[Chatoboy]

Hello all,


I have a MDR-513 that has worked fine for 4 years until yesterday. The unit went completely dead, so I tried the soft reset, hard reset and opened it up and replaced the fuse to no avail. After doing a little reading here I understand it is a burned capacitor or something and is probably better to just buy a new unit. I have no problem getting a newer MDR-533/535, but I have alot of good programs on the 513 hard drive. Is there a way to remove the hard drive and transfer those programs to the new model? Any help appreciated!


**Update** After calling a few places an estimate for the Power Supply cap. is $75-100, but there is no guarantee that is the problem with mine. Some have mentioned a white powder film with a burned cap, but I didn't see any in my unit. Decisions, Decisions

 

[7558037]


How did you do the hard reset if the machine was "dead"... it requires power to accept the SKIP code?

 

Now, if truly dead with no front panel indication, redo the Soft Rese t and make absolutely sure you're following all the steps to the letter.

 

Then, if still truly "dead" so you can't do a hard reset, and you've checked/replaced the fuse with the same type, see if you can see  any leakage from a visible capacitor?

 

If you had power, or get it back, I would suggest uploading the SuperFW 727V FW .

 

Here's a help file on the only ways I know of to get files from your old HDD to a new one.

 

[Chatoboy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by wajo  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24350019


How did you do the hard reset if the machine was "dead"... it requires power to accept the SKIP code?


Now, if truly dead with no front panel indication, redo the Soft Rese t and make absolutely sure you're following all the steps to the letter.


Then, if still truly "dead" so you can't do a hard reset, and you've checked/replaced the fuse with the same type, see if you can see  any leakage from a visible capacitor?


If you had power, or get it back, I would suggest uploading the SuperFW 727V FW .

Here's a help file on the only ways I know of to get files from your old HDD to a new one.

I knew I should have left that hard reset business out, you are right that wouldn't work with a dead panel, but my OCD kicked in and I tried it anyway. LOL. I didn't see any leakage from the capacitor and I tried the soft reset several times. Am I SOL?

 

[7558037]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Chatoboy  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24350336


I knew I should have left that hard reset business out, you are right that wouldn't work with a dead panel, but my OCD kicked in and I tried it anyway. LOL. I didn't see any leakage from the capacitor and I tried the soft reset several times. Am I SOL?

 

Before getting more drastic, leave the unit unplugged from power overnight. On replugging, do the Soft Reset routine: simultaneously hold the power button on front of unit while plugging power cord back in to wall (no strips, etc.). Hold power button in until (hopefully) you see "P-on" in front panel display.

 

[Chatoboy]

OK Cool I'll give that a try. Thank You!

 

[Chatoboy]

I tried leaving it unplugged overnight and doing the soft reset with no luck today. Is it worth it to have it repaired( I haven't called for an estimate) or should I just pick up a 533/535 to replace it. My next question is if I do buy a new 533 is it possible/easy to swap my old HDD into the new machine, saving my stored programs.

 

[7558037]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Chatoboy  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24353184


I tried leaving it unplugged overnight and doing the soft reset with no luck today. Is it worth it to have it repaired( I haven't called for an estimate) or should I just pick up a 533/535 to replace it. My next question is if I do buy a new 533 is it possible/easy to swap my old HDD into the new machine, saving my stored programs.

 

Replacing ("transplanting") the SATA HDD in a 53x with a SATA HDD from an older Mag 513, without losing recorded titles, has never been done before.

 

However, several people are running with dock-and-play systems with HDDs transportable between Mag machines for recording and playback, without re-initializing and losing titles!

 

See my follow-on post below..

 

[Chatoboy]



Quote:
Originally Posted by wajo  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24353259

Replacing the SATA HDD in a 53x with a SATA HDD from an older Mag, without losing recorded titles, has never been done before.


(Sometimes, when I post that something's "never been done," 10 people will post to prove me wrong. Here's hoping?)

I thought these units were basically the same and easily exchangeable/upgradeable?

 

[CitiBear]



Quote:
Originally Posted by Chatoboy  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24353184


I tried leaving it unplugged overnight and doing the soft reset with no luck today. Is it worth it to have it repaired( I haven't called for an estimate) or should I just pick up a 533/535 to replace it. My next question is if I do buy a new 533 is it possible/easy to swap my old HDD into the new machine, saving my stored programs.

