Help please with DVD Recorder RDR-DC100 not recognising discs !

[Barrykeith]

Hello could anyone help please. I have 2 DVD recorders RDR -DC 100 one of which I have had from new and the other I have just bought still boxed from new. Both are functioning normally in most areas but neither recognise blank dvds which I am attempting to use to record on. I am using the type recommended in the handbook. Both recorders go through the process of loading and this appears on the tv screen. Both make intermittent noises in the loading area but eventually state “no disc”. It seems strange both machines are acting identically. Could anyone suggest a solution. Many thanks.Barry

[royabrown2]

@Barrykeith 

Might the discs need formatting on the recorder before you can use them?

https://www.sony.com/electronics/support/res/manuals/4261/42614771M.pdf#page81

[Barrykeith]

Many thanks for your reply and enclosed information. I have gone to System Menu and selected Disc Set Up. On scrolling across I am given 2 options the first being Disc Information which is in faded letters and I cannot access. The second option is Hdd formatting given my used space as 1 hour and 2 minutes and remaining 54 hours and 39 minutes. As stated in my previous post I have 2 identical machines both with the same problem and I have my doubts that I have set up the machines correctly. Any disc on which I have recorded on previously or unused spins for some time in the player and then the message No disc appears. Any further help would be appreciated. Thank you.Barry

[royabrown2]

@Barrykeith 

You are pressing DVD to move away from the HDD, and placing the disc face down? (Page 54)

Those instructions do say that DVDs made on other equipment may not respond to that menu.

But what you describe seeing implies it’s looking at the HDD, and not any mounted disc. Possibly because some mode needs switching to look at the mounted disc, or possibly because the device doesn’t see it, and moves on to look at the HDD instead.

I assume the device is intended to be able to play commercial prerecorded DVDs?

Have you tried any? Can it?

[Barrykeith]

Hello and many thanks for your continued help. I have tried commercially produced dvds (and others recorded on this machine many years ago) making sure they are loaded the correct way up with the same result. TV screen shows DVD selected followed by “loading” and after some time the “no disc” message appears. Both machines give the same result and I have concerns that I have made a basic error somewhere to cause this problem. Any further help would be appreciated. Thank you.Barry

[royabrown2]

@Barrykeith 

Hard to know what error you might have made, though this device has a very strange manual that does not seem to get to grips with how the thing might actually be used.

Have you tried a commercial disc the ‘wrong’ way up, see what it says?

My Sony BluRay player has a long think after such an insertion of a commercial DVD, and then says ‘Disc is not playable’, plus some other gubbins about it perhaps not being finalised.

The disc and the player remain unharmed by the experiment 😛

[Mooly01]

If a commercially recorded disc will not load then it suggests an issue with the machine. Try a couple of such discs first.

Blank discs can be problematic and I've had Philips and TDK brand discs literally 'rot' away as the reflective layer deteriorates, deterioration that is easy to see if the disc is held up to the light. Verbatim blanks have been 100% reliable.

As mentioned, if it will not read a commercial disc you have problems. What about CD's? (assuming it is designed to play those as well)     

[Barrykeith]

Hello and many thanks for the most recent answers. I have now tried CDs, commercially recorded DVDs right way up and otherwise but continue to get “loading “and then “no disc “

prompts. My son in law did have partial success this morning as he bought one of his own blank DVDs and did at least get to the “Format Disc” prompt but then the machine failed to format the disc. It’s very strange that this situation is evident on both identical machines one of which I have had for a long time but has been unused for a while and another identical machine which had never been unpacked from the original box. I have obviously thought about the optical eye requiring cleaning but of course my disc cleaning dvd will not work either. I do not feel technically competent to partially dismantle the machine to clean. Your continued help would be appreciated.Kind regards,

Barry

[Mooly01]

Given both machines are behaving the same is odd but perhaps also coincidental.

A clean of the lens might be worth trying and given you saying that you did at least just once get to the 'Format' stage and then it failed would keep that theory at the top of list.

My other thought was that it might be a loading issue such as a slipping belt whereby the mechanism doesn't quite complete the loading cycle. Don't attempt to stall the drawer but it should feel as if it has enough 'power' if you gently try and hold it back as it moves. A slipping belt would show as the drawer having no power and being able to be stopped very easily. You would also hear the loading motor carry on running as the belt slips.

Once you reached a 'Format' screen that does suggest loading was successful.

[Barrykeith]

Hello,many thanks for your latest suggestion on the problem with both these machines. I have  tested them both by opening the dvd drawers and when touched during closing they both exhibit strong resistance,so I don’t think the belts are the problem. I know it could be coincidental they both have the same problem. Would there be a type of blank dvd which is currently available in UK which is generally acceptable for most DVD recorders (bearing in mind some machines have a maximum recording speed (not sure what the speed is for this machine).  Any further help would be appreciated. Kind regards,Barry.