I have a Sony RDR GX 300. I have tried to record to it for the first time and I am having some difficulties. I have it hooked up to my DirecTv HR10-250 HD TiVo. I have the S-video out of the TiVo into the L1 on the DVD recorder. I set the DVD recorder to record from L1, set the quality, and then hit record pause. I then have set the TiVo show to "save to VCR" and unpause the DVD recorder. From there it seems to be working for approximately 1 minute, but then starts flashing "Info Write". At this point the DVD recorder becomes unresponsive. It will not respond to any button presses including "stop record" and "power". I cannot turn off the DVD recorder without unplugging it. After several minutes the DVD recorder will flash "disc dirty" and then either eject the disc or go back to flashing "Info Write". I am using FugiFilm DVD-R's that can record up to 8 x's speed.
Is there something that I am doing wrong? Are these discs incompatible? If so, are there certain discs that you might recommend? I am new to DVD recorders, so any help would be appreciated. I could not find any help on the Sony website and have also posted this question at the AVS forum website, but haven't received a response.
Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi

I tried this similar sort of thing from Sky (UK Satellite) and got the same response from my Sony RDR GX7 model. I believe this is because the signal from the SKY box, or in your case TIVO, is encrypted so that you cannot record from one to the other various televisions signals - with my SKY this was in particular movies from the Pay Per View.

With regards to the discs you are using, I have only ever used Maxell discs and have no problems at all with them.

I hope this helps.

Mike

Should I try and archive a different show. I was trying to dub "Suvivor". I wouldn't think that that would be encrypted in any way, but you never know.
I bought some new discs and plan to try those out tonight. I bought Sony 4 x's speed DVD-R's.
If anyone else has any ideas, it would be appreciated.
Thanks.

this may be a dumb question..why do you have to hit save to vcr?..i dont have a tivo unit but i do have the motorola dvr..i made a dvd of a movie from it on my sony by after making a/v connections just hitting play on the dvr..and starting the sony dvd-r..

I think that when you hit "Save to VCR" it outputs the signal via the S-video which goes to my DVD recorder (in theory to be recorded - however, I am having trouble with that). Otherwise, the signal is routed (in my case) via my component output to my Television.
Don't quote me on that, but I think that is how it works.

yeh well i thought that was the case with my dvr..it wasnt..i hooked s-video cable to dvr then to line 2 in on dvd-r..had to switch audio settings..but then just hit play and record..try it..i didnt disconnect component cables..dont ask me why but it sent signal thru s-video also..if you do this make sure you moniter your dvd-r to see if it is working..good luck...does the tivo have a firewire ?

I have the HD TiVo, the HR10-250. It does not have a firewire.

my box is the motorola dct 6200..a hd box with firewire in and outs..gives me a bit more options as far recording hd content..i would try what i said about just playing your dvr recording and seeing if it will record via s-video to dvd-r..i was surprised my box output s-video with out disconnecting component cables or switching output..this is one reason i havent gone with a dish because so far none have a firewire..

You can try using a slower speed DVD-R disc. I know the GX300 sometimes has trouble with the 8X discs. Also if you are using S-Video be sure to tell the DVD-R to look for that video signal. You can assign that in the set-up menu( From what I have seen though, composite might give you a better picture).

A reason to hit "save to VCR" on a Tivo is that the Tivo generates a description for about 5 seconds before showing the program.

As for as the Firewire goes, I have the SA8300HD DVR and SA tech support told me they could not activate the firewire ports yet for copyright reasons.