Page 1 of Phillips DVDR880 Recorder - Faults

Has anyone else suffered disc reading faults and errors on this machine. It is only 5 weeks old and intermittantly freezes the picture, skips or just does not recognize the discs, even pre recorded. Thanks for any help.

I`ve just purchased a DVDR 890 and have suffered reading problems with a batch of Memorex DVD+RW discs some of which seem to have recorded but then act like DVD+R `s and lock such that they won`t rerecord.The machine says that they are DVD. I also have 1 out of six which has although apparently recorded okay when loaded the message `NO DISC` appears and won`t let me in into the disc menu.
I will now try a Philips branded DVD+RW and see how that performs. Prerecorded seem okay. The recordings I have made also play back on another Philips player okay.

This item was edited on Sunday, 5th January 2003, 19:33

Hi Nigel
I use Phillips DVD+RW and the recordings are fine. It is the problems with playback on all DVD+RW/+R and pre-recorded discs. If you check the forum page at dvdplusrw.org you will now see hundreds of people suffer these problems and have been returned to phillips. Something to do with the laser. Mine freezes when it has to realign for the dual layer and sometimes wont read the disc at all. Do these companies not test them before mass market! Unfortunately, the problems will progressively get worse, so if your still in warranty, perhaps an exchange will be worthwhile.

Hi Zipman- Well it failed again with Philips DVD+RW disc. I used Video plus to set timer, that was fine, the 890 recorded then went into sleep mode. I switched it back on and sure enough it plays back fine but again the disc is locked and it said `no disc` when reinserted. In fact I now believe that the only disc that has responded correctly was one not recorded using the timer.

So it looks like a trip back to Sevenoaks HiFi today- yep mine too is five weeks old! Good luck

Hi Zipman
Lastest update! I returned my 890 this morning to Sevenoaks, they immediately swopped it for one from a new batch. I have now managed to unlock all the discs that were locked, it has even recognised a disc the first machine said `No disc`. Has recorded, erased , edited titles successfully. So what`s different- my first machine had firmware version FF11, the new one is FF12 which the various comments in the forums say fixes bugs. My machine is still region 2 out of the box but I will hack when I`ve had a few months hopefully problem free use- good luck with yours!

Hi Nigel,
Glad to hear you exchanged your 890 with ease. Those tight sods at Dixons would not exchange as it was marginally outside their 28 day exchange policy. So it is with their technicians, who will no doubt send it away to Phillips. Who knows when I will see it again. I hope the firmware upgrade is the answer as I think this is a great machine (when working!) I will keep you informed.

OK, so maybe I have this to look forward to ;-) How do I find out what version of firmware my (two week old) DVDR880 is? And how do I upgrade it if it needs it? I also need to know if the problem I have with my Minato not recognising DVD+RWs recorded on this machine could be eliminated by upgrading. Ref my previous on http://www.dvd.reviewer.co.uk/forums/thread.asp?Forum=211&Thread=139910&Type=1

Regards, Iain, Rugby

This item was edited on Monday, 6th January 2003, 23:16

Hi Iain
To check Firmware version, go to system menu, select the `tools` icon and go down to `Remote control settings` go right into `DVD recorder` then select the down arrow which should bring up the system information including the Firmware reference FF11 or FF12. Looking at the www.dvdplusrw.org site there appear to potntial problems with version 12 as well which perhaps I have yet to encounter. I would think that if you are able to record, title, protect,unprotect and erase then you don`t have the problem I encountered, it maybe that your Minato m/c is just can`t read +RW`s. Check the site I give above as most m/c compatiblity capablities are listed, as well as what media have been tested in what m/c- good luck
Nigel

Thanks Nigel, I`ll try that and get back later in the week. Regards, Iain.

Hi Nigel,

I checked the firmware version as you said, and it would appear that I have a version FP13!!!

The listing on the screen includes:

Copyright Philips 1998 - 2002
DI 110308 AN 110039 SV64
BE 20.9.13 DV not present FP13

and a couple of lines of base addresses.

I assume that this means that I do not need an upgrade, has anyone else met with FP13 yet?

Regards, Iain.