Humax DRT800 Owner's Club

[azitnay]

You definitely can't do it with just any old inkjet... You need to make sure it's capable.

Drew

[ashu]

This may sound really stupid, but you mentioned "Inkjet Printable DVD's".
I would never try it out of fear of it breaking, but can you really run a Disc through a Printer?? I would think it would break? Or the Printer would anyway! :confused:

Doable with a whole bunch of dirt-cheap (and of-limited-longevity) Epson R-series printers using an included slide in-out tray. OK results. Completely not worth it, IMO of course. Permanent markers rock!

[Missmaxx]

Doable with a whole bunch of dirt-cheap (and of-limited-longevity) Epson R-series printers using an included slide in-out tray. OK results. Completely not worth it, IMO of course. Permanent markers rock!


OK, I didn't think so! But I figured I would ask!
I have just a Lexmark, and was wondering how a Disc could bend around like that, with no damage! At least to the Info on it, if not breaking the Printer as well.
Thank's!

[bnblues13]

My 2 year old humax DRT 800 just lost the sound (picture is fine)on the live tv and the recorded shows on the playlist. The DVD player has sound and I tried a dts DVD and the optical connection works fine. I rebooted several times and I can hear the jingle in the opening cartoon and not any of the broadcast. I talked to the Humax folks and we concurred the unit is defective so I ordered another one (to keep my lifetime TIVO account active so I won't have to pay again for lifetime.)
The recorded dvds I made today have sound which is good so I can preserve programs I saved. Myabe the refurbished unit I get from humax (240.00$) will have a stronger output on the audio which was a problem I had with the 800 since I bought it. Lastly the unit I have now was the 3rd machine I had gotten from humax during the first month I had it....it has been working fine since then until now. If it wasn't for the TIVO account savings I would have changed brands.

[Missmaxx]

My 2 year old humax DRT 800 just lost the sound (picture is fine)on the live tv and the recorded shows on the playlist. The DVD player has sound and I tried a dts DVD and the optical connection works fine. I rebooted several times and I can hear the jingle in the opening cartoon and not any of the broadcast. I talked to the Humax folks and we concurred the unit is defective so I ordered another one (to keep my lifetime TIVO account active so I won't have to pay again for lifetime.)
The recorded dvds I made today have sound which is good so I can preserve programs I saved. Myabe the refurbished unit I get from humax (240.00$) will have a stronger output on the audio which was a problem I had with the 800 since I bought it. Lastly the unit I have now was the 3rd machine I had gotten from humax during the first month I had it....it has been working fine since then until now. If it wasn't for the TIVO account savings I would have changed brands.


Hi,
If you go back over past Posts, I think I remember seeing a couple of problems like yours! But no answers. I think 2 Yrs is the magic number for Humax Units, as mine stopped Recording on -RW Discs at the 2 yr. mark.
Is there a way you can bypass the Optical Connection, and try it another way?
I would at least try it??

[ammetereyes]

Can you use dual layer discs when transferring programs to DVD-R? There are a couple of things coming up that I wanted to record on Best Quality but I hate having to split them in the middle. Sorry if this has been covered before but I couldn't find the info.

[Chester_Lampwick]

Can you use dual layer discs when transferring programs to DVD-R? There are a couple of things coming up that I wanted to record on Best Quality but I hate having to split them in the middle. Sorry if this has been covered before but I couldn't find the info.

No.

[ammetereyes]

No.
Oh well -- hope springs eternal. That would be a nice addition in to the Humax in the future. Thanks for answering.

[Missmaxx]

Hi,
If you go back over past Posts, I think I remember seeing a couple of problems like yours! But no answers. I think 2 Yrs is the magic number for Humax Units, as mine stopped Recording on -RW Discs at the 2 yr. mark.
Is there a way you can bypass the Optical Connection, and try it another way?
I would at least try it??
I think what you said about 2 Yrs being Humax Units Magic Number is correct! Mine was to the Month exactly! It all of a sudden just stopped Recording/Burning on -RW Discs, but will still Burn -R.??? I don't understand why, nor does Humax! I also have minor problems I see escalating now further. I notice many complaints come from units that are around 2!

[Atomic409]

I wanted to report great success in my DRT800 with Maxell 16x DVD-R discs. In about 65 discs burned I've made one coaster (and that was like number 22 or 23, must have been the disc itself or I finger smudged it). Quality is great because the source is Verizon FiOS (got rid of the horrible Verizon HD DVR and went TIVO for the first time ever in January '07 and I'm never looking back).

In a side note, I cannot believe how much faster shows transfer since I got rid of my wireless-G and ran Cat-5e cabling through the attic. Even with a "no name" brand usb 10/100 adapter the wired connection is between 6 and 8 times as fast. Admittedly the wireless had to stretch across the entire length of the house but I did not expect this much of a performance boost just going wired instead of wireless!

Btw, that was a non-tivo wireless-G going to a Belkin wireless-G router. I never got over 90kbps transfers, usually something like 68 or 72. A far cry from the 54Mbps that G claims! 802.11n may be the next revolution in wireless and it looks like I'll wait till that is fully implemented (and prices come down) before I dip a toe in the wifi pond again. Viva Cat-5e!!!

Now I have to spend a couple more weekends in the attic to wire up the rest of the house. In the next few weeks I also plan to try sending composite video from the video out jack on my tv to my kitchen over Cat-5e. I've been itching to try that since I found it on avsforum. The cabling job sounds hard but it was really easy once I got the hang of it so the rest of the wiring should go a lot faster.

[sarahdkelly]

I noticed some of the DVD's i try to burn do not burn if I set to record greater than 75% full. Is this just a coincidence with recordings that would fail anyway or has anyone else noticed this. This seems to just be with office depot brand cd's - which i will not buy any more of after these are gone. about 1/2 of them have worked. Atleast they were really cheap. Has anyone noticed this with other brands or can i fill them up?

[TivoBrian]

I noticed some of the DVD's i try to burn do not burn if I set to record greater than 75% full. Is this just a coincidence with recordings that would fail anyway or has anyone else noticed this. This seems to just be with office depot brand cd's - which i will not buy any more of after these are gone. about 1/2 of them have worked. Atleast they were really cheap. Has anyone noticed this with other brands or can i fill them up?

I suspect you can blame the media. I've had similar results with super-cheap store-brand DVDs. I've been using the Verbatim inkjet-printable DVDs from Sam's Club and rarely have any troubles, either in my computer or on my Tivo. I once bought a spindle of some no-name CompUSA DVDs and had a greater than 50% failure rate, often (as you've discovered) toward the end of a long burn. I was really starting to wonder if I had a hardware problem, when in fact it was a media problem again and again. By simply changing to the Verbatim brand I've almost eliminated making coasters of DVDs.

That said, I've also had varying luck with the burned Verbatim DVDs working in other players. Older set-top players typically have trouble with burned DVDs. Some brands of drives in computers and players don't seem to like a disc I've burned (either on TiVo or computer), while that same disc plays perfectly fine in other brands of players. It's always a crap shoot.

--Brian

[sm9]

The 8.3-01-2-595 update removed the ability to record from a camcorder over the firewire interface! I just called Humax (http://www.tivo.com/5.9.4.asp says Humax has technical support 24 hours/day, Monday - Sunday), waited on hold for a few minutes, then was given the option of leaving a message or hanging up. I left a message stating the problem and asking who I should talk to.

Obviously, this is Tivo's fault, not Humax's, since it is Tivo that removed the feature from the latest software

If anyone else finds out any info, please post. Thanks.

Humax Technical Support
Phone number: 866-486-2987
Hours of operation:
Monday - Sunday
24 hours a day

[sm9]

The 8.3-01-2-595 update removed the ability to record from a camcorder over the firewire interface! I just called Humax (http://www.tivo.com/5.9.4.asp says Humax has technical support 24 hours/day, Monday - Sunday), waited on hold for a few minutes, then was given the option of leaving a message or hanging up. I left a message stating the problem and asking who I should talk to.

Obviously, this is Tivo's fault, not Humax's, since it is Tivo that removed the feature from the latest software

I am an idiot. The menus look different to me than they did before, but the ability to record from a digital camcorder is still there. Sorry for crying wolf. :o

[AFP1]

The 8.3-01-2-595 update removed the ability to record from a camcorder over the firewire interface! I just called Humax (http://www.tivo.com/5.9.4.asp says Humax has technical support 24 hours/day, Monday - Sunday), waited on hold for a few minutes, then was given the option of leaving a message or hanging up. I left a message stating the problem and asking who I should talk to.

Obviously, this is Tivo's fault, not Humax's, since it is Tivo that removed the feature from the latest software

If anyone else finds out any info, please post. Thanks.

Humax Technical Support
Phone number: 866-486-2987
Hours of operation:
Monday - Sunday
24 hours a day

I don't have a Camcorder, but mine Records great using any other Unit. IE: DVD Player, CD Player, VCR etc. But I just use the 3 RCA Component Jacks in Front. It even Records Store bought Movies!! Even my Computer won't let me do that!!
I made a couple just Yesterday, and I have the Upgrade.

[orphan58]

My DRT800 was replaced September 2005. I can create a DVD using 16X -R media that can be viewed on my DRT800, but the DVD cannot be viewed on a PC. If I use media that is rated at 8X, I have some success. To insure a "good" DVD that I can view on a PC, I record the DVD on 4X -RW media and copy DVD from the 4X -RW media to 16X media on my PC. I hope this helps.

[Atomic409]

Can you use dual layer discs when transferring programs to DVD-R? There are a couple of things coming up that I wanted to record on Best Quality but I hate having to split them in the middle. Sorry if this has been covered before but I couldn't find the info.
I wanted to try the same thing with a movie of 1 hour and 20 minute duration. I wanted to try to record it in best quality and then burn to dvd. What I ended up with was two discs each approximately half the total length of the movie (that took up less than half of each disc by the way).

Why? The dvd says it can record a 2 hour movie at high quality. And best quality is only a bit higher bit rate. So why did it split the movie up into two discs when the entire movie actually would fit onto one disc?

(Tried this with three different movies and same thing each time, I shoulda learned after the first one)

[azitnay]

It doesn't really matter what the DVD says... The TiVo records at most one hour at best, two hours at high, four hours at medium, or six hours at basic quality.

If you want to fit a movie of length 1:20 onto a single DVD, record it at high quality.

Drew

[AFP1]

By the way, i'm in the process of burning a test dvd using sony's dvd-rw media. the speed was not listed on the box, but it seems to be burning at 4x. so far so good. the humax at least recognized it. i'll post the results after i do a test play.

Hi,
I think it Burns at about 2 to 3 times. It takes 20 Mins. for mine to Record 1 Hour. That averages 3X

[AFP1]

I wanted to try the same thing with a movie of 1 hour and 20 minute duration. I wanted to try to record it in best quality and then burn to dvd. What I ended up with was two discs each approximately half the total length of the movie (that took up less than half of each disc by the way).

Why? The dvd says it can record a 2 hour movie at high quality. And best quality is only a bit higher bit rate. So why did it split the movie up into two discs when the entire movie actually would fit onto one disc?

(Tried this with three different movies and same thing each time, I shoulda learned after the first one)


Look at the Time Differences the Unit holds in each Quality. There is only about a 5 Hour difference between High and Best. A single Disc cannot hold 2 Hours set on Best, because it *Burns a DVD, it does not *Stamp it like Professionally Made Movies. That is why they can Fit bout 4 Hours on a DVD, and it has better quality.
Lasers do not Read a DVD. A Magnetic Head, just like with Tape, actually Reads the DVD. The Laser is only used in Home Units to Record only.

[AFP1]

It doesn't really matter what the DVD says... The TiVo records at most one hour at best, two hours at high, four hours at medium, or six hours at basic quality.

If you want to fit a movie of length 1:20 onto a single DVD, record it at high quality.

Drew


The only problem is I would never Burn a Disc that I wanted to keep in Med. or Low quality, it's a lousey picture. High and Best are Very close in quality, so I use High and fit the 2 Hours. Why overcomplicate things?

[AFP1]

My DRT800 was replaced September 2005. I can create a DVD using 16X -R media that can be viewed on my DRT800, but the DVD cannot be viewed on a PC. If I use media that is rated at 8X, I have some success. To insure a "good" DVD that I can view on a PC, I record the DVD on 4X -RW media and copy DVD from the 4X -RW media to 16X media on my PC. I hope this helps.


I never HAD any problems Recording on any Speed Disc, and playing it back on my Computer. But with a 52 inch TV, I really don't want to do that often anyway.
I do have a problem now though with it not Recording on -RW Discs. I used them for 2 Years, to move Shows if my Time was low in the Unit, but it just stopped working 1 Day. It still Records fine on -R, but does not Play Back either using ANY Disc!
So, I went out and bought a $30 DVD Player and all is fine now!!

