I have a DVR from my cable company which I recently replaced. I have the cable coming to the DVR, then out to my RCA DVD recorder, then out from the DVD to my Vizio TV. I have an HDMI cable connection between the TV and the DVR. The able works perfectly. The DVD Recorder works perfectly too, but I have black screen on my TV when I put a disk in. What do I press to see the DVD?

its like the problem come from your dvd/vcr not from your tv, change with another dvd

420.24.7 WORKS EVERY TIME.

If you own a Digital Video Recorder, such as TiVo, or a DVR from a Cable or Satellite provider, then you know you can record to the device's hard drive to view TV shows at a later time, much like the old VCR. However, saving those TV shows becomes difficult as the Hard Drive starts to fill up. The answer to saving your shows is to record them to DVD! This can be accomplished easily by hooking up a DVD Recorder to your DVR
Here's How:

1. 1)record a TV show on your DVR that you want to save to DVD!
2. 2)Turn on the DVR, DVD Recorder and the TV that the DVD Recorder is connected to. In my case, I have my Samsung DVD Recorder (no hard drive) hooked up to my TV via an RCA Audio/Video cable from the rear outputs on the DVD Recorder to the rear RCA inputs on my TV. I use a seperate DVD Player for playing DVDs, but if you use your DVD Recorder as a player as well, use the best cable connections you can to connect to the TV. See the articleTypes of A/V Cables for more info.
3. 3)Connect an S-Video or RCA video cable and composite stereo cables (red and white RCA plugs) from the DVR to the inputs on your DVD Recorder. If your TV has Component inputs, connect the Component Out from the DVD Recorder to the Component In on the TV, otherwise you can use S-Video or Composite. You will still need to use RCA audio with your video connection.
4. 4)Change the input on your DVD Recorder to match the inputs you are using. Since I'm using the rear S-Video input, I change my input to "L1", which is the input for recording using the rear S-Video input. If I was recording using the front analog cables it would be "L2", the front Firewire input, "DV". The input select can typically be changed using the DVD Recorder remote.
5. further instructions continued in my next comment post please read.

What brand of DVD recorder? On my Panasonic, I use RCA cables to connect my camcorder to the yellow and white inputs on the front of the DVR. I have to press "input select" on the remote a few times until I get to L2, I think. This is a "line in" sort of setting and it directs the DVR to get its input from the RCA-style cables. Have your camcorder playing something you've recorded in its Video mode. If your TV is on the correct input (mine is called "Video 2", I think), you should see the camcorder image on your TV screen. Now, just rewind to the beginning of your camcorder tape. Insert a DVD-R disk (that's what mine takes) in your DVR. Hit Play on your camcorder and quickly press REC on the DVR remote. Let me know if this doesn't work.

most dvr units froim cable and satellite companies use a type of copy protection that does not allow you to copy programs to a disc. the cable company wont tell you this but they do and there isnt any way to work around it

I sent a solution to this already. If you did not receive please let me know. Thanks for using Fix Ya.

Your not going to be able to connect in series (not sure if thats your goal) since your limited by the type of connections you can use. Your receiver is going to have to be switched depeneding on what source you want to listen too. DVR, DVD, etc. HDMI is going to important for your TV connection. Radio Shack has cheap HDMI cables.
So... connect HDMI from DVR to HDTV this will give you sound and picture to TV. Connect DVR optical or coaxial ( RCA if you dont care about surround) to Receiver to give you DVR sound thru Receiver input.
Connect DVD to receiver via optical/coaxial/rca for DVD sound thru receiver (again RCA is not recommended for surround).
Connect Component video to HDTV(or HDMI if TV has second HDMI input) to give you video from DVD.
Connect Yellow video or S-video from DVR to DVD recorder input to allow recording from DVR. Also connect red/white audio to (same) DVD input.
That should cover it.

If your sat dvr is a High Defenition DVR their is a good chance this is being blocked from being copied because of the copyright protection of HDMI...tru to copy to your DVD using just the comosite outs of your sat box...the yellow cable and see if this fixes the problem.

Well, generally, you simply need a Cable of the RCA 3way A/V cable variety, usually with Red, Yellow & White RCA plugs on the end... there should be corresponding RCA Sockets on each machine.. Plug the leads in colour to colour, then insert tape in VCR and select the Auxiliary Input (Or whatever input it is actually called) to Record from... start "Recording" Then on the DVR start "Play" and ya should be all up & running. What I do first, is set it up on my TV first, using the RCA sockets, set it up so it is all playing clear picture etc.. then I connect up to the VCR. NB: There are "Other" types of "Inputs & Outputs" among them ones called "Composite Video" "S-VHS" "SCART" ALL of these have standard interconnect leads, so if on your machine you DO NOT have the RCA Sockets.. but have one of those "Other" simply procure a Male to Male Cable of that type & then simply substitute the alternate "Cable" for the "RCA" & the rest is the same.

Try using a different cable for starters, regular rca, another optical or coaxial. If the optical works, then its a cable problem. If the coaxial works(and another optical doesnt), then its a cable/jack problem. If the RCA works(and the rest don't), then its a problem with the digital output. Try blowing into the holes, and if nothing works and you can't find any other advice, contact Pioneer. Good luck