Burning coasters. What could be wrong?

[nanllyn]

I am using DVD Shrink 3.1.7.5, Nero 6.3.0.3 and a Plextor 708A. I backup many DVD's without problem and then it just started making coasters. It burns 1 or 2 correctly and then it will burn 1-2 bad ones. So it is not every burn. I have updated the Plextor to the latest drivers. I am using DVD+R and DVD-R's and both give bad burns half the time.
When I burn using the DVD Shrink (using Nero) it gives me an error of "Plextor read error" at the very end of the burn. When I burn by opening up Nero itself then it gives me a read error at the 98-99%. I have updated the Plextor to the latest drivers. I think it may sound like the Plextor drive being the problem.
Any ideas of what could be wrong? Has anyone had any problems with any of these programs or could it be a conflict with one or all of them? I am really getting frustrated at making so many coasters. Thanks for your help.

[lordsmurf]

www.nomorecoasters.com

[Jayhawk]

nanllyn,

It could be a lot of things but I would suspect your Plextor last.

lordsmurf was right to direct you to nomorecoasters as your problem is probably media related. The fact that you're 98% done indicates problems with the outer edge of the media. As a test you restrict your file size to something smaller and see if you still have the problem. Not a solution but might be worth a test.

I have a Plextor and a Sony and have run across the problem with certain media. You might also try a test or two using Decrypter as a burning tool instead of Nero. Regardless, I wouldn't blame the burner until you investigate a few other things.

[Gazorgan]

The last 2-3% is invariably media. A simple test is to force Shrink to use 4 GB instead of 4.3 GB, eliminating the last 8% altogether.