[Hanjive]

I wanted to share some info about replacing DVD burner in the Humax DRT800. The "original" models came with the Pioneer DVR-108JA drives. Mine got to the point where none of the fixes (reset, restart, etc) worked. I hunted the internet and a found a thread on the Weakness site that they offered to replace the drive in a customers unit. I contacted WK and ordered (what I thot) was a new DVR-108JA for $149.00 smackers. The replacement drive arrived and it turned out to be a Pioneer DVR-109JA! I verified with WK that indeed this model drive was compatible with the DRT800. I did a google on the different drive model number and came across a few folks selling BRAND NEW units for $38 to $44 bucks! I again contacted WK asking if there was any reason to think these more affordable (brand new) same-model drives would not work in the Humax... to which WK replied "We have not tested random eBay units; the drive you have is authorized by Humax and came from a new Humax unit. "
I placed my $149 WK drive to the side and ordered one of the reasonably (fair market value) priced units... it arrived yesterday and I installed it. Works as good as new! I'm actually going to purchase one more "random" unit and test drive it in my DRT800. Frankly, after rereading WK comment... "the drive you have [DVR-109JA] is authorized by Humax..." I don't have any reason to think another "random" one from eBay WON'T work!
BTW I purchased my Humax DRT800 in May of 2005. The DVR-108JA inside has a manufacture date of August 2004.

[Sherminator]

Hanjive, are you certain, that the drive that you obtained thru WK, doesn't have custom FW ?

[AFP1]

Since almost all Posts in this "Humax Owners Club" seem to relate to either the "Max. Speed of Discs", and/or the "Replacement of Disc Burner Drives", I want to comment about 1 of these problems here, the "Replacement of Burner Drives". (I feel the Speed of Discs has been answered many times here already, so why bother to do it again!)
The problems I have read about here all seem to all say the same thing. "The Drive no longer works in either 1 way or another, if at all"! But many of the Drives that are being replaced at rediculous prices, especially for Reconditioned and/or old Models, is really Not even necessary! Most have nothing wrong with them Mechanically or Electronically in any way!
Since I myself had the same problems with my DRT800, (As well as other Units like Computers and DVD Player Drives) it drove me crazy being the Humax was only a Year Old at the time the Drive stopped, and the DVD Drive was used very little! So when I finally took the Machine apart I found that the Laser was simply just not reading the Discs as even being physically into the Drive! Why?
These Units have cooling Fans that are bringing in various types of debris and depositing them into the Drive, which has a Laser that points upward, easilly collecting debris that in most cases is not even visable to the Human Eye! I found this under a powerful magnifying Glass! It is really only making the Lens Dirty, especially if you Smoke! Pollen, Fine Dust and especially Nicotine, which is like a clear to slightly yellow deposit that is almost Glue like, cannot be removed simply by using a Lens Cleaner that uses only a tiny Brush. And many Liquid Cleaners may make the problem even worse if too much is applied, or if it leaves yet another invisible coating on the Lens!
So I simply tried a very soft Big Screen TV cleaning cloth, and Dry rubbed it lightly on the Lens for about 10 seconds! The Drive Unit then, and still works perfectly once again!
The only problem I had in doing this, was in finding the correct size Tool to get the outside Cover off the Unit! And the only reason I say it was a problem, was because I had to go out and buy one only because I didn't already have that particular size Bit!
So, before ordering an expensive new/old DVD Drive, give it a try! You can't hurt anything, especially if you are able to Replace a DVD Drive! But you will most probably save a lot of Money!

6/8 Revise- Since I wrote this Post above only a few Days ago, I must have jinxed myself!! Now once again the Unit will not Burn, only Playback!! I probably just giggled a bad part while cleaning, but it did Work for quite a while after. But once again, *No more Burning. But, at least it's still an expensive DVD Player, as that continues................ I better shut up!!

[Hanjive]

Hanjive, are you certain, that the drive that you obtained thru WK, doesn't have custom FW ?

Nope. WK made no mention of the DVR-109JA they sent having any custom firmware. If IT does and the eBay unit does not, it doesn't appear to matter since it behaves as one would expect in all respects.

The manufacturer labels on both of the new DVD drives are identical in all respects except for the serial numbers and manufacture dates: eBay drive Sept 2005, WK drive March 2005.

Messages & Settings>Account & System Info>System Info
With the "eBay" unit in the box... DVD Drive Firmware Version: DVD-RW DVR-109R2 1.25. I'll try to remember to compare that with what is displayed with the 2nd eBay drive and WK's after they've been installed/tested.

Wanted to follow thru... the other twoi replacement DVR-109JA's (one from Weaknees and the other from a second eBay vendor) had the same firmware that the first one did (see italics above). Also both worked fine and dandy playing and recording. So now I got a couple backups!

[nesbitttivo]

Does anyone have an answer to 1)? Do you DRT-800 owners multi-task burning at the same time you are doing normal tivo tasks? I ask because I have a 1yr old XP PC system, where they tell you to "shutdown other programs when burning cd's". Does the DRT-800 have similar warnings? Have you destroyed dvd media when burning and tivoing at the same time? Or is the DRT-800 software setup to disallow any other tasks when burning?
I have multi-tasked while a DVD was being burned. I have captured video via the external AV ports while the dvd was burning. I have not had any issues with doing this.

[nesbitttivo]

Anyone had an issue with the DRT-800 making you save HD programming that you have recorded from your cable provider via the S-Video port to more disc than it should. Like an example would be if I recorded a 2 hour show in High Quality it is supposed to fit on a Single DVD. Well that is not happening now, the tivo is now making me put it on two disc. It appears to only happen when you record HD quality shows. I have noticed that the percent of the disc the Tivo is saving to is not 100% is only 87 to 91 percent. I am wondering if this is something that showed up after a tivo software update.

[AFP1]

Anyone had an issue with the DRT-800 making you save HD programming that you have recorded from your cable provider via the S-Video port to more disc than it should. Like an example would be if I recorded a 2 hour show in High Quality it is supposed to fit on a Single DVD. Well that is not happening now, the tivo is now making me put it on two disc. It appears to only happen when you record HD quality shows. I have noticed that the percent of the disc the Tivo is saving to is not 100% is only 87 to 91 percent. I am wondering if this is something that showed up after a tivo software update.

"It appears to only happen when you record HD quality shows."

You may have answered your own question with the statement I re-quoted, (If re-quoted is a Word!) above, or maybe not? Not Knowing exactly how you have it hooked up is important as well! ( Box/No Box?) I can only assume you are using a Box, only because you mentioned using the "S-Vid Input" on the Unit.
*HD or even Digital W \Box, has more information in it than non- HD or even Digital Programming vs. Analog, when Recording to your Hard Drive. This is why Tivos S3 DVR will Record up to 300 Hours, but only 30 Hours in HD as per what I have read in the Specs! Logic tells me that HD vs. the Norm has up to 10X the amount of Info to Record, just by using those Numbers. I don't have a guess as to what the Digital Content difference is, but it's more. So if it is not happenning with non-HD Programs, that should have given you 1 clue that it's either not Reading and/or Recording the Info correctly onto the Hard Drive, or to the Disc Burner. Plus, never having used the S-Vid connection myself, maybe that is why I never had any problems as I use the RCA Inputs/Outputs? (RGB)
But S-Vid also moves more info than RCA Cables. That is why they "Say" it gives you a bit better picture. But I have never noticed any difference personallywhen I compared both. What may be happenning is although your Humax is not HD or Digital on the Output, ( It converts an Analog Signal to Digital when Recording, If not using a Box, then outputs back in Analog. Why? I have no idea!) It may be Recording/Reading more info, making it "Think" you are trying to Burn a longer than 2 Hour Movie. But as always, I am able to admit I am no "Expert", so there may be other reasons as well for this. But I think I can "Expertly" say you have a problem! Personally, I never had that problem with my DiRTy800 when the Drive Worked correctly! (*About 20 Discs at Max!) Now it only Plays DVD's, using the same old type Magnetic Heads almost just like Tape Recorders of any type.
So it must be reading the Program as being either longer, or containing more info to output than it actually puts Out of the Unit, and being you are using an S-Vid Connection, you may be Recording more info from your Box. But again, not knowing your Set-Up, it is harder to come to any conclusion. But basically, something is wrong as you well know, and it's not cheap to fix!
Humax will "Swap" a used Unit with you for a "Mere $250.00", or you could get a Reconditioned Burner and try to install it yourself for about $150.00. OR Best yet, you can Buy a Seperate New DVD Recorder for as little as $70.00 if you look around online!! That's what I did. I know Recording is slower, like VCR's, but I seem to read about so many Burners having problems, Plus I have had many problems in Computers, DVD Players as well as my Humax, I just feel why buy an expensive Burner, if it's only going to last 2 Yrs. Tops! For $70, I don't care if I need to replace it every Year! But that is only my opinion!! (Plus being a Smoker, Nicotine does not help either!) I also Burn very little. Mainly Classic Movies, which now using a seperate Recorder, I can also cut out Commercials!
I hope this all helps you a little anyway! I know that Feeling you have as well!
You spent a lot more for a Humax, and for what now at this time?? And it does seem that the latest Update has created more problems that it might have tried to fix in many areas if you read other Posts!!
Good Luck!

[AFP1]

I suspect you can blame the media. I've had similar results with super-cheap store-brand DVDs. I've been using the Verbatim inkjet-printable DVDs from Sam's Club and rarely have any troubles, either in my computer or on my Tivo. I once bought a spindle of some no-name CompUSA DVDs and had a greater than 50% failure rate, often (as you've discovered) toward the end of a long burn. I was really starting to wonder if I had a hardware problem, when in fact it was a media problem again and again. By simply changing to the Verbatim brand I've almost eliminated making coasters of DVDs.

That said, I've also had varying luck with the burned Verbatim DVDs working in other players. Older set-top players typically have trouble with burned DVDs. Some brands of drives in computers and players don't seem to like a disc I've burned (either on TiVo or computer), while that same disc plays perfectly fine in other brands of players. It's always a crap shoot.

--Brian


I know all speed Discs have worked at one time (Before the Burner quit) and many others have said the same. I just feel each machine just has it's little quirks here and there. When mine worked, I never made a "Coaster" even using a cheap Disc. As quoted above, It's a Crap Shoot. Some Win, many throw 7's after the Point is made!

[AFP1]

Nope. WK made no mention of the DVR-109JA they sent having any custom firmware. If IT does and the eBay unit does not, it doesn't appear to matter since it behaves as one would expect in all respects.

The manufacturer labels on both of the new DVD drives are identical in all respects except for the serial numbers and manufacture dates: eBay drive Sept 2005, WK drive March 2005.

Messages & Settings>Account & System Info>System Info
With the "eBay" unit in the box... DVD Drive Firmware Version: DVD-RW DVR-109R2 1.25. I'll try to remember to compare that with what is displayed with the 2nd eBay drive and WK's after they've been installed/tested.


My original read 2004, and was purchased in 05. Fine! But Why are "New Drives" Dated back then as well? I bought a $70.00 DVD Recorder that works just great. Plus, even if I need to replace it Yearly, (Even Humax Drives seem to last only 2 Yrs. Max) I will be glad to!

[AFP1]

Can you use dual layer discs when transferring programs to DVD-R? There are a couple of things coming up that I wanted to record on Best Quality but I hate having to split them in the middle. Sorry if this has been covered before but I couldn't find the info.



No. As a matter of fact, I was only going over the guide the other Day about something else, and just happenned to see them state that in another FAQ near the FAQ I was looking for. "Single layer only Discs can be used".
You have to remember, when they make a Professional Movie, they do not Burn Movies onto DVD's. They Stamp them out just like an Old LP Record! No Laser is used for anything but reading Start & chapter points. That is also why the quality is better, and they can fit 4 Hours on 1 DVD. Burning is only done in Home Recorders.

[jjmg]

There must be something about Humax to PC to Humax transfers to let them burn because everything I've seen says even Humax DVD-R to DVD-R transfers won't burn. I would like to be wrong on that so if anyone knows otherwise I'd love to hear about it.


I myself am definitely not able to burn a show that I transferred from the Humax to the PC and back again. It shows up in the list of shows to burn with a red circle with a diagonal line across it and if you click on it it says it was recorded with an incompatible format, which of course is untrue since it was recorded on the Humax itself.

I am pretty sure I tried this before -- a year or more ago -- and I don't think this has ever been possible. But these most recent posts got my hopes up since I'm now getting the "Saving Failed" / "Internal Error" problem ... :-(

[jedinc]

I have had various problems with the DRT800 over the last two years. They have all been solved by unpluging the unit and repluging. Last night, for the first time, I had to call HUMAX. There wasn't any video fron the D* box. I could get the menus, the guide, and previously recorded programs. A very nice person at Humax started helping me right away. I had halfway expected to be told that my unit was out of warramty, it is over 2 years old. Anyway she took me back trough making sure the D* box was working and all of the cables were good. Everything was OKAY execpt the DRT800. She told me to umplug the unit wait 30 and replug the unit. It worked. THANKS HUMAX!!!! :up: :up: :up: :D

[Hanjive]

Posts in this "Humax Owners Club" seem to relate to either the "Max. Speed of Discs", and/or the "Replacement of Disc Burner Drives", I want to comment about... "Replacement of Burner Drives"... the problems I have read... "The Drive no longer works...! But many of the Drives that are being replaced at rediculous prices, .... is really Not even necessary! ... Since I myself had the same problems... So I simply tried a very soft Big Screen TV cleaning cloth, and Dry rubbed it lightly on the Lens for about 10 seconds! The Drive Unit then, and still works perfectly once again!
The only problem I had in doing this, was in finding the correct size Tool to get the outside Cover off the Unit! And the only reason I say it was a problem, was because I had to go out and buy one only because I didn't already have that particular size Bit!
So, before ordering an expensive new/old DVD Drive, give it a try! You can't hurt anything, especially if you are able to Replace a DVD Drive! But you will most probably save a lot of Money!

