My DVD recorder won't start.

I turn it off at the mains.
I plug it in and I see the Time (e.g. 09:00) on the external display.
I then press standby/on (either on remote or on front of player).
PHILIPS shows on the external display, the blue HDD light comes on, and the sky blue wallpaper appears on screen.
After 25 seconds, there is a brief noise, the blue HDD light flicks off and on, and then the unit attempts to restart again.
This continues (I have left it for hours) until I turn off at the mains.

I am unable to open the disc tray with eject (there is a disc in there, which I had been recording on).

I have a number of recordings on the hard disc. Ideally I would like to get them back, but if I have to lose them then so be it.

Is there
i) a way of opening the disc tray to recover the DVD ?
ii) a way of resetting the unit ?

PS I have latest firmware on a CD which I applied three months ago to rectify an unrelated issue with finalising discs. I would use that but cannot open the disc tray.

ArrGee, December 2009

This is chatacteristic of a failed hard drive, if you are up to sourcing a replacement drive and replacing the failed one then you can effect a reasonable cost repair - dealers will charge you much more that the cost of a replacement machine. the dvd draw can be opened with the aid of a thin knitting needle, there is a slot underneath the machine below the dvd drive for just this problem - insert the knitting needle, screwdriver at the end of the slot nearest the centre of the machine and slide to the other end of the slot - you are looking for a small peg about 5mm long which must be moved along the slot - the draw will open about 10 mm - gently pull the draw fully open to remove the disc. If you post an email I will explain about reformatting the new HDD

Menahouse, March 2010