JVC DR-MH30 problem [solved]

[lordsmurf]

Just wanted to share this quick Q&A about this JVC machine.

I got a PM from somebody...

Quote:

You seem to know pretty much everything about this unit (and its variations). I'm wondering if you would have any ideas about what could be causing the problem I'm having with mine. It worked pretty well with no more serious issues than could be solved by unplugging overnight for almost 4 years. But now when I turn it on (it doesn't flash loading, which is what all the threads talk about), it loops the JVC DVD Recorder animated graphic repeatedly. It never ends, so I can't watch the movies recorded on the hard drive or even use the DVD player. I tried unplugging it for 2 weeks and nothing changed.

Could it still be a power supply or capacitor problem even though the symptoms are different? I noticed that it had been reporting the available space wrong for months before this. For example, it would say it had 8 hours free, but when I tried to record 4 hours, it would quit prematurely. Right before this problem started, I had tried to record on what was probably the last available space (and maybe too much given there was no way to know the true amount of available space.)

I called JVC and they were not helpful at all. Apparently, they do still repair units with the loading problem or if they won't power on at all, but they didn't claim to know anything about the problem I'm having and offered no help whatsoever. I have a friend who would help me repair it if I could tell him where to start when looking for the cause of the problem (but he doesn't know anything about this particular unit.)

Any ideas you could give me would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for your time in reading this message.

and a few hours later, before I had time to answer, I got a follow-up PM...

Quote:

Per my previous message, I finally figured it out .. It was a stuck door. Who knew?

and the solution was posted by this person online at another site...

Quote:

I just wanted to post in case this info helps anyone. I used a combination of suggestions from this forum. My JVC DR-MH30 would not finish starting up but it didn't flash loading like everyone else complains of. It just replayed the JVC DVD Video Recorder animated graphic endlessly. JVC was no help at all.

Someone said that their disc door was stuck and I did notice that mine wouldn't open and it made a weird whirring noise for a few seconds when turning it on, before the graphics looping would start. Holding the eject button while powering on did not help (nor did unplugging, even for 2 weeks), but inside of the DVD door on the bottom right of the drive was a little silver button. Pressing that button opened the door. Then I closed it and turned off the unit. Pressing the eject button by itself (no power button) turned it back on. The door opened again and no more looping. It works as usual now. (Unfortunately, it took me over a month to figure out the problem, but I'm still happy.)

Just in case it's important, there is also a little pinhole to the left of the silver button. I tried that first not noticing the button (which was partially hidden by the front of the case). At one point when using a paperclip, it made a spinning noise, but it didn't open. Then I eventually bumped the silver button by accident and the door popped open... So if the button by itself doesn't work at first, I would try the paperclip in the pinhole and then the button.

Glad you got it figured out!

Glad I could help. Thanks for helping everybody with your experience.