6/8 Revise- Since I wrote this Post above only a few Days ago, I must have jinxed myself!! Now once again the Unit will not Burn, only Playback!! I probably just giggled a bad part while cleaning, but it did Work for quite a while after. But once again, *No more Burning. But, at least it's still an expensive DVD Player, as that continues................ I better shut up!!

AFP1... excuse my attempt to paraphrase your original post. You posted it shortly after I did mine about getting two different replacement DVDs at prices on opposite ends of the spectrum (ridiculous and reasonable). I whole heatedly agree that in many cases DIRT is a problem with CD/DVDs devices with a laser lens. So I took my non working 108 in hand and started to crack the case to clean the lens as you described! FYI I DID have the correct tools on hand. Now I've cracked a fair number of enclosures to get to and mess with devices in my time... Nevertheless I thot getting to the lens was WAAAAY too much effort. I had a hard time imaging most Humax DRT end-users wouldn't have the where-with-all to not only remove the device DVD from the Humax and then take it apart to get to the lens.

FWIW... the older DVR-108JA still did work after cleaning.

If a commercially available CD/DVD cleaning system doesn't rejuvenate a DRT800's dysfunctional DVD recorder and you can locate a vendor with a compatible replacement (DVR-109JA) that runs about $35-45 bucks... it's worth it.

[technomutt]

I've got a DRT-800 which was on a monthly account... I moved another of my units onto that account for testing purposes and now I'm thinking instead of moving the monthly account back onto the 800 (I've done this several times) maybe I should just bite the bullet and get the Lifetime service.

Is there any deadline for this? If so, I'll do it this week. Otherwise I'll wait a while.

OK, I called Tivo... no expiration as of yet. Still available.

[bird-mom]

Burning problems? I read the one above about ambient dust (live in dusty Phoenix Az + have a cockatoo -nuff said). I generally use Office Depot spindles of 50 DVD-Rs with no problems, but some movies seem to have a problem, so I even thought they may have protection. Just this week, tried to save 2 in French (Ridicule and Quai des Brumes- IFC and TCM respectively)-just wondered if anyone else has that problem

[itsyvonne]

Well, I must say - their product may be lousy, but their customer service is great. I just bought a new DRT800 on eBay, and the DVD recorder keeps telling me that "saving failed due to internal error." I tried some of the suggested stuff (updating to the latest software, rebooting, unplug and wait 30, trying to record different shows, different qualities, etc.). I got tired of it and decided this is BS...a new unit should work!!! I called Humax this morning (Sunday morning!!) and they are sending me a replacement.

P.S. It does work some of the time ... but I'm having a hard time figuring out any rhyme or reason. It appears that it might have to do with the recording quality. Medium quality seems to fail every time. HQ and Best Quality have worked (but I'm not sure if they worked 100% of the time...I wasn't keeping stats). I have mostly been using the enclosed DVD-RW, for obvious reasons. I bought some Maxell DVD-Rs but after making one coaster I decided to go back to the DVD-RW.

[skywise]

.... The replacement drive arrived and it turned out to be a Pioneer DVR-109JA! ..... Works as good as new! I'm actually going to purchase one more "random" unit and test drive it in my DRT800.
I've noticed the 109ja is a DL unit.. Have you tried putting a DL disc in the drive? What does the TiVo think of it? (if anything)

curious geeks want to know. :)

Greg

[azitnay]

I haven't personally tried, but it's my understanding that while the drive does indeed support dual layer discs, the TiVo software does not.

Drew

[jjones2424]

I purchased my Humax in Nov 2005, so approaching 2 1/2 years. I purcahsed a lifetime Tivo subscription along with it. It is almost impossible to watch live tv now because the it's skipping. Imagine listening to a skipping CD and that's what it's like wathcing TV. I started realizing that ever monirng I woul turn on my tv and it was always 30 minutes behind live. That's because it's skipped som much over the night that it fel behind. If I unplug the unit and watch tv just through my cable box everything is fine.
I've called Humax support. They've had me "kickstart" the box, which involved pressing buttons on the remote until you get the green screen that tells you it's detected a problem with the hard dirve. I've also had someone walk me through defragging the drive.
My only option is to purchase a refurbished until from Humax from $240! Otherwise if I buy a newer unit, I can't transfer my lifetime subscription. How can Tivo hose me like that if the these Humax boxes can't even live a normal lfe. 2 years for a hard drive is ridiculous. Does any one have any other options to suggest or should I just get a DVR through Time Warner and scrap my Tivo membership?

[aizjanika]

My only option is to purchase a refurbished until from Humax from $240! Otherwise if I buy a newer unit, I can't transfer my lifetime subscription. How can Tivo hose me like that if the these Humax boxes can't even live a normal lfe. 2 years for a hard drive is ridiculous. Does any one have any other options to suggest or should I just get a DVR through Time Warner and scrap my Tivo membership?


I don't know anything about your particular problem, but I read somewhere that the hard drives should be replaced about every year or so. I've had my DRT 800 for about 2 1/2 years as well, and I've replaced the hard drive twice in that time, so that seems about right to me. (I also have lifetime for that Tivo, so it's worth it to fix it rather than replace it.)

If it's just the hard drive that needs replacing, why not just do that? WeaKnees is more expensive, but they'll do it for you or sell you a kit with instructions to do it yourself. People on this forum and elsewhere have mentioned doing it themselves for much cheaper, though, and you could probably add a larger hard drive than you currently have.

P.S. I've found that most hard drives last 2 years or less on my computer, so I would expect the Tivo to be about the same. Maybe I've just been unlucky, though. :-)

[TivoBrian]

Whoa, boys! There's no reason to chuck your malfunctioning Tivo or abandon your Lifetime privilege, and believe me, once you've had Tivo you'll not be satisfied with the alternative PVRs.

I have a Lifetime Series 1 that I've had for 6+ years. It got unreliable so I sent it away and had the motherboard replaced -- cost $199 but I was able to preserve the Lifetime status. During it's life I've NEVER had a hard drive failure. It's currently got a 250 Gb hard drive in it which is 2+ years old.

I also have a Lifetime Humax DRT800 which is 2+ years old and working fine. (Knock on wood.) I haven't hacked it (yet) because with all the functionality it offers, I haven't felt the need.

Google "Tivo Repair" and get that DRT800 fixed, one way or the other, and you'll be happy! Otherwise, if you decide to chuck it the way it is currently, please let me know via PM. I'd be glad to give you something for it, even with it skipping. I'd repair it and then I could enjoy TWO Lifetime Series 2 units!

[argent1]

I have owned a drt800 since nov. 05 and besides the usual complaints of slow channel changing, and the other latency problems, I recently woke up to an unusual problem. The HDD light was on displaying orange, the dvd light is red and the tv screen was completely white. My tivo is unhacked. I called humax and she explains the kickstart 5-7 process. I did that and she told me to not touch it for 3 &1/2 hrs. I hope this works. Has anyone out there had a similar problem? ....after all, misery loves co. :mad:

[GoHokies!]

New member of the DRT800 club, bought on eBay. Activated vis the website and was presented the option to purchase the much coveted product lifetime.

The only issue so far is that the unit is missing the front door that covers the front inputs. Does anyone have one laying around, or attached to a broken DRT800 that they're not using?

Thanks in advance,
Ryan

[IslandBwoy]

Hey Guys,

I've been looking around for any hacks available for the DRT models and am not finding much. in fact, I read a website where it was listed as unhackable. Is that the case? I want to find something that will allow me to stream media from a network drive. Any help would be appreciated.



Send links.

[TivoBrian]

Hey Guys,

I've been looking around for any hacks available for the DRT models and am not finding much. in fact, I read a website where it was listed as unhackable. Is that the case? I want to find something that will allow me to stream media from a network drive. Any help would be appreciated.



Send links.

I have a DRT-800 that (just today!) has been upgraded with InstantCake and a Seagate 250 Gb hard drive. Whee! 300+ hours of recording capacity now! The process went flawlessly.

But that's not what you're asking...I just wanted to shout out a bit. :D

I've been streaming downloaded Internet video files to my Tivo for a few months now with very good results. Check out pyTivo:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?t=328459&page=1&pp=30

pyTivo has had problems navigating sub-folders, but it's the first solution I've tried that actually works quite well! I have a garage-sale eMachines 2 Ghz Celeron machine that downloads video podcasts via iTunes. I have pyTivo set up to put the individual iTunes podcast sub-folders separately in the Now Playing list. When I choose to watch a video podcast, I select it in Tivo's Now Playing and it starts streaming from the eMachines to the Tivo, just as if the stream were coming from another Tivo. I'm on a wired network and it generally streams fast enough to start watching the video immediately. I usually que up about half a dozen podcasts so they'll continue to transfer while I'm watching the first one. Works like a charm, and I've not run into any aspect-ratio problems (yet).

The biggest disappointment is the Tivo lacks the ability to delete the video podcast from the eMachine's hard drive when I'm done watching it. You have to delete the streamed copy from your Tivo (as is normal with any TV show that you don't intend to keep), then remember to also delete the copy of the video on the PC. It can be hard to keep track of what you've watched and what you haven't if you aren't diligent in keeping the PC up to date. Most of the podcast filenames are too long to display enough of the filename on the Tivo's limited menu to make it easy to know which episode is which...especially if the podcast video filenames don't start with a date or episode number in the first few characters.

Give it a try! No hacking required, and it doesn't take much of a PC to do the streaming. A Goodwill or Salvation Army PC makes a great video file streamer for your Tivo!

--Brian

[JaberJaw1978]

I have been tinkering with my DRT 400 trying to get it to burn again, it suddenly stoped burning disks and would fail at 0%. I wend through a 50 pack of disks and found it is a drive stop point issue. when the Drive stops spinning and goes to an idle state it cannot burn the disk. So here is how I got it working again, you can try this on yours but no guarantee this will fix your tivo.

Place in a blank disk and close the tray

Go to now playing and select the program you want to burn.

Go thru all of the menus but stop on the "burn this disk" screen

When you reach this screen force open the decorative plastic drive cover on the tivo and you will see a standard CD drive inside. The cover is just spring loaded and you can do this with a fingernail.

With a piece of stiff wire or paperclip press the eject button that is behind the cover !!!! WARNING !!! REMOVE THE CLIP OR WIRE QUICKLY !!!! or the drive will jam.

Then lightly push on the exposed disk carrier to close the drive.

You will now hear a slow spin, pause, then a high speed spin. when you hear this High speed spin count to 3 and press "Burn this Disk" on the Tivo screen

You should now be able to burn disks.

I tried ejecting the disk with the front cover button but that aborted the burn menu and cause it to start the menu's over again. Good luck and hope this helps everyone

[cincin]

Hi everyone!

I have just purchased a NIB Humax DRT-400 and have set everything up. When i power the DVR on it just says "Welcome...Powering Up!" and doesn't move past this screen (15+mins). could it be that since i haven't activated the subscription that it will not go past this screen? My assumption is that i wouldn't be able to use any features at all until i have a subscription, but what you'd think that it would at least allow you to go to the main tivo menu.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks!
Cindy

[azitnay]

It should certainly move beyond that screen, first to an "Almost There" screen, and finally to the TiVo menu, regardless of its subscription status... The most obvious culprit is a hard drive problem, although that's certainly not the only thing that could be wrong.

If it's truly new, you should be able to get a warranty replacement. Otherwise, if it does indeed turn out to be a bad hard drive, they're not too tough to replace.

Drew

[JaberJaw1978]

well I think I jinxed myself, I got 3 good disks using this method and now it is failing again. back th the drawing board. Does anyone recomend a good Lens cleaner, I have one ment for CD drives but it dosen't seem to work at all in the dvd drive

[Chester_Lampwick]

Does anyone recomend a good Lens cleaner, I have one ment for CD drives but it dosen't seem to work at all in the dvd drive

Can somebody elaborate on how a lens cleanining disc works? I thought that laser pickup never touches the disk, unlike how the the heads do on a tape deck. Is this some sort of furry disk? Wouldn't the player just refuse to play it?

I do think the lens could get dirty, of course. The unit isn't sealed and it sits face up. I expect dust, and particularily smoke would land on the unit. Also the TiVos fan would contantly pull throught the drive's case.....

