Optorite DD0203 DVD-R problems

[yelloguy]

I am having problems burning DVD-R media with this drive. I have tried cheapo KHypermedia and excellent Ritek Grade A G04 media but my standalone DVD player is unable to read the disks. I have tried three other standalone DVD players and they rejected the disks as well.

My firmware is the latest 2.30.

I have searched these forums and came across some other people having issues with this burner (with only minus R media). Problem is, their issues were resolved with an older firmware released and mine is already higher than theirs. And they are mostly talking about the issues reading the disks in PC drives. My issues are concerning standalone players.

So, anyone has a surefire way to fix this? Like burning Track-at-once and leaving the session open? Any help will be appreciated.

I am using the same process/tools for burning +R disks and they are recognized by the DVD player in question.

Thanks.

[AdamRA4]

I would stick with the +R if they work for you. I know that my Pioneer had a firmware flasher that I could flash back to the lowest Firmware then reflash it to what I wanted, but I dont know if they have one for your burner. But keep looking and good luck with it. Hope that Helps.

[vhelp]

Its my belief that if you dont' look for a DVD players of today's features,
and are gearing towards to past DVD player, (ie, Apex AD-1500) you'll
probably have some issues. I can play some disks in this player, but not
all.

My point...

But, in todays players usually indicate what types of media it players. Some
examples +R/-R, +RW/-RW etc etc.

The Apex AD-1500 is considered old, and my box did not say +R or -R
compatible.. other than VCD/SVCD/DVD etc. So, under these surcumstances,
you have to hit or miss yours through trial and error.

My DVD burner is by OptoRite (DD0201) and my firstmware (old 2.17) to
now 2.30 !!

It may be the brand of disks you are using too.

-vhelp

[MOVIEGEEK]

Try DVD+R.
I have a DD0203 but now it's collecting dust in my closet(along with the skeletons :P ),I was also having problems with playback so I bought a BenQ DW800A and now all is well.

Good Luck

[timmyp]

What software are you using to burn the disks? Nero? RecordNow? Roxio? etc...

[indolikaa]

I own the Optorite DD0203 and it will burn anything. And do it correctly. And produce discs that will playback on any machine. Even DVD-R. Especially DVD-R.

Generally speaking, I use Taiyo Yuden DVD-R discs.
I use DVD-lab to author and burn my DVDs.
I am currently flashed to firmware v2.30.

That's about all I can offer. I wouldn't be surprised if the Khypermedia is causing you problems. I would be somewhat surprised if the Riteks were.

[vhelp]

Just for an FYI.. I'm using ifoEDIT, manual mode encoding method.

So far, I have no issues w/ my aspect ratio or quality for that matter.
I'm a happy camper as you can see, after messing w/ ifoEdit for a while now.

I also found there is a cli version of it (very hard to find) So, I'm gonna
write a front end to it so that all I gotta do is drag 'n drop my file and let it
auto pick-up the .mp2 file, since it authors these two (though not in it's
drop down list) Hopefully, I'll post the app, if I get finished w/ it :P freeware
of couse :P anyways...

As I was saying.., I'm using TDK +RW disks, and so far, I've burn the same
disk over and over, at least a undred times, and still not a single glitch :P
And this plays in my Durabrand SSS w/ DVD Player STS75E perfectly.

I think that it's also the "authoring" app that matters too, in addition to the
disks and the dvd player.

My "repeated" authoring process is thus..

* encode in TMPG
* ifoEdit to VOB file (video_ts folder)
* burn w/ Nero v5.5.10.45 bundle - came w/ my OptoRite (DD0201)
...and never a hitch :P

I do know that the -R or +R disks (one of them) works in my Apex AD-1500.

-vhelp

[APVM]

Its my belief that if you dont' look for a DVD players of today's features,
and are gearing towards to past DVD player, (ie, Apex AD-1500) you'll
probably have some issues. I can play some disks in this player, but not
all.

My point...

But, in todays players usually indicate what types of media it players. Some
examples +R/-R, +RW/-RW etc etc.

The Apex AD-1500 is considered old, and my box did not say +R or -R
compatible.. other than VCD/SVCD/DVD etc. So, under these surcumstances,
you have to hit or miss yours through trial and error.

My DVD burner is by OptoRite (DD0201) and my firstmware (old 2.17) to
now 2.30 !!

