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DR-MH20/ 30/ 50 Guide to problems

Posted: Wed Nov 14, 2007 1:46 pm
by andywilks
elow is a list of common problems for these machines which I provide freely, but to save my time, Don't contact me until you have tried the remedies suggested- and if you still have a problem please.
Also I don't have any 160Gb images for these available


They are getting older now, and with the analogue system being turned off next year, you need to have another way to use these machines to want to get it fixed.
JVC dealers are pretty fed up with the whole JVC DVDr family of machines due to reliability issues and I am considering stopping offering this help service as its becoming more and more time consuming to try to help folks sort them out- most now are coming up with HDD failures and we have no easy way to help you on this- JVC have given up supporting them and only offer new prepped drives at silly high prices.

OK so gripe over, here's what may be useful to help you fix your machine


The faults listed will require someone with good soldering skills etc to perform a satisfactory repair, so we advise against 'having a go' yourself if you have no knowledge. If you are in the UK and wish me to repair your unit, we offer a reasonable priced repair service. Please contact me.
Equally if you have solutions to other problems then please do let us know.

DR-MH20 / 30 / 50 problems:
There are 2 common problems

1)
The main fault in common with a lot of other models is the power supply. Nearly every machine by now will have failed like this at least once. This will usually give the flashing 'LOADING' on the display. There are numerous reasons for the onboard micro computer to 'crash' and give this flashing.

Normally it will be one of the following capacitors on the power board.
Some may have increased values to these below:
Most now DO also need the smaller 22u capacitors changing
DRMH20- C5340 C5313 & C5316.
DRMH30 its C5307/5316/5340
Its also worth checking the 470u C5318/19/21 too)
Ideally you need to use an oscilloscope to check for 'ripple' on the positive pins to prove which ones are the faulty ones.On earlier units (DRMH20)
The big C5202 C5207 C5208 may be bulging or leaking and need replacing.


2) Hard drive failure/corruption.
As stated above sort the psu FIRST, but there is a test to see if it is just HDD corruption you have causing the 'loading' lights.
Hold eject button down for 20secs+ whilst plugging unit in. If the drawer opens then the psu is probably working ok and the unit has booted to the point of needing data from the HDD which it then can't get for some reason. The recovery software will then be needed to test further. I have found this software to be basically useless- it performs a diagnostic on the system and comes back with an error code- usually error 10 Hard disk broken. A blank HDD even of the same type will NOT just work. There are Maxtor and Seagate OEM drives out there and only a working clone from the correct drive will solve your problems, the JVC software is as it says Advisor only- no recovery software is available. If your drive is showing full when its not or other corruptions of programmes then the software may help you- in which case ask me and I'll let you have access to it.
The software WILL NOT restore file systems on a blank drive!

As with the DRM1 etc you may also get the 'Dead' symptom. It will nearly always fail when in standby as the fan doesn't run then and the power Ic on the small aluminium block near the fan will fail- sometimes exploding, other times just tripping when hot.

If by unplugging and plugging back in , you can restart the supply this will prove which of the above has occurred.

If it is just tripping, replacing the STRG6653, making sure it seats fully onto its aluminium block, and replacing any of the tall cylindrical capacitors that look distressed (bulging tops or leaking around base) will normally cure it.

*BEWARE* the big capacitor near the heatsink can hold near 400volts on it even when its been unplugged for some time!!! Likes to shake hands if you touch it

If the STRG6653 has cracked then you will need to replace the following parts which will have been damaged when it blew.


1- IC5101 STRG6653
2- PC5101 opto coupler
3- C5103 27u
4- R5107 microscopic surface mounted under the board 680R
5- R5108 0.27R fuseR
6- R5109 microscopic surface mounted under the board 47R
7- F5001 fuse

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:18 pm
by Tutunkhamun
Hi i was wondering if the its the same problem when the flashing "loading" signal stops after a minute and is replaced with the code " R-Lk --:-- " Does this mean anything. The machine does not function at all and i can only turn it off when i pull the plug from the outlet.

ignore above fixed the problem. Thanks

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 1:58 pm
by Tutunkhamun
Tutunkhamun wrote:Hi i was wondering if the its the same problem when the flashing "loading" signal stops after a minute and is replaced with the code " R-Lk --:-- " Does this mean anything. The machine does not function at all and i can only turn it off when i pull the plug from the outlet.

