Tivo'd Shows Recorded to DVD

[What The Hell?]

I have a stand alone DVD recorder (Lite On 5115) used to record Tivo'd shows.

DVD-R is the format I use. I've been recording shows and leaving my DVDs 'open', recording other shows at a later time. Once the disc is filled up, I finalize and enjoy. Done this on numerous discs successfully.

Recently, my dvd recorder (Lite On 5115) freaked out and my 'open' DVDs with shows on them, were no longer reviewable. My standalone recorder indicated the discs were empty- even though I know this is untrue.

A friend reviewed same on his computer and indicated that data was on them, but he could not view.

In the end, I pulled down firmware and still incurred the same problem. Got a new machine and the same thing happened last night. Am I not using the DVD recorder appropriately?

Also, how can I get at the recordings previously recorded? Do I need special computer software, etc.?

[mattack]

You need to finalize the DVDs.. I realize you know that. It sounds like you need to get your Lite On recorder replaced, and/or find someone else with the same one (which presumably will be able to read your unfinalized DVDs).

[gastrof]

My guess is you're using audio/video cables to connect to the DVD recorder.

Since you're making analog recordings, and there's no real digital connection between the TiVo and the DVD recorder, this has nothing to do with your TiVo.

LiteOn DVD recorders are known to sometimes have the DVD drive fail after about 300 burns.

The symptoms often include not recognizing un-finalized discs.

A valid point is made above that DVD-R discs that aren't finalized usually can't be read by other machines either.

The fact the new machine seems to be doing the same thing is a little odd, but then you haven't told us if it's doing the same with the old discs or with ones it's just made.

By rightts the recorder should still be able to read discs it's just recorded, finalized or not.

It's possible you got some bad discs and your original recorder hadn't developed a fault.

Buy some new discs, possibly a different brand, and see what happens.

I've had the experience of having a LiteOn 5005 go bad after three months, but a 5006 continue running fine for over a year. (Watch it quit on me tomorrow now that I've said that.)

(If you visit LiteOn owner's forums, you may find suggestions on how to save a machine which has had the drive fail. This involves getting a new computer DVD drive of the LiteOn make, and replacing the old drive. The drives meant for a computer seem to be more sturdy and don't fail the way some of the originals do.)

[What The Hell?]

Thanks for the replys...

Yes, I am using audio/video cables for analog recordings. I am no where near 300 recordings.

I ended up returning the unit and getting the same model for the replacement and it occured again on a previously made disc. Brand is TDK.

It seems to work fine when I record stuff straight through on one sitting.

I'll try to poke around on Lite On and DVD-R forums.

If anyone else has anything to offer, please let me know.

Any recommendations on data recovery? I'll try the old discs on the new machine to see if it was termperamental (believe it or not, this works sometimes with LiteOn). Otherwise, some guy offered to do same for $40 diagnostics plus $300 for recovery on three disks. Seems pricey to me.

[TeeVohFan]

I do something similar with a set top burner made by a different manufacturer (Pioneer).

I have run into the same situation you have with un-finalized disks. My suspicion is that the burner actually writes something on the TOC when that happens and if there are problems, the TOC may be corrupted so the disk can't be finalized after that. In my case after that happened the burner saw some of the recordings or none at all.

In my case I think the problem was a dirty lens or lens assembly. On the advice from another forum, it was a FAQ there in fact, I tried a CD/DVD player lens cleaner. I always thought they were useless, but it seems to have cleared up the problem.

After that, one thing I try not to do is leave unfinalized DVD-R's with data on them laying around, I make sure they are always in a jewel case. I also finalize discs as soon as possible. So instead of writing one hour to a disc and then waiting six months for a similar program to append, I just finalize them. Wastes a little space, but I'd rather waste space than lose data. And I also make sure I spray off discs that have been around a while with compressed air before trying to load them.

I also don't put recorded or pre-recorded discs in it that may be dusty or whatever. A playback only DVD player (non HD, etc.) was only $50, so I use it for all playback.

That recovery cost does seem steep. I think data recovery businesses are usually focused on businesses, etc. that have valuable data on their discs so that price makes sense to them.

I'm thinking of upgrading to a burner with a hard disk. The idea being recording all that stuff to hard disk, then writing it in a single burn. That would have two big pluses to me: If a burn failed, I could just try again because all of the source is sitting on the hard disk and it would be easy to burn multiple discs.

Good luck with your unfinalized discs!

[What The Hell?]

TeeVohFan ,

Thanks for the awesome summary. I've been to numerous sites, etc. and no one seems to even relate. At least I know I'm not the only one!