I'm now Officially Frustrated - Ritek G04 & Epson R200

[nickelzy]

Alright, I started about 2 months ago copying movies. In the beginning I had several problems with discs skipping/stuttering/freezing. After I stopped using sticky labels and stopped using Nero and went with CopytoDVD I've been kicking butt (the last 80 movies I haven't had a single coaster). And, contrary to what some people on this forum advise, I was using Memorex DVD+R media (both Ricoh and CMC).

That was then, this is now... since I really like the look of professional labels on my discs rather than using a sharpe, I bought an Epson R200 and a couple of 50 pack Ritek G04 DVD-R spindles from Rima.com. I started using the discs and printer today and was absolutely blown away by the look and quality of the labels - they look even better than some of my originals - unbelievable! However, after making 14 movies today, I just went through each to test in my dvd player and I was shocked to find out that out of the 14, only 5 work perfectly. 6 of them don't even load in my player - my dvd player spits them back out and gives me an "unreadable" error message, and 3 sort of limp along.

I thought at first that the R200 printer was causing my problems, but I've tried burning a few before printing on them, and I'm getting the same problem. What the heck is going on? This is VERY frustrating because my Memorex DVD+R media (which many refer to as second or third class media) was working fine for me, and I thought I was upgrading my media by using Ritek G04 DVD-R's.

Any thoughts on my predicament? I hate the thought of returning my R200 printer and getting rid of the Ritek media because the discs look unbelievable (but after all of the problems I'm having, I may just cut my losses and go back to my Memorex DVD+Rs and my ole trusty Sharpe pen).

By the way... I just opened up the other 50 pack spindle and am going to give a few of these discs a try to determine if possibly the first spindle was just a very bad batch of discs. I'll post my results after I burn a few movies.

[xcool]

Alright, I started about 2 months ago copying movies. In the beginning I had several problems with discs skipping/stuttering/freezing. After I stopped using sticky labels and stopped using Nero and went with CopytoDVD I've been kicking butt (the last 80 movies I haven't had a single coaster). And, contrary to what some people on this forum advise, I was using Memorex DVD+R media (both Ricoh and CMC).

That was then, this is now... since I really like the look of professional labels on my discs rather than using a sharpe, I bought an Epson R200 and a couple of 50 pack Ritek G04 DVD-R spindles from Rima.com. I started using the discs and printer today and was absolutely blown away by the look and quality of the labels - they look even better than some of my originals - unbelievable! However, after making 14 movies today, I just went through each to test in my dvd player and I was shocked to find out that out of the 14, only 5 work perfectly. 6 of them don't even load in my player - my dvd player spits them back out and gives me an "unreadable" error message, and 3 sort of limp along.

I thought at first that the R200 printer was causing my problems, but I've tried burning a few before printing on them, and I'm getting the same problem. What the heck is going on? This is VERY frustrating because my Memorex DVD+R media (which many refer to as second or third class media) was working fine for me, and I thought I was upgrading my media by using Ritek G04 DVD-R's.

Any thoughts on my predicament? I hate the thought of returning my R200 printer and getting rid of the Ritek media because the discs look unbelievable (but after all of the problems I'm having, I may just cut my losses and go back to my Memorex DVD+Rs and my ole trusty Sharpe pen).

By the way... I just opened up the other 50 pack spindle and am going to give a few of these discs a try to determine if possibly the first spindle was just a very bad batch of discs. I'll post my results after I burn a few movies.

Thanks for sharing the experience. I was considered venturing into that Epson200 &printable disc stuffs. Now I will stay with my Sharpie and Memorex &Imation 4X +R.

[nickelzy]

Well, happy to say that at least my problems aren't the result of the Epson R200. The last few discs that I've burned I didn't print on, and same problem with not playing in my dvd player. Additionally, the second 50 pack spindle is giving me the same problem so who knows what the heck is going on??

Now the test will be how rima.com will handle this - I'm going to try and return the discs on Monday (hopefully they will honor my return). What I'm not sure about is whether I should try another batch of Ritek G04's or if I should try and find another inkjet printable media to use instead.

[nickelzy]

XCool - like I stated before, I've determined that my problems aren't the result of the R200 - it's definitely a media problem. The R200 rocks and is why I'm so disappointed because I now have almost 100 Ritek G04's that won't work for me. I think I'll probably try another inkjet printable media and give that a try. I don't know, I'm still confused by all of this! The one thing I do know is that I want to find some inkjet printable media that will work for me because the labels are SWEET.

