Costly lesson about not doing your homework about media

[Bullworth]

A couple of days ago I wanted to make a video from some sources I had backed up and when I put them it they would start to load but during playback would start to stutter and freeze. Tried to load into Decrypter and would usually stop at IFO 3 or 4 and finally report an error (sorry, too cryptic for details.
The discs in question were Prodics I initially bought since at the time there was little to go on about DVD media quality. Ran a few of the discs through Nero CD Speed and did a media scan. Holy crap! Each disc returned about 1500-3000 PI errors! I can't remember what brand the other discs were but some had the code MCC 01RG01 and others had a code like, Auvistar and seemed to just get worse each time. Mind you I've had the latter discs for about a year and the former for over 3 years. Interestingly enough I also have discs with MCC 02RG02 code that show some signs of starting to malfunction (sorry, don't know what other term to use) but still allow me to rip an ISO to reburn. I have over 400 discs I need to go over in order to find out what the code is and hence the need to try to save them. It's gonna be Taiyo Yuden from here on now!
By the way, my blanks are stored in a closet which stays pretty cool and the burns are also kept away from any direct sunlight. Has anyone else had any similar experiences with media burning fine and then just crapping out shorly afterwards? BTW, some of the media was labeled and some of it wasn't so I guess that takes that out of the equation. Still interested in knowing similar experiences about what is rated to be good media going bad so soon.

[rbatty11]

Essentially same problem here.. I purchased a batch of 200 Prodiscs (8x hub printables) from Supermedia.. over a hundred of them are still sitting around and will NEVER be used. The ones I burned already had stuttering, freezing, etc.. Fortunately, I was able to rip/copy those again without problem and re-burned using 8x TY's from Rima.. No problems whatsoever playing on all 3 of my dvd players.

Like many here, I'm done skimping on cheaper media.. just wished I had done so a long time ago b/c I've got many, many backups that will need to be xfrd to TY's..

[strongbad]

It's pretty ironic for me. When I first started burning DVD's, I started with Taiyo Yudens. They had a sale at BB for a 50pk spindle of MIJ Fuji's for $19.99.

I started to read up at Cdfreaks and other forums and learned that Taiyo Yuden are the best, so I bought unbranded TYG01's from then on.

[Bullworth]

I really do envy you. Some of these disc take a long time to rip but will eventually come through. Others just sit in the drive forever and the drive will not recognize them at all. Strangely these same discs play fine in my DVD player but who knows for how long.

[INFRATOM]

You are not alone I did my homework but still got it. I bought Verbatime +R and I have to check but the media code I think is the MCC rgo1 or else but most of it freezes. It is crap I have to take it back to officeMax I wasted the whole cake most of it freezes.

[Gen-An]

If you're having problems with Verbatim media with MCC code, either you just got unlucky and have a really bad batch or something is up with your burner...

[lordsmurf]

If you are reading errors on Mitsubishi media, then the odds are you always had errors on them, and the likely culprit is the burner did poorly.

The other possible problem is your reader drives are having issues, and the discs are fine.

People are way too quick to blame media.

For more on good blanks, see www.nomorecoasters.com

And I hate to burst your bubble, but TY media is not necessarily any better than MCC media. It's just as easy to have stubborn TY situations.

I have MCC media from 2001 and it still plays as beautifully as it did back then. Tests just fine too, now that we actually have testing tools.

[peridigm]

I started burning DVD's back in 2003/2004 with Ritek from supermedia. The G04's. I then switched to Prodisc hub printables. I think they were F01's. Both brands were 4x at the time. I was using an LG 4x +- drive. I upgraded my burner to a lite-on 16x dual layer and bought some prodisc hub printables from supermedia again but this time they were 8x. i don't remember the media code but I do know I still have 150+ sitting under my desk. I started using TY hub printables and had good luck with them. The only problem with the TY in my opinion was that the printable surface is a little rough. Prodisc are so smooth and nice it was hard to switch. I went through a few spindles of TY and then I started using Verbatim 8x +R and 8x -R hub printables. I have gone through about 400 discs myself and almost the same amount for a friend. They are smoother than the TY's and I have never made a coaster. I now have a plextor 16x SATA burning, don't remember the model. The Verbatim part numbers are 94854(-R) and 94812(+R). I purchase them from my distributor for $25 per 50 spindle. I own a computer store so I don't know what the retail price may be at the super stores. These spindles are not retail branded so you may not find them at the box stores. I'm sure they are available on-line for about the same price. Verbatim media has always been superior to other brands. In my case it has once again proven to be reliable.

[Gen-An]

The Verbatim retail 8x discs in various spindle sizes or boxes are the same media as the inkjet printables.

