Cannot unfinalize the CD RW disc.... I press ENTER to unfinalize but when the countdown arrives at 53sec it switches off and the disc remains finalized - please help !

you cannot unfinalize discs , you finalized when complete

Hi,
It sounds like you haven't followed the last step to the burning procedure. All you need to do once you've completed burning your disc is to Finalize the disc. Read below why you need to finalize as well as the steps to follow in order to finalize the disc.
Hope this helps ;)
How to Finalize Finalizing is writing the TOC (table of contents) on a disc so a CD player can recognize the number of tracks, the total time for each track, and their location on the disc. A recorded disc must be finalized to playback on a standard CD player. Once finalized a CD-R disc can be played on CD players that support CD-R playback. CD-RW discs can only be played on CD players that support CD-RW playback. Consult your CD player owner's manual to confirm supported formats. Finalizing is necessary to: • be able to play a recorded CD-R or CD-RW disc on a CD player • prevent further recording on a disc • avoid erasing tracks on a CD-RW disc • record text information onto a disc you record Notes: • A finalized CD-R disc can never be recorded onto again. • A finalized CD-RW disc can be unfinalized for more recording. • The CDR300 can play back unfinalized CD-R or CD-RW discs. • SYNC REC+FINAL mode automatically finalizes.
Here are the steps in order to Finalize your disk
1 Push Stop. The display shows the number of tracks and their total playing time. 2 Push FINALIZE. FINALIZE is displayed for about 3 seconds.

I'm glad to inform you that it is possible to record additional scenes after finalizing when you use DVD -RW and DVD +RW discs.

When using finalized DVD -RW(VR mode) disc, you can record additional material on the disc without any additional steps.
Other case, you can unfinalize the discs using [UNFINALIZE] option under DISC SET Menu.
Please let me know if you require any clarifications.
Thanks for understanding.

Usually you finalize the disc after loading it with all the desired content (leaving a bit of space for the finalization). So if you are recording a TV show, depending on the setting (SP, LP, XP), you might finalize the disc after recording 4 1/2 shows. The How may vary by model but on my DVD recorder, I find the finalize command in the same menu area as adding a title and initializing a DVD-RW disc. So I press Setup to enter the OSD menu, then go down to Disc (looks like an optical disc) then right arrow to enter the sub menu. Then press down to Disc Finalize and the right arrow again and press enter. Select OK and Enter again. (RW discs can be unfinalized to add more content.) Then wait until the process is done.

I hope this helps.

Cindy Wells

If your mini DVD disk is a DVD-RW (or DVD+RW) and it had (previously) been finalized in the VR (or Video) mode, simply select the "unfinalize" option ... (in DISC - Camera mode, from the MENU - Disc Manager - Disc Unfinalize ) ... as in p. 82 of your manual.
If you do not want the video data on the DVD-RW disk anymore, you can simply re-format the disk again, so you can re-use the disk.

1. First problem: "like nothing is recorded". IS something recorded or has it been left in Pause Mode so long (instead of Recording) that it just got impatient and time out?

2. Get yourself a couple of CD-RW Digital Audio discs to play with until you're past this learning curve/problem scenario. That way you can always erase them and start over without having to discard the disc.

3. Dropouts on playback. Are they repeatable - always at the same place, even on different CD players? If so, the data is bad on the disc. If not, the data is probably marginal.

4. If you have a DVD player, try to play the failed recordings in it. Some DVD players can play back unfinalized CDR's. You may be able to recover the data by copying it back to the CD Recorder from the DVD player. Just be advised that an unfinalized CD-RW may not have 'silence' following the last recorded track due to old data remaining from a previous session, so be ready to pause or stop the recorder when the last track finishes.

5. "Scratches near the outside of the CD". Were these NOT present prior to entering the CD Recorder? Do they seem to coincide with about where the recording may have failed?

6. 20 vs 19 tracks: Is this a constant problem or only when there is a failure during CD creation? If the latter, it would make sense as the last track in isn't technically completed.

Put in a blank or unfinalized disc, press Record until Record Manual shows. This is similar to an old-school cassette deck being in Pause/Record mode. That should do it. The input signal will be present on the audio outputs (both digital and analog).

The manual isn't specific about how long you can remain in Record Manual mode without starting to record on the CD. My Pioneer has a Monitor function so I don't need to place a blank disc for this.

You can unlock by pressing and holding the Power switch. Sometimes it will then allow you to eject the disk after it restarts, but not always.

clean the lense of your dvdplayer.

The reason why you are having this problem is because you haven't finalized the disc. In able for you to play that Burned DVD that you have you need to Finalized the disc. Finalizing a recordable optical disc means writing the disc's lead-in (the Table of Contents or TOC) and lead-out information (blank data that fills up the unused space at the end of the disc) so that a DVD player will know where the various tracks begin and end. Without the TOC, a conventional DVD player will not be able to read the contents of the disc. Once the disc is finalized, no more information can be written to it. Finalizing takes about two or three minutes. To finalize a DVD-RW/DVD-R: 1. Press the Menu button with the disc stopped. 2. Select Disc Manager and press Enter or the right arrow. 3. Select Disc Finalize and press Enter or the right arrow. You will be asked twice if you are sure that you want to finalize the disc. Select Yes and press Enter. Once the disc is finalized, you cannot delete entries from the record list. After being finalized, the DVD-R/DVD-RW (video mode) operates in the same manner as a DVD-Video. Recorded discs must be finalized in order to play back in non-Samsung DVD players. A DVD-RW disc that has been recorded by DAO (disk-at-once mode) in a PC cannot be unfinalized. A DVD-RW disc that has been recorded in Video Mode on a non-Samsung recorder cannot be unfinalized by a Samsung recorder. A DVD-R disc cannot be unfinalized. Note: Finalization does not apply to DVD-RAM. If you cannot finalize a DVD-R or DVD-RW disc, make sure that Disc Protection is turned off. If you are still having difficulty, you may try calling technical support of SAMSUNG. Note: Do not turn the recorder off while it is finalizing the disc. Data on the disc will be damaged if the finalization process is interrupted.