AV480 Intermittent Recording problems

[JT101]

Hi all

I have an AV480, and just recently it has started developing common faults that prevent me recording simple video from a VCR.

The first few I did worked fine, recording using the S-video two audio leads into a SCART connector into the back of the VCR. But after about 5 recordings, every recording I made gave me the message "cannot play video! please check". It was also very slow at bringing up the video on the Archos display when connected. I tried it with the yellow video cable without the s-video, and the same problem.

The only success I did have was to split the recording into two shorter sessions. But eventually, even the shorter recordings had the same problem.

I switched VCR's and the same problem except now it's worse. I cannot even record anything. It just sits in the "detecting video" mode. Yet if I switch off the VCR, it has no problem picking up and recording the TV signal. I also have two TV docking stations which I have tried with the same problem. Though just as I switch to video recording mode, the video image flashes up for a second and then it goes back to "detecting video". Very strange

So my guess is, the VCR, leads and docking station are fine. I've also tried changing the input settings to no avail. It must be the player. I formatted the drive, and installed the latest firmware, but it's still doing it.

I'm at a loss. Can anyone make any recommendations?

Thanks in advance