Magnavox 537, 535, 533, 515, 513, 2160A, 2160, 2080 & Philips 3576, 3575 - Page 172

The only way to do that is to use the unit's own tuner.

You are seriously under-utilizing your most valuable and powerful component -- the TiVo HD. Put the cable card in the TiVo (request an M card to enable both tuners). This will give you all the digital cable channels you are paying for and full guide functionality. All outputs on the TiVo are simultaneously active and it outputs anamorphic widescreen on S-Video. You can attach any recorder you want to the TiVo's S-Video output and get high quality recordings -- the Panasonic E-85 will give you exceptional PQ at SP. If you put it on your home network, you can transfer the HD recordings to your PC and burn them to disk as HD or down-convert them to SD but with 5.1 sound. A direct transfer to a DVD recorder will only give you SD and 2.0 audio.

No DVD recorder will ever have a digital input. The whole purpose behind the HDMI design was to implement an encrypted digital transport that prevented copying of digital sources.

Kelson:
Thanks for your reply. I guess I wasn't clear enough. We have a TivoHD connected to a Panasonic E80 that is used to record and dub to disk about 6-8 hrs of EP recordings per day. PQ is not of overriding importance to my wife, but volume is. She started archiving to VCR tapes in the early 1980s and accumulated about 2500 (about half 6hr and half 8hr) when we switched to DVD recordings in 2003. I thought about getting another Tivo but had hoped to save money and time by using the Sony-Cable Card-3575 set up. You can't high-speed dub to a disk from a Tivo, but you can from an E-80, E-85 or a 3575. The PC route presently is too steep a learning curve for this non-gearhead. Do you have any opinions why I can't see the set up menu for the 3575? (Correction in the first post: WLIW instead of WNET)
Don G

Dudes, listen from a man who feels rather stupid. Life is too short to use cheap cables. In my living room setup complete with television, Samsung STB, Philips 3576, and a Yamaha DVD player I have a stereo receiver to drive all the audio. For months this has been a stable environment. However I began to notice that music played off the Yamaha's USB port was breaking up on the left. Naturally I thought I had a faulty speaker connection. Fiddling with it, sound would come back for some time before it would fail again. I didn't think it was the speaker itself. It seemed that the entire channel on the receiver was failing. And the receiver, while not especially old, was very cheap (< $100) and was from a dubious manufacturer (Sherwood). So in my frustration I immediately ordered a replacement receiver from a different manufacturer that arrived yesterday.

The new receiver is nice. But incredibly, playing music off my Yamaha again caused breakups on the left channel. I then thought "...well, come to think of it I don't remember this problem with audio from a different source. Is my Yamaha broken?'. Before I started to despair I decided to replace the audio cable between the Yamaha and the receiver. Voila! Problem gone!!! But get this, the cable was solidly connected to the Yamaha. The cable simply *failed*. Of course Mister Cheapskate Lazza typically uses composite cables that come from any old place; vendors often throw in a set with DVD players, DVDRs, etc. I have a whole drawer full.

So what have I learned:

- when pissed off at an electronics-related snafu give yourself 24 hours to calm down and then plot out a debug strategy.
- carry replacement cables for all cables you use (HDMI, component, composite, serial, coax). Unlikely, but obviously they can fail over time.
- although no need to spend a fortune, avoid no name, "mystery" cables. Buy cables with positive reviews from places like amazon.com and monoprice.com.

At this juncture I can return my new receiver for full refund. But since I like it I will instead use it to complement by bedroom television and DVDR. So I really didn't lose out on all this.


Thanks. I feel better now.


_Lazza

You have to use one of the outputs HDMI, component, etc. from the 3575 to the TV to see the menus.

I've been using monoprice cables for all my equipment and have been very impressed with the build quality and thick cables despite the inexpensive price. The last order I made was for a bunch of cables (more than I needed) so that I have them for any equipment I might acquire in the future. It also saved on the shipping costs.

The other piece of advice is to never leave cables dangling. IOW don't connect a bunch of cables to a component because it may be difficult to reach or move and let them dangle in space unconnected to anything but reserved for "future use". They act as antennas and can be a source of unexpected interference.

I believe the ATA CBA adapter is still required to interface with the SATA adapter.

