Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 482

In this post I describe recording BBC's live coverage of The Royal Wedding with a Magnavox 2160A and a Panasonic DMR-EH50, editing/dividing, and high-speed dubbing master DVDs:

http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showt...3#post20525923

Yeah, the DTVPal was one of the more overrated pieces of equipment ever on these DTV internet boards.

I have one, and literally the only good thing I could ever say about it is that it has a guide (and mine does have the later firmware, which is supposed to be "improved". The timer is more reliable, but the unit's still buggy otherwise).

I also have a Zinwell, and though it is a little all-around better, it's not by leaps and bounds. At least it doesn't shut off in the middle of while you're watching it, though. But it does still have some minor bugs. At least mine does - but it's not necessarily anything I couldn't live with. I guess for forty bucks new, you can't complain too much.

Those early Zinwells with the EPG have to be pretty near impossible to find. I would guess that a lot of them are even dead by now, as all CECB's aren't made to last more than a couple of years, anyway.

But it does have a timer that *sometimes* works, so I guess it would still be a good choice for a cheapster with a VCR.

THE Question is that if one has a 2160a and has a 500gb hdd that they put in it, can you take this larger drive out of it and install in into a 515 and still retain all the content.

I purchased two of the Zinwell ZAT-970A models (829 or 830 production versions) and extra remotes from Dollar Tree (in order to access the undocumented EPG function). I briefly set up one of the Zinwells to check it out and then put it back in it's box. The other one has never been out of it's box. These were originally for other family members but they went out and purchased digital tuner TVs so they didn't need CECBs after all. Those unused Zinwells are still around here somewhere, not sure just where.

Since mid-2008 I've had two Zenith DTT901 CECBs set up for daily use. One is never powered off and the other is powered on only as needed. The Zenith 901 provides somewhat better picture quality than the Zinwell. That's why I prefer the Zenith.

We sure had a lot of fun with converter boxes, didn't we? Way more fun than the digital transition itself. I got a couple spare CECBs in anticipation of early failures in my or my extended family, but they all still work. By now half of my relatives have their own spare, after getting their first HDTV. But now that I have HDTV, I want HD recording.

Front S-Video input DOA on my 515. Anyone else have this problem?

The S-Video input has to be activated. Go to GENERAL SETTING, then VIDEO, then VIDEO INPUT, then L2 (Front), then select S-Video In. It's as simple as that.

Thanks. I had this weird feeling it was something like that, I even went through the Manual and menus trying to find something, but I must have missed it. I will try tomorrow, as I just started a long taping session using the back input.

Edit - It worked. Dumb on me, as I must have had to do this to set up the back input.

Is there a way to fix my HDD on the Magnavox H2160MW9? I had had it just under a year and have many recordings on it.

One day it was making strange noises and simply wouldn't record after that. I am not too tech savy but am willing to try anything to get it up and running again or retrieve the recordings off of it.

I have tried skip 012, skip 079 and nothing. I tried to reformat it doing skip 079 and after the assessment and pushing OK, it did nothing, just kep the assessement screen up.

Please, help!!!

A minor issuse has come up for me...the rewind button and chapter go back I<< button have stopped working on my 2160 remote. It's surprising because I in no way use them more than the fast forward and forward chapter advance buttons. Using the menu toolbar under the Display button to navigate backward isn't that big a deal, but I do miss the simplicity...
Any magical solutions? Chants? Incantations?

Your HDD motherboard is probably dead. You have to find an identical HDD and then replace the motherboard to get it to work/retrieve the recordings.

I ordered my 515 on Saturday for store pickup, and look forward to setting it up next week.

In most cases, the problem your seeing can be traced to one of three causes.

(1) Check to make sure the batteries in the remote are fresh. If you have a digital camera, you can check to see if the IR (infrared) is working, by pointing the remote at the camera, pressing any key, all while viewing the screen of the camera. You should see the IR flash on & off when a remote button is pressed.

