DVD Shrink and DVDR issues

[dvd-dude]

I've used DVD Shrink for a while and never had any issues with the backed up results. Lately I've been trying to back up another of my DVDs and the results have been frustrating. I was using 3.1, and just switched to 3.2. I backed up one on 3.2 with no trouble. However, this new one I'm trying to backup gave me a disc that barely read in my Panasonic DVD player (many times the stream was so bad that the player would stop). This was the first time I've ever really encountered this problem. But I'm not sure what to do - I'm using the same DVDRs as always (Ritek's) and I've even reverted to using the 3.0 beta version of DVD Shrink. The problem, although slightly better, was still on the new backed up version.

I'm not sure why this is happening, my other Ritek DVDs play fine in my Panasonic player, and I've used DVD Shrink each time. The discs I'm backing up are prestine so I don't know why I'd have that issue. Could the fact that this disc has around 10 titles have anything to do with it? Could the fact that this DVD has to be compressed 58% to fit matter? I always allowed DVD Shrink to just use Nero to burn so I would never have to leave the program... but I tried with beta and then manually burned a DVD with Nero afterwards and had the same results (slightly better but the stream is still aweful at times... especially around Title 3, and fine otherwise).

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Could it be the media somehow? Should I try to stick to name brands like TDK and what not? Should I use another program to rip and/or to burn? Or should I just accept that for some reason I won't be able to back this one up and depend on the copy? Thanks!

-DVD-Dude

[winifreid]

Try kprobe to see if you are getting good burns. I have compressed many disks dwon 55% without problem using the quality setting in 3.2. Maybe try shrinking without the quality setting checked. Another test is to watch the video from the files created on your HD by shrink.

[bazooka]

Or you could rip with dvddecrypter and then shrink with shrink.

[dvd-dude]

I tried viewing the files from my hard drive with Intervideo DVD but it wouldn't open... it wouldn't open any of my ripped DVD folders. However, Windows Media Player 10 did. The files seemed fine... no trouble there - it played smooth and clean. So what does that mean? Is my media bad? Should I try another brand of DVD-R? Or should I use another program besides Nero? Could the problem be that I am burning at 8X on 4X discs? I just updated the firmware on my burner a while back and have been using 8X since. Would that create any issues? I assumed if there was a write error it would tell me.

-DVD-Dude

P.S. - There are some Fuji DVDRs on sale at the store... should I try those instead of my silver topped Riteks?

[winifreid]

Did you do a check with kprobe? Also, do you have the same problem when you view the disk on your computer?
I doubt it is your media, but kprobe should help eliminate it as the problem. Can you still view other backup DVDs on your player?

[dvd-dude]

Okay, here's an update.

I tried the DVDR in another Pioneer player as well as a Sony player and both encounterd the same read issues at the same titles/chapters as my Panasonic (each varies in severity). In response to your questions it does have issues reading on my computer (the one that burned it) but not as badly as the standalone DVD players I've tried.

I downloaded and tried that program. I was a little confused as to how it operated. I did the three tests available and the only one that would give me an error reading (one way or the other) was the first test (BET or something). It said I had one error. I tried another disc I had burned on a Panasonic DMRE80H a while back and it also said that one had one error. Confused I put in an actual DVD (from the store that I bought) and it also had one error according to the program. I don't know if I'm using this program correctly or what these results mean, but I figured I'd share them in the hopes that you might.

Thanks for all your help! I'm so confused!

-DVD-Dude

[winifreid]

I may have mislead you. I forgot that Kprobe does not work with all DVD burners. Which one do you have?
You can check here about Kprobe:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=93944
And you may look there for info about the combination of your drive and media.
If your drive is not supported by Kprobe, you could use Nero's CDspeed to test for errors. But since it will not play on several different players, there are assuredly errors. If it is due to a media incompatability, it is possible that there is firmware update that will fix it.

[winifreid]

I just looked back at some of your posts and see that yo u have burned at 8x. If these are Ritek R03-02, and your drive is a Liteon @851 then that might be part of the problem. I have read where many people have gone back to burning these at 4x. I have them and still burn at 8x without problems.

[dvd-dude]

I have a Pioneer 107D DVD Burner. I just updated the firmware last week or so with the latest available update. At the risk of creating another frisbee (but to safe myself from buying more I may not need) I'll try doing one at 4X today and see if it helps at all. I'll post my results later. Thanks for the feedback!

I didn't have this problem a few weeks ago and my dvdrs (same spindle) worked fine in both my Panasonic and my friend's Pioneer. I have since updated my firmware, tried burning at 8x, and have gotten a nero update from 6.0 to 6.3. Maybe burning at 4x will solve it. I can't imagine a Nero update would've caused the problem. I hope my firmware update didn't create an issue. I was also trying the newest version of DVDShrink, but after failed try 1 I burned another with Beta 3.0 and got the same results so I doubt it's DVDShrink. Wouldn't it be ironic if all of this was because I was trying to save 10 minutes by burning at 8x? Thanks for your help!

-DVD-Dude

[winifreid]

As I said, if you have ritek r03, then it may not be good to burn at 8x. I am not familair with this burner but I assume you hacked i to get it to burn 4x at 8x. For my liteon, I can change write stratigies that can improve the burn quality, but I don't know if that can be done for yours. Check out CDfreaks to see if this is possible. Oh, kprobe should work with this drive. Just run BLER (hit the play button). It should take about 15 minutes to run at 4x.

[mav36]

I must say that I have used various dvd shrink versions and not had many problems with any of them - I also burn with copytodvd which is very good, and still only ever burn at 2x max - using ritek g04 discs, which are very good - maybe i should update my dvd burner,but my trusty 104 is pretty solid

[dvd-dude]

Okay,

During my lunch I reburned another copy from the same source files on my hard drive as my last one only this time I used 4X. It may be too soon to tell, and I didn't check the whole disc, but my Panasonic had no trouble reading the title that was troublesome on the last burned dvdr. I'm hopeful that the problem has been solved. I'm not sure what version of Ritek's I have - how can you tell?

As far as that checking program goes, I was running the bler thing with the play button (ad my disc in it)... I had the DVD drive selected, but it didn't take 20 minutes - it took maybe 15-20 seconds. I assume for some reason it's not working with my drive correctly. I tested the read speed and it took probably 15 minutes and I didn't get any error messages or reports. My guess is I just can't burn these things at 8X - that's no big deal. I'll keep everyone posted after I try more testing tonight. Thanks again!

-DVD-Dude

[winifreid]

DVD Identifier

[nerys]

with what you gave me have you considered it may be your burner failing ? IE your DVD-R drive itself may be having problems.

Chris Taylor
http://www.nerys.com/

[dvd-dude]

I checked the whole disc the other night and it worked great after burning at 4X. I even put the old version in and it still created the problems, and then put the new one back in and it was still running great. So I guess I must have those Riteks that don't burn well at 8X. I can take 4X... as long as it works I'm happy. Thanks for the help!