RDR-HX725 won't record or dub to blank DVDs or DVD-DLs

[Eeejay]

I've had this recorder for some time and have never managed to successfully record onto any DVDs with the exception of re-writeable DVDs. Whenever I insert blanks, the recorder automatically starts to format the blanks. This recently happened with a blank DVD+R DL. On that occasion, after the automatic format, I tried dubbing a large video file but was told that the disk couldn't be written to.

I tried to dub to a DVD+R and after the format, it actually looked like everything was going smoothly. When the timer ran down, I pressed eject, and "writing info" appeared for a while until that finished and the disk was ejected. The end result was a DVD with no files written to it. Needless to say, it suddenly became a coaster.

I can find nothing in the manual or setup about this problem, and also can't find a list of compatible media  anywhere (just in case that is the problem). I also think it a bit odd that the disks get formatted as soon as they are inserted, because surely they're blanks, and any formatting would render them useless for anything?

Bright ideas anyone?

Message was edited by: Eeejay

[Eeejay]

I contacted Sony over this, and it seems to me that it's a waste of effort asking them anything. I pointed out to them that, when I'd purchased Sony DVD writers for various desktops over the years, they all came with a list of approved media, giving manufacturers's details etc. Of course, for my Sony DVD recorder, there isn't a list apparently, and Sony suggested that I try different brands to see if they would work. I somehow don't think that I'll be wasting a pile of money buying umpteen different brands of DVDs or DL-DVDs in the hope that I'll eventually find ones that actually work.

They also suggested a factory reset (which I did to no avail), and if that didn't work, get it repaired by an authorised Sony repairer. I think the only defect is the lack of approved media info, so I won't be sending it anywhere.

The "empty" DVD that I mentioned above did have files on it, so I discovered. These were only visible when I used Isobuster, which told me that the disk was a "DVD-VR". In the setup menu, there is an option of either having DVD RW disks formatted as Video or VR. There is no such option to choose the format of any other disks, so it looks like dubbing to a DVD+R is only going to be done in VR mode, and I've yet to find a PC DVD drive that actually plays these.

When I re-inserted the "blank" disk back in the Sony, it immediately tried to format it, then gave up when the message appeared saying that it couldn't be formatted. When I pressed play I got a C1300 error, which I've seen quite a lot since I got the recorder. I think it's supposed to be a "dirty disk" error but I've found that it pops up when the disk, or the file system on it, are incompatible with the recorder.

I don't think I'll be buying another Sony DVD recorder anytime soon, it's too much like hard work.

Message was edited by: Eeejay