It may be the brand of disks you are using too.

-vhelp

I have the Apex 1500 too and I have the LG 4040, the Apex plays all the -R and +R I put to it. One thing I notice is sometimes after playing a -r disk, if I put it a +r, the Apex won't read it but after I power off/on the unit, it will read them.

[yelloguy]

Thanks for all the replies. Once again, the issue I am having is with -R media only. +R burns and plays perfectly. It cannot be the quality of the media because I have tried Ritek G04 grade A too. And it is not just my player because I have tried it in two other standalone players. Otherwise I would have bought a more forgiving player.

I have read another thread on this subject and I am pretty sure it is the burner not burning the -R media properly. Some people have had success leaving the session open and creating a multisession disk. I do not have Nero DVD burner (I have Nero 5 that came with my CD burner so it refuses to recognize the DVD burner) and my Pinnacle software does not have settings for leaving the session open and burning a multisession disk so I cannot try that fix. And anyway, people used this fix to make their PC DVD burners recognize the disks. My PC and Laptop DVD burners already recognize and play them. So this may not even be a fix for my problems. But what the heck...

I am downloading "burn at once" and "DVD Pro" to try this. Will post back the results. Thanks to all those who responded and not to sound ungrateful or anything, but if you do not have any experience with burning and playing -R in this burner and have only burned +R's, please don't post saying how great this burner is. Thanks.

Sticking with +R looks like my only hope now, but (1) my friends cannot play +R's and (2) it kills me to think that paid for the dual format burner.

[AdamRA4]

it kills me to think that paid for the dual format burner.

Most are becoming Dual Format to eliminate the format wars.

[vhelp]

@ APVM,

You're right, I've often had to resort to this routine :P


yelloguy,

don't dispare too much (leave that ta me, ..I do it lots of times :P )
anyways..

Do you have a DVD media identifier that you can use, to identify the brand
of disks you may have. Maybe you can narrow down by the id key.. and
perhaps track it down to a store or on-line, where you got.., consiquentially
shoping elsewhere's.. just a thought.. anyways..

Identifying my TDK -R (2x speed) media ...

I'm using DVD Identifier v3.2 Build#2 and it read my TDK disk as a:

* TDKG02..000000

If you don't know what this app is all about, I'm sure others here can explain
the nature of it better than I can.

By the way, I did test this disk out again, a moment ago. Did a quick burn
to -R disk and it burned w/out a hitch, and played perfectly on my AD-1500.

This disk spindle set (15pk) I purchased at Staples.
-vhelp

[timmyp]

yelloguy:

I have burned many DVD-R's with my Optorite burner, in fact I use DVD-R almost exclusively.

Again, which burning program are you using? If it is Nero 5, as you alluded to, this could be your problem.

One thing you could try is to use DVD Decrypter to burn an .iso image and see if it plays in your standalone. Otherwise, you have a good idea there to try a couple other burning programs.

[fritzi93]

It's doubtful the methods you're planning will work. You haven't given much detail on your burning procedure(s)/software, which is the likely culprit. Your burner's firmware version should be fine.

Try this, it should help you pinpoint the difficulty:

For backup requiring no compression, rip as ISO image in DVDDecrypter and burn with DVDDecrypter.

If the movie needs shrinking, rip and compress with DVDShrink, convert the output to ISO image in IMGTool Classic, and burn with DVDDecryptor. All freeware.

If the above fails, odds are nothing else will work either. Then it's time to suspect a hardware problem, in either the player or the burner.

[fritzi93]

Rats! Timmy beat me to it! :P

[Roderz]

Have a look at this thread on nero's setting + optorite --
https://www.videohelp.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=179049

Havent used the media you mention but been uning bulkpaq orange -R(princo!), ritek g4's and TY's without a prob!

[yelloguy]

SUCCESS!!

I used SmartRipper to rip, then DVDshirnk to compress and finally, the brand new burn-at-once software to burn. It had a checkbox for multisession and I checked it to create a multisession DVD. It played with a couple of hicupps. (DVD player played for a minute, then showed disc error. A simple eject, insert and play made it accept the disc and play it flawlessly then onwards). I am going to do some checking on the disk before I start doing this for other movies, but I think the software was the culprit.