Yep...that was the number I was originally searching on with no luck. The 2080 uses the same adapter but different part number. I have 2 other numbers (one for a Toshiba and someone who supplied me with a Philips number) with no dice. This part appears to be very elusive to purchase.

The part I have was manufactured by Great Boss LTD in China. (that's extensive research!)

One would think that this part shouldn't be so difficult to locate.

The 2005/2006 Sylvania HDRV200F HDD/DVD Recorder Service Manual also shows this (or similar) ATA adapter.

An interesting aside, the European Philips 3575/3577/3595/3597 Service Manual has a photo that seems to show that the hard drive is connected by an IDE/ATA ribbon cable to the circuit board assembly. Apparently, no ATA adapter is used in these models.

That is correct

I have been getting occasional system errors while editing - in scene delete it will freeze on pause. All I can do is back out to the setup menu where I get the error. I cycle power and then it works fine again. Anyone else experience this? I'm a bit worried that it might be an early symptom of HDD failure...

Thanks...

Well the other positive is now we know how to replace the drive on any of these units if it does crap out on you if it isn't just too full or a divide segments problem. I've never gotten that error myself but I always edit my videos first, I very rarely divide a title afterwards.
My 250 gig upgrade is still plugging away too

IIRC the error has only occurred while doing scene delete / title divide on blocks of 3 to 6 one-hour episodes, so hopefully that accounts for it.

At first I recorded each episode separately, but found that occasionally in a Sci-fi or USA "marathon" the episodes did not end cleanly on the hour so I figured I was safer dividing them manually.

FWIW I got the error once editing and dividing a 6-episode block with HDD less than 50% full, then before dubbing & deleting those 6 I edited another 6-episode block with no errors.

I know it's irrational to edit out commercials - it only saves me a few pennies of DVD capacity. I just don't seem to be able to help myself! Maybe I'm watching too much Monk?

I have seen this sort of thing a few times. It has been very rare and has occured with both my 3575 and 3576. I suspect I have hit some button on the remote out of sequence, creating a lock-up. I suspect I was selecting Start or End while some other activity was still taking place. At this time, I don't consider it to be an issue I can't live with or something that indicates a problem which will get worse, but that is just my opinion.

FYI: I almost never use "Title Split" and I don't think it has ever been related to one of these events.

Maybe you guys can help me with another issue I've run into. I get clean over-the-air digital recordings on my laptop, but I can't burn them to dvd+rw. It's a HP HDX18, T9400 processor, 4GB RAM, Vista home premium. Recording with Windows Media Center works fine, but this morning I let a 1-hour burn go for 3 hours and it only made it to 31%. Similar result with HP Mediasmart. Any suggestions to deal with that?

I took the 3576 editing and dubbing speed for granted until I tried to do some of this stuff in Windows!

Thanks...

Buy dedicated burn software, there are many products out there

Magnavox HDD + DVD Recorder with Tuner (Model H2160, March 2009 Mft date) Won't Finalize DVDs Please Help! (May 31, 2009)

Question/s:

Is anyone else experiencing this proble?

If so, what is the unit manufacture date?

If you have found a work-around (other than the one I currently have) would you please share:

If you experienced this problem with a March manufacture date have you discovered any brands of DVD that you CAN finalize?

If you have a March manufacture date and have not experienced this finalization E19 error, then what brands/types of DVD are you using?

Any information that you can provide may help to better understand and resolve this issue, and is extremely appreciated.

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Long-winded elaboration Follows:

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After reading the mostly positive reviews in this forum I decided to purchase the Magnavox HDD + DVD Recorder with Tuner (Model H2160MW9).

I couldn't find this unit locally so I had to order it from Walmart.com. The (Magnavox/Funai) Model is H2160MW9 and the Manufacture date is March 2009, so it is a fairly recent product make. I also own a Magnavox/Funai DVD & VCR combo with Tuner (model ZV457MG9). I bought the HDD recorder unit to supplement the combo unit.

I've had the H2160MW9 unit for a week now and after reading the manual and vigorous experimentation I'm so far pleased with the units performance with one CRITICAL exception: The unit will not allow me to finalize any DVD after recording to it.
I always get a blue screen Recording Error E 19 message.
According to the manual this unit prefers specific types and brands of DVDs, in fact the recommendations were exactly the same as the Combo unit's preferences. This was good as I had already purchased a case of TDK DVD+R spindles, which had served me with flawless recordings with the model ZV457MG9. Unfortunetly, this does not seem to be the case with the H2160MW9.