I still suspect that something else is the major culprit of failed burns. Do Pioneer TiVo models experience a similar high failure rate?

[robomeister]

Regarding Pioneer units and failed burns:

I've experienced some failed burns and some of the techniques I've used to restore functionality are:

1. Reboot the TiVo.
2. Try a DVD-RW disc. This kind of resets the burn process, because it is not a DVD-R. Make sure it is a max speed of 1x or 2x disc. Trying a 4x disc will not work.
3. Try a different brand of disc. The Pioneer manual states that the DVD-R discs should be a max speed of 4x. I've had success with 8x media and limited success with 16x media. I think it has to do with the manufacturing process and the dyes used.
4. Replace the DVD burner. The Humax TiVos and the Toshiba TiVos can have their DVD burner replaced with standard PC DVD burners. :) The Pioneer TiVos cannot, unfortunately. :( The burner in the Humax is a Pioneer DVR-109 variant or sometimes a DVR-108 variant. I've read on this forum of people successfully replacing the burner with a Pioneer DVR-111D or a Pioneer DVR-112D burner. My standard for success if for the replacement drive to be able to read (play) and write (burn) discs.

If you burn a bunch of discs at once, you might be overheating the laser in the DVD burner. Try not to burn too many discs at once.

Hope that helps,
robomeister

[Chester_Lampwick]

Thanks robo! One of these days I hope to own a Pioneer unit. Is it true that the Pioneer's have some editing capability?

[robomeister]

Chester_Lampwick,

Nope, the Pioneers don't have any editing capability. It is just like the Humaxes, simply burn the show to a disc, commercials and all. They do seem to have faster USB ports for MRV and TiVoToGoBack. They are 2xx series 2s (275), as opposed to the 5xx series for the Humaxes (595) and Toshibas (565).

I have recently purchased a couple of DRT400s from ebay. Immediately installed 250GB drives and I'm a happy camper. Being able to still get the lifetime subscription is great! :D

robomeister

[aggie64]

I have had various problems with the DRT800 over the last two years. They have all been solved by unpluging the unit and repluging. Last night, for the first time, I had to call HUMAX. There wasn't any video fron the D* box. I could get the menus, the guide, and previously recorded programs. A very nice person at Humax started helping me right away. I had halfway expected to be told that my unit was out of warramty, it is over 2 years old. Anyway she took me back trough making sure the D* box was working and all of the cables were good. Everything was OKAY execpt the DRT800. She told me to umplug the unit wait 30 and replug the unit. It worked. THANKS HUMAX!!!! :up: :up: :up: :D

I have had my DRT800 for a couple of years with a minimum number of problems, certainly not the level of many folks. Last night and again this evening my D* box also did the same thing. The first time I tried several things and was able to prove that a good signal was coming in from my 9 year old RCA satellite receiver ... so I finally tried a simple restart and that cleard things up. This evening when it happened again, a reboot was all that was needed. Both times I was changing the channel - but I don't know if that has anything to do with this particular problem.

[ewaldrep]

i purchased the humax dtr800 last year. turned it on to check to see that
it worked. it did. did not go through the set up
this year decided to put it to work
pluged it up and got no video
the front display appears to work as well as the remote

any thoughts


thanks,

perry

[rambler]

Will it play a dvd?

[JaberJaw1978]

cindy this is a good sign of a hard drive failure, try to check and see if the connector came off in shipping but I am 90%sure you are going to need a new hard drive

[andee]

my wireless works ok on my humax drt800 - its just slow b/c it has to transfer a long distance - I am trying to go back to wired but it is not recognizing any wired adaptors even the linksys usb200 - suggestions or any help would be appreciated

B

[kemscm]

I have a TV that does not have composite video connectors. I have tried everything but I cannot get the Humax DVR to see the VCR.

I have tried connecting everything through coax -- nope. I have a new VCR (so that it has red-green-blue connection options) but my TV doesn't have those....

Surely this is not impossible! I have spent hours on it. I try about once a year, get everything screwed up -- then I have to figure out how to put it back the way it was.

I am not a techie geek and I really don't enjoy having to mess with this all the time. In fact, I find it incredibly frustrating.

If anyone has run into this problem and knows the solution, I'd appreciate a post. Thanks.

[azitnay]

Could you elaborate on what you're trying to do? It sounds to me like you might be trying to connect things so that you can record programs from the TiVo on the VCR.

To clear a couple things up from your post:

1) When you say your TV doesn't have composite video, do you really mean component video? Composite video cables typically have yellow connectors, and are usually coupled with cables with red and white connectors that carry audio. Component video cables typically have red, green, and blue connectors, and don't carry audio.

2) An all-coax connection won't work, because the Humax's coax output doesn't carry the signal from the TiVo itself (it just passes the coax input through).

If you explain exactly what you're trying to accomplish, and what various input and output connectors the VCR and TV support, I'm sure we can help.

Drew

[TivoBrian]

I have a TV that does not have composite video connectors. I have tried everything but I cannot get the Humax DVR to see the VCR.

I have tried connecting everything through coax -- nope. I have a new VCR (so that it has red-green-blue connection options) but my TV doesn't have those....



I *think* I know what you're trying to do. I have a similar problem (complaint) about the Humax Tivos not passing the signal OUT both the coax and the composite (or component) video. I have a remote TV (kitchen) that I feed a coax signal to using a manual a/b/c coax switch to control which of three different signals goes to the remote TV. (That way I can continue to watch whatever Tivo program we're watching while I clean up the kitchen and load the dishwasher!)

I feed the Humax Tivo the cable or satellite input signals, then send the Humax's composite output to the VCR via the composite connections. Then I use the VCR to feed the Tivo output to the TV via the composite connection, and ALSO the remote TV via the coax connection. In my case, the VCR is filling in providing the coax output whereas the Tivo itself can't do that. (Irritating because the Series2 Tivo I had could do that, but the Humax Tivos can't.)

In your case I'm thinking part of your problem is wrapped up with the Tivo not providing both coax and composite output signals. Do what I did -- feed the output from the Tivo to the input of the VCR and then feed the coax output of the VCR to the TV. If it doesn't seem to work, check that a) the TV is on the correct channel (3 or 4) for the coax signal, and b) that your TV/VCR switch on the VCR is correct.

The problem with passing the signal through the VCR is that if you have a DVD Tivo and you try playing a commercial copy-protected DVD on it, you'll have copy-protection issues in your picture quality on the TV because passing the signal through another device is triggering the copy protection. (Let's hear it for copy protection! Booo! Hiss!! I'm not even TRYING to make an illegal recording - I'm just using the VCR's coax output to solve the problem of the Humax Tivo not providing both outputs at the same time!) In my case, the copy protection causes color shifts from too dark to normal back to too dark in a rather annoying fashion. As a result I usually play commercial DVDs on an entirely separate DVD player -- the one I had before I got the Humax DVD Tivo. I do use the DVD player in the Tivo to play back non-commercial DVDs that I've made myself on the computer or on the Tivo.

Hope something in this helps with what you're trying to do.

--Brian

[azitnay]

In lieu of using a VCR to create a makeshift RF output, you can simply use an RF modulator.

Drew

[kemscm]

Azitnay.....yes, I mean component -- the red green blue things. Thanks.

[kemscm]

TivoBrian --

I think you've explained the problem to me. I have hooked it up and taken it apart over and over again, trying to get it all to work....and it all won't work, right?

So, if I go like this:

Cable box to Humax Tivo (using red-green-blue cables) --->
Tivo to VCR using red-green-blue cables -->
VCR to TV using coax cable?

Then I'll be able to do everything except play commercial DVDs? Is that right?

[TivoBrian]

TivoBrian --

Then I'll be able to do everything except play commercial DVDs? Is that right?

Sounds right. It's worth a try! (And I realize a "try" is not trivial -- changing cables behind components is always such a hassle!)

There is another aspect to all of this outside the physical wiring. One thing I realize I didn't discuss was the Tivo software setup where you tell it which jacks you're using for the incoming (cable) signal and the outgoing signal (component or composite). You might need to run through that and make sure your inputs and outputs are assigned the way you want them to be. It's been a while and I don't remember the specifics.

Also, be sure you're not confusing the red/green/blue component jacks with the red/white/yellow composite jacks. You won't have much success if you're plugging the component (red/green/blue) outputs on the Tivo to the composite (red/white/yellow) jacks on the VCR!

Tivo's web site has virtually any combination of hookup diagrams you're likely to ever need. Here's a good start:

http://customersupport.tivo.com/LaunchContent.aspx?cid=dcadf995-410e-407a-8e33-65a0ed6a14fa&anchor=undefined

--Brian

[azitnay]

TivoBrian --

I think you've explained the problem to me. I have hooked it up and taken it apart over and over again, trying to get it all to work....and it all won't work, right?

So, if I go like this:

Cable box to Humax Tivo (using red-green-blue cables) --->
Tivo to VCR using red-green-blue cables -->
VCR to TV using coax cable?

Then I'll be able to do everything except play commercial DVDs? Is that right?

A couple notes:

1) The TiVo doesn't have component (red, green, blue) inputs... You'll need to use either composite (yellow) or s-video to connect between the cable box and the TiVo.

2) I know you stated previously that your TV doesn't have component (red, green, blue) inputs, but does it have composite (yellow, white, red) inputs? If so, then instead of connecting the TiVo through the VCR, you can connect it directly to the TV using composite. The only thing this setup doesn't give you is the ability to save programs from the TiVo to the VCR... But since the TiVo has a DVD burner, I'm not sure why you'd want to do that anyway.

If you do require the ability to save programs to the VCR, or the TV doesn't have composite inputs, then the above setup you outlined is probably your best bet.

Drew

[TivoBrian]

A couple notes:

1) The TiVo doesn't have component (red, green, blue) inputs... You'll need to use either composite (yellow) or s-video to connect between the cable box and the TiVo.

The TiVo has both component and composite outputs, however.

2) I know you stated previously that your TV doesn't have component (red, green, blue) inputs, but does it have composite (yellow, white, red) inputs?

kemscm stated in the original post: "I have a TV that does not have composite video connectors." which would indicate that coax or twin-lead is the only input choice available on the TV.

--Brian

[azitnay]

The TiVo has both component and composite outputs, however.

Yes, but I'm not sure how that's relevant to connecting the cable box to the TiVo.



kemscm stated in the original post: "I have a TV that does not have composite video connectors." which would indicate that coax or twin-lead is the only input choice available on the TV.

Right, but I had a feeling he meant component, not composite. I asked, and he seemed to indicate that he did mean component (i.e. "the red green blue things"). I could have misinterpreted, though.

Drew

[kemscm]

Thanks. The TV has composite inputs, but not component.

I have it hooked up now the way Brian suggested, but I can't save to VCR. (Why would I want to do that? Because I can take the commercials out if I save to VCR. The Tivo DVD won't let you do that. "You VILL vatch de ads!"

[azitnay]

If you hooked it up via Brian's method, then you should definitely be able to save to VCR, as you'll be watching the TiVo through the VCR at all times. You could literally pop a tape in and hit record, and as long as you're watching the TiVo, it'll record whatever you're watching to the tape.

If you hooked it up via my method, however, then you wouldn't be able to save to VCR.

Drew

[kemscm]

Ack. I misspoke. I have the VCR hooked separately to the TV now because I couldn't get it to go through the Tivo. It just doesn't see the Tivo (or anything) if I hook the Tivo to the VCR.

[azitnay]

You're changing the VCR to the correct input (i.e. the composite input if you're using composite, the component input if you're using component, etc), right?

Drew

[kemscm]

The VCR input? Yeah, I've checked that. I do recall that once upon a time, I could see the Tivo through the VCR, but I had to take it all apart because there was something else I couldn't do...

You've been very helpful. I have sent this thread to our tech guy at work and he said that I can pay him a very reasonable fee to come over and put this stuff together right. I appreciate your help and Brian's. Thanks much.

[ddaub]

After 3 years my DVD burner on my DRT800 went TU. I ordered a Pioneer DVR-112D DVD/CD writer for $20 and simply opened the Humax box and swapped out the drives. Took 5 minutes, to easy! Only thing needed is the fancy secure screwdriver heads you can buy from Sears.

Before all this I called Humax and all they recommended was to take it Circuit City or Bestbuy for repair. But after searching this thread I decided to be brave and waste $20 on a Pioneer DVD burner even if it didn't work vs. paying Humax $400 for a refurrbish unit.

Bottom line if your DVD burner dies, just order a DVR-112D, spend 5 minutes opening the Humax box, swap drives, and bam just like new. Basically plug and play!

David

[tunabeard]

Can I transfer my Tivo Lifetime Service from my old one to the newly bought if the previous one isn't a Humax?

[scottc42]

My DRT800 was hooked up to an lcd w/component, progressive scan enabled. The tv died, so for now, I just want to hook the Humax up to an older TV. However it appears (and my reading seems to confirm this) that none of the other video outputs are functioning. How, without being able to view the menu options, do I change the video settings? Is there any kind of "restore factory default" code, or something?

