Well, I've reached my limit with the DVDR3575H. Bought one on 20 July, dumped about 30 hours of VHS and Beta (!) tapes on it, then attempted to burn my first DVD...roughly 3.7 Gb of data in SP mode, using the "High" option for dubbing.

The unit got through approximately one and a half of my five titles, then bailed with Error 22, "Cannot record on this disc." This was with Sony DVD+R 16x media. The same thing happened with a TDK DVD+R 16x disc.

I thought I had gotten a dud, so the following weekend I exchanged that unit for another one - at a different store, I might add. Placed a limited amount of material on the HDD and burned a TDK disc successfully. I then proceeded to (again) dub all 30 hours of material from the tapes. About 80-90% of the DVDs I burned were coasters, with the same error reported as with the previous unit.

The same thing has happened now with both Sony and Maxell DVD+R 16x media, and even, just for grins, with Maxell DVD+R/W media. The failure point seems to be totally random. Very frustrating.

Naturally, Philips "support" wasn't any support at all. They verified that I was using the recommended media, then offered an exchange if I paid the shipping. At this point the shipping isn't a deal breaker, but the 60+ hours I've spent is a different story, since I would once again lose all the dubs I've made to date. :mad:

Both auto finalize settings are off, and per other threads in this forum, DST is also turned off. My firmware started off as R40_014_000 and HD4P3374CH1E. I did a firmware update to R40_016_000 and HD4P3374EH1E in the hope that there was an undocumented bug fix that would solve my problem. No joy.

Has anyone else experienced this sort of problem? Any suggestions?

Try different media. I haven't had any problems with Verbatim 16x +R discs in the 3575. You probably realize that brand names mean nothing when it comes to DVD media though. You need to check the real media ID to find out who made it, and even then you can get counterfeits.

Let me caveat this by saying I am not familiar with the Philips unit but have a few years experience dubbing VHS material to Panny HDD/DVD recorders.

Suggest revising your process to consist of dubbing your VHS material to the HDD first and then high speed/lossless dubbing to DVD media (if the Philips supports that mode). Even though this results in a two step process, it is a time saver in the long run in the event you get a bad burn because you don't have to do a real time dub from VHS on your second try you just use your HDD source copy also I've found you get a more reliable burn if you are doing a high speed copy from the HDD rather than a "live" real-time recording to DVD. The HDD should be more reliable as well when it comes to real time dubbing from the VHS tapes. Also, you might want to try -R media to see if that helps. Dubbing to HDD first also allows you to edit prior to your final dub to DVD media. Theoretically, however, your process should work with a much higher success rate than what you are experiencing. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies. I should have made it clear that I am copying the stuff to the HDD first. These failures occur when burning from the HDD to a disc. Obviously, going back to the HDD isn't an option if I have to exchange the unit (again). :(

The odds seem pretty astronomical against having bad media from Sony, TDK, and two different batches/types of Maxell discs (DVD+R and DVD+R/W), although I've certainly seen stranger things.

You can check the Manufacturer's media ID in the 3575, which may help identify a problem if it's the media.

Put a disc in the tray (blank or recorded) and let it load up, select HDD, press Skip-1-2-3, arrow right at FW screen, read info on next screen.

You can then open tray and remove the 1st disc, put in another disc, close tray and wait for it to load up. The screen will report the next disc's info/ID.

To exit, arrow left, then press Back key...don't press OK or your 3575 will be reset to factory settings.

Let us know what the "Manufacture ID" is and whether it says "Yes" for "Strategy."

Thanks wabjxo. Since I've tried a total of four different disc types, I'll post them all:

Sony DVD+R, Manufacture ID "Sony," strategy yes.
TDK DVD+R, Manufacture ID "CMC MAG," strategy yes.
Maxell DVD+R, Manufacture ID "CMC MAG," strategy yes.
Maxell DVD+R/W, Manufacture ID "RITEK," strategy no.

Hope this helps.

