DVD-RAM problem on a Panasonic DMR-BW880/780

Lionelwiseman

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I have recently bought a Panasonic DMR-BW880/780 (not sure which!). It was bought to replace a malfunctioning Panasonic DMR-R95H recorder. The new recorder works fine, however, when attempting to use a DVD RAM disc that was originally used on the old recorder, the new recorder happily plays the title on the RAM disc but the title cannot be deleted and new titles cannot be ‘dubbed'/copied from the HDD to the RAM disc. Also I do not seem to be able to reformat the RAM disc.

Any ideas or comments would be appreciated.

The RAM discs come in a caddy. On the original recorder the DVD tray accepts the caddy, however, on the new recorder the discs have to be removed from the caddy.

The discs are Panasonic DVD-RAM, 240 min (120min per side) , TYPE 4, 4.7 GB per side (i.e. rewritable, double sided)
 
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I have recently bought a Panasonic DMR-BW880/780 (not sure which!). It was bought to replace a malfunctioning Panasonic DMR-R95H recorder. The new recorder works fine, however, when attempting to use a DVD RAM disc that was originally used on the old recorder, the new recorder happily plays the title on the RAM disc but the title cannot be deleted and new titles cannot be ‘dubbed'/copied from the HDD to the RAM disc. Also I do not seem to be able to reformat the RAM disc.

Any ideas or comments would be appreciated.

The RAM discs come in a caddy. On the original recorder the DVD tray accepts the caddy, however, on the new recorder the discs have to be removed from the caddy.

The discs are Panasonic DVD-RAM, 240 min (120min per side) , TYPE 4, 4.7 GB per side (i.e. rewritable, double sided)

Welcome to the forum.


I suspect the problem will be that DVD-RAM discs - Type 1 cannot be used to record on this unit [ Manual Page 98 ]

I assume the disc must be fairly old if you have used it with an E95.
 
Thanks for that.. and as the machine is working fine I suspect that these discs that are indeed old in techie terms will not work no matter! However, I did see in the manual that Type 1 is not supported but I was hopeful that these would work as the caddy say that these are Type 4.
 
Thanks for that.. and as the machine is working fine I suspect that these discs that are indeed old in techie terms will not work no matter! However, I did see in the manual that Type 1 is not supported but I was hopeful that these would work as the caddy say that these are Type 4.

This is odd, becaus I am not aware of there being a Version 4.
A revision 4 perhaps?

Available types so far:

DVD-RAM version 1.0, recording speed 1x
Single-sided, one layer discs with a capacity of 2.58 GB
Double-sided one layer discs with a capacity of 5.16 GB
DVD-RAM version 2.0, recording speed 2x
Single-sided, one layer discs with a capacity of 4.7 GB
Double-sided one layer discs with a capacity of 9.4 GB
DVD-RAM version 2.1/Revision 1.0, recording speed 3x
DVD-RAM version 2.2/Revision 2.0, recording speed 5x
DVD-RAM version 2.3/Revision 3.0, recording speed 6x max
DVD-RAM version 2.4/Revision 4.0, recording speed 8x max
DVD-RAM version 2.5/Revision 5.0, recording speed 12x max
DVD-RAM version 2.6/Revision 6.0, recording speed 16x max​


When I first got my machine I had some very odd behaviour of a similar sort.
I had one recording from one machine and another recording from this machine on the same disc... and was unable to delete or copy.

I cannot recall the exact detail now... but in faffing around between the machines everything was sorted out and since that time I have had no further re-occurrence so have not been able to analyse the problem further.

RAM discs have behaved as expected.... and been interchangeable
 
The list of versions was interesting - my DVD RAM does not seem to fit in with those though it is probably a terminology thing. But the disc capacity would indicate that it is not version one

I have attached an image of the disc just in case something means anything.

It was also interesting that you had to faff about between machines before the issue kind of went away.

Regrettably whilst my old machine still can play proper DVD's, it no longer recognises anything else including the RAM discs (and even DVD's that had been originally created on that machine).

Thus my inability to faff as you did (but I did try!)
 

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The list of versions was interesting - my DVD RAM does not seem to fit in with those though it is probably a terminology thing. But the disc capacity would indicate that it is not version one

I have attached an image of the disc just in case something means anything.

Indeed - Types and versions mean different things.
I have found more information:

12 cm discs

Type 0 Bare Disc - Single side

Bare Disc Double side - None Exist

Type 1 Single sided - Non-removable cartridge
Type 1 Double sided - Non-removable cartridge

Type 2 Single sided - Removable cartridge
Type 4 Double sided - Removable cartridge

Type 3 Single - Empty cartridge/no disc
Type 5 Single - Empty cartridge/no disc


Similar variants of Types 6 through 9 exist for 8 cm discs.


So the disc type is not the issue here and cannot be responsible.

It was also interesting that you had to faff about between machines before the issue kind of went away.

Regrettably whilst my old machine still can play proper DVD's, it no longer recognises anything else including the RAM discs (and even DVD's that had been originally created on that machine).

Thus my inability to faff as you did (but I did try!)

Is it possible that disc protection has been set?
In my hazy recollection I recall looking for this and seemingly finding it set on one machine and not the other - which may account for some of these odd experiences.

One other piece of anomalous behaviour I recall ... when i made a recording on the 880 to RAM and then played it on an older machine, it started play immediately without presenting the usual Navigator style menu.
It has not done that since either.

Regarding your problem of playing RAM's on the old machine... have you seen the thread about cleaning the disc grip ring?... This is very often responsible for failure to read RAM's and is an easy remedy.
If not I'll find it and direct you to it.
 
Thanks for that this is getting really interesting

I think I have found the thread about cleaning the disc grip ring (The recommended solution is rubber platen (typewriter roller) cleaner.) Not sure where I would get typewriter roller cleaner but hopefully isopropyl alcohol would do? Quite happy to rip the old machine apart.

Disc protection - I did not know about that so I will check it out as soon as the family let me gain access to the machine.
 
Thanks for that this is getting really interesting

I think I have found the thread about cleaning the disc grip ring (The recommended solution is rubber platen (typewriter roller) cleaner.) Not sure where I would get typewriter roller cleaner but hopefully isopropyl alcohol would do? Quite happy to rip the old machine apart.

See my comments about the [ dubious] use of Isopropanol in post no. 8 in this thread.

There are pix in post no. 10 which may assist in the process.
 
Many thanks - the RAM-disc problem is now solved and the link you gave me will be useful to attempt to fix the disc player on the old recorder.

But how was it solved? A mystery!

As you said, you faffed around and so did I! I could not now re-create the steps! But after significant faffing which included trying, testing and subsequent multipal re-circuits of the same and alternative paths, at some point I was able to gain access to the disc that previosly was 'read only'. The only write option avalable seemed to be the ability to be able to re-format the disc (one side at first) After that the re-formated side behaved as RAM-DVD should.

But this meant that the archived material was lost in the process. I could not find a way during the faff process to copy the archived contents to the HDD. But not a big problem in this case.

Your guidance lead me to page 72 of the manual to see if it was a 'protection' issue. Although in the end it wasn't, I would not have soved it without the initial nudge in that direction so many thanks.
 

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