Defunct PVR - salvaging the contents & recommended replacement?

lynneinjapan

We have a Digihome PVR160 (from Argos IIRC) which is a couple of years old and has been great up to now, apart from freezing up and having to be rebooted every now and then. However, a couple of days ago it started showing "PLEASE WAIT - DISK CHECK" and appears to be stuck in an endless loop to which rebooting makes no difference, so we think it's had it.

If anyone can recommend a fix then that would be brilliant, but I've Googled and found a couple of other people with the same issue but no solution, so I'm not too hopeful.

Firstly, assuming that it's beyond repair, is there any (simple) way to salvage the recordings? There are a lot of kids' programmes on there that will be missed, and my husband had a couple of series recorded that he was working his way through. If it's any help, I think it's from the same stable as Bush & Vestel models, and it doesn't have a USB connection. Previously we had a Digihome PVR80 and that literally went bang (after just over a year) and I think the person I Freegled it to managed to use the hard disk for something else so I guess it should be possible but maybe only for the very tech-savvy.

Secondly, what would folks recommend as a replacement? We want a twin tuner and aren't interested in Top-UP TV. Humax seems to be popular so I'm thinking maybe the PVR-9300T. Seems to have pretty much the same spec, though obviously twice as much memory... but it would be nice to have one that would allow us to back the recordings up to a computer hard disk, and I'm not sure if the Humax will do that.

Thanks for any help.

VisionMan

Hi ynneinjapan,

If the disk is knackered, there is no way to access your recordings. Sorry about that. Most PVR's now have DRM in place,which means Digital Rights Management, which in turn means you cannot externally copy them to another device via a scart connector (and a HDMI lead is a no-no). But some older devices may work for copying via scart, though I don't know which.

macman

The Humax is a computer hard disk...all PVR's have a hard drive.
If you want long term archiving, then a DVD recorder is a better bet. For everything else, buy a PVR.

...Time_for_a_brew_then..

I've got 2 Humax PVR-9300T, and both are connected to the tv via a dvd recorder using scart leads, I've never had a problem copying anything to dvd (like a series or a movie etc.)

My first 9300T is coming up to 3 years old (in febuary) and has been fault free, I'd recommend them to anyone who wants a freeview+ box

If you visit the humax website and look for the managers specials, they are currently on offer at £89 (+p&p)

http://humaxdirect.co.uk/product.asp?ProdRef=10068#more-info

googler

Panasonic HDD/DVD recorders allow you to back up/copy/move from the HDD to DVD-RAM (re-usable) discs, or do the same from the HDD to permanent DVD-Rs.

If you need to get programs back onto the HDD that you've moved to DVD, they will do the same in reverse.

lynneinjapan

Thanks all - I don't think we want a combined HDD & DVD recorder (more expensive and more to go wrong, and tbh I don't think we'd actually do much archiving), though the USB port on the Panasonic does sound good - although wouldn't DRM prevent that from being used to back up recordings?

Thanks TFABT for the link, that looks like a brilliant deal. Just off to buy one now!

almillar

About the only re-usable part inside these things is the hard drive. I guess yours is 160GB. I'll also guess it's IDE (big wide plug with loads of pins, not SATA which is far smaller). Going by the error message, it looks like it's the hard drive that has failed. However, if you're really keen to get your recordings back, you could try connecting your hard drive to your computer. Let me know whether it's SATA or IDE first and we can help you check. OR you could put it into an external enclosure if you've got the right type.

elektra

Maybe too late for you now and your hard disk might not be readable but here is a post where someone had success with copying off a PVR80 onto another hard disk

http://forums.digitalspy.co.uk/showthread.php?t=569435

lynneinjapan

Thanks all. The new Humax is working fine (though we seem to have lost sound on our VHS video player - not sure if it's related!) and I Freegled the old PVR to someone who said he worked in electronic engineering and would try to salvage the recordings if he could. I'm not holding out much hope but you never know...