Posted: Sat Feb 02, 2008 3:15 pm
by andywilks
Does it come out of standby with the remote?
If it stops saying 'loading' then it must have correctly completed boot up.

I haven't come across this display but wondered if it was in childlock mode? press+hold stop then press eject perhaps... see instruction book
The instructions say 'lock' appears for this but maybe its different on yours.

Re: DR-MH20/ 30/ 50 Guide to problems

Posted: Wed Mar 12, 2008 10:25 am
by pb0aob
Hi,
Bingo, C replaced, all big ones and the supply line dvd ( 600mv ripple) and it works fine,
GrRob, pb0aob, ham The Netherlands
JVC DR-MH20
TNX!

DR-MH30S Loading error

Posted: Wed Mar 19, 2008 2:15 am
by tonywilliams
Tonight I was dividing some files on a pretty full drive and the system froze for a few seconds in the middle of the divide sequence. Then, it re-booted and when it rebooted it sat there with the blue flashing light and the "Loading message".

This happened to me about 9 months ago, and fortunately I had a spare HDD from another machine, which had blown up due to a power surge. The replaced HDD re-booted immediately, and by the way I still have recordings on that other HDD, which I have never tried to recover :( .

Now it has happened again 9 months later to this other HDD.

You mentioned in one of your threads that there is software available that will attempt to recover the HDD. Am I able to download this software, and if so how can I execute when it needs the HDD to boot?

Many thanks.

Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 7:56 am
by atari
I had dead hd & put new one, Im lookin for JVC Pro Advisor software to make it working

Posted: Thu Mar 27, 2008 1:22 pm
by andywilks
I would get a local JVC dealer in your country to help/supply the software.

Posted: Fri Mar 28, 2008 9:05 am
by atari
Im from Serbia

Posted: Sat May 31, 2008 6:12 am
by mg1100
My HDD died a while back. It developed the Maxtor "click of death", and nothing I have tried can revive it. I got a new Western Digital, but I need the software to reload on it. JVC was absolutely NO help. Even though Maxtor has a three year warranty, JVC would only honor their basic 90 day or one year warranty. They want $366 for a new drive, which is more than the unit cost three years ago! Is there any way to get the boot software?

Thanks of hosting this site. There's not much else out there for these machines.

Posted: Tue Aug 05, 2008 1:31 pm
by MPvDam
I have three DR-MH30. One with power supply problems, but I fixed them (some soldering). One is oke and the last one is the HDD out of order. I want to replace him with a new 160GB drive, but want to install him with a boot CD/DVD. Is there anywhere a boot/firmware CD/DVD available?

Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:44 am
by andywilks
You need to only replace it with the EXACT replacement model. Even then we have had reports of problems getting a blank drive to work. A clone in Raw mode from a working drive is the best bet. works everytime for me.

DR-MH30SEK Loading Flashing

Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:59 pm
by whito
Andy
Have read everyone's problems on this forum.
My 4 year old DR-MH30SEK has been having the LOADING FLASHING problem infrequently for some time now.
It has been repaired twice with the same problem since new but within the extended warranty.
Now outside the warranty period it has recently packed up altogether in as much that the menu is displayed but on trying to view recording indicated nothing found
Playlist menu & content is displayed but nothing retrievable.
Any idea on the cost to fix & is it worth it anyway.

Regards
Leonard Crook :evil:

Posted: Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:54 pm
by avr
Hi!

Could somebody tell me the right component values for those:
1- IC5101 STRG6653
2- PC5101 opto coupler
3- C5103
4- R5107 microscopic surface mounted under the board
5- R5108
6- R5109 microscopic surface mounted under the board
7- F5001 fuse
Or all I need are the values for those smd-resistors, because there isn't any markins left anymore.
I have DR-MH20 and that STRG6653 is totally blown away. And is there anything more that I need to check after I replace those parts. All caps seem to be in order.

-avr

Posted: Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:53 pm
by sybux
First of all, thanks you Andy for this nice tutorial.

I've got the loading blinking effect and I've try to change the 6 capacitors you mention. It cost me 2$ and now my DVD recorder is working back very fine.

I've just have a little question : you wrote :
DRMH30 its C5307/5216/5340
Its also worth checking the 470u C5318/19/21 too)
I have not seen any C5216, so I've change the 5316. Is it an error on your typing or is there such a difference in the card ?

Once again, great jobs.