As wajo said, no one here has yet tried a straight-across HDD swap between Magnavox recorders, and reported back on their success or failure. I find that kind of astonishing, given the near-maniacal OCD devotion to these units on display in the main Magnavox thread, but there you have it: swapping HDDs is apparently the ONE hare-brained trick no one has attempted yet. It has been tried with other brands of recorder, and it usually fails: the new machine insists on erasing the HDD and coding it for itself. Also, current versions of the Magnavox use the smaller laptop SATA HDDs, not the desktop HDD in your 513, so a swap is even trickier.


My personal opinion, having owned both a H2160 and a 513, and having examined a couple of recent 533/535s, is that your 513 is somewhat more ruggedly constructed than later models: enough to be worth repairing if you can find a tech who will do it for under $150. More than likely, you just have a blown cap in the power supply that triggered a protection circuit. This isn't a terribly difficult repair for any experienced service shop that has been around long enough to know a knitting needle from a soldering iron. But such repairs aren't cheap: minimum $75, probably $100 or more. If you did not have recordings on the 513 hard drive you wanted to rescue, I would say buy a new recorder instead, because that is often the better value. The Magnavox line, however, can be an exception to that rule: there is no significant cosmetic or functional difference between a four year old MDR513 and a brand new MDR533. In some respects, the 533/535/537 are a step down from the 513: they have arguably worse internal build quality and slower DVD burning speeds. Since you don't really gain any new features moving from a 513 to a 533, repairing the 513 becomes a more attractive prospect if you have videos on it you want to save.


Before proceeding, you might want to see if there's any possible way you can get these recordings you want to save from another source (Amazon, eBay, Best Buy, download sites, cable or satellite on-demand service). If you can buy commercial DVDs or get the shows from NetFlix or some other service, do that: then trash the 513 and buy a new recorder. I say this because there is no guarantee your 513 will be able to play those recordings after being repaired: if you have no power, something serious blew in the unit, and it may have crashed the hard drive when it blew. Repairing the power problem won't repair any potential HDD damage: you might end up needing to install a new HDD and lose those recordings anyway. If you can afford to gamble the repair money, its worth a shot, but consider the risks. Good luck!

 

[7558037]



Quote:
Originally Posted by wajo  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24353259

 

Quote:
Originally Posted by Chatoboy  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24353184


I tried leaving it unplugged overnight and doing the soft reset with no luck today. Is it worth it to have it repaired( I haven't called for an estimate) or should I just pick up a 533/535 to replace it. My next question is if I do buy a new 533 is it possible/easy to swap my old HDD into the new machine, saving my stored programs.

 

Replacing the SATA HDD in a 53x with a SATA HDD from an older Mag, without losing recorded titles, has never been done before.

 

 

(Sometimes, when I post that something's "never been done," 10 people will post to prove me wrong. Here's hoping?)

Quote:
Originally Posted by CitiBear  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24353531


As wajo said, ...

 

Well, my point was that no one had transplanted a HDD from one machine to another, but we have lots of people who record to and play to several different HDDs on one machine, then record and play from that same HDD in another machine. It's called dock-and-play and proves that an HDD initialized on one Mag can be recorded to and played on a different machine.

 

I now realize this system setup is the same as connecting a HDD to the other machine.

 

So I vote for "likely no problem" only a personal note that I don't have any direct ref. to a 53x machine being involved. Same basic OS however.

 

[CitiBear]



Quote:
Originally Posted by wajo  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24353702


Well, my point was that no one had transplanted a HDD from one machine to another, but we have lots of people who record to and play to several different HDDs on one machine, then record and play from that same HDD in another machine. It's called dock-and-play and proves that an HDD initialized on one Mag can be recorded to and played on a different machine.


I now realize this system setup is the same as connecting a HDD to the other machine.


So I vote for "likely no problem" only a personal note that I don't have any direct ref. to a 53x machine being involved. Same basic OS however.

