CAN I WATCH A SHOW FROM THE HARD DRIVE WITH OUT RECORDING IT TO A DVD

Any external USB hard drive that uses a 3.5" hard drive (the larger drives they use in desktops) will work. These all come with an external power adapter you must plug into the wall.

The external hard drive units that use the smaller 2.5" hard drives are the ones they use in laptops. These require much less power, and can be powered by the PC's USB port although some do come with an optional power adapter. However the Dish receiver does not send enough power to its USB port to power the hard drive, which is why the tech told you to get one that has an external power supply.

Even then the DVR uses a drive format that your computer may not recognize. I don't know if there are tools out there that will let you connect a hard drive from a DVR, read and convert the TV shows stored there.


Another option is to buy a DVD recorder. This is like a VCR, only it uses a DVD disc and not a video tape. Connect the DVD recorder to the outputs on the DVR, and then set the DVD recorder so it will record from its input. (on my DVD recorder this is "IN2")

Put a blank DVD into the DVD recorder, start playing a show on the DVR, and hit record on the DVD recorder. When the show is finished, hit stop on the DVD recorder to stop recording. The advantage here is you can then play this DVD on any DVD drive. The disadvantage is DVD recorders only record in non-HD. You can still play a show in HD, but the recording you get won't be in HD. Also, the show has to record in real time. So if it's a 60 minute episode, it will take 60 minutes to record.

You can also check this steps:

E4 is a fault code not an error message. It means there's something wrong with the device. You need to take it to be serviced.

You need to look through the menu options for some kind of auto-delete option and disable it

I scanned the entire manual for your recorder and found no mention of simultaneous dvr functions as you specified, so I have no choice but to say no you cannot...sorry...

Those circles are there as a sign that the unit has not finished loading the indicator - it's a wait signal. This happens because the processor no longer recognizes the indicator for the shows you recorded so yes, this is a big defect.
The unit is repairable - you will have to replace the hard drive and reprogram the unit - but this is a long and costly procedure. It will be cheaper just to buy a new one.

It doesn't do. No can do.Whatever channel you SWITCH ON TO AFTER you started recording be it timer or manual GETS recorded. Whether you switch onto inputs on your TV remote or cable remote IS the one getting recorded.

Hey, I have a deaf brother with this issue. What I done was route the AV output of the TV to the AV input of the recorder. Set your recorders source to AV1 (or whichever you use) and set your TV to the program you want to record, also turn subtitles on. Because you wont have your TV set to the input your DVD recorder is on, you won't be able to see the DVD recorders output, but thats fine. Just press record on the unit - you have to leave the TV on the channel it's recording. Now you should be recording TV with subtitles with no problem :D

John,

I'm afraid that all I can find to assist is a copy of the Instruction Manual in Italian. See here:

www.panasonic.ch/doc/9301_9400/9391/userguide/userguide_4_dmr-ex71segk_-.pdf -

You have an internal hard drive error. You will need a new box.

Unfortunately, no. The tuner in your DVD recorder works differently than how your satellite receiver works. You *must* use the satellite receiver to select the active channel, and then send that channel to one of the inputs on your recorder. You can then record that channel. Unless your satellite receiver is has "dual tuners" in it, you are stuck watching the same channel that the DVD recorder is recording. If your goal is primarily time-shifting of shows (as opposed to archiving shows forever to DVD), you might consider getting a different satellite receiver with a built-in DVR (hard disk recorder). These allow you to mark shows in advance, have them recorded to the hard drive, and then you can watch them whenever you want, skipping all the commercials. You also get the ability to pause and rewind live TV.