Nero is rejecting my discs!

[techjunkie22]

I have all my video files set up and now Im at the final stage
Where I’m tryin to burn those files onto a dvd-r. Currently using NEC 1300A dvd burner and using Ritek media DVD-r discs. Using nero when I hit the burn button it gives me this error:

“Please insert an empty discs to write to..”

I don’t understand this, its like nero doesn’t even recognize the disk. These are brand new discs too. Can someone tell me why its doing this? Is because its an invalid format or something? Should I be using DVD+R discs instead of DVD-R discs instead? That’s the only reason I can think of now…Please help!

[gll99]

I have that burner, what's your firmware version. Mine rejected Memorex 1x dvd-rw until I updated the firmware.

[techjunkie22]

4X RITEK G04 BLANK DVD-R media discs using NEC EXTERNAL 4X DVD BURNER DUAL +/-

[offline]

Please do not crosspost - your other topic has been removed.

/Mod Offline

[gll99]

If you get dvdinfo it will display the firmware of your burner. Mine is 1.08.
You're writer can use - or + formats but there are exceptions. I also returned some -R leaddata before my firmware update but I use both -R and +rw formats regularly. DVDinfo will also give you the full id of those discs to confirm that they are G04 Ritek and you could check to see if any compatibility issues are known to exist between those disc and the NEC writer. Check the DVD Writer menu on the left to see if anyone has posted any comments on the writer and media.

[techjunkie22]

Same version as yours. Im at the firmware website but I don't know which to download?

[gll99]

I don't know your level of expertise so please be forewarned:
Don't update your firmware til your sure you want to do it. It's fairly rare but problems do happen. Don't want to make it worse than it is but you could render the drive unusable There is also no guarantees that this will solve your problem. Please read up on things first. It's not something you do on a whim. Do the other things I said first and if you know that this is the solution then it's up to you. I had no problems and it only took a minute plus a reboot but some people got a bad patch and ruined their drive and the manufacturer probably will not help.

[techjunkie22]

I dont know what firmware is exactly, but I dled the file anyways and ran it thru and still the same problem. Guess I'll try a different type of media. Its ironic that I was told ritek was the most compatible media on the market. Can you tell me which firmware you dled b/c you had told me you had the exact problem and the firmware solved it. I don't want to have to go out and waste money and a different type of media to find out it probabaly wont work either.

[gll99]

This was my comment:
gll99 said:

Mine rejected Memorex 1x dvd-rw until I updated the firmware.

That doesn't mean that it will solve your problem with Ritek. You may be very lucky. Don't flash a firmware that you are not sure of. The reason I said to use DVDinfo pro is because it will confirm that the discs you have are genuine Ritek G04. There is a tab in the program where you can check the media code. Also you could try another burning software in case Nero is the problem. There are some issues with certain versions of Nero that have nothing to do with your burner or the media. Have you tried more than 1 disc in case there is a bad one in the batch. I'm not saying you did this but one guy put a disc in upside down and wondered why the software didn't recognize it. It could be a number of things. Start by checking the discs and then reading the DVD writer menu item on the left panel to see if anyone else commented on this problem. You could also do a forum search or internet search to see if any known issues have come up. Start with the easiest and likeliest thing first and work your way up.

[redwudz]

4X RITEK G04 BLANK DVD-R media discs using NEC EXTERNAL 4X DVD BURNER DUAL +/-

If you are using an external burner, there are a whole bunch of other issues to consider. What type of interface, USB2 or FIREWIRE? What type of external box? You might look around in the forum for problems related to external burners. Does it recognize CD's and burn them? Can you temporarily put it into the computer case and try it that way? And of course there can always be media problems.

[techjunkie22]

I am grateful for all your help gll99. I'll just give up on the Ritek discs for now and try another type of media. I took your advice and read up on the user comments about media compatibilites and Ritek wasnt on top of the recommended list. Just curious since were both using the same dvd burner can you tell me which brand of media works best for you? Also about the firmware they were 2 dif versions listed, one was the hacked and the other was the offical version. Which version did you download? Thanks again

[techjunkie22]

Also tried the dvdinfo prog and I couldnt get a read on the discs. It says no media is present. Tried it on my dvd rom drive and same error. Btw I got these discs off ebay, so theres proabaly a good chance they arent authenic...guess what you pay is what you get... which isnt much.

[gll99]

I used Herrie's hacked version because I need to force my dvd+rw to show dvd-rom in the book type. One of my Apex players will only read them that way. The official firmware release does not contain this patch.
I use Memorex 2.4 +rw which are Ricoh disc id RICOHJPNW01 and a couple of differently packaged off branded types 2x DVD-R which both turned out to be id MXLRG01. I bought 2 bulk packs of these and they work fine. I don't have my drive in an external housing. It's mounted internally and running off my second ide. I just missed a 3 day sale on a 5 pack DVD+R which I wanted to test but I saw the sale flyer too late to get them. I do extensive testing with +RW and only use -R (and eventually +R) when I'm ready for the final write.