I figured as much from all the Magnavox "docking" stories, but short of you (or one of your most trusted posters) point-blank stating that a HDD swap between two different Mag models is a slam dunk, sure-fire possibility, it was safer not to advise trying it. Transplants don't typically succeed in other brands of recorder, or doing it requires some arcane tools (like the Pioneers with their Service Remotes) or tricky, risky procedures (like yanking the HDD power connector on a Panasonic at *just* the right split second guesstimate).


Chatoboy: assuming the HDD posts wajo refers to mean you CAN do a simple HDD swap, I'd suggest you avoid potential difficulties by NOT trying it on a new model 533, 535, or 537. Your 513 HDD is the larger desktop type, but a huge percentage of 533-535-537 units were fitted with much smaller laptop-style HDDs. It is difficult to know which size HDD a particular 533-535-537 has inside until you open it up: odds are any new one you get will be fitted with the smaller HDD. It could be physically tricky to shoehorn a desktop HDD into a Magnavox designed for a laptop HDD, you would need an adapter plug for the connector, and the power supply of the new Mag may not handle the older larger HDD too well. If it were me, I'd look for a nice clean second-hand 513 or 515, which all have the physical fittings and power supply for the same HDD as your 513.


If you'd much rather go with a new 533, be sure to carefully study the "external HDD docking" tips in the main Magnavox thread. You could probably get away with temporarily connecting your old 513 HDD, long enough to copy the contents to DVDs, then put the correct laptop HDD back into the 533 for ongoing normal use. Even if it fits inside the chassis comfortably, the 533-535-537 have known problems powering desktop-sized HDDs.

 

[7558037]


The OP has a 513, which should have a 3-1/2" SATA HDD with fairly low op power reqmt (4.7W)... and I certainly didn't... and wouldn't ever... say it was a "slam dunk, sure-fire possibility."

 

There is some risk in breathing.

 

[CitiBear]



Quote:
Originally Posted by wajo  /t/1517503/mdr-513-problems#post_24354203


The OP has a 513, which should have a 3-1/2" SATA HDD with fairly low op power reqmt (4.7W)...

Yes, a belated holiday gift from me to you wajo: ya caught me out. I stepped into that mistake and will revise my earlier posts to reflect 513 instead of 2160. Doesn't change my suggestions to the OP one iota: transplanting a 513 HDD to a 533-535-537 might not be a simple drop-in task. A new 533-535-537 might not come out of the box with internal connections, mount and reliable power to handle the 3-1/2" HDD from a 513. Chatoboy might need to kludg a temporary connection of the old HDD just long enough to dub the recordings to DVD, then pop the 2-1/2" HDD back in. Return the 3-1/2" to the 513, and sell it off on eBay as a parts/repair item.

Quote:
and I certainly didn't... and wouldn't ever... say it was a "slam dunk, sure-fire possibility."

Never claimed you said that: I said since you hadn't made a definitive entry in your Magnavox Bible re seamlessly swapping internal HDDs between models, I wouldn't recommend trying it before considering other options to replace the videos. Obviously if your "docking crew" is swapping external HDDs between models as if they were DVDs, it is feasible to do internally (at least on units with similar physical-size HDD provisions).

Quote:
There is some risk in breathing.

Just as there's a risk of catatonia from reading the main Magnavox thread. The whole point of the OP's question is he wants to be able to salvage the recordings on his existing 513 HDD: swapping it into another unit does entail some risk he should weigh against just repairing the original recorder (if the service charge is reasonable). And swapping HDDs between healthy recorders isn't quite the same as swapping an HDD from a recorder that died: the HDD from the dead recorder could trigger an unpredictable response from the new recorder (format, erase, further damage attempting to read it). If the old HDD contains ordinary TV shows, it isn't that difficult to replace them if an HDD swap goes awry, so go ahead and tinker. But if the HDD contains priceless family videos, the "risks" aren't so easy to dismiss. Esp when the wife asks WTH did you do?

 

[7558037]


^^^ Fevered brain at work.

 

[Chatoboy]

Didn't realize I'd spark such a debate, but alot of good information there! Thanks guys! At this point I'm not sure what to do, I see some used 513's that are going for almost the same price as a new 533/535. I should probably just buy a new 533/535 from Walmart and buy an extended warranty. I'm going to call today and see how much to service this old 513 and go from there. Thanks again for the help!