After reading all of the great reviews of TY media, and looking at the media on rima.com, maybe I'll just spend the extra bucks and get the best so that HOPEFULLY I can eliminate anymore problems! So I think on Monday I'll return my Ritek's for the following (of course I'll have to pay the difference, which will be about $60):

Taiyo Yuden DVD-R 4.7GB, 4X, White Printable, $1.58 ea., 100-Pack : $158

[iooi]

What burner are you using ???
Most likely a compatibility problem between burner and media. I have yet to find a player that dont like Riteks.....
I use a Pioneer 105 and Ritek Printables are just fine...

[bdgriff]

You didn't mention what burner you are using.???? If by chance it's a NEC 2500A, there are MANY reported problems with this burner and riteck G04 media. checkout cdfreaks.com/forums then the hardware forum, then NEC forum

[disturbed1]

You didn't mention what burner you are using.???? If by chance it's a NEC 2500A, there are MANY reported problems with this burner and riteck G04 media. checkout cdfreaks.com/forums then the hardware forum, then NEC forum

There's more than just the NEC 2500A. My 4 Pioneer A05s, don't like Ritek at all. My Toshiba SD-R5112s are pretty good with them though. But I too have read many compliants of G04s with the NEC 2500's.

Funny though, I took a batch of Ritek G04s to my friend's house, who also has an A05. Burnt just fine. Swapped out his A05, and tried 2 of mine. Didn't change the bad results I had at my house. My burners just don't like 'em.

Rima should take the return nicely. I've had to return something not to long ago. Emailed RMA, got my RMA #, shipped it off, had new stuff in about 4 days (West-East coast shipping).

[iooi]

My 4 Pioneer A05s, don't like Ritek at all. My Toshiba SD-R5112s are pretty good with them though. But I too have read many compliants of G04s with the NEC 2500's.

Funny though, I took a batch of Ritek G04s to my friend's house, who also has an A05. Burnt just fine. Swapped out his A05, and tried 2 of mine. Didn't change the bad results I had at my house. My burners just don't like 'em.
.

Have you changed the firmware or anything like that ?

[disturbed1]

2 came with 1.2x updated to 1.30. My other 2 and my friend's came with 1.30.

All are at 1.33 now, and when we tested.

At 1.2x FW I managed to get a few decent burns, but not anything that's high quality, and prompted me to find other 4x media.

I just sold the remaining G04s (60) to him for $40. I managed to KProbe 10 of his burns, almost as good as my TY burns. Damn close. Makes me

My first 2 were bought 3 months apart, 4-5 months later I bought the other at the same time from a different place. His was bought around the same time as my second to from somewhere else. (confused yet ) Out of 6 A05's only 2 were produced and bought at a close time. I have the oldest and the newest of the A05s.

[Gregg]

Hi,

I ordered more than 1000 pcs of Ritek G04 Printables from Rima over the last 5 months and I haven't had problems like you describe. There were some discs with physical damage /20 or 30/ which I threw away but that's acceptable for me. I'm burning these with Pioneer DVR106D and Sony DRU500AX. All of the discs burn at 4X on the Pioneer. Most of them burn at 2X on the Sony and only some of them burn at 4X.
I hope this helps.

Enjoy!

[Bob W]

I have used 200 of these 4x DVD-R inkjet printable disc http://www.yesbuy.net/prinwhitinpr.html without a single bad disc. I burn them either on my Sony DRU500ax or Pioneer 105 burner. My software for burning is RecordNow Max and I print onto the media with an Epson 900.

[jaxxboss]

I got to chime in here as well. I have been using the memorex +R and -R printables ($99.99-Amazon) and burn with a Benq DW800A at 8x, a HP300i 4x and a Liteon 400D 4x. Have not had one coaster out of 200 of the memorex ( and I HATE memorex!) that should tell you something.
My R200 prints em great and not a problem playing on the PS2, jvc or Philips player.

Try these mems, better price, even better than the Princo when u consider free shipping.

[nickelzy]

I'm using a Digital Research 8x burner. Of the 20 discs that I burned, only 4 play fine. Man is this frustrating. Just when I thought I was upgrading my media (from Memorex to Ritek) this happens. I guess this just goes to show, what works for one may not work for another.

Do you guys think it's worth the extra dough to spend on the TY discs (100 for $158) or since Memorex seemed to work for me before, should I just go with the 100 for $100 at amazon? If it wasn't for the fact that I'm now looking for printable media, I'd just stick with my Memorex that I've been using. However, since I now have to switch, I'm wondering what I ought to do. Also, the only thing I've used before is DVD+R, and the Ritek G04's are DVD-R, so I'm also wondering if I ought to just stick with +R media. My burner is a dual burner so SHOULD accomodate either.