Thanks wabjxo. Since I've tried a total of four different disc types, I'll post them all:

Sony DVD+R, Manufacture ID "Sony," strategy yes.
TDK DVD+R, Manufacture ID "CMC MAG," strategy yes.
Maxell DVD+R, Manufacture ID "CMC MAG," strategy yes.
Maxell DVD+R/W, Manufacture ID "RITEK," strategy no.

Hope this helps.
Maybe so. CMC MAG is notoriously bad media. The Ritek does not have a read/write strategy in the 3575's firmware, so not good to use. "SONY" is not a valid media ID used by Sony... should have a 4-digit alphanumeriic code after the "SONY"... so prob. also bad media (see Digitalfaq.com here under "Fake DVD Media ID Guide." (http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm)

Even tho it's very odd you've had so much trouble, it would be good if you could find some better media, just a small pkg to try...Verbatim 8X or 16X -R...or +R which I don't have any experience with... is usually very good and consistent and available in local stores (Costco...or Sam's has more variety).

I wouldn't try TDK (avail. at Sams) at this point cause they don't make any consumer DVDs anymore in their plants...all farmed out, as your TDKs were (to CMC...ugh!).

Whatever kind you try next, check the ID on a blank disc first! :)

I noticed "Beta" in there and wonder if that's some part of the problem...don't know much about it and how it transfers to a HDD...same as a VHS tape?

Could any tapes you're copying to the HDD have some copy protection, like rented or bought movies, that your player doesn't mind playing out to the DVD but somehow affects the next attempt to copy to DVD...or is it all home stuff...or a mixture?

Yes, Super Beta transfers the same as VHS tape, albeit with better quality. All of the material is either OTA footage or home video which should transfer without a hitch. No rented or bought material at all.

I'm going to hunt down some Verbatim media for one last try. Beyond that, I am at a loss to know how to proceed further. I certainly appreciate the posts. I'll keep everyone informed on how it goes from here.

Well, it turns out that the disc media wasn't the problem at all! :D

In addition to the media listed previously, I also tried the following discs today:

Verbatim 8x DVD+R, Manufacture ID "MCC," strategy yes.

Philips 16x DVD+R, Manufacture ID "CMC MAG," (I know, poor media, but I wanted to try the "official" Philips name brand discs), strategy yes.

Memorex 16x DVD-R, Manufacture ID "CMC AM3.," strategy yes. (I also wanted to try -R as suggested earlier in this thread.)

All of the new discs failed in the same manner as those listed previously.

Upon further investigation of the coasters, I found that all disc burns failed in the same location. The first title was always recorded in its entirety, and the unit cratered with Error 22 after it completes the "HDD > DVD (1/5) Writing to disc" phase. The second title refused to burn. An empty title was created with the remaining time.

It turns out that for some reason, the second title did not transfer to HDD correctly when it was dubbed from the original tape. I'm not sure what happened - perhaps a missing 'end of file marker' or similar? Just conjecture on my part. In any case, I went back to the original footage and copied the video a second time to the HDD. I then inserted a Verbatim disc and created a DVD that included the re-dubbed title. Everything worked flawlessly.

So, in summary...if you ever encounter an Error 22 problem, check out the file in question on the HDD! Hope this helps someone avoid the hours of frustration I've had with this.

Again, thanks to all for their input, and thanks particularly to wabjxo for the tip on viewing the media ID information with this recorder.

Very glad you found your problem AND the 8X Verbatims with the good MCC code!

Those will probably be the best readily-available discs to use from now on. If you can't find their 8X, 16X Verbatims are also very good, but 16X dye formulations are apparently made by "extending" the 8X formula to that higher speed... at least that's how TDK originally announced the development of their 16X. People here have also reported that the equally-good 8X Taiyo Yuden (available only online) burn slightly better than 16X based on actual after-burn tests they've done.

Verbatims not only seem to burn consistently good, but they are very rugged...one of the few brands you can leave on your roof for 27 days without ill effects...a huge selling point in my book since I do that often! :D

See this test of continuous sunlight exposure of various DVD brands...in plastic cases... on a roof! Has a good table showing days before failure for various brands and media IDs (MIDs). (http://dvd-r.jpn.org/beam/index.html)