I have meticulously followed all of the manual instructions/recommendations and although the unit will transfer from HDD to DVD and allow me to otherwise edit without a hitch, it will not allow me to finalize a single DVD.
The error message is always the same E 19, of which the manual was absolutely no help in identifying.

At this point I've consistently received the same E 19 error with over a dozen DVDs that I've attempted to finalize. I found it extremely difficult to believe that all these DVDs were flawed. On a troubleshooting whim I decided to see if my Combo unit (model ZV457MG9) would recognize them. It did. I was also able to finalize all of these DVDs using the ZV457MG9.

I called Funai customer service in California (1-800-605-8610) on 5/28/09 and spoke with a representative (Jeff). After I explained the situation in detail he understood that it wasn't a problem with flawed DVDs. However, he explained that there were no actual service technicians available and he was unknowledgeable as to how to help me find a work around at my end. He did share that there had been other reports of this same problem and discussed the issue with his administrative supervisor. He then returned and told me that Funai did not recognize this as an Inherent product flaw and would not cover the repair or replacement under warranty. He also said that the ZV457MG9 should not be able to read or finalize DVDs that had been recorded by the H2160MW9. However I am aware that many units will recognize an unfinalized DVD+R but will not recognize an unfinalized DVD-R (that has been written to by another unit), so he may have been a bit confused.
We discussed the issue some more and although he said that agreed with me that this was a problem with the unit, that he was dealing with administrators and not problem solving technicians.

I told him that I would order another H2160MW9 to determine if it was an isolated problem or more widespread.
He said that a supervisor (Will) would be calling Funai corporate headquarters and call me back within two hours with a solution to the problem.
3 hours passed and I did not receive a call from "Will" so I again called Funai and this time spoke with "Greg." It seems that "Jeff" had gone home, and "Will" was presently busy. After "checking" Greg apologized for "Will" not calling me back and said that they had still not received a corporate HQ response to this issue and would probably contact me next week with an answer????

At this point in time I am still waiting to hear back from them, but have already ordered a replacement H2160MW9 unit, so that I can do some checking while still under the Walmart product return policy.

I am convinced that there is an internal "firmware" flaw within this HDD H2160MW9 that will not allow it to finalize any TDK DVD+R. I don't know if the problem is specific to that particular type and brand of DVD and I hesitate to purchase a sample of every brand of recordable DVD on the market, to find out if there is/are specific brand/s/type/s (i.e. -R) that this unit will finalize, since the TDK +R is one of the handfull of recordable DVD's that the manual specifically recommends???

If my second H2160MW9 has another March manufacture date and the unit WILL finalize, then I will feel certain that the problem is relatively isolated to either mine or perhaps just a few units, however if another March manufacture date unit fails to finalize DVDs or if I receive a different manufacture date and this problem does not occur then it could be a "March" batch manufacture quality control issue.
If I receive a later manufacture date unit and the problem still exists, then it is likely an internal manufacture update conflict issue that has not been rectified up to this point.
In any event, Funai "quality control" should be more aware of what is happening and already have a "fix" by now.
I expressed my dismay that as customers it is left up to us to expensively troubleshoot this obvious problem without any apparent technical assistance or support from Funai.

I am pleased with the units HDD flexible recording performance and I am fortunate to be able to have a personal "quick-fix" work-around to the problem by having a combo ZV457MG9 handy that will allow me to complete the finalization process. However one should not be required to have two separate units to do the job that the H2160MW9 is supposed to be able to do. And if there are other customers experiencing this same issue they may not have the luxury of a second unit to help them.

Overall this is a critical manufacture flaw that only disuades customers from purchasing this product and returning the ones that they have.


Once I have received the replacement H2160MW9 and have experimented with it, I will post again with an update.

Thank you all for your time and assistance regarding this matter.

Sincerely, Stephan

Thank you Wajo for such a fast response.
Why on earth did the manufacturers create such a flawed firmware "upgrade" and why was such a blatant, easily detected problem not discovered & resolved by any Q&A dept worth their salt BEFORE the product was released to the public??? And why now is it taking them so long to correct??

