DVD-Rs freeze up near end of movie

[jayman2]

Hi,

I'm having a lot of trouble with my DVDs. I was using the cheap bulk media from these webstores at first. They seemed to be ok for a while, then the problems started. Now when I recorded a movie, it would play over half way through just fine, then at some point near the end, it would start freezing, then play, then freeze and after a while it would just freeze up completely.

Then I bought some FujiFilm and some Memorex DVD-R media from CompUSA and I'm having problem with them too. Some of the DVDs play fine, others freeze up just like the cheap media.

Does anyone have any idea what could be causing this? I have 2 machines. both with Pioneer A05 drives. The media acts the same way from both.

Thanks in advance.

[disturbed1]

Just because you bought Memorex and FujiFilm DVD-R media doesn't gaurentee you bought good quality media. Both of the above are known to use different OEM media plants to make their media. Memorex being one of the worse brands for DVD-R. Fuji is usually pretty good, since the majority of the media tends be from Taiyo Yuden.

Take the discs that don't skip and find out the Media ID, and compare that to the ones that do skip. This will let you know which media is better. You can do this by placing the disc back in your A05 and using a program like DVDINFOpro.

For the Fuji's, look for the made in Japan sticker on the package. Try ordering some Ritek G04's from one of the "webstores". Currently ~$125/100.

Also, what is your burning software, and what type of set top DVD Player do you have. Some software is known to cause problems, and some DVD players are just better than others.

[Gees]

Yes. Loads of threads - even some from just yesterday - about this problem.

Brand name guarantees nothing. Sometimes you can get a bad batch of anything. Or a few bad discs among the good discs.

Burning speed can play a role too.

After you research the disks you own, look in the databases here for your Writer, your Player, your Media (all on the left). Read comments from other owners about what works best for them.

Invest in a few high quality discs that are highly recommended (again from all the comments you'll find) & try to get a good burn out of them.

Many people who have discs such as you describe, keep burns to under 4G and burn at slowest speed to use them up until they find an alternative.

[jayman2]

Thanks for those replies. I'm going to try all that you suggested. I DID have the best luck with FujiFilm DVD-Rs.

[dwisniski]

What version of firmware are you using? That, and the burning speeds can play a big role in playability of your burned disc's. I had the same problem with the Ritek 1x's that can be burned at 2x with the 1.31 firmware ( I have the 104 of course). Maybe you need to use a different version/more stable version of the firmware that you use.

[jayman2]

I'm using a hacked firmware - version 1.33 2X speed for all, that I downloaded from the Firmware page. I have this hacked firmware on both machines. Do you think this could be the cause?

[dwisniski]

I'm not a betting man, but if I had too... Yes I would guess that is the root of your problem. The symptoms you described seemed exactly alike to what I was going through. Try a more stable version of firmware, fare ye well.



John 3:16

[jayman2]

Is is possible to downgrade a firmware version. For example to go form my hacked 1.33 version, back down to 1.31?

[aceof1]

they freeze because they are warped or egg shaped and if they are only freezing at the end of the disc try not burning to the end of the disc, thats what i do with the rubbish discs i buy

[jayman2]

I just tried to burn one that was only 3.6 gigs. Had the same problem.

[aceof1]

when that fails i take them back, i dont know how the manufacturers tested these dvd-r's or with what burner but they dont work and i not sure why they even sell them.

[jayman2]

Thanks a lot for your replies. I'm going to try and return the unused.