[Bullworth]

Wonder that myself lorfsmurf, thanks for the link The burner I was using at the time was the Pioneer A04/104 with the fw to burn at 2X . Bought an NEC burner 3540 to replace that one. Can't help but wonder why they would work fine for so long and then start to deteriorate like this after so long. I immediately suspected the media because of a batch that all turned out to be 'burn once, use once and then throw away. " Some of the discs would burn, verify and then the next day would be reported as having CRC errors or not working at all. Gonna have to go through them to find out which ones to try to rescue.
Right now I have a Pioneer DVD-120S and an NEC 3540. Based on this is the media crapped out because of a bad burn or is there any other drive out there with better read capabilities? The strange thing is the Pioneer will read one part of the disc, the NEC some other parts but neither one can read the entire discs before running into an error.
Based on this is the media crapped out because of a bad burn or is there any other drive out there with better read capabilities?

[hech54]

On the other hand......I made completely playable Princo DVDR's of my Band Of Brothers set that no longer play in either of my DVD Players or either of my DVD Burners....including the burner that created them in the first place.
I watched them quite often - all the way through each DVD when I made them and now all but two of them play completely and cannot be read by DVDDecrypter.
Yea sure Princos are crap....but I didn't know that back then. Does not change the fact that the discs did become unreadable/deteriorate over time.

[ROBERT BLACK]

On the other hand......I made completely playable Princo DVDR's of my Band Of Brothers set that no longer play in either of my DVD Players or either of my DVD Burners....including the burner that created them in the first place.
I watched them quite often - all the way through each DVD when I made them and now all but two of them play completely and cannot be read by DVDDecrypter.
Yea sure Princos are crap....but I didn't know that back then. Does not change the fact that the discs did become unreadable/deteriorate over time.

I think how you store media is also very crucial. I have some Princos from almost three years ago, and although I find it difficult to argue with all the bad data on that brand, most of my old Princo recordings still play fine in at least one of my settop players. Select discs have playback issues, but those have been used far more often.


In regards to the Prodiscs I'd sure like to know what media code Bullworth and rbatty had. So far I have no issues with Prodisc, but plenty with this new FujiFilm media code.

[hech54]

I have since salvaged (reburned) what Princos I could save. I used quite a few of them....but at least I was smart enough to NOT use them for important stuff....just movie backup.

[Bullworth]

Thanks a lot for the suggestion lordsmurf on a possible issue with the drive not reading the media properly. And thanks a lot for that link again, that helps a lot. I installed my Pioneer 104 in place of my Pioneer DVD drive and voila , reads all the discs fine. I have some concerns still regarding the media, some Ritek Arita's I have and their performance. I tried burning a disc and then verifying with my NEC 3540 but the verification failed. I know these fall under the Class B media but do you think it could just be a writer issue? Thanks

[lordsmurf]

Verification where? Nero and DVD Decrypter use a worthless verify method, all sorts of false positives can happen, very common issue.

Arita discs, I'm not fond of. While they are Ritek, they always seem to represent the worst of the Ritek line. Ridata is the only one I'd suggest, branded Ridata. Ridisc (UK) falls about halfway between.

The NEC burner is not the best burner, but it does well, especially with CMC media, which is a lower grade media. I don't readily recall how they do on Ritek discs.

I think it's a disc issue, compounded by the writer.

[Bullworth]

Cheap media and cheap burner, . Think I should just get another Pioneer burner or should I just stick with what I have. I purchased the NEC based on reviews on the DVD writers link. Some people were actually knocking on it but I'm beginning to think I should've gone that route. Since you obviously know your shtick what burners would you recommend?

[hech54]

I've heard many people knock my writers as well but mine work perfectly for me. My LG4040B and my BenQ 1620 Pro are far from the best if you read reviews in the writers section....but how many of those are from die-hard BenQ or LG haters who may never have owned one?
Sure next time I'll look harder into a Pioneer but my "inferior" burners have never failed me. They each have their own little quirks but never when it comes to burning...just weird playing issues....but that could be too much freaking playing software on my computer...

[lordsmurf]

Pioneer is easily the best burner, in terms of giving reliable burns. It's only "flaw" is it is not a techno-geek whiz-bang disc-scanner toy. It's just a rock-solid DVD burner, and that's all that matters. Blank disc in, good burn out, assuming you use good media.

[Bullworth]

I had this gut instinct I should've bought one but like you said I was looking for one of these whiz-bang burners and, at least from my pov, ended up getting burned.
I don't think the NEC is a bad burner but the read capabilities aren't that good. On the other hand my Pioneer DVD-ROM couldn't read the discs either. BTW, yes I was using DVD Decrypter to burn and verify and also used Nero CD speed for the scans. Gonna retry them with my old A04. Probably gonna invest in another Pioneer burner just to have one for reliable burns, the other to toy around with