[jawgee]

I've given up on the printable Ritek G04s for now. I burned through a spindle of 25 & only got two working discs. Tried all sorts of FW, shrinking SW, & burning SW on three different burners (Optorite 201, Liteon 411S, NEC 2500A) all with the same results: successful burns, but unplayable discs from middle to the end of the movies. Tried playback on 3 console DVDs & playback on my DVD burners with PowerDVD & WinDVD with varying degrees of playback failure, but failure nonetheless.

Anyway, since switching over to the 4X BeAll white printable DVD-Rs from Meritline, I've been a very happy camper. They allow printing to the hub, so in that aspect, they're better than the Riteks & they also playback in all my DVD players (including my PS2!!!) without any skipping, etc. They are a bit more expensive than the Ritek G04s, but cheaper than the TYs & Verbatim discs. I've been eyeing the ProDisc silver printable 4X DVD-Rs at supermediastore since they're cheaper than the BeAlls & I've read that they produce a better print than the white printable discs. I may stick with the BeAlls if I can get my hands on the new 2500A FW that Herrie's working on that supposedly allows 8X burning with the BeAll discs. I've been printing with an Epson R300, btw.

Good luck,
jawgee

[nickelzy]

After completely scouring my town, I found one store that had some Memorex DVD+R and DVD-R printables (but only in 100 packs). I'm so amped to get this whole thing worked out that I went ahead and bought the +R's since all of the Memorex DVD+R's that I've used before have treated me very well. As a bonus, when I got home I learned via DVDInfoPro that they are Ricohs. So, HOPEFULLY they will work where my Riteks won't. I'm burning one right now and will try several more before I report back. If they work (which I'm thinking they will since I've used a lot of Memorex media before successfully) the task will get rima.com to issue me a refund for my opened package of Riteks. I wonder what they will do (I've used about 30 in an effort to try and get things to work).

I'll post back after I give my Memorex a try.


By the way...

Jaxxboss -

The Memorex printables that you bought from Amazon - are they Ricoh's? If the Memorex that I bought today work ok, then I'll order some more from Amazon (provided that they are Ricoh). Office Max Memorex printables are Ricohs, but they are also $140 (but today I was desperate so I paid the extra cash - but for my next batch I won't do so and am hoping Amazon has the Ricohs)

[The Stinger]

I find that burning my Ritek G04s' at a 4x speed with a 8x burner seems to work well. But if your dvd player isn't reading them, you may be using a wrong format when burning your discs. I had the same issues when I started backing up my DVDs. My Toshiba stand alone would not, and still does not like the DVD-Video format. I have to use the DVD-Rom (UDF). I don't know if that is the issue you are seeing but it is worth looking into. Other than that, I have never had issues with Riteks. (knock on wood)....

[jaxxboss]

nickelzy
Yes, the +R printables from memorex are indeed ricoh discs. There have been numerous threads regarding these that I have posted in along with others. They are sweet! Amazon has em for $99.99 and the free shipping takes about 3 - 4 days. Ive seen the ones in the stores at Office Max for that price u mentioned, as well as a lil higher at compusa, same 100 pack spindle. What a rip off. Get em at amazon and just wait a few days, u will be pleased.

[jaxxboss]

Also, they burn at 8x

[nickelzy]

Thanks Jaxxboss - the only reason I bought them today at Office Max was because I've got a ton of DVD's that I need to do this weekend. However, I need another 100 so I'll probably place an order on Monday from Amazon (I like that price!).

Oh by the way, as you can probably guess, the Memorex so far are doing great! I've burned 8 movies and all work fine (unlike my Riteks). Now, I just hope that rima.com will take the opened pack back and give me either a refund or exchange! I'm a happy camper again with my Memorex DVD+R's - as for Ritek, my burner has seen the last of them!

[Guest]

You didn't mention what burner you are using.???? If by chance it's a NEC 2500A, there are MANY reported problems with this burner and riteck G04 media. checkout cdfreaks.com/forums then the hardware forum, then NEC forum

There's more than just the NEC 2500A. My 4 Pioneer A05s, don't like Ritek at all. My Toshiba SD-R5112s are pretty good with them though. But I too have read many compliants of G04s with the NEC 2500's.