[danieljanderson]

If no one has an easy answer......
Someone could record the key strokes so you could repeat them.

I'll wait for an easy answer before I offer to do this.

[scottc42]

I did think of that, but sure is a lot to ask of someone...

[Sherminator]

My DRT800 was hooked up to an lcd w/component, progressive scan enabled. The tv died, so for now, I just want to hook the Humax up to an older TV. However it appears (and my reading seems to confirm this) that none of the other video outputs are functioning. How, without being able to view the menu options, do I change the video settings? Is there any kind of "restore factory default" code, or something?Have you tried just power cycling your DRT800 and waiting? The display should revert to interlaced after a while before resuming powering up.

[scottc42]

Ahhh... you are totally right. Simple, Simple!

Thanks!

[amr]

I just posted this question in another topic but thought I'd add it here in the Humax area. I've got a Humax DVD Tivo stuck in the welcome screen. Another thread suggested that it could be a bad DVD drive. Does this theory hold any water? I had no sign that the hard disk was dying, but the DVD has been a tad flakey. Any thoughts?

[azitnay]

Do you know if there's currently a DVD in the drive? Many people have reported that certain DVD's cause problems like these. If that's the case, you might have to manually extract the DVD and then try powering up again.

If you have an ethernet adapter connected to the unit, it would be wise to disconnect it and see if the unit powers up... A more extreme test case would be to disconnect all cables except power and video out, and try powering up, just to eliminate all possible external factors.

I haven't personally heard of any cases where a bad DVD drive caused powering up problems, but I guess it's not out of the question... More likely, though, would be the hard drive.

Drew

[amr]

Thanks. I just put in a new DVD drive, but completely forgot to connect the data and power cable to the DVD drive. Will Tivo start up without the DVD connected? Right now, I'm still getting the "Welcome" screen, but nothing else is happening. I figured that I could learn from my mistake of not connecting the DVD drive. Maybe it is the HD. Or, do I need to connect the DVD drive to make sure the unit boots?

[amr]

oh, and how do I tell if it is just a hard drive failure? If the welcome screen just sits there, can I assume the unit is good and just the HD needs replacing? I think I need to decide whether to buy an new 500 gb hard drive for $250 or get a refurbished unit with 500gb drive for $250 (after rebate)

[hyperfire21]

Hey guys i know that my HD is dead.. im wondering if any other prob is there.. can anyone help me out with backup drt800 files so i can test it out if u have them? message me any time.

[azitnay]

Check your PM.

Drew

[oldradio99]

What is the preferred brand of DVD's for burning in the DRT 800?

I just ran out of Memorex and purchased Sony's at Best Buy. The machine will not even recognize that a DVD has been inserted. I did read some prior posts that Sony DVD's are not good. So those go back.


So what are people's best success stories?

[CuriousMark]

I just ran out of Memorex and purchased Sony's at Best Buy. The machine will not even recognize that a DVD has been inserted. I did read some prior posts that Sony DVD's are not good. So those go back.
I have recently used Sony DVD-R 1X-16X with no trouble at all. I am currently using Maxell DVD-R 4X and they are working fine too. Are you sure you didn't accidentally buy DVD+R discs? Those don't work, no matter who makes them.

[cdeckert219]

I've burned about 200 DVDs using Sony (-R) media on my DRT400 with very few problems. The problems were caused by a bad file, not media. I tried using generic discs and the failure rate was horrible.

[eloquintet]

i am thinking about buying a drt 400 from weaknees and am not sure if i should buy a refurbished or new one. there is a big difference in the price and i want to know what is the catch. this would be the first drt 400 i purchase so on one hand i'm not sure how much money i want to invest. i think i would like to have 80 hours of recording time and think it's best to buy the extended warranty. i'm just contemplating buying a refurbished one with 40 hours recording without warranty to try it out or just plunge in and buy a new one with 80 hours and warranty. does anyone have any advice?

[gulbane]

I have the Humax DRT 400. It has always played copies of DVD's that I have made with my PC.

Magically, suddently, miraciously, it has ceased to playback these copies. I put the disc in, it loads, and I get a message that the disc I have inserted is not in a valid format. Dozens of discs that USE to work now don't.

Amazingly, it WILL play 'real' DVD's purchased from stores as well as it's own DVD copies made by the Humax.

What could have happened? I have rebooted and it still doesn't play these discs....

[azitnay]

i am thinking about buying a drt 400 from weaknees and am not sure if i should buy a refurbished or new one. there is a big difference in the price and i want to know what is the catch. this would be the first drt 400 i purchase so on one hand i'm not sure how much money i want to invest. i think i would like to have 80 hours of recording time and think it's best to buy the extended warranty. i'm just contemplating buying a refurbished one with 40 hours recording without warranty to try it out or just plunge in and buy a new one with 80 hours and warranty. does anyone have any advice?

Personally, I wouldn't invest too much more money in SD technology, so if the price difference is that great, I'd go the cheaper route.

Regarding the larger hard drive, if you're at all proficient with computers, you can drop a new hard drive in without too much trouble. This is often a much cheaper route than paying someone else to do it.

Regarding the extended warranty, the main thing that goes bad is the hard drive (although that's certainly not the only thing that can go bad). Since it's so easy to replace, I don't see a ton of value in the warranty.

Drew

[eloquintet]

ok so my first question is what is sd technology? and how does it differ from the current technology? i see sd memory cards but that looks camera related, not sure i know what you mean. i know this unit has been around for awhile and newer maybe better technology may be available. this doesn't mean it works better and less people know the tricks to getting it to work as it should so in some ways it can be more of a pain having the latest gadget. i'm pretty proficient with computers so i think i will take your advice and just buy the 50 dollar unit and playing with it. i was looking for a way to bring recordings on the go with me but i have been seeing more complaints than praise regarding this technology so I'm not sure if it's reliable yet. i was looking at the archos models in particular but it's hard to tell on forums what type of people you are dealing with. some people know how to troubleshoot or figure out workarounds while others expect a device to work the way they invisioned it and do so out of the box which is often not the case. i will ponder this for awhile thanks

dan

[azitnay]

Sorry, I was referring to standard-definition TV (as opposed to high-defiintion TV). If you haven't gone HD yet, Series2's like the DRT400 are still fine machines. If you have, you probably won't be happy with the picture you get from them.

Regarding taking recordings on the go, TiVoToGo coupled with TiVo Desktop Plus (a $25 add-on to the free TiVo Desktop) works very well in conjunction with many portable media players, such as my Blackberry 8820 and my fiancée's iPod Video. There are, of course, free ways to convert TiVo recordings to formats compatible with such devices.

Drew

[eloquintet]

yeah i just got a job in nyc and take the train to work everyday and am looking for a device that would do the following:

telephone
at least 10gb for music
maybe 20 gb for video

i would like to have some internet capabilities but there is no signal in the train so that's kinda useless.

i was looking at slingbox but think you need a signal for this so i think i would need to transfer recordings to a device.

so you are saying you can transfer video to your blackberry. could i do this with the humax and tivo to go and if so how?

i basically need an upgrade for my phone, dvr setup and mp3 so i'm trying to figure out what device might be able to do everything.

the iphone just doesn't have enough storage for my needs and i don't feel like it offers enough bag for it's buck.

i was looking into the blackberry/ pda route but don't really know that much about these.

any recommendations?

[azitnay]

Yes, you can transfer recordings from the Humax to your computer via TiVoToGo and TiVo Desktop. You have to then convert the recordings from TiVo's format to a format recognized by your portable device. If you purchase TiVo Desktop Plus for $25 from:

http://www.tivo.com/mytivo/domore/tivotogo/windows.html

you'll end up with an application that can transfer recordings to your computer and convert for use with your portable device automatically. You can then copy the recordings to your portable device. There are certainly free methods to perform the conversion, but I can't speak for any of them.

As for what device to get, I can only speak for the ones I've personally used: my BlackBerry 8820 and my fiancée's iPod Video.

My BlackBerry 8820 only has 64MB of internal memory (obviously not very useful for video), but it has a microSD slot that can be used for expansion. I currently have a 6GB microSDHC card in mine. I believe the largest-available microSDHC card is currently 8GB. (although 12GB cards are due out soon, and 16GB cards should be out by the summer). Not quite the 30GB you're aiming for, but I'm not sure you're going to find many phones that have more (could be wrong though). Of course, I've found that an hour of video only takes up about 350MB, so 8GB could still hold over 20 hours of video.

My fiancée's iPod Video has 80GB of storage space... But since it doesn't include a phone, it's probably a non-starter for you.

So, I don't personally know of a device that satisfies all your criteria, but perhaps someone else does.

Drew

[weaknees]

There have been a lot of posts about replacement DVD Burners for DRT400/DRT800 (Humax) and Toshiba RS-TX20/RS-TX60 TiVos.

If you are looking for a factory replacement and don't want to search eBay or online, we have decided to offer a coupon code for TiVo Community readers to take $40 off the cost of the factory burner (bringing the cost of the burner down to $59 shipped if you install the part). For now, we're making the coupon expire 6/30/08, but if you're reading this after the expiration, send us an email (info@weaknees.com) and we'll see if we can help.

Coupon code is "TIVOBURNER" (no quotes). Enter it below the checkout buttons on our website.

Here's where you'll find the product:

Replacement TiVo DVD Burners (http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-parts-bin-2.php#dvd)

I know there are a lot of threads out there discussing burners; I'll post this in the Toshiba thread, but none of the burner threads. Feel free to pass it along or link here if you think it will help someone else.

[mmmelpomene]

Anyone else discover lately that NO brands of media work to burn, starting just recently?

I've been through every brand I can buy in-store at Staples (Sony, Memorex, Staples' own brand) and a couple spindles of mail-ordered PlayO. First it started burning discs I was told were invalid after completion of the burn, but when I plugged them into my standalone DVD player, they played fine. Then all of a sudden, nothing works. With my last 2 spindles, for the majority discs have burned no problem, and then all of a sudden got complete and total fail rate after 40 or so out of 50 discs on the spindle. Just tonight I got new sets of TDK -R16X and Taiyo Yuden -R8X, both act like they're saving until it hangs on "Saving 0%" for several minutes and then finally quits with a "saving failed, internal error". (Which I'm sure I've seen before, but not for a long time.)

I've tried restarting, cleaning everything out of the saved programs folder, resetting suggestions, re-running guided setup. Bought a replacement dry-brush DVD cleaner when the audio instructions on the first one "skipped", thinking it was scratched and causing more damage, ran the replacement cleaner disc 10-12X with only a tiny improvement (I was able to get a partial burn which then quit with the "saving failed"). I'm tempted to try Verbatim before giving up entirely, but my place is starting to look ridiculous with all the mail-order-only useless spindles (I don't have a burner on my computer). Oh, and it can still play any manufactured discs it wants, including Netflix.

Anyone experiencing the same problem lately? Or have any hints/suggestions as to what else I might try? It would be appreciated.

[oldradio99]

Anyone else discover lately that NO brands of media work to burn, starting just recently?

I've been through every brand I can buy in-store at Staples (Sony, Memorex, Staples' own brand) and a couple spindles of mail-ordered PlayO. First it started burning discs I was told were invalid after completion of the burn, but when I plugged them into my standalone DVD player, they played fine. Then all of a sudden, nothing works. With my last 2 spindles, for the majority discs have burned no problem, and then all of a sudden got complete and total fail rate after 40 or so out of 50 discs on the spindle. Just tonight I got new sets of TDK -R16X and Taiyo Yuden -R8X, both act like they're saving until it hangs on "Saving 0%" for several minutes and then finally quits with a "saving failed, internal error". (Which I'm sure I've seen before, but not for a long time.)

I've tried restarting, cleaning everything out of the saved programs folder, resetting suggestions, re-running guided setup. Bought a replacement dry-brush DVD cleaner when the audio instructions on the first one "skipped", thinking it was scratched and causing more damage, ran the replacement cleaner disc 10-12X with only a tiny improvement (I was able to get a partial burn which then quit with the "saving failed"). I'm tempted to try Verbatim before giving up entirely, but my place is starting to look ridiculous with all the mail-order-only useless spindles (I don't have a burner on my computer). Oh, and it can still play any manufactured discs it wants, including Netflix.

Anyone experiencing the same problem lately? Or have any hints/suggestions as to what else I might try? It would be appreciated.


That is exactly what my machine was doing before a complete DVD burner failure. In fact my unit is at Weaknees for a burner replacement right now.

[mmmelpomene]

Thanks for the independent confirmation. Looks like it might be Weaknees for me too....

[netserf57]

recently started a Tivo Shuffle - I bought a Tivo HD and put it where I had a Humax installed then moved the Humax to my BR. After wiring it up and plugging it in, I did not see the Tivo screen though the unit booted - I kept seeing the Cable Box as a pass through The BR video is using RF cause the TV only has that. The previous used component

is there a way to reset to have Humax Tivo detect the video out setting?