I followed your advice on the "work-around" and it worked, as you said it would. I actually finalized my first DVD on this unit.
Why is it that the Funai "customer service" representatives (and I use that term very guardedly) could not have shared this information with me when I explained my concerns with them???

My H2160MW9 unit does not have a suffix letter "A" and the tag has a mft date of March (not April) 2009, so evidently this problem is at least a month older than we thought, and is not isolated to just the H2160MW9A models.

To be able to load up such a generous timer que, and not be able to finalize a single DVD from it without first emptying the que seems self defeating for anyone who wants to "save" their programs on DVDs. Why these people took such a step-backward within the "firmware" of the "newer" model is a conundrum to me. I learned long ago that newer, isn't always better, and this is a classic illustration of that point. Is there any feature of H2160MW9that makes it superior to the older models?
How do you suppose they (Funai) will implement a fix for this, if in fact, they actually decide to do so?

I have been reading thru your many entries and I must admit that I'm now running scared. Replacement compatible IDE HDs seem to be drying up, and if the burner dies, as it eventually will, there seems to be no replacements available.
I specifically ordered this because of the programability of of the Tuner and it saddens me that the cable & sat. Dish companies can exercise so much clout as to eventually put an end to recording from what was once the "free" air waves in the privacy of ones own home. There appears to be a definite conspiracy going on to force us to continually pay through the nose and allow us nothing to show for it. I wish I'd been more fully aware of this a year or two ago, I now feel desparate to stock up on components that will stretch the life of my recorders for as long as possible.
Thank you so much for this very enlightening and informative thread.
I will be checking in often for any "new" news.
SC

Stephan, I am struggling myself also with this question, since I experienced this error E19.
But AFAIK, Funai is (only) the manufacturing line for this Magnavox brand.
While Phillips used to be the R&D ? Since Phillips decided to stop making more of these machines DVD/HDD recorders, not sure who owns R&D Engineering these days, who should come up with the new FW fix that lots of the new owners of the 2160A on this forum is waiting for.
An other clue is : I was searching recently on the Magnavox web site and on the Funai web site, and Magnavox somehow only listed the 2080 model, nothing about the 2160 or 2160A model. And of course the support for the 2080 model points to call Funai :-)
The Funai web site (www.funai.us) does not list any Magnavox model in their product list, only the Sylvania brand.
Although you can find the Magnavox 2160/2160A manuals in the Customer Support pages.


I am not surprised either, when I opened my Service Desk ticket through their online tool, I got a Ticket number in my email, and started exchanging troubleshooting ideas with Jeff.
But when I try to call their 800 number and I talked to someone else, this CSR person told me she could not read or get a reference to or link to my online ticket ....
I guess they have very basic Customer Support tool.


Are you sure about your model name ?
I assume you found the manufacturing date tag in the back of the machine. So then next to it on the left on the same sticker, there is a model name with (eventually) an "A" (along with the Customer Service phone number).
The model name on the front panel still says 2160 though.

FYI - I ordered a 2nd machine from Walmart (to replace my 1st machine that I returned) and it is also a 2160A machine from the same March date.
Note : I think Wajo reference to "April 2009" is when the machine was started to be sold back online at Walmart.
It was out of stock for a while before April.

Perhaps the delay is that Funai is trying to reassemble the original Philips software designers in order to create a fix for the 2160A. It's not as simple as a rollback to the 2160 software for the 2160A.

Ultimately, Funai may abandon the 2160A, advising customers to return their 2160A to a Walmart store for credit/refund.

What Funai should do is recall the 2160A, fix the software and install a 500GB hard drive to make up for the trouble 2160A owners have endured.

The new model would be the Magnavox H2500MW10. With the declining value of the US dollar such a model is unlikely as it would have to be priced in the $450-$500 range, a likely deal-breaker with the current economic situation.

auskck, can I assume any commercial burn software will operate at an acceptable speed? It seems to me that real-time + 10% or so would be minimally acceptable? Thanks...

Agreed. There is no way Magnavox could expect to sell at a decent volume on a 500GB version in that price range. I'd say, $300 to $325 tops. Beyond that, and a do-it-yourself upgrade becomes favorable. Swapping your own HDD also has the advantage that you can keep the original HDD as a backup / spare.

Once you near the $500 mark, people will demand something that can record in high def, IMO. I know it's an apples-to-oranges comparison, but you simply cannot approach Tivo HD price levels.