Problem recording DVDs from my HDD/DVD Recorder

the_tired_one

Hi

We have a Toshiba RD-XV45. Its a VCR/DVD Recoder/160GB HDD combi unit.

I have masses of programmes/home movies stored on the HDD.

But I cannot record/transfer them onto DVDs.

Its says it will take all formats - but I keep getting recording errors or disc not formatted type errors when I attempt to record.

Any help on how I can get around this? Had it over a year, just never got round to transfering stuff until now.

aliEnRIK

Chances are it doesnt like your discs
What discs ARE you using?
If you can slow the recording speed down then do that

the_tired_one

aliEnRIK wrote: »

Chances are it doesnt like your discs
What discs ARE you using?
If you can slow the recording speed down then do that

Ive used different brands of DVD-R, without any luck.

Then I tried a Maxel DVD-RW...which worked fine, so I spent £25 on a few packs of them....and none of them are any use!!!

Anyway I could 'format' them?

aliEnRIK

The only ones I can pretty much guarantee will work (So long as your drives not knackered ~ and I dont see how it can be)
are DATAWRITE TITANIUM DVDrs (+ and -)
erm. Im not THAT well up on dvd recorders like you have, but when burning on a pc, formatting doesnt come into it. Still, if you have the option, then give it a go.

rich010273

I think this issue is down to either (a) poor quality DVD laser or (b) dodgy ribbon connections to DVD circuit board.
A lot of people have had issues recording to DVD so don't waste your money buying more DVDs.
If someone has time it may be worth taking the lid off and reseating the connections and see if this makes a difference.

rich010273

Had some time to test so tried a brand new DVD. Got a cannot format error.

So, I took off the lid off mine today.

The problem is due to design of the unit. The fan takes in air to cool the hard drive (fair enough) but the outlets on the casing are next to the optical drive (DVD). So, fan drags in dust which gets blown over the optical drive as it leaves the casing! Hence problems with DVD drvie.

So, I went out and bought a DVD Lens cleaner from WH Smith, run it once, re-tried a blank DVD that was not working and now it works fine.

So, dirty lens. Clean it and you'll be fine. I got error codes 03-50. 03-51, 03-55 and "Cannot Format" as different errors due to the same problem.

rich010273

Just had another 03-55 error (also an error of "cannot un-finalise") so ran the DVD cleaner through but this failed to work this time.

Switched off the unit, left it for 35 seconds, swtiched back on, no difference.

Powered off the RD-XV45 unit at the plug, left it for 35 seconds, plugged it back in. DVD now burns OK.

rrf494g

there may be a number of different problems

I have a panasonic hd-dvd-recorder and this requires RW discs to be formatted. It has in it's "command set" a "format" command. I stay clear of the problem by only using -R discs.
regards

rich010273

Still having issues with the DVD drive here.

04-53 error code means a DVD-RW disk is not in the right format to be used (it needs 'blanking' to make the disk look unused).

Any disk except DVD-RW is not supported by the product.

In the manual it states "over time the DVD lens will get dirty and will require you to send the unit to Toshiba repair shop to be fixed". I'm going to try some other things like compressed air and another DVD Lens Cleaner to see if this fixes the issue rather than pay for that service.

At this time I'd recommend running a DVD Lens cleaner at least monthly through the DVD Player even if you havn't used it that month to keep it working when you want it to!