[azitnay]

The Humax doesn't have an RF output, it only has RF passthrough. So, you will have to purchase an RF modulator (if you don't already have one), and connect the Humax to the TV using composite cables and the RF modulator.

Drew

[JCB1]

After 3 years my DVD burner on my DRT800 went TU. I ordered a Pioneer DVR-112D DVD/CD writer for $20 and simply opened the Humax box and swapped out the drives. Took 5 minutes, to easy! Only thing needed is the fancy secure screwdriver heads you can buy from Sears.

David

David (or anyone else) -

It looks like after 3 years my DVD recorder has given up the ghost - it actually has done pretty well since I record a couple of DVD-RW's everyday to watch in my office while I am working -

You say that to replace the DVR is easy but you need "fancy secure screwdriver heads you can buy from Sears" - just wondering what type of secure screwdrivers I will need so I can buy them before I tear everything apart!

It will be kind of scary to open it up - if something goes wrong I would have to watch TV without Tivo and I am not sure I could handle that after all these years!

Thanks -

John

[azitnay]

You will need Torx screwdriver heads to work with TiVo units... If you have a screwdriver set, you may already have them. They look like this:

http://myword.info/images/t_drive_1b.jpg

If not, plenty of places sell them... I think T10 and T15 are the sizes typically needed for work with TiVos.

Drew

[Gerhard]

What is the latest version of the Tivo OS for the Humax DRT800?

The hard drive went on a friends unit and I just built a new one using instantcake. However, the OS is 7.2, and I'm wondering if it will update to 9.x?

Gerhard

[Claus]

Not sure if it's the latest but I yhave 9.3c-01-2-595

[azitnay]

Yes, 9.3 is the latest... Your unit should upgrade after a few service connections.

Drew

[Weapon X]

I am not interested in recording HD but is this unit compatible with Direct TV's HD "receiver" to record SD programs?
I won't be using Direct TVs DVR.......

[azitnay]

Yeah, it can take input from your HD receiver via either s-video or composite video.

Drew

[Weapon X]

Thanks Drew.....my next question is will it work as the channel changer?
Currently I have it hooked up with Dish Network and the Humax is my channel changer so I am able to utalise all the functions of the "Tivo Central".

If I go with a HD Receiver will I lose the functionality of the "Tivo Central"?

Optimally I'd just like to swap out my receivers and have it work that way with the additional HD channels showing up on the guide but I am a bit troubled over losing the "Tivo Central" (Season pass, to do list...etc) if I upgrade to HD.....

I want the best of both worlds........:p

[Devlsh]

Love my Humax DR800, but I've got a problem.

Starting two days ago, I couldn't change channels. Thought originally it might be the cable box, so I replaced it with a new one. Then I found out that I CAN change channels using the cable remote, but can't with the Tivo remote.

So began my journey...

Went through the channel changing sequence several times but could never complete it because it never found a method to successfully change channels.

Checked to see my IR cord was plugged in and IR emitter lined up correctly. Rebooted the Humax. Went through Channel Lists and Guided Set up again. Tried Advanced Set Up using the codes listed for Motorola and three others that Humax suggested with no success.

Since the problem preceded the new Motorola box, I don't think it's related to that. A suggestion was made that it MIGHT be the IR control cable gone bad, but I can't find a way to test it and neither RadioShack nor Blockbuster had one that I could buy (Blockbuster did try and sell me a $100 device that controls lots of things and ought to also respond to my remote, but I passed on that; all I want is a simple IR control cable, and I don't even know if that's the problem!).

I've spoken with Humax support four times, including once when their techie guy called me back directly today (4th of July). Love those people, but I'm still no closer to getting my problem solved. I've sent an email to Motorola to see if they have any other codes I might be able to use on the new box but I'm skeptical that that's the issue, since my problem preceded the new box.

Any suggestions?

[azitnay]

Thanks Drew.....my next question is will it work as the channel changer?
Currently I have it hooked up with Dish Network and the Humax is my channel changer so I am able to utalise all the functions of the "Tivo Central".

If I go with a HD Receiver will I lose the functionality of the "Tivo Central"?

Optimally I'd just like to swap out my receivers and have it work that way with the additional HD channels showing up on the guide but I am a bit troubled over losing the "Tivo Central" (Season pass, to do list...etc) if I upgrade to HD.....

I want the best of both worlds........:p

Yes, it will change the channels on the DirecTV box via either the serial or IR cable (which you're presumably already using for your Dish box).

Drew

[Chester_Lampwick]

Devlsh,
A quick way to see if anything is being emitted by you IR blaster is to observer the LED at the end with a digital camera or camcorder. The light, invisible to your naked eye will show up on the LCD viewfinder. This will only happen on channel changes of course. If this isn't happening, then try a new IR blaster if possible. If that fails the unit will need to be sent out for repair.

I use 10035 medium for a General Instument/Motorola Starchoice satelite receiver. I don't know if that'd be your code or not....

[jstepak]

I have a Humax DRT800 and want to connect it to my Comcast HD cable box and to our LCD TV that has R-G-B video inputs and Black and Red audio inputs. I had everything hooked up so I could see the TiVo Guided Setup but when I get to the step where a TV show is supposed to appear in the background, I don't see anything.
Would someone provide me the connections from my Comcast box to the TiVo and the TiVo to the TV? (R-G-B and Black/White) Thanks very much.

[azitnay]

You most likely want to connect the red, white, and yellow cables from the output of the cable box to the input of the TiVo. Perhaps this will help:

http://www.tivo.com/setupandsupport/technicalsupport/setupmytivodvr/How_Do_I_Set_Up_My_Single_Tuner_DVR_with_a_Cable_Box_or_Sate llite_Receiver_and_a_VCR_.html

Depending on what input source you chose during Guided Setup, you may have to repeat Guided Setup to re-choose the input.

Drew

[dylanemcgregor]

I've had an interesting glitch with my DRT800 and a few DVDs lately. The last three DVDs I've had that were shot on digital video, have all had an issue where the bottom quarter of the screen or so flickers and pixelates for pretty much the whole movie...it is still somewhat watchable, but tends to give me a headache. They seem to work fine in my laptop DVD player.

I can't think of any reason that the original source that the movie was filmed in would change the way that the DVD player reads the film, but thought it was too big of a coincidence since "normal" filmed shows haven't had this problem as of yet. (BTW, I'm probably getting the terminology all screwed up, by digital I mean the somewhat lower budget films that look like they were filmed on a digital camcorder, Torchwood and The Fast Runner were 2 of the three and I can't recall the name of the third right now, but they have been spread out over 3-4 months.)

Anyone else ever see this?

[Sherminator]

Both of those that you can recall are UK productions, perhaps the Humax is having problems with 2:3 pulldown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3:2_pulldown#2:3_pulldown)Forget that, The Fast Runner appears to be Canadian originally entitled "Atanarjuat". But it still might be pulldown related.

[jstepak]

Drew - thanks so much for your suggestion. I connected the Red-White-Yellow outputs from the cable box to the Red-White-Yellow inputs of the Humax. Then what I saw was the Guided Setup Welcome page but it was blurry and scrolling across the TV from left to right. It's possible in all the connecting and reconnecting I've done in the past few days that I blew something in the Humax... Next, I tried connecting the S-Video out of the cable box into the s-Video input of the Humax. No change. FYI: Yesterday, I had also tried to use a HF splitter with the input from the cable line and outputs to the cable box and the Humax. Saw the same srolling Welcome screen. Any more suggestions?
thanks agaiin.
- Jane

[dylanemcgregor]

Both of those that you can recall are UK productions, perhaps the Humax is having problems with 2:3 pulldown (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3:2_pulldown#2:3_pulldown)Forget that, The Fast Runner appears to be Canadian originally entitled "Atanarjuat". But it still might be pulldown related.

Thanks, I think the other thing was a BBC show as well, so maybe that does have something to do with it. The link was interesting, but my eyes started to glaze over after about 3 lines. :o

[spadada]

So I just got a used Humax DT800 from my boss as a gift and I spent the last couple of hours setting up a wireless network and setting the machine up, etc. only to find out that it is not a dual tuner. (I wrongly thought all Series 2 TiVos were dual tuners.)

1) Did Humax ever make a dual tuner machine?

2) Can I link this box to my regular old Series 2 Tivo somehow so that I can still record two shows at once AND burn them to DVD?

Thanks for any help.

[Chester_Lampwick]

So I just got a used Humax DT800 from my boss as a gift and I spent the last couple of hours setting up a wireless network and setting the machine up, etc. only to find out that it is not a dual tuner. (I wrongly thought all Series 2 TiVos were dual tuners.)

1) Did Humax ever make a dual tuner machine?

2) Can I link this box to my regular old Series 2 Tivo somehow so that I can still record two shows at once AND burn them to DVD?

Thanks for any help.

1 - No.

2 - No. You can use both, and transfer shows from the other to the Humax, but you can't burn them. Really, I don't need dual tuners. Two separate, setups one in the living room and one in the bedroom for example is handier anyway. Just make sure whatever you may want to archive, is recorded by the Humax.

[spadada]

Thanks for the info, Chester. Sucks that I can't burn programs transferred from the Series 2 Dual Tuner to the Humax DRT800... Knew it was probably too good to be true.

The problem I am having now is related to the cable box and HD. The Humax only has component OUT ports, so what do I connect the cable box to the DVR with if I want the best possible quality? S-video? Is what I am watching on my TV even close to HD at that point?

[Hank]

Nothing about the DT Series 2 or the Humax is HD.

DVD video isn't even HD quality.

Anything you record or burn on your Humax is in SD.

Sorry.

[CuriousMark]

And yes, S-video is the best choice available.

[banb]

The crazy things we'll do in a recession. I bought my first Series 1 in 2001 and used to be quite active here. Anyway, I have a DRT-800 with lifetime service that I haven't used in over 3 years. I'd upgraded all my TVs to HD and have been using SA DVRs. I realized that I only watch network TV when I'm on the treadmill so decided to get rid of the SA box and break out the old DRT-800.

I've got a couple of questions, though. I've read through as much of the forum as possible, but catching up on 3 years worth is quite a challenge, so I appreciate your patience. I've run setup and connected quite a few times to make sure everything is up to date, but stil have the following questions:

1. I'm now running 9.3.2a-01-2-595...is this the most current version I'll receive near-term or should I expect additional updates in the next few days?

2. DVD Drive Firmware Version is DVD-RW DVR-108RZ 1.15. Is this the most up-to-date version? If not, how do I download a more recent version? Never had problems writings DVDs previously, but want to make sure I've got the "latest and greatest" before I try.

3. Am I correct in my understanding that my lifetime service on the DRT-800 CANNOT be transferred to a Tivo HD or any other device? The prices are now quite reasonable to me for the hardware, but I can't stomach just trashing this box and buying lifetime for a new box.

Thanks in advance!!

[DAccardi]

Just had to say, had my Humax DRT800 since December 24, 2004. Not one problem. ever. Upgraded 2 times, 350gb then in August to 750gb. I love this unit. It is my baby. 2 year magic number does not exist with my Humax. Greatest electronic product I have ever bought. Just wanted to give props to it. Also, what a great tool for converting old VHS tapes into DVD's. So great to be able to turn old family video digital with just a few clicks.

[azitnay]

1. I'm now running 9.3.2a-01-2-595...is this the most current version I'll receive near-term or should I expect additional updates in the next few days?

Sounds like the latest to me.

2. DVD Drive Firmware Version is DVD-RW DVR-108RZ 1.15. Is this the most up-to-date version? If not, how do I download a more recent version? Never had problems writings DVDs previously, but want to make sure I've got the "latest and greatest" before I try.

I don't know what the latest version might be, but the typical rule with firmware is "if it ain't broke, don't fix it", which I'd say applies here.

3. Am I correct in my understanding that my lifetime service on the DRT-800 CANNOT be transferred to a Tivo HD or any other device? The prices are now quite reasonable to me for the hardware, but I can't stomach just trashing this box and buying lifetime for a new box.

Unfortunately, the window for transferring an existing lifetime subscription to a TiVo HD has long since passed. It's possible they'll make a similar offer in the future, so definitely don't trash it.

Drew

[rwdavis2]

I've done some searched but have not found an answer yet. Anyway, I have a Humax DVD burner and wanted to know if I can still record to the dvd if I have terminated tivo service? Will it use the composite or cable inputs or both? I believe it is the 400 model.
Thanks

[StanDaMan]

I own this unit and I absolutely love it.

[Jackass320]

Lately the tivo has been bringing down the volume of my tv. For example
if I am watching tv going around the tivo and not through it the sound
is much louder, and if I transfer a program from another tivo in the
house it is much louder than the programming on my tivo. This has been
pretty recent about within a month and I don't know if it was since the
last upgrade or if I need one or what.

[DAccardi]

I own this unit and I absolutely love it.

Just had to compliment your username, stan da man, classic. I love the humax too, never had a problem with it.

