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General discussion

DVD dies if I try to record to the end

May 23, 2005 5:00AM PDT

I have a weird problem that occurs on both my Panasonic VDR-M30PP and my Hitachi DZ-MV550A NTSC DVD camcorders: If I try to record on a 60 minute DVD for more than 55 minutes, I get an error message (either 0901 or 2881), and I am unable to finalize the disc, so everything I've just recorded is permanently lost. I've called Panasonic customer support, and they tell me that the camera shouldn't behave this way, but they don't have any idea why it does, and it's not under warranty anymore so they won't fix it unless I shell out a ton of money.

Has anyone else had this problem? Anyone have any idea why it happens or what to do about it? Is there any hope of ever recovering the stuff I've recorded on the bad DVDs? Could it be the brand of DVDs I'm using (Maxell DVD-R)?

Thanks!

Discussion is locked

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DVD dies if I try to record to the end
May 23, 2005 6:22AM PDT

I'm not sure if this relates or not. I have a Sony DVR-10
stand alone DVD recorder and if I'm using DVD+R I have to leave some time for the DVD to be finalize. If I record all the way to end I just made coaster.
Now if I use a DVD+RW I don't have to finalize, I can play it in a PC but not a DVD player. So to be safe I now record on DVD+RW and then just copy it to DVD+R or -R
on the PC. John

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Drive Savers offers a (pricey) solution
Dec 9, 2005 7:52AM PST

I have also experienced error 0901 with my Hitachi DZ-MV550A. On a hunch, I called Drive Savers (http://www.drivesavers.com/), and they do offer recovery services for other media types besides hard drives. They quoted me $380 (yikes!) to recover a 1.4 GB disk (not finalized), and then followed up with a generous 10% discount... So, that is one possible avenue for the "gotta have it" video.

As for the problem in general, I found a tidbit on Hitachi's software support site suggesting to use Maxell disks (my 0901 error occurred on another brand of DVD-R, with about 5 minutes remaining in 30 minute Fine quality mode).

Finally, I am now trying the strategy of switching to DVD-RAM media, and then I can at least take the data off the camera soon after shooting to try and reduce my risk of loss.

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Hitachi recommends CD Roller for recovery of DVD data
Dec 13, 2005 2:53AM PST

I asked about the 0901 error using Hitachi's web site. The email response was not very helpful, so I called. After a few levels of menus, the final wait time was very short. I had a great discussion with the tech. The high points:

1. 0901 indicates the disk is "bad"... This can happen from mass production problems, etc.

2. They do all their testing with Maxell disks, so that is their best media recommendation. My 0901 error occurred with Memorex "Director's Cut" DVD-R media.

3. The tech recommended CD Roller for data recovery. Have a look - http://www.cdroller.com/index.html . Looks very affordable (Full version + 3yr updates for $30), free trial downloadable (will identify lost files, won't let you save), and has extensive FAQ section. Needless to say, I am very eager to try it.

I'll post info later on how it goes. Even if this does not work, the Hitachi tech help line gets my praises.

Tim

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Good news, CDRoller recovers 0901 Disk and others
Jan 5, 2006 3:19AM PST

I am happy to report that CDRoller was able to recover 97% of my failed "Error 0901" Hitachi DVD disc, and has also been able to recover scenes of finalized discs that won't play in DVD players.

The product was pretty easy to figure out, and has several different camera brands covered in step-by-step instructions. I consider $30 to be a bargain.

Something to note, I had to let my computer run overnight more than once for complete recovery of the troubled files. It moves quickly until it hits a bad area of the disc, and makes very slow progress until it gets past the bad spot. The good news is that you can pause the recovery at any point and resume it later, as well as use the partially recovered data. There may be other settings that would speed the process, I have not had time to talk to their tech support.

Overall, I do agree with other comments that DVD cameras may still have issues, but believe it or not, I would still not select a tape-based camera.

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Yes it will DVD cameras are JUNK
Dec 12, 2005 2:09AM PST