(2) Open the remote and gently clean the contacts on the button pad and where they contact the remote printed circuit board. Instructions here:
http://www.howtocleanstuff.net/how-t...emote-control/

(3) A small portion of a remotes button, that part which contacts the units printed circuit board when a button is pushed, has a conductive paint coating. Over time, that coating can wear off. You can purchase KeyPad repair kits from several outlets (http://www.replacementremotes.com/Ke...CR-Remote.html), however, the cost of the kit is usually about the same you'd pay for a new remote control. (If I recall correctly, you can purchase a new remote from Funai for about $20.)

If your somewhat mechanically handy, and want to try repairing your remote, I'd recommend you attempt cleaning the contacts as described in (2) above. I've found in 8 out of 10 cases, this usually solves the problem.

Welcome.

Repairing HDD's can be very, very expensive and unless the recordings you have saved are irreplaceable, the least expensive repair of your H2160 is probably to replace the HDD with a new unit. If I recall correctly, at least one member had a similar problem, which he traced to a loose cable connection on the HDD. That is something you could check, however you would have to open the H2160's case.(See HDD replacement link below.)

You said the unit is less than 1 year old. Are you sure it is a model 2160MW9 or is it a 2160MW9-A ? (Check labels on back of unit.) This is important should you have to replace the HDD, as the older 2160MW9 models utilized a PATA (Parallel) drive, while newer 2160MW9-A models have a SATA (Serial) drive and adapter board. This inexpensive adaptor permits newer SATA drives to use the original PATA wiring connector. While PATA drives are still available, they are gradually disappearing and now generally cost more than do SATA drives.

If you have not done so yet, I'd suggest you review that section of this thread (http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...ount=39#HDDrep) describing HDD replacement in various models.

Don't hesitate to post questions. We're all here to help where possible.

Congratulations. Now the nail-biting begins, waiting for that "it's here" call from WalMart.

If it's a trackable item, you can follow its progress. If you go to the store before your email that it is ready, have your order number and delivery data with you. The email with the bar code is not needed, it just makes it easier for the associate to grab it. Not all Walmart's are created equal though.

Add your location to the tab marked UserCP. Makes it easier to get more local advice.

Location done. Set up to get text message tracking status.

Thanks for your response. I have found the unit was past warranty and have opened the cover. I took the HDD out, however did not disconnect the ribbon. I couldn't see how to disconnect it. I did check the connections and all seemed good and tight. There is power to the HDD, but nothing is working, not even skip 079, which wouldn't go past the unit scan for me to push the "ok" button. Nothing happened.

Any suggestions on where to buy the PATA HDD replacement?

Thanks again.

If your 2160 is the original version (of 2008 manufacture) the attached photos will be helpful. If your Maggie is a 2160A version (of 2009 manufacture) the photos will not be helpful.

When one activates Skip 079 and presses "OK" it seems that nothing has happened. Then, make a brief test recording. Then one may find out that the hard drive has been formatted.

DigaDo.

I have one STB sitting around and one(Channel Master) that had connected to my analog only Magnavox DVD recorder and it worked pretty good for that. It was in a metal case and got a good write up could do EPG but I do not think more than a day. I got them with the Gov grant money.

My first STB was one I bought used on EBAY I think it was a Samsung T100 and I paid a dollar for it. It was huge much bigger than a VCR recorder. No EPG in that baby.

I always found it interesting that Walmart stopped selling DVD Mag recorders with built in Analog Tuners that were selling for around $50.00 at the time and were bullet proof. And replaced them around the time of Digital Transition with a Mag DVD recorder with no tuner for $100.00 and you still had to come up with a Digital STB to use with it.

The manufacturers had to provide video products with a digital tuner (or no tuner at all) for products manufactured for sale in the US beginning 1 March 2007. While analog only tuner recorders are no longer sold new in the US, such recorders are not obsolete.

The older analog tuner recorders are still useful as "line in" or analog channel 3 (or 4) recorders when used with STBs, DTAs, DVRs or CECBs; or for dubbing from a VCR.

