RDR-HXD890 - Stuck in Standby, wont turn on

[Designer_avatar]

Hi, I hope someone can help. I live in London and since the digital change over, the DVD recorder is stuck in standby and wont turn on. I have removed the power lead and restarted the machine, but I still cant get it to start. The clock on the front panel is on & dimmed and there is noise coming form the hard drive, it even seems to reset itself if I hold the start button down for more than five seconds. Please help!

[rooobb]

pushing the start button alone doesn't reset it, try pushing together power-on and stop button.

[Designer_avatar]

According to the manual, you can not reset the recorder by pressing the Power and Stop buttons simultaneously unless the power is on. The peoblem I have is I can't turn the power on, so therefore can not reset the recorder. Is there a way to reset it with the power off ?

[rooobb]

You are right that the machine should be on to be reset, it was just a try ... I'm afraid you may have some hw problem.

[Designer_avatar]

Thanks rooobb for your reply, it is very much appreciated. I think from what you have said I need to get the recorder to an approved repairer. Do you think this is the only option left to me?

[rooobb]

I think so. You may find the service manual in the internet, but given that you don't get even an error in the front panel (i.e. E01 meaning an HDD failure) I'm not sure what you can do about it. I've given a rapid read just to see if there is any hardware reset, but I didn't find it. You may try leaving unplugged for a long time in order to discharge the battery and have it reset, but I doubt it will solve anything. I'm sorry, that's all I can do, maybe someone from sony may have a better clue.

[Designer_avatar]

rooobb, thanks for all your help. I shall seek out an approved repair centre and go from there.

[rooobb]

If you want to spend some more time have a look at the service manual....

[Designer_avatar]

Hi Rob,

After a week I have plugged the recorder back in and it will start, but only get as far as the welcome being displayed in the LCD. Also the reset sequence is still not working. Can you think of anything else to try or does taking it to a repair centre still stand?

[rooobb]

Just one more (maybe stupid) question: are you sure you don't have any problem in the connection or the cable with the tv? Is it connected via HDMI or SCART? Try to switch from the one you are using, change the cable or use a different socket. It seems very strange to me that the recorder starts without any error in the front panel but you get only a blank screen...although it's true that you should be able to reset it even without seeing anything