[wianfxbut]

banb--you can use your Lifetime Humax to qualify you for a multi-service discount. Lifetime on a new HD would then cost you $299, and the lifetime would also remain on your old Humax. Cheers...

[bobinalaska]

I have A humax 400 and a directv cheap box for the tuner using IR. WHen it's supposed to change channels it blinks like it's going to, and even changes the channel id, but stays on the same channel. when I change it manually if sometimes take to tries to actually change the channel. Any ideas?

[mrswoodward]

I have a Humax DRT800 that does not have any sound. When I plug it into the TV you can see and record shows, but the sound doesn't work. Any suggestions?

[proftv]

I recently switched to an HD cable box, and find that it flags almost everything I record and won't let me burn them to DVD. I did a little test, recording a show directly from the cable source for a few minutes, then through the cable box, and sure enough, I could burn what I recorded directly, but not what cam through the box.

So now, I'm thinking of switching back to DirecTV. Anyone here use their DRT800 to records and burn from DirecTV? Do you know if it still works, or has DirecTV begun to limit this function as well?

Thanks!

[Smallvilleclike]

thanks for the upstairs help me solve the problem

[JCB1]

Well the time has finally come - the DVD burner in my Humax has died and I need to replace it.

Any recommendations as to what make / model fit and work well?

Thanks

John

[timmie88]

My DRT800 seems to have failed over the Christmas break. It constantly reboots roughly every 10 minutes. I tried replacing the hard drive, as most sites say this is the most likely culprit, putting in a new 160GB Western Digital drive, using the copy utility I downloaded from the Hinsdale site. But that didn't help, even with the new drive, the system continues to reboot every 10-15 minutes.

The weaknees site suggests it could be power supply and wants $80 for a new power supply. Does anyone have a suggestion/thought on what the problem is? I'd rather not spend the $80 to find out it doesn't fix the problem

Thanks,
Tim

[TivoBrian]

I'd rather not spend the $80 to find out it doesn't fix the problem


My Series 1 did something similar back in 2005 -- constant reboots even with a new hard drive. I sent it to these people:

http://digitalrecorder.com/

and they fixed it while retaining it's lifetime status. Hooray! Their repair was affordable and my repaired S1 is still going to this day!

[timmie88]

My DRT800 seems to have failed over the Christmas break. It constantly reboots roughly every 10 minutes. I tried replacing the hard drive, as most sites say this is the most likely culprit, putting in a new 160GB Western Digital drive, using the copy utility I downloaded from the Hinsdale site. But that didn't help, even with the new drive, the system continues to reboot every 10-15 minutes.

The weaknees site suggests it could be power supply and wants $80 for a new power supply. Does anyone have a suggestion/thought on what the problem is? I'd rather not spend the $80 to find out it doesn't fix the problem

Thanks,
Tim

Rather than go to the expense of buying a power supply I found a used DRT800 with a broken IR receiver and swapped out the power supply. It didn't fix the problem. I finally did a repeat guided setup, and it crashed with an S03 unrecoverable error. Searching on that led me to the "pause 5 7" rebuild, which for now seems to have fixed the problem. In case anyone needs this information.

I now have an extra DRT800 with a broken IR sensor!

[mcoonan]

Well the time has finally come - the DVD burner in my Humax has died and I need to replace it.

Any recommendations as to what make / model fit and work well?

Thanks

John
Well, I just tried the Pioneer DVR-A18M and that does not work.
Back to the research to try and find one that will.
Mike

[TivoBrian]

Well, I just tried the Pioneer DVR-A18M and that does not work.
Back to the research to try and find one that will.
Mike

From earlier in this very thread:

http://www.tivocommunity.com/tivo-vb/showthread.php?p=5689314&highlight=DVR-112D#post5689314

Use Google to find someone that stocks this model.

[JCB1]

If anyone can find a Pioneer DVR-112D PLEASE let me know where!

It has been out of production for a couple of years and every link I click on to buy one says "discontinued / out of stock" but they still have the web page so Google finds it as for sale!

- John

[TivoBrian]

If anyone can find a Pioneer DVR-112D PLEASE let me know where!
- John

Ebay is more than PEZ dispensers and collectibles:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pioneer-DVR-112D-DVD-RW-double-layer-DVD-recorder_W0QQitemZ370321189635QQcmdZViewItemQQptZPCC_Drives_ Storage_Internal?hash=item5638dceb03#ht_982wt_1167

BUT, I can highly recommend the Weaknees people and their services -- you might check them out here:

http://www.weaknees.com/tivo-dvd-burners.php

[kathyd242424]

Hi,

I was having a problem with my TiVo/Humax as it was getting stuck a screen. I called Humax and they said I must have a disc stuck in the drive and this would cause this to happen. Well, that is what it was! But I had to open the Humax unit and take apart the DVD-I had been getting burn errors and the draw was getting stuck, and I have it taken apart and we can not get the draw to close-so I am thinking it is time to replace the DVD burner-

You posted the below information-I have to replace my DVD burner and it is a Pioneer 108JA can I use any of the Humax Pioneer replacements you mentioned or do I need to use the 108JA (which I can not find) If I can, is it just a plug and play type installation into my unit or do I need to download any firmware (I would not have a clue how to do this if it is not in a PC)-any help you can give/provide would be appreciated. I miss my TiVo :(

__________________
Posting by Robomeister

Regarding Pioneer units and failed burns:

I've experienced some failed burns and some of the techniques I've used to restore functionality are:

1. Reboot the TiVo.
2. Try a DVD-RW disc. This kind of resets the burn process, because it is not a DVD-R. Make sure it is a max speed of 1x or 2x disc. Trying a 4x disc will not work.
3. Try a different brand of disc. The Pioneer manual states that the DVD-R discs should be a max speed of 4x. I've had success with 8x media and limited success with 16x media. I think it has to do with the manufacturing process and the dyes used.
4. Replace the DVD burner. The Humax TiVos and the Toshiba TiVos can have their DVD burner replaced with standard PC DVD burners. The Pioneer TiVos cannot, unfortunately. The burner in the Humax is a Pioneer DVR-109 variant or sometimes a DVR-108 variant. I've read on this forum of people successfully replacing the burner with a Pioneer DVR-111D or a Pioneer DVR-112D burner. My standard for success if for the replacement drive to be able to read (play) and write (burn) discs.

If you burn a bunch of discs at once, you might be overheating the laser in the DVD burner. Try not to burn too many discs at once.

Hope that helps,
robomeister

[pstemari]

Well, I just tried the Pioneer DVR-A18M and that does not work.
Back to the research to try and find one that will.
Mike

A stock LG drive didn't work either. I get a message saying the the disk is unrecognized. :(

It's very odd that a standard IDE drive won't work. I wonder if there's a missing setup step necessary to get the system to recognize the drive. Would removing and replacing the coin battery get the system to rescan the IDE interface for device info?

I guess my options are a replacement DVD burner or an entire new Humax unit from Weakness or transferring stuff to my computer for burning, which is a royal PITA with Nero.

[malabarka]

Hi, pls if you be so kind and share with me: did you find any solution to record Over the Air Tv program on Humax DRT400 or 800?
I have the both and I dont have TIVO subscription righ now.
(I can't find any post related to this)

[CuriousMark]

Both will work with an OTA digital adapter.

[stephaniew]

Hey,
First I would like to apologize if this was already answered somewhere on the board but I am new and haven't had the chance to look everywhere. I just recently purchased a used Humax DVR800 and am a Comcast Digital cable user, though I do not subscribe to HD other than the few HD channels that they throw in for free. Anyway, I was wondering if there is anyway to record as I'm watching something on On Demand. I have tried it out once and it worked however, I couldn't get it to find the right information about the program I was watching and it stopped recording mid-way because it was convinced it was recording the channel I have been watching before I hit the On Demand button on the Comcast remote and that show was only a half hour long. I assume that since it did work but just stopped due to confusion about what channel I was watching it should be able to be done, but I can't quite figure out how? Any Suggestions would be most welcome.

Also I have the Series two single tuner and would like to be able to record and watch tv at the same time and was wondering how I could do that? I know it involves a cable splitter and I just purchased a cheap one today to see if it would work, however, I don't know how to set it up, so any assistance would be most welcome. :D

[Hank]

Under Find Programs, set up a manual recording by time and by channel. That should do it.

[stephaniew]

Cool, thanks. You wouldn't happen to know how I can set it up so that I can watch one channel while recording another do you?

[Hank]

Not really, no.

[JCB1]

Well I just installed a Pioneer DVR-112D that I bought off of eBay.

Installation when like a charm - real easy just like others have said.

BUT then I went to burn a DVD. Everything seemed fine - initialized - saved - and then FAILED.

I have tried a few of them now both Sony DVD-R and and RW disc - and everytime it gets to the finalizing part and then fails.

Does anyone have any ideas other than the DVD burner I bought is no good?

Since the Pioneer DVR-112D is no longer made (which is why I bought mine on eBay) is there another model of DVD burner that works in the Humax?

Thanks,

John

[mrlevine]

I have had my DT800 for better than five years. Until recently, I had a standard definition television and standard definition cable box that I controlled with a serial control cable. My new HD cable box only allows the use of an IR cable. Of course, I no longer have the one that came with my Humax so bought a $14 one at BestBuy last night. It doesnt work. Any suggestions? Do I need to buy a replacement IR calbe from Humax? If I recall the original had two IR emitters. The one I bought last night has only one. Also, because there is no HDMI in or out on the DT800 will I be able to watch live TV in high-definition? If so, how? I assume I wont be able to record in HD. Thanks for your assistance.

[Hank]

Do you have an HD TV?

[mrlevine]

I do.

[Hank]

You won't be able to watch HD TV through the TIVO. You'll have to have a direct line from the cable box to the TV's HD input, and then another line from the cable box to the HUMAX, and then the HUMAX to the TV's SD input. You can watch live tv through Tivo in SD, but actual live TV in HD by flipping between the HD and SD inputs on your tv.

[mrlevine]

Will give it a shot. Thanks. Any thoughts on why my Humax remote will not change the channel with the new BestBuy IR emitter?

[shwru980r]

You'll need a second cable box, if you want to watch live TV while the Tivo is recording.

[TivoBrian]

Will give it a shot. Thanks. Any thoughts on why my Humax remote will not change the channel with the new BestBuy IR emitter?

That's a tough one to diagnose since we don't know if the BestBuy emitter actually works with the Humax. If it does, it may simply be a matter of having selected the wrong setting when you told the Tivo what make/model the cable box is. About all you can do is experiment with different IR blaster settings when you do the guided setup on the Tivo -- just keep trying and hopefully you'll find one that works. Or not. It's likely to be pretty tedious going this route and it might even be a waste of time if you don't know positively that the BestBuy emitter actually works. I'd suggest obtaining an actual Tivo/Humax IR Blaster cable...weaKnees.com has them for around $12.

[1equals0]

hi there,

- my parents DRT800 died and they paid a premium for a 320GB drive with humax sw preloaded from ebay. as luck would have it, the new drive died after 30 days. the drive is under warranty and they are shipping a replacement, but it will be blank. can anyone help me out with the backup drt800 files this time?

- im guessing just the boot partition got hosed and all the movies are still there...whats the best way to try to recover everything/the movies?

- can i use standard tools like ddrescue with a regular non byte swapped kernel (ubuntu)?

- and DRT800s are unhackable, right? no tivoweb, stream extraction, nothing with PROM modification?

thanks in advance

EDIT - ok, looks like the latest MFS Live 1.4 has a patch to handle read errors, i'll give that a go:
http://mfslive.org/readme.txt

EDIT - i didnt realize MFS Live actually included a rescue program: dd_rescue. note that this is dd_rescue. an obsoleted unmaintained rescue program, not the still maintained GNU ddrescue app

[watermo]

I thinks there is anyway to record as you watching something on On Demand.

[maestro773]

All of a sudden, my drive doesn't recognize any disk that I put in--blank, pre-recorded or ones I've recorded on it. On the TiVo Central screen, it says "No disk loaded", no matter what I put in it. It's an original Humax unit I bought years ago, and I've never had a lick of trouble with it until now. Has anyone had this happen? Any solution other than replacing the drive, apparantly from Weaknees?
Thanks!

[iwbyte]

Will give it a shot. Thanks. Any thoughts on why my Humax remote will not change the channel with the new BestBuy IR emitter?

We have a Humax DVD and our cable provider (cox) did something that disabled the serial cable. We got it fixed by using the IR emitters and yes, we had lost ours as well. You can buy another one from Tivo - its the same one that works on the other series 2 Tivos, and now it works great.

We use our Humax with our cable box - it can download movies off of HBO that are broadcast in HD but they aren't recorded in HD - just SD.

Hope that helps

[001100]

We have a Humax DVD and our cable provider (cox) did something that disabled the serial cable. We got it fixed by using the IR emitters and yes, we had lost ours as well. You can buy another one from Tivo - its the same one that works on the other series 2 Tivos, and now it works great.

We use our Humax with our cable box - it can download movies off of HBO that are broadcast in HD but they aren't recorded in HD - just SD.