For the curious, my routine was (1) DVDShrink to rip and shrink and (2) Pinnacle Instant Disk to burn the VIDEO_TS folder. This worked for Optodisk brand DVD+R and TDK brand DVD+R media. Same procedure did not work for KHypermedia DVD-R and Ritek DVD-R.

Now the only thing left for me to do is to try this several times before declaring the issue closed. Thanks for all the suggestions once again.

[timmyp]

I think you definately want to burn a closed session. Don't use multisession for a DVD-Video.

[APVM]

vhelp

about the Apex 1500, did you notice that you can't play the latter part of a movie or whatever with CDRW 80 min disk, ok with CDR-80 or CDRW-74 but not CDRW 80?

[vhelp]

No. I never noticed it. Then, maybe it's because I'm always splitting not
so close to the end :P ..for margin sake. I'm very picky you know. But,
now I'm on to bigger and better game :P DVD's hehe..

That's the thing about DVD.. it's a hit or miss w/ your experience.
* dvd player
* author app
* burner ap
* firmware
* dvd disk medias/brands
* course, you skills/techniques

The top four are the major causes for something to not work in the end.
Did I miss anything ??

-vhelp

[yelloguy]

SIGH!! More problems!

Nothing works anymore. I installed Nero 6 and tried burning a new Imation DVD-R using it. Nero hanged twice. So I gave up on it and downloaded ImgTools to create an ISO image. Then I burned the image using DVD Decryptor. But guess what, it would not play in my DVD Player

So I go back to my partially working process and burn a new DVD-R using Burn-at-once. No go! I think I got lucky with that one disk before. Everytime, it plays for about 3 seconds and then gives a disk error. If I press menu during those three seconds, it takes me to menu and plays fine there onwards. So it *is* screwed up, just not completely.

So I roll back a step further and try an Imation DVD *PLUS* R and used the oldest process that has worked flawlessly with my DVD burner, Optodisk DVD+R and my player. Even that does not work for me any longer. I am at my wits end. I don't know what to do. I feel like ripping this stupid DVD burner out of my PC and throwing it out of the window.

Who else thinks that I would be better off buying a Pioneer or NEC burner and getting rid of this one?

[vhelp]

@ yello,

don't despare. Like I've said before, I've ben there.

I just re-read your post above a few, and noticed that you are not encoding
your source, rather you are parsing it through the use of all those apps you
mentioned. I'm thinking that this is an area that is causing you some flaw.

How about doing a test...

Do the old tried and true method, rip/encode/author and burn.
* Rip your dvd
* encode a small 1min section to DVD specs.
* Author to VOB/video_ts
* burn

Then see how that goes. If it passes, then it must be the methods you laid
out above, in your previous post using dvdshrink etc.

Yeah, it might be that you have to do something differently in your given
setup. Yeah, go the extra mile and test this scenario out before you return
your burner.

-vhelp

[yelloguy]

Thanks vhelp for the help.

After making that post, I tried [yet] another DVD+R using Nero 6 and it burned perfectly. Flawless playback in the standalone and perfect surface scan using Nero's tool. It is an Imation DVD+R burned at 4x.

The only "fix" I did before trying this was to update my ASPI layer because Nero's (some) tool told me that System ASPI was corrupt (but Nero ASPI was fine). So I downloaded ForceASPI and "updated" my corrupt 4.71 ASPI to 4.60. Nero's tool showed it as good afterwards. And of course Nero burned the DVD+R flawlessly (it should not have any relation with the system ASPI, BTW, since Nero uses its own and that was showing as correctly installed anyways.)

So, encouraged by this, I tried Nero 6 on a DVD MINUS R (Imation max 2x speed for -R's). But this time, Nero hanged again. So that makes it 3 hangs out of 3 for burning Imation -R's in Nero6. And this happens before it starts burning so no coasters, thankfully.

[I have a feeling that Nero would do a good job of burning -R once it gets past its problems]

And in "other" news, I heard back from Optorite support today and here is what they had to say:

Hello,

For DVD-R media that do not work on the standalone players, try not finalizing the disc or closing the session.

Thank you,
OptoRite Support

But I think only Nero would let me do this and Nero is hanging with Imation -R's. So tonight I am going to try Ritek -R in Nero and leave the session/disc open. Hopefully, there would be a way for me to close the session if that does not work so I can try both options and make only one coaster. (Ritek is expensive!)