Funny though, I took a batch of Ritek G04s to my friend's house, who also has an A05. Burnt just fine. Swapped out his A05, and tried 2 of mine. Didn't change the bad results I had at my house. My burners just don't like 'em.

Rima should take the return nicely. I've had to return something not to long ago. Emailed RMA, got my RMA #, shipped it off, had new stuff in about 4 days (West-East coast shipping).

Any known compatability issues with the Nec 1300-a?
I have a spindle on these on the way from rima.com

[disturbed1]

NEC says that the only approved Ritek media is L19.

L19 is the serial listed on the tiny text around the hub (something like H4-3L19305164889D00)

H is the factory, 4 is the floor, 3 is the line. I think 30516 is the date code 2003/05/16. BTW, this was the code from a coaster :P

L19 is the dye type, so all G04 should be L19.


Try Herries 108v4B firmware with your NEC1300.

Also note that there are 3 or more Ritek G04 formula variations.

00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 35 0E 0B
and
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 65 0E 0B

are reported to be both good with the 2500 and 1300

while
00 42 00 00 01 40 C1 FD 9E D8 52 00 02 76 0E 14

is said to cause problems, and may not even load in the 1300.


Most of the problems are considered to be drive/firmware problems. BJ_M who has great results with Ritek uses hacked firmware on his Pioneer drives. I have horrible luck, and use official Pioneer firmware.

Perhaps later this week I'll order a couple hundred to check out. I also have a new NEC 2500 which should be here Tues or Wed.

99% of the above information came from CDFreaks forum and rpc1 forum

[Guest]

NEC says that the only approved Ritek media is L19.



Try Herries 108v4B firmware with your NEC1300.




Most of the problems are considered to be drive/firmware problems. BJ_M who has great results with Ritek uses hacked firmware on his Pioneer drives. I have horrible luck, and use official Pioneer firmware.

[/i][/size]

Herries 108v4B firmware - Where can I find it? Google turned up nada.
I couldn't find it at cdfreaks either.

Disturbed 1,in regards to the L19 compatability, is that for dvd+r?
cd freaks states the only ritech dvd+r will work with the nec 1300. I have 50 dvd-r on the way. Should I return these?

[ny888]

I've burnt about 40 Ritek Printable DVD-R 4x and only had one disc that wouldn't play in my standalone Panasonic DVD player. Plus I use the R300 printer that works great with these discs.

It was because I was using a CBR of 8000. When I lowered the bit rate, everything is fine.

What bit rate are you using to burn and is it CBR or VBR ?

[SunMaster]

Anyone able to "decode" this serial ? It's from a Datasafe Ritek R03 disk.



(my scanner is very old, no whining please )

[Guest]

NEC says that the only approved Ritek media is L19.



Try Herries 108v4B firmware with your NEC1300.




Most of the problems are considered to be drive/firmware problems. BJ_M who has great results with Ritek uses hacked firmware on his Pioneer drives. I have horrible luck, and use official Pioneer firmware.

[/i][/size]

Herries 108v4B firmware - Where can I find it? Google turned up nada.
I couldn't find it at cdfreaks either.

Disturbed 1,in regards to the L19 compatability, is that for dvd+r?
cd freaks states the only ritech dvd+r will work with the nec 1300. I have 50 dvd-r on the way. Should I return these?

Disturbed,disreqard my last post. Found what I needed.Thanks.

[disturbed1]

L19 is for 4x Ritek DVD-R media. It's from the NEC site for supported media.

The NEC 1300 is a dual format burner?

BTW for others, the herries firmware is a hacked/patched firmware for the NEC drives. He has also done great work on the NEC2500 (like >NIL with the Pioneer drives).

[Guest]

[quote="disturbed1"]L19 is for 4x Ritek DVD-R media. It's from the NEC site for supported media.

The NEC 1300 is a dual format burner?

quote]
Thanks

You mean dvd+r/dvd+rw/dvd-r/dvd-rw?Right?
It is.


Do you have the link on the nec site,I couldn't find it on their site.

[disturbed1]

No, L19 is the dye code DVD-R 4x media. <- or were you just saying it is dual format?

http://www.nec.co.uk/DVDRW_ND2500.aspx

Which seems to be down, so here is a snap shot of the PDF

[Guest]

No, L19 is the dye code DVD-R 4x media. <- or were you just saying it is dual format?

http://www.nec.co.uk/DVDRW_ND2500.aspx

Which seems to be down, so here is a snap shot of the PDF

Thanks.Found it.
http://www.nec.co.uk/productfile.asp?id=207

I think I'll give them a go.