Hope that helps

You didn't happen to have a problem where certain channels would initially change on the tivo and box, only to have a ch up/down command then be sent and put the box 1 off?

DRT800/DCT2000 serial connection, cox, happens only on a handful of channels, and the cox remote can be used to change the channel back afterwards.

[iwbyte]

You didn't happen to have a problem where certain channels would initially change on the tivo and box, only to have a ch up/down command then be sent and put the box 1 off?

DRT800/DCT2000 serial connection, cox, happens only on a handful of channels, and the cox remote can be used to change the channel back afterwards.

Not quite - we had an issue where we'd select channel 225, and the cable box would only get channel 22 or 25, but not every time.

We fixed it using IR emmitter instead of Serial cable.

[MtBiker]

I, too, have a DRT800 and recently replaced my Pioneer DVR-108JA burner with a new DVR-112D I bought on ebay for $42. It burns and plays like a brand new unit, which according to the ebay bid info, it is, so no surprise there other than it works in the Humax with no "special" firmware needed.

The firmware is listed on the "System Information" screen as v1.09. There are updates available here (http://pioneer.jp/device_e/product-e/ibs/device_e/dev00001r_e.html) and here (http://www.pioneerelectronics.com/PUSA/Support/BusinessProducts/Blu-rayDisc+DVDWriters/DVDComputerWriters/ci.DVR-112D.Support?tab=B). I'm content with sticking with what works but has anyone had any success downloading and applying these updates? Thanks.

[Puttchen]

All of a sudden, my drive doesn't recognize any disk that I put in--blank, pre-recorded or ones I've recorded on it. On the TiVo Central screen, it says "No disk loaded", no matter what I put in it. It's an original Humax unit I bought years ago, and I've never had a lick of trouble with it until now. Has anyone had this happen? Any solution other than replacing the drive, apparantly from Weaknees?
Thanks!

Same thing has happened to me. I'm going to call up and find out why this has happened. I couldn't even play movies that were bought; the message I was getting was that the TiVo didn't support this kind of format. These are movies I've been watching for years... nothing has changed. I also cannot burn anything on this machine anymore. Don't know why any of this is going on. If I find out why, I will post the answer.

[Puttchen]

Just got off the phone with Humax who was very helpful. They told me that it is a common problem with DVD players in general that the laser just goes bad. He told me to buy the DVD cleaner with spray preferably and if that didn't work, it's the laser. I'm hoping this works and will post again after I verify this. I AM now able to play regular store bought DVDs, just not burn DVDs or play the DVDs that were burned with the Humax. He said that was because the bought DVDs are a different format than the burned ones. We'll see...

[birdman3]

Hey all, I just inherited a DRT800 with a lifetime subscription from my father-in-law. After plugging it in, it is getting hung up on the Starting Up screen, which seems to indicate a dead hard drive. After running seagate's seatools, drive has 58 unfixable errors. Next step is to try the MFStools drive repair. If that doesn't work, I assume the next best thing to do is to get the $20 InstantCake cd. I know I am a newbie...is there another option that makes sense?

[birdman3]

Just finished with the dd_rescue from MFSTools and it seems to have worked...now just time to make a backup in case it happens again. Also have to check to see if the extra space in the new hard drive has registered.

[jhend67]

My DRT800 is having trouble changing to channels 121 through 139 on a Motorola DCT 2224. The DRT800 is 7 to 10 years old and has always worked well with the same Motorola DCT2224 until now. The DRT will input the channel and it will show up on the cable box but after about 1 second the cable box display shows the channel changing up or down. This continues until it gets up to channel 140 or down to channel 120. I have covered up the Motorola IR Receiver with foil based on my readings of other post but it had no effect. I can get to the channels if I bypass the DRT800 and just use the cable box with its remote.
DRT800 connected with serial cable to Motorola DCT2224. My Cable provider in Wisconsin is Charter.
Any Help would be appreciated.

[gauctituetbal]

this is test only .pls del my topic this is test only .pls del my topic

[chakk]

My DRT800 is having trouble changing to channels 121 through 139 on a Motorola DCT 2224. The DRT800 is 7 to 10 years old and has always worked well with the same Motorola DCT2224 until now. The DRT will input the channel and it will show up on the cable box but after about 1 second the cable box display shows the channel changing up or down. This continues until it gets up to channel 140 or down to channel 120. I have covered up the Motorola IR Receiver with foil based on my readings of other post but it had no effect. I can get to the channels if I bypass the DRT800 and just use the cable box with its remote.
DRT800 connected with serial cable to Motorola DCT2224. My Cable provider in Wisconsin is Charter.
Any Help would be appreciated.

You don't mention in your inquiry if you are changing channels on the Motorola DCT2224 with a serial cable or IR blasters. I've heard that some providers are doing firmware updates of their cable boxes (such as yours) that disables the serial cable approach for reliably changing channels. The only workaround I've heard so far is to switch to IR blasters. Or maybe see if you can replace the Motorola box with another model that still supports serial cable?

[dj999]

You don't mention in your inquiry if you are changing channels on the Motorola DCT2224 with a serial cable or IR blasters. I've heard that some providers are doing firmware updates of their cable boxes (such as yours) that disables the serial cable approach for reliably changing channels. The only workaround I've heard so far is to switch to IR blasters. Or maybe see if you can replace the Motorola box with another model that still supports serial cable?

I am having the same problem changing channels. I have a Humax series 2 and a motorola cable box provided by comcast. The cable box has a serial port and I have tried to use either the serial cable or the IR blaster. Both methods give the same problem: A few seconds after the channel is changed, it will jump up one channel. The Tivo shows (on the TV) the channel to which it was supposed to switch but the signal from the comcast cable box (and the display on the cable box) is the wrong channel and the recorded program is the wrong program. What is even more peculiar is that very often, after the recording is finished, the cable box switches automatically to the correct channel (the one it was supposed to switch originally). This happens often when I set up a recording to start at a specific time. If I use the Tivo remote to change the channel, the cable box goes to the correct channel and the problem occurs very rarely. Sometimes the cable box will interpret only one of the digits sent by the Tivo and also go to the wrong channel. Also in this case, The Tivo shows (on the TV) the channel to which it was supposed to switch but the signal from the comcast box (and the display on the cable box) is the wrong channel. The peculiar behavior started a few months ago and I have been told that it happens because comcast changed their software to all digital. I am not convinced with this explanation since it does not explain why the IR blasters do not work properly either. Comcast changed the cable box twice but the problem persists. Is there anybody who found a way around this problem.

[PuxicoRG]

I've been looking for the answer to this question with no luck.

I have an old Humax Tivo (40 hr) with a lifetime subscription. It's just been sitting in my basement for teh last 3 years doing nothing right now, but I'm considering turning off Dish Network and just going with an antenna. BUT I'm not willing to give up on HD TV recording.

I know I could install a larger hard drive in the unit, but is there a way to install an HD tuner on the old girl?

[ThreeSoFar]

I've been looking for the answer to this question with no luck.

I have an old Humax Tivo (40 hr) with a lifetime subscription. It's just been sitting in my basement for teh last 3 years doing nothing right now, but I'm considering turning off Dish Network and just going with an antenna. BUT I'm not willing to give up on HD TV recording.

I know I could install a larger hard drive in the unit, but is there a way to install an HD tuner on the old girl?
Use your current lifetime to upgrade to a new Premiere. You may have to have it "call home" first, not sure. The Premiere lets you do two tuners worth of OTA HD goodness. Upgrade it with a cheap $80 2TB drive (see Premiere upgrade thread), and it's 300 hours of HD goodness.

The upgrade offer should be c. $470 for a lifetimed Premiere.

[CuriousMark]

I've been looking for the answer to this question with no luck.

I have an old Humax Tivo (40 hr) with a lifetime subscription. It's just been sitting in my basement for teh last 3 years doing nothing right now, but I'm considering turning off Dish Network and just going with an antenna. BUT I'm not willing to give up on HD TV recording.

I know I could install a larger hard drive in the unit, but is there a way to install an HD tuner on the old girl?

you can get a CECB (I think that is what they are called) converter box at Radio shack or Best buy. It will pick up the digital signals and output them as standard definition signals to your DVR using red, white, and yellow cables. The DVR can change channel on the CECB using the IR blasters. You can get guide data too.

You may want to call TiVo and see if the lifetime is still good. I recall some discussion about possibly losing it if the unit does not connect for six months. I could be very wrong about that, and hopefully I will be corrected by the next poster if I am.

[ilovereality]

I recall some discussion about possibly losing it if the unit does not connect for six months. I could be very wrong about that, and hopefully I will be corrected by the next poster if I am.

1st I've heard of that. I've seen posts from people that have turned them on after more than a year and they still worked - but I don't have an 'official' post to point to.

[MrSinatra]

hi guys,

i just got a DRT800 off ebay, that does NOT have a lifetime sub.

i already have an XL and a series2 both with lifetime subs.

my idea was to get this so i could xfer stuff from them to the 800 to burn to dvd, and to set up a third set as a place to watch what the other two have.

will i run into any problems with this? i was told i would not need any kind of subscription with the DRT800 to do this, is that correct?

thx for any replies!

[classicsat]

The Humax DVD recorder models need a sub to do much of anything.

You cannot transfer over network and write to DVD. You can only make DVDs from "locally" recorded content. On any model TiVo, network transfers require it have an active full subscription.

[iwbyte]

@MrSinatra - your only workaround would be to hook the output cables of the other DVRs to the input RCA jacks on the HUMAX and record it that way - it would be real-time, and certainly won't match the quality, but it may work. I'd only do this as a last resort since its pretty clunky.

We did it for transferring video from our mini-tape camcorder to the HUMAX, then to DVD.

I don't know if it will work w/out a subscription, tho.

[shwru980r]

Look for another used one online with lifetime service and keep this one for spare parts.

[bajabingo]

i want one

[Hank]

i want one

I'll sell you mine. Works perfectly. Needs subscription. Make me an offer.

[nlazarow]

Got a HUMAX DRT400. Has anyone else had problems with the unit
crashing during a DVD write? Is it a power supply problem?

[nlazarow]

You won't be able to watch HD TV through the TIVO. You'll have to have a direct line from the cable box to the TV's HD input, and then another line from the cable box to the HUMAX, and then the HUMAX to the TV's SD input. You can watch live tv through Tivo in SD, but actual live TV in HD by flipping between the HD and SD inputs on your tv.
My (Series 2 DRT400) box has an s-video input on the rear, so HD channels can
be transmitted from the cable box to the tivo that way.

[Hank]

I'm pretty sure that s-video and HD are two completely different things. These HUMAX tivos (in fact, all "Series 2" tivos) only know about SD video, so regardless of the incoming s-video signal, it will only record and playback SD video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video

[CuriousMark]

I'm pretty sure that s-video and HD are two completely different things. These HUMAX tivos (in fact, all "Series 2" tivos) only know about SD video, so regardless of the incoming s-video signal, it will only record and playback SD video.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video

True, but if you use the component inputs and set the HD cable box properly it will record the widescreen anamorphically and if you use best quality for all recordings you get essentially DVD quality SD, which isn't bad, for SD. True it is not and never will be HD, but depending on the TV set and viewing distance it can be good enough for casual use. If someone wants to tide themselves over using one of these until the day they truly go HD, it is certainly up to the task.

The DVD burner TiVo DVRs at best record in 720x480 which is DVD compliant and one reason that stretching to 16x9 from a Humax will look better than doing the same from a non-DVD series 2 TiVo which records 640x480.

[Hank]

Your ideas are intriguing to me and I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Mensaguy8]

After five years of 5x weekly use, (my wife loves her Humax-800) the dvd burner in this unit is failing. I've seen many posts about dvd drive replacement, but have not seen a recent post regarding any current technology replacements.

I've removed the failing drive and given it a thorough cleaning. Even if that works for a while, I can see that I'm going to have to replace the drive pretty soon.

Is there a list of DVD drive models that are known to work well as replacements?

TIA

[mmorgan26]

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to make copies of DVDs that have been burned on a Humax DVR-800? (The program is no longer on the TiVo, of course.) I tried using Roxio but the quality of the copy was notably weaker, and it left several inches of space at the top and bottom of the screen. Any suggestions welcome, thanks!!

[robomeister]

Mensaguy8,

The DVD writer in the Humax Tivo is either a Pioneer DVR-108 or a Pioneer DVR-109. I've successfully replaced the drive with a similar models, up to the DVR-112. I've seen some reports of using the DVR-115. These might be hard to find nowadays, as they have the IDE or Parallel ATA interface. I found some on ebay. The trick is getting one that isn't worn out. You also need the model with a tray, the trayless models may not work in the TiVo.

Good luck,
robomeister

[Mensaguy8]

I have found a source for the Pioneer DVR-111DBK 16x DL-DVD R/W +/-. It is an IDE interface drive. Any idea why this drive wouldn't work in the Humax? Would I have to change the firmware?

Note that this drive is refurbished w/90-day warranty. Price is about $35

TIA