Weird problems with PC Drives

[pbush77]

I know about the issues some players can with with certain types of discs. That is, that some prefer +R and some prefer -R. My question relates to PC DVD-Rom drives... can the same thing happen? I have a dvd drive that refuses to read DVD-Rom booktype (which I understood was the same as retail so should have no problems) when I burn to that standard.

The big problem is that I have friends who I have sent home-made dvd-sets to, and they complain of weird errors like skipping chapters, freezing picture, etc. - even on their PC drive! I don't see how the discs themselves could be faulty when they're brand new and I test them before they go out (it's a good brand, too). But I don't know what else to tell them if it won't even work properly on their PC.

Any ideas? I already tested the dvd ifo's thoroughly and don't get the same errors on my PC, so it's definitely something between the discs and their PC. Which, I don't know, so I'm asking.

[redwudz]

Generally, PC DVD ROMs will play just about anything. The first thing that would come under suspicion is your media. Have you tried other brands? Then it would be your burning drive and your burning software. After that is the process or software for encoding and authoring.

Since you haven't filled in your computer details, no one has any idea what OS or setup you have.

[pbush77]

I appreciate the reply. It could be the media, I suppose, or the dvd burner. I thought the dvd drives could play anything so it's so weird, but the drive I have that refuses to play dvd-rom format... well, that's just nuts.

Anyway, I use Velocity disks which I checked once to find the real brand and forget which. I'll look it up. They were DVD-R (the ones that gave errors)... even though I usually don't use those kinds of discs.

I have 2 dvd burner drives, the NEC 3500AG (or something like that) and a Liteon drive. I'd have to look up the number but it has a good reputation according to the firmware forums. The NEC is the one that can burn to DVD-Rom booktype, but those discs will then not read in the Liteon.

Burning software is Nero, latest version. Shouldn't have any problems there as far as I know. I used TMPGEnc DVD Author to do the discs, but I cannot find any errors with the authored files on my hard drive, so it must be related to the media somehow. It's just that this Liteon refusing to play DVD-Rom has thrown me for a loop and made me wonder if my friend's drive could have issues with DVD-R - even though I'd never heard of that.

Could it have anything to do with his codecs? I know it's just MPEG2 standard dvd so it shouldn't, but could it?

[redwudz]

It is possible that he has a codec problem. Have him download VLC media player. It uses internal codecs and will play about anything.