Hi folks,

The library shows empty, but the disk shows as full.
The telephone helpline suggests that it is a corrupt file, and instruct to reformat the disk.
Obviously, if we do that, we lose everything we have recorded, which we'd like to avoid if possible.

We could pull out the drive & plug it into a PC to try to recover any of the files, but I suspect that will void the guarantee, and we've decided we want to return it for a refund.

Anyone got any cunning ideas?
And since I am here, what is the function of the USB slot in the front of the machine?

Have you tried unplugging it from the mains and leaving it for a few minutes before you power it back on?

The USB slot has no function but does supply power so you can use it to charge USB devices.

If you do decide to unplug the disk and put it into a PC then you will need a Linux PC to do so as the disk in formatted with an EXT2 filesystem. You could try it on a Linux PC and run e2fsck against it and see if that fixes the problem.

She normally powers it off overnight (which could of course have helped cause the problem, but that is a big design fault).

Does that mean that the machine is actually a cut down Linux system?
In which case, has anyone tried putting a sensible set of software on it?
Because it does seem to me that the box itself might be a pretty good bit of kit, but it is let down badly by the software.

Scroll through the Library and look at the recorded programmes.....are there any with excessively high duration?....or do any crash the DTR when you highlight it?

If so, then you need to Disable the Library preview and delete the offending recording.

To disable the preview do the following:

Menu > 4 Setup > 6 Help > 1397 (on keypad to access Engineer menu) > Scroll down to item 7 and press right arrow to change to Yes

Now go back to the Library and delete the offecnding recording.


The DTR, like alot on the market is a Linux machine, and the files have been read by some people on PC's, but you can't watch the programmes via a PC.
More info can be found here: http://www.kafkasworld.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=1014

There is nothing listed in the library.

Having rummaged a little on that site, I've discovered the engineers menu on the box (help->1397), but so far, I've not found anywhere that has information about it; some of the options are obvious, some I'd be guessing.
Anyone know where there is a guide, and are there any more hidden features?

Unfortunately with no library - your best bet is to factory reset the box. Press Menu>Set-up>Help>Green>Red

If you have recorded programmes, they would show in the Library, hence my suggestion to disable the preview.
Are you saying you have recorded things, but they don't appear in the Library?
Otherwise this sounds like a contradiction


AFAIK there are no other hidden features.
I personally would not change any of the settings in the Engineer menu unless specifically told to.
The Disable Library Preview option was specifically added to delete corrupt recordings which it sounded like you had.

We had quite a collection of things recorded.
Then one day, we switched on and the library was empty, but the disc was full.
Obviously some kind of glitch.

I didn't actually spot any settings as such, except the library; there is some information, a few tests, HDD reset, ATAPI reset, etc.

At the end of the day, if it is a Linux box as suggested, then if they'd had any sense they'd have put more features on it, because the possibilities are almost limitless.
Disc recovery software doesn't exactly take up much space does it?