As for what you said, IFOtool seems like a tough one to learn but I will give it a shot afterwards (maybe this weekend!) Still I don't understand what that will give me because I don't think authoring is questionable here. It does work with +R (hit and miss) but not with -R (almost gauranteed a miss.)

I think its time for me to stock up on Imation +R's (and stick with those). And maybe sell this burner at the first opportunity, hehe.

Meanwhile, I read your posts above and it looks like you have never (for sure) tried a -R with your 0201. Could you do that and post back the results?

Take care.

[vhelp]

yello,

Actually, I did :P

It works fine. But, it's the actual DVD player that hits or misses

I have several brands of -R 's on hand. I'd hate to waist them, after burning
many coasters in my first steps of trial 'n error stages, cause I was a newbie
to the DVD scene. So, that's why I invested in the headackes using the
+RW disks instead, so that when I was sure of the results/quality of my
projects, I could finally author them to -R or +R disks :P

As I mentioned above, I have burned to a sing +RW disk (the same, mind
you) countless times, and in each instance, not a hint of issue. I'm still
using that same +RW disk as we speak :P Yeah, I've ben burning to this
same disk for the last week, LOL - - No need for me to pop in another
one, though I'm thinking it would be quicker in my mutli-processes of:

* encode short 1 minut'ers
* author to video_ts (using ifoEdit - really is great for this)
* burn, using Nero 5 (cam w/ my OptoRite)
* play in my Durabrand SSS w/ DVD Player STS75E perfectly, every time.
.
.
* while that is going, I quickly pop in a prev test +RW disk, reformat it,
...using the quick format option, and repeat the process.

The above makes a great process of elimination steps to follow :P


Some other notes of interest. . .

* FujiFilm DVD+R ?x disk, plays in my STS75E and AD-1500.
* TDK DVD-R 2x disk, plays in my STS75E and AD-1500.
* TDK DVD+RW 2.4x disks plays in my STS75E, but not in my AD-1500.

I have other brands that I didn't quite test yet, but I'm not at that stage.
They are new disks from CompUSA brand, (el-cheepo's) I'm hoping that
they will work, ..soon as I get there.

Sorry for all the smiles, but I've ben having great success thus far.
-vhelp

[yelloguy]

Thanks and well, all the more success to you! I don't mind the smilies at all. At least some one is smiling

I am not sure if a working +RW would gaurantee a working +R (or -R) because unlike CD, I would not be making an exact copy. It would help in the cases where I am authoring a disk to verify that the authoring software created the correct structure or menu links and stuff. But in case of a movie backup, I already know that part is right. So I don't see why I would be better off burning a +RW and (say if) it plays well, then I burn a (say) -R using the same software and procedure and what if the -R does not play? Or if Nero still hangs? What did the experiment buy me then?

Know what I mean?

[vhelp]

sorry guy,

regarding above, I was just sharing a piece of my process w/ you all here,
and must've gone off track maybe. Anyways..

-vhelp

[gadgetguy]

You identified your firmware as 2.30. Did it come that way or did you upgrade it? I had a problem upgrading my firmware. I would go through the upgrade procedure and it would appear to upgrade ok, no errors reported. If fact, it said that I had successfully upgraded, but it didn't. When I checked the firmware version it still showed 2.10. I had to reboot to a win98 DOS prompt to upgrade the firmware, (I run Win2000). I have successfully burned 5 -R's, (and no coasters), without fail that play in all of my players (computer and desktops).

[TerryG]

Just burned a Ritek DVD-R G04 printable at 4x with Optorite DD0203 (FW 1.17, I know, I know) and Ulead DVD Movie Factory 2 LE. I plays with no problems on 2 RCA DVD players. I have never had a problem with Ulead Movie Factory 2, but the different versions of Nero that I have used sometimes gives me problems.

[yelloguy]

Thanks gadgetguy and TerryG.

gg: My upgrade was successful. It shows up as 2.30 in all the software and utilities that can identify my burner.

TG: I have UleadDVD Movie Factory LE and have used it to burn an authored DVD (with my home videos) successfully but I used DVD+R that time. Problem is, I do not think it can be used to burn a movie backup. Isn't that right?

Do you mind sharing the settings (in DVD MF) you used for -R? Did you leave the session open or something?