[Church AV Guy]

I had the oddest thing happen. As jjeff has recommended, I have been doing all my recording to -RAM discs in real-time, directly to the disc, not first to the HDD. I have been recording the episodes of a 1/2 hour show that is not being broadcast in the original correct order, so I have been putting them on -RAM discs to later put them in proper order for final recording to -R discs. Well, I had been using one of my EH50s for the recordings, when it decided to act strangely. When I record something like this, I use the split screen on my television, with one side being the feed to the DVD recorder, the other being the DVD recorder output of the chase-play mode. The chase play is about four seconds behind the live feed and allows me to put in chapter marks for later commercial removal. For the first time, there was A LOT of pixelating in the playback. This has not happened since I started recording to the -RAM discs in real-time. I took the RAM disc out of the EH50 and put it in an EH55, and was told that the disc had an improper format, and would I like to format it.

There were seven half hour episodes on that disc, and I didn't want to have to wait for them to be rebroadcast in the somewhat random repeat rotation--so that was not going to happen.


Okay, I put the RAM disc into another EH55, same thing, would I like to format it! I tried six of my EH machines in my two setups, EH50s and EH55s. Same problem. I then tried an EH59 (much newer machine) with again, the same result. I am in a real depression now. Sort of in desperation, I tried something else. I had recently acquired an additional EH50 from eBay. It was little used, part on an estate sale, and I put it in that machine. Sigh... again, the would you like to format error came up. I opened the tray, looked at the disc, and closed the tray again thinking that I might as well format it, and that the episodes were lost when low and behold, THIS time the disc read fine, and the disc menu showed the episodes. I wasn't about the spit in the eye of fate, so I copied the contents of the disc to the HDD of that EH50. No problems at all with the copy, and no pixilation with the copied data. Later, I put that disc in again, and it would not read.

I have done tests on the DVD drive of the offending EH50, and there have been no further occurrences of the problem. I'm still a little concerned about that recorder's drive, but it appears to be working fine now. That was just a glitch or a portent of future badness?

All I know is, I really dodged a bullet. I tried to read that disc in seven machines without success, the eighth machine read it, on the second try.

Persistence has its rewards... If there is a lesson or moral here, I sure don't know what it might be.

 

[Kelson]

Wash the RAM disk. Use a soft cloth with liquid dish detergent and wash thoroughly -- a soft cloth won't hurt the surface. Then dry with a soft towel.


Put the washed disk back in a recorder and I wouldn't be surprised if all your recordings were there.

 

[jjeff]


I agree with Kelson, try washing the discs if you haven't already. I'd also try reformatting your disc, maybe in one of your newer EH-59s, that or a PC and see what happens. As Citibear has said in the past, DVD burning is sometimes voodoo science

I've also had cases where a disc(commercial actually) refused to play in several players, then the second or third try it worked and played all the way through, only to refuse to play the next time I tried

 

[mickinct]

I had repaired one of Luke's machines that had read problems some time back, when he got the unit back he was able to read the dvd-ram discs that he was not able to play in any other machine,

 

[Kelson]

That's a chilling thought -- to think that all the lasers on all of his units went bad at the same time.

 

[mickinct]

Early on when the ez series came avail I had issues with mint cond ram discs on these recorders that always ask to reformat , they could not play , these were made on e-10 e20 es series recorders the panasonic people could not give me any clue why.

 

[Kelson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mickinct  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet/0_100#post_24562281


Early on when the ez series came avail I had issues with mint cond ram discs on these recorders that always ask to reformat , they could not play , these were made on e-10 e20 es series recorders the panasonic people could not give me any clue why.

Back in 2005-6 when Panasonic recorders were king, we discovered that, for whatever reasons, RAM disks would often go flaky unless they were washed with soap and water. We speculated on some sort of residue from manufacture but no one could ever see or feel anything. However, there are quite a few posts in the old threads from that time where a problem RAM disk was fixed by washing it. It was a common recommendation for people to wash new RAM disks before first use.

 

[Church AV Guy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet/0_100#post_24562135


That's a chilling thought -- to think that all the lasers on all of his units went bad at the same time.

I wasn't suggesting that! I was suggesting that maybe the drive in my original EH50 was getting flaky and it scribbled something on the disc that the other machines couldn't understand so they demanded a reformat. I assumed that the other drives were behaving correctly.

Quote:
Originally Posted by mickinct  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet/0_100#post_24562281


Early on when the ez series came avail I had issues with mint cond ram discs on these recorders that always ask to reformat , they could not play , these were made on e-10 e20 es series recorders the panasonic people could not give me any clue why.

I agree. ...and thus the legend of the -RAM strangeness was born.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet/0_100#post_24562888


Back in 2005-6 when Panasonic recorders were king, we discovered that, for whatever reasons, RAM disks would often go flaky unless they were washed with soap and water. We speculated on some sort of residue from manufacture but no one could ever see or feel anything. However, there are quite a few posts in the old threads from that time where a problem RAM disk was fixed by washing it. It was a common recommendation for people to wash new RAM disks before first use.

These were cleaned before use, but that was some time ago. I should try cleaning them again. as you said, I have cleaned all of them as soon as I purchased them, but some have been lying around for a long time since then. Fine dust maybe?


Hey! I was just really glad to get the content off the disc without corruption. I have been working on this series for over a year trying to get the last episodes. Have Gun Will Travel wasn't this difficult.

Cartoons, you love 'em or hate 'em.

