My DMR-E55 will not read or record to any new DVD-RAM (Panasonic brand) or DVD-R disks (TDK brand). It will record/play to original DVD-RAM disks bought 2 years ago with the unit, but with newer disks, I get "Can Not Read" and "Needs Formatting" messages. When I try to format under the Functions menu, it states that the disk is not compatible, is not a re-writable disk, etc. I've tried disks from different batches. I tried Firmware upgrade but got "Unsupport" message meaning upgrade is already in unit. Panasonic technical support says to take to repair center, but I figure that I will only end up paying more than a new one would cost. Please, does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.

Virginia, June 2007

I,m sorry I can,t answer your question but i am in exactly the same position with a machine that is a day over guarantee, please let me know if you got any further
Regards Gill

Gill, October 2007

Try going to the canadian panasonic site. They have a firmware upgrade that might fix the problem Their site has better and more up to date firmware. The US version wouldn't work, the Canadian did on my machine.
http://www.panasonic.ca/english/customercare/sandd/softwarequery.asp

Paul B, July 2007