experienced the FR timer recording problem. Set the timer for 2hrs30minutes in the FR mode, and ended up with a recording that was created in the 8 hour mode. Rats!

Scheduler can point to media troubles before they are obvious:

While a Timer recording was in progress, and the recording seemed to be going okay, I noticed that the Scheduler turned the entry to "!" (indicating a problem, but no other indication of a problem). I thought it was just random silliness, but when the recording finished there was a problem: the title was not completely recorded. So the Scheduler picked up the problem, but the ES20 continued as if everything going okay. It would have been nice if Panasonic passed the actual error message to the user instead of putting a generic "!" mark, which doesn't help the user figure out what's the problem. It would also be nice if the recorder stopped recording if there was a problem instead of giving you the fake impression that everything is going okay...

I have been using Office Depot branded 4x DVD-RW for a while without any problems. However, the last couple of spindles I bought are failing to format! I tested the recorder with older ODPs, TDK and Sony and they all format/reformat without problems, so the problem seems to be those spindlers. I double-checked their upc-codes/product-codes/packaging and they look like they are all the same, the only difference is the serial numbers/batch numbers....

I just found the TDK DVD-RW on sale at CompUSA so I am going to give those a try. Will report back after I use a number of those...

I have another problem with my ES20 since my last post & was hoping someone could shed some light on it. I can only record using the Scheduled recording for live programing & from my DVR. The ES20 can not read the disc when I try to do a live record or by using the FR recording. I have tried a new Verbatim -R pack, Dynex, my RAM disc & a disc that I saved for testing purposes. I have also unplugged the unit & the cable box multiple times the past few days. Should I start looking for another recorder or hope for the best with the firmware patch?

Easy thing to try: if you have Daylight Saving Time (DST) set to ON, set it to OFF.

I have another problem with my ES20 since my last post & was hoping someone could shed some light on it. I can only record using the Scheduled recording for live programing & from my DVR. The ES20 can not read the disc when I try to do a live record or by using the FR recording. I have tried a new Verbatim -R pack, Dynex, my RAM disc & a disc that I saved for testing purposes. I have also unplugged the unit & the cable box multiple times the past few days. Should I start looking for another recorder or hope for the best with the firmware patch?

Let me see if I understood: So on the same disc you can record if you go to the Scheduler, but if you press RECORD on the remote or on the front panel of the DVD recorder it refuses to start recording? Is there a difference between using the RF tuner and the Line-In inputs?

I have not seen a problem such as the one I think you described. But the ES20 is quite quirky!

That's correct about using the same disc. Hitting record doesn't work & Scheduler will work. I am not the one to be changing the wiring around, but I do record from Video 1, if that helps.

I have not seen a problem such as the one I think you described. But the ES20 is quite quirky!

ncaahoops -

I'm surprised that there is fresh action on this thread.

The ES20 is quirky as we know. But looking at threads on the newer recorders seem to indicate a lot of them are quirky as well.

Twice I had a problem when using chase play. Since it only happened twice & obviously caught me by surprise, I'm forgetting some of the details. But something like I could go backward and fast forward, but not pause. The whole program got recorded, it's just that one of the functions did not work. It may have been while using the FR mode, but I'm not sure. I kind of dismissed the problem because I figured Panasonic is not going to upgrade firmware anymore on this model.

I thought about getting a Philips with QAM tuner and HDD, but it looks like they have some problems dropping channels. I get the impression the new Panny's have a better picture than the Philips, but the Panny's do not have an HDD. And if Comcast starts encrypting more channels, the QAM tuner's function becomes limited. Right now I'm on hold. I'll have to see what's new this fall as far as TV programing goes & if it's worthwhile to upgrade at that time.

Mike

My ES20 stopped recording about a month or so ago. As it still functions as a player, I'm keeping it. With the fall season starting in a month, I went ahead and picked up a Toshiba D-R400. Hopefully it will serve me better than the ES20. I must say, however, that the Toshiba is much less user friendly.

That's correct about using the same disc. Hitting record doesn't work & Scheduler will work. I am not the one to be changing the wiring around, but I do record from Video 1, if that helps.

I do not know. It seems that the more it ages, the quirkier it gets. I had one instance that sound didnt come through until a couple of reboots. (I also have my cable box on Video 1)

The reason I was asking is to figure out whether the problem is with Video1 Line Input or with all sources of video (RF, L1, L2, DV). If the Video 1 input is the problem, then you can use Video2 or RF In perhaps.

Also did you try connecting/disconnecting the cables?

ncaahoops -

I'm surprised that there is fresh action on this thread.

The ES20 is quirky as we know. But looking at threads on the newer recorders seem to indicate a lot of them are quirky as well.

Twice I had a problem when using chase play. Since it only happened twice & obviously caught me by surprise, I'm forgetting some of the details. But something like I could go backward and fast forward, but not pause. The whole program got recorded, it's just that one of the functions did not work. It may have been while using the FR mode, but I'm not sure. I kind of dismissed the problem because I figured Panasonic is not going to upgrade firmware anymore on this model.

I thought about getting a Philips with QAM tuner and HDD, but it looks like they have some problems dropping channels. I get the impression the new Panny's have a better picture than the Philips, but the Panny's do not have an HDD. And if Comcast starts encrypting more channels, the QAM tuner's function becomes limited. Right now I'm on hold. I'll have to see what's new this fall as far as TV programing goes & if it's worthwhile to upgrade at that time.

Mike

I had one case where I was recording one program and Chase Playing (mostly fast-forwarding through it) another program, the playback was ok, but the resulting recorded program was a bit choppy and had some flashes of the previously recorded program in it during playback.

Yes, the whole future what to buy is so frustrating! The whole QAM/encrypted thing is contributing too. Infact recently Comcast's OnDemand programs (almost all of them) are macrovision'ed (unless it's my new crazy DVR box that is causing it, b/c I didn't have m/v with the Motos)

I agree that this unit is quirky. Hitting the record button & the FR is now working. The unit was sitting on top of my cable box & I never noticed before how warm it got. I moved it last night to let it cool off after turning the DST off. Today I disconnected & connected the cables before trying to use another video source & now everything is right with the world!! I did not try to record before re-connecting the cables so I don't know which solution worked. If heat was the problem, I would think the problem would have shown up earlier & that doesn't explain why Scheduler worked. Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I agree that this unit is quirky. Hitting the record button & the FR is now working. The unit was sitting on top of my cable box & I never noticed before how warm it got. I moved it last night to let it cool off after turning the DST off. Today I disconnected & connected the cables before trying to use another video source & now everything is right with the world!! I did not try to record before re-connecting the cables so I don't know which solution worked. If heat was the problem, I would think the problem would have shown up earlier & that doesn't explain why Scheduler worked. Thanks to all for the suggestions.

I'm glad everything is working now! Maybe heat was the problem, I noticed in mine that after heavy duty usage it takes to get more flaky and quirky. Perhaps it went into one of those quirky buggy modes and the overheating made it last longer.