 

[tomwil]

Question about DVD-RAM:


When I record a program onto DVD-RAM on one recorder, and then take that DVD-RAM to another recorder, it is able to do the high-speed dubbing of that program to the hard drive. However, when I try to then record that program from the hard drive to a DVD-R, it does not allow me to high-speed dub to the DVD-R, but only dub at real time.


Is there anything I can do to get high-speed dubbing to work continuously from a DMR-E30 to DVD-RAM, DVD-RAM to DMR-EH50 hard drive, and then from DMR-EH50 hard drive to DVD-R?


Thank you for any help!

 

[jjeff]


Quick answer is no, for whatever reason Panasonic(Pioneer does not do this) insists on using a HS bit of sorts that prohibits one from using a non HDD Panasonic as a source for a HDD Panasonic. Your E30 is a non HDD Panasonic so while it lets you HS copy it to the HDD of your EH-50 you cannot HS dub it off their to a standard -R disc

It gets even worse in that you can't even use a older HDD Panasonic to create a RAM disc for a newer Panasonic and still retain the HS ability. You can use the newer Panasonic for the source(say a EH-55) and then HS copy that to your EH-50(one year older than the EH-55) but not the other way around.

 

It would have been really handy for one to be able to use one of the many non HDD Panasonics to record to RAM and then be able to edit with a HDD Panasonic but no, it doesn't work that way. This is the reason I use one of my EH-55s to record to RAM because I can then later HS copy the RAM to any HDD Panasonic and still retain the HS bit.

 

[Kelson]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Church AV Guy  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet/0_100#post_24563161


I wasn't suggesting that! I was suggesting that maybe the drive in my original EH50 was getting flaky and it scribbled something on the disc that the other machines couldn't understand so they demanded a reformat.

That's a good possibility. I missed that in your post.

 

[Church AV Guy]

I checked and I cannot find the "offending" disc. Since I had just used it, I must have formatted it and reused it since the "incident". It was probably placed at the top of the blank disc stack, so it was likely reused. Sorry, no additional tests can be done as I can't even identify it anymore. The sticky with the contents listed has been removed. Sigh...

 

[Church AV Guy]

I used the EH50 that had given me trouble in the original post again today. I recorded a few titles to -RAM disks, all without incident. I now have NO IDEA what caused the problem.

 

[mikey man]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet#post_24561494


Wash the RAM disk. Use a soft cloth with liquid dish detergent and wash thoroughly -- a soft cloth won't hurt the surface. Then dry with a soft towel.


Put the washed disk back in a recorder and I wouldn't be surprised if all your recordings were there.

Never heard of this washing the disc trick before, but I will give it a try.


I have a Panasonic RAM disc giving me trouble. It's brand new, the middle of new 5-pack.

It says unformatted, I try to format, then I get some kind of a non-recordable disc message.

I've tried this RAM disc in my E30, E50, and EZ47, all giving the same result. I figured it was a defective disc.


I also had another RAM disc, with a recording on it, that also started acting up similarly. Still won't play on any of my Recorders, but was able to play the contents on a Panasonic DVD Player that supports RAM. Then I burned it to a -R.

 

[DigaDo]



Quote:
Originally Posted by mikey man  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet/0_60#post_24586675

Quote:
Originally Posted by Kelson  /t/1525562/dodged-a-ram-bullet#post_24561494


Wash the RAM disk. Use a soft cloth with liquid dish detergent and wash thoroughly -- a soft cloth won't hurt the surface. Then dry with a soft towel.


Put the washed disk back in a recorder and I wouldn't be surprised if all your recordings were there.

Never heard of this washing the disc trick before, but I will give it a try.


I have a Panasonic RAM disc giving me trouble. It's brand new, the middle of new 5-pack.

It says unformatted, I try to format, then I get some kind of a non-recordable disc message.

I've tried this RAM disc in my E30, E50, and EZ47, all giving the same result. I figured it was a defective disc.


I also had another RAM disc, with a recording on it, that also started acting up similarly. Still won't play on any of my Recorders, but was able to play the contents on a Panasonic DVD Player that supports RAM. Then I burned it to a -R.

You might want to do the routine cleaning of the DVD Drive's rubber hub (turntable) as described here:

http://www.avsforum.com/t/1055071/panasonic-2006-and-newer-dvd-drive-hub-spindle-cleaning-and-reassembly-complications/0_60#post_14479898

 

[Kelson]

Yes, absolutely. Do that too.

 

[mikey man]

Well, washing the RAM disc didn't really help in this instance.

When I tried to format, I ended up with "format failed" message.

It keeps telling me this is non-recordable disc.

I had previously recorded 6 seconds of blank "leader" on this RAM.

Now it says content is protected, and I can't figure out how to get out of that.


My E30 was my first recorder. Purchased brand new and has never been serviced.

It's way overdue, and I will perform the spindle cleaning soon. Just dreading removing it from the rack.

I have done the cleaning on my two EZ47's, purchased used (eBay), thanks to the information provided on this site.

 

[jjeff]


You might also want to try formatting your RAM disc in a PC that is RAM compatible. I've done that on occasion to revive what I thought was a dead RAM disc. All my computers including a laptop are basic ~$400 models yet they all are able to handle RAM discs, they are 2-5 years old.

 

[mickinct]

I've got a few ram discs of diff brands ie panasonic, mem that cannot format in any recorder or in my pcs using panasonic software,