creekdipper

Asked this question earlier but got no response, so I'll try again since this is driving me nuts trying to figure it out.

When attempting to record shows from the Encore Western Channel on DVD, sometimes it works perfectly (as it does with ALL other cable channels, including STARZ, Showtime, HBO, etc.)...and sometimes I get an error message saying, "This program is not recordable in the DVD+R format" (or something to that effect).

The odd thing is that I'm using the same DVD recorders (on two separate televisions) and the same discs (although I've use both + and - formats with equal success/failure). The same disc that is used to record "Rifleman" in the morning successfully does not record "Rifleman" in the evening...and vice-versa.

It seems to be a problem confined to the channel during certain airtimes. For example, if one show records successfully in the A.M., the other programs record just fine. The same is true for failure...one fails, all fail. It's not confined to any particular time of day, either...sometimes it works in the morning; sometimes in the evening.

I have thought that maybe certain episodes had been licensed and were therefore copy-guarded, if that is possible with paid cable broadcasts...but that wouldn't explain why the entire lineup is affected at certain times and not at others.

Anybody know the answer to this dilemma & how to overcome the problem? Anybody else experience this with this or any other cable channels?

Thanks again...hope somebody has an answer! Right now it's just hit-or-miss. Since I'm keeping track of the episodes I've recorded to label the discs, I guess I'll know when they eventually rerun the "failed" shows whether or not it's a problem with the show or just the channel (which is what I suspect).

It seems that

paradicelost

i know i tried to record a movie(Howard the Duck) from the main Encore channel using the cable HD/DVR reciever and it gave me the same message. Then i recorded it with the old digital reciever onto my parents tivo and hooked my DVD Recorder to that and it worked. So something seems to be up with the Encore channels.

creekdipper

Thanks, paradice! Now I may not have to check into the mental ward.

BTW...same thing happened again today.

A.M. shows recorded perfectly.
Same programs (different ep.) in P.M....no soap.

I'm resigned to getting half of the particular shows & considering myself lucky. I just wish it would be consistent so I could just ignore either A.M. or P.M. and hope that when the 'defective' episodes are rerun that they will be shown in the 'good' time slot.

nazz

I believe it's an issue with CPRM, which is a copy once scrambling protection. They want you to be able to use a DVR to copy it once but no more than that.

Here's some good discussion about it.

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.v...7375ee076f013f

rw2516

What type of cable connection are you using? Are you trying to record Encore HD or the regular digital version? I've never had a problem. I record the regular digital version using RCA jack/cables with Panasonic dvd recorder. Look in the recorder's manual to see what the message means. What brand of recorder are you using? My recorder has a hard drive. I record to the hard drive first and then burn from HD to disc. Does the first program recorded to a disc work but the additional ones fail? When I had a recorder without hard drive I would record an episode and then the next day when trying to burn another episode to same disc would get an error sometimes. What brand of discs are you using?
I recorded all The Rifleman, Bat Masterson, Big Valley etc. on the very first rotation and no problem. Recorded a couple movies last month, no problem. Also recorded all the Amazing Stories movies off Encore Mystery past couple months no problem.