With widespread scrambling of cable services, clear QAM tuner-equipped recorders will have to be enslaved to cable boxes soon enough.

When cable companies "upgrade to digital" it usually means a "downgrade to analog" for home recordists.

It feel so fortunate to have a cable company that publishes all channel changes to its clear QAM channels on their BBS channels. True, they have dropped all but the first 25 NTSC channels, and they would charge you $20 a month to watch them (only). But they still indicate no plans to scramble anything and have doubled the HD clear QAM channels since Jan 1. Maybe I should start a thread "not Comcast".

I have an analog unit, Toshiba RX-50, that is like a baby 2160A with some additions. It only has 80Gb HDD and the DVD supports everything including DVD-RAM. The recording time can vary because you can set the bit rate up to 9.2Mbs incrementally. With an external digital tuner to feed its S-Video or RWY inputs, the DVD quality is great at 400 lines. I feed that to my Panny EZ28K which does a good job of 1080p HDMI upconversion on the DVD-RAM.

It's really a shame what the fear of TIVO and it's patents have done to DVR development in this country.

How did you determine there was power to the HDD? Did you hear/feel the HDD start to spin-up when you turned the 2160 on?

The flat ribbon cable(s) to the HDD are disconnected by gently pulling them straight out. DO NOT rock the cable from side-to-side when removing. (See proceedure #6 and posts/pictures by DigaDO under "Getting Started with HDD Replacement or Upgrade" here: http://www.avsforum.com/avs-vb/showp...ount=39#HDDrep)

PATA hard drives are available online from Amazon, NewEgg, J&R, TigerDirect, Fry's, and in some BestBuy and Staples stores. You will first need to obtain model numbers of the make/size drives compatable with your 2160 by referring to Tables I and II also listed in above link. (Suggest you also read all of the 'Step-By-Step' proceedures in above link, so as to get a general idea of what is involved in replacing HDD and DVD drives in the various models.)

Periodically, several of the above vendors offer suitable 500GB SATA hard drives for less than $40. Compare the cost of a SATA adaptor plus SATA hard drive to the current price of a replacement PATA drive. You may find you can save a little money going the SATA route vs. PATA.

Ran across an interesting fact about TiVo the other day.
This year, they will spent 46.0% of their total 2011 operating expenses on legal expenses.

Wow! And I thought Walmart had a lot of lawyers.

When did Tivo get it's patent, I would assume a bit before it was announced. Hopefully the patent will expire soon and we will be able to get really good alternate devices at reasonable prices.

Edit: looked it up, announced in 1999, we have a while to wait. Maybe someone like Google will develop a non-infringing, open source method that everyone could use (as an enhancement to Google TV), bet they have more and better lawyers than TiVo.

Microsoft, AT&T, Verizon, Motorola are all sueing TiVo for various patent infringements related to video recording and STB (set-top box) design.

Microsoft has accused TiVo of infringing on four Microsoft patents and has asked that TiVo be barred from importing their digital-video recorders, most of which are made in Mexico.

Motorola claim its video-recording patents precede Tivo's because it acquired them when it bought a company named Imedia Corporation, which had filed their patents in April 1995, two years before TiVo was founded and three years before the TiVo patents were filed.

These "patent wars" won't be settled anytime soon.


REF: Motorola Mobility/General Instrument vs. TiVo

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2JIexhpMNs

This problem came up for a friend just a few months after I convinced him to buy a refurb Mag 2160. Exact same thing: the reverse buttons tanked for no apparent reason. Ordered a new remote, and within weeks the reverse buttons again died after very little use. Remote was exchanged under warranty, and this third one seems OK so far. Rather than risk yet another chore if this one fails, I copied the primary Mag remote buttons to a Sony learning remote and my friend now uses that instead (bigger buttons, much more range and power than the original Mag remote). The Mag remote is set aside for emergency use only. Check your remote using a cheap digital camera with live view: aim the remote at the lens, observe the LCD screen, and press the suspect buttons. You should see a bright white flash on the camera screen if the button is working, nothing if its broken. If broken, you'll need to replace it.