Burning sample PAL SVCD fails

[Foggy]

I'm not having a whole heap of luck burning SVCDs (or VCDs for that matter), and I hope someone can help.

I think the problem is possibly to do with my burner which is an OEMed LG GCE-8481b with firmware 1.07 (packaged with a HP EVO d330, running Windows XP Pro).

Or it could be CDRDAO, or the way I'm using it.

Summary of what I've been attempting:

1) Downloaded sample PAL SVCD image from this site
2) Used CDRDAO to burn the image:

cdrdao write --device 3,0,0 --driver generic-mmc --speed 4 filename.cue

The resulting SVCD is not playable on my DVD player (Rotel 985), even though the manual says I should be able to.

Nor can I play the SVCD on my PC. When I insert the SVCD, WMP launches and says it can't find the ClassFactory. WinAmp just sits there looking at me.

I can't play the MPG file that is on the SVCD (by double-clicking in Explorer), since I assume the burning process (ie, the mode) has messed with the format of the original MPG. However, if I use IsoBuster to "Extract raw but convert to user data", the resulting MPG plays fine in WMP or WinAmp (ie, I THINK I've got my MPEG-2 codecs sorted out).

Can anyone give me some pointers? Is it simply that my burner won't burn SVCDs, or is it not supported by CDRDAO? I haven't tried any other burning programs so far, but I have tried homegrown SVCDs and VCDs, messing with CDRDAO write option bits, extracting the MPG from the sample SVCD and creating my own images (using VCDImager), using CDRDAO's generic-mmc-raw driver... After several nights frustration, I'm now at a bit of a loss.

Any pointers/advice appreciated.

Cheers, Iain

[Cobra]

All CD writers will support all formats - they don't have anything to do with the final disc, they just write the ones and zeroes where they are told to.

I haven't ever used CDRDAO before, so I can't tell you what's wrong. Give CDRWin or Nero a shot and see how it works.

As far as players go, try using a DVD player such as PowerDVD. If you want to use WMP to play it, and you don't have a DVD playback software on your PC, try installing this:

https://www.videohelp.com/tools?tool=323#comments

This will allow WMP to play an SVCD, since SVCDs use MPEG2 video.

Hope this helps,

CobraDMX