Panasonic DMR-ES10: Disc freezes

[mikefox]

When I play a particular DVD-RW disc the picture freezes
at the same spot each time. And it then becomes quite
difficult to eject the disc.

This happens on two identical DVD recorders so I assume
the disc is at fault. It is a Sony disc not Panasonic -
could that partly explain the problem ?

Mike

[trhouse]

Try testing the disk on your computer with freeware DVDInfoPro.

[mikefox]

That's a nifty little tool. thanks.

When I insert the DVD in my PC it does not recognize it
ie. if I click on the D Drive it still says "Insert a disk"

And when I run the Read Error Test nothing happens.

[oldfart13]

Sounds like the disc has given up the ghost. How many times did you use it? I have a whole bunch of +RW Memorex Philips and Ricoh Japan that are now officially labeled as "bad discs" as they cannot be ripped and several can no longer be read. This from fewer than 20 passes. Gotta love my DVD-RAM discs which are still going strong after 3.5 years of use...

[mikefox]

I probably used this disc no more than 5 times

Would you say therefore that RAM is more reliable than -RW ?

[samijubal]

Yes, RAM is more reliable. Just erase the disc after using it instead of formatting it again, they will last a long time.

[bmwracer]

Yes, RAM is more reliable. Just erase the disc after using it instead of formatting it again, they will last a long time.

Are you saying that erasing the disc is better than re-formatting the disc?

If so, why?

[samijubal]

Everyone here that has said they had a RAM disc fail said they were formatting it instead of erasing. I've been using RAM discs since 2001, the only problems I've ever had is early Optodiscs that were total garbage, every one of them failed. Some of my RAM discs have been used many, many times. I never reformat them after the first time, I just erase them.

[mikefox]

When you say erase the disc I assume you mean erase the
individual programs.

If so why would one want to do a reformat ?

Is there some extra advantage ?

[trhouse]

The reason for format vs erase is for people like me who use the same media in the computer and the recorder. The two use different formats. If I put a computer formatted disk in the recorder, it needs to be reformatted to work.

[mikefox]

The reason for format vs erase is for people like me who use the same media in the computer and the recorder. The two use different formats. If I put a computer formatted disk in the recorder, it needs to be reformatted to work.

Thanks I understand.

By the way I have now reformatted this 'dud' disc
and ran a brief one minute recording which turned out OK.

I realise that this does not mean it will not fail
on a longer recording.

It still does not get recognized by my PC

[handyguy]

RAM has a write rating of 100,000 times. THey last a long time.

[oldfart13]

Mikefox...is your PC DVD drive capable of reading a RAM disc? If not, that's the problem. I use LG burners and they will recognize the RAM discs just fine. Sometimes the -+RW discs can be reformatted and sometimes they can't. I just throw them out when they hit that stage as they are very inexpensive these days. Just buy a few more and carry on from there...

[mikefox]

Mikefox...is your PC DVD drive capable of reading a RAM disc? If not, that's the problem. I use LG burners and they will recognize the RAM discs just fine. Sometimes the -+RW discs can be reformatted and sometimes they can't. I just throw them out when they hit that stage as they are very inexpensive these days. Just buy a few more and carry on from there...

Yes it can read a RAM disc but I've just noticed that it fails
to read a good -RW disc.

Actually I have two of these -RW discs which have failed in a very short time.

Guess I'll stick to RAM now.

Thanks
Mike