Disc error philips dvd 616 k.the machine will play discs bought from the store but when I try a disc that I have recorded myself on my Panasonic dvd recorder,It comes up with "disc error" the disc in question was a recordable disc DVD - RW.

Could be that the disk itself is incompatible with your friend's machine. Or your buddies machine may be starting to exhibit playback issues. Try another disk and see what happens.

Given that the machine will read disks it has written itself but not play regular discs, I suspect the lens assembly is slightly out of alignment and needs adjusting. This is not normally something you can do at home unless you have the correct test gear. It will need to go to a repair shop. One thing you can try before that is to clean the lens. Buy a quality (Scotch 3M, Philips ) cleaning disc and try it. Could be it's only a speck of dust on the lens.....

Could be that you are using the wrong type of DVD ? There are two formats DVD+R, DVD+RW etc and DVD-R, DVD-RW etc. Some machines are capable of using either, others can use one of the two formats.
My other suggestion is that some machines are picky about which manufacturer's DVDs they will use.

6.November.2015

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DVD_formats

if you have an error code this might be useful
Dvd recorder won record on DVD RW disc
Some possibly relevant answers here which suggest my answers above
http://www.digitaltvbanter.co.uk/uk-tech-digital-tv-digital/25025-brand-new-panasonic-dvd-recorder.html

I Have had this same problem with DVD recorders. They sometimes will not play disc that were recorded on another player, you have to play these on the recorder that you used to make the recording. When recording you must finalize the discs to get them to play in other recorders, if they aren't finalized then the dvd wont recognize them as being recorded, there is no starting point set on the disc for the laser to pick up on. I have also ran into discs bought at the store that were not any good and I couldn't record on them, or when I did I would get the disc error message also. Try another brand of disc,say Memorex or Soney amd see if these will work, make sure they are compatible with the player, and they are the correct format for your player. There are 2 types DVD -R and DVD + R the + R work better on a wider range of players.

I was advised to try another make of blank discs. I bought Sony discs & they worked ok. I had been using supermarket own brand.

I had the same trouble, also wouldn't play back discs that I recorded using it. The commonly listed reset of channel up and down at the same time was not meant for this model.
Below is the official solution that was sent to me by panasonic.
After using this method to reset my player it worked great. it was just like taking it out of the box for the first time.

Dear Valued Customer,

Thank you for your inquiry, reguarding model DMR-ES40V.

Try this reset to fix the issue.

1. Unit power must be on.

2. Press [STOP] & [VHS > DVD] ON THE UNIT for over 5 seconds.

Thank you for contacting Panasonic.

Thank You,
Panasonic Consumer Support
http://catalog2.panasonic.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CustomerSupport?storeId=11251

I have the same unit with the same exact problem. I ended up taking it in for repair and it's now working perfectly. I paid $100 for the repair. I dropped the unit off and picked it up myself. I think $30 additional is charged for shipping and handling in US.
PANASONIC CAMERA & DIGITAL SERVICE CENTER
1590 Touhy Ave
Elk Grove, IL 60007-5319
EMAIL [email protected]
888-439-2676
Part Number
RFKNEH75VP
Description
RAM/DIGITAL PCB MODULE

yes u hav eto use dvd +r disk ok try that 1st please thx nick

2 Things 1 You need to Finalize the disc to play of a DVD player check that out with your DVD burn program. 2 Check the DVD players capability with certain discs, not all payers will run 'burned disks' sometimes even the brand of disk matters or whether it is + or- type There are may variables with the DVD firmware. Finalize first the the first step.

You can only record to dvd-ram or dvd-r NOT dvd-rw!