LG RH177 DVD recorder won't recognise discs

[Bloggsyboy]

We have a great LG RH177 DVD recorder with timeshift and hard driveand dvd recording. All works fine but now you put DVDs in and it either wont recognize them or you have to keep ejecting them before it decides to play ball. Bought a DVD lens cleaner disc at Currys but this didn't help.
Tried blowing into the opening to dislodge any dust, still no joy. The unit cost £200 and is about two years old. I could get it repaired but if this costs a lot of money, I still have an old recorder out of warranty. Can't stump up another £200 at the moment so I can't watch DVDs. Any advice welcome.

 

[JohnD]

I can't watch DVDs. Any advice welcome.

Buy a cheap DVD player at Tescos to watch existing DVDs on.

Use the hard drive on your LG recorder.

There is a chance it is getting fussy on brand of home-recorded DVD - check their website for brands/types they recommend.

It's worth contacting the manufacturer and saying you don't consider it's given adequate service, they might offer you a free or cheap repair or a discount on a replacement. I did that with OKI on my laser printer and they sent me a new one

I have not found DVD recorders very reliable, and had mine repaired FOC under the 2-year warranty.

 

[Bloggsyboy]

Thanks for your comments John ( wow 21,000 posts) funnily enough this is our second dvd recorder and both have been back and forth to the repair shop. I have started using the first one to play dvds as you suggest. That one has other problems ( LG DR4810 ). Trouble is I custom built our TV / Hifi unit around our equipment and two DVD recorders take up a lot of space. We can only plug the digital sound cable into one of them too. I think we need to get a Toshiba one next time so that the remote controls the tv as well and it is probably worth getting a long warranty as they seem to be unreliable. What make have you had?

 

[JohnD]

(21,525 worthless posts )

I meant, add a small, cheap DVD player - not two recorders - and just use the hard-disk on your existing recorder.

I have two Lite-Ons because their computer discs are pretty good, and they are easy to use.

I earlier had two Toshibas which were rubbish except with commercial pre-recorded discs.

I believe the Panasonic are very good.

 

[Bloggsyboy]

After reading some tips elsewhere I took the lid off and took apart the DVD writer, wiped the laser and ran the carriage up and down to free it up. No good though so taking it to be repaired today. If they want a fortune there is no point in doing it. Does anyone know if you can buy spare dvd writers to fit these yourself? If so where, it is not a standard pc component.

 

[Bloggsyboy]

Found this link on the net which shows you how to buy a £20 dvd drive and swap parts to make the RH177 work again. http://www.ifndef.altervista.org/index_eng.html
I am thinking of trying this.
Any comments anyone??

 

[Bloggsyboy]

Threw this away in the end and bought a Sony one.

 

[akee31]

Hi Guys,

I have the same LG dvd hdd recorder. ran out of warranty a few months ago (same time as the problems started!). It stopped recognising recordable dvds first and then slowly stopped recognising proper DVDs too!

I was wondering if you tried swapping parts (your last post) and it still didn't work, or did u just not bother and get rid of it?