DVDs not finalizing

[aaardvark]

I have just got an Optorite DD0203 DVD writer, and so far I have not managed to get a single successful DVD out of it, and I now have more coasters than I have mugs to put on them!

If i try to burn a DVD the drive goes through all the motions of burning the disc, however, when I put it back in the drive windows (XP) asks me what I want to do with the blank disk I have inserted.

I have analysed the disc using alcohol120% and B's Gold5, it tells me there is data on the disc, and that I can record to it still, this suggests to me that it hasn't been finalised.

I have tried various programs to burn a disc, including DVD X Copy, B's Gold5 and CopytoDVD and the result is the same every time.

I have been using Packard Bell DVD+R and DVD+RW and also tried a That's DVD+R that was supplied with the drive. I have got some Memorex DVD-RWs to try, but my confidence is decreasing and i'm running out of storage space for all the coasters.

When I try to use the DVD+RW's there does not seem to be any data written to the disc at all, although all the drive activity suggests that the drive is trying to write data to the discs.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[poopyhead]

tried nero or nero express?

[aaardvark]

I've tried the demo version of the new nero (6.0.0.11) I am getting some success, but still not 100% convinced there is not a problem with the writer. I just made an iso image, using clonedvd, and used Nero to burn it to a DVD-RW, the image size was 4.3Gig, so I would have expected the disc to be burn almost to it's edge, there is however about 1cm of the outer edge that is not burnt at all. also when I put the disc into my drive it is not recognised at all, and causes the computer to hang up until i eject the disc.

Also looking at the disc i created, it appears that the outer 1cm of the burnt area is darker than the rest of the burnt part, as though the drive has tried to burn that part of the disc twice instead of burning to the edge of the disc (hope you can follow what i'm trying to describe).

I just tried burning a DVD+RW using nero, and it has written the data to the disc till 100%, but it has hung after that, and does not seem to be writing the lead-out track. it seems that things are working to a fasion, but not 100%. currently it is useless for backing up DVD's which is one of the main reasons I bought the writer in the first place.

thanks for any further help you can throw at this frustrating problem.

[poopyhead]

well....a full DVD is 4.38 GB....so, if you only burn 4.3 GB, then there will be some empty space left on the outer edge.

---------

try burning a movie that's much smaller...say around 4 GB. if everything is fine in this case, then there's either something wrong with your media or burner (or both) about the outer edges...

[Bob W]

You are burning these files as a "data" file and putting all the files into a VIDEO_TS folder then burning that folder? If not most players won't recognize the finished disc.

[poopyhead]

You are burning these files as a "data" file

o heh..i completely forgot about that possibility.

-------

@aaardvark,

in nero..make sure you are creating DVD VIDEO discs....NOT DVD DATA

[aaardvark]

I agree that you would not expect to burn right to the edge of the DVD, but a 1cm gap seems an awful lot, that is roughly about 15-20% of the available disk area.

I have a disc that i burn yesterday, (one of the ones that failed to finalise) and that has about 1mm of unburnt area at the edge, and the file size was almost exactly the same. If you were to see the disc I have just burnt i'm sure you would agree that the unburnt area does not account for just 0.08Gig of free space, but probably more along the lines of 1Gig.

will try you suggestion to try a smaler file, however, what software can I use to create an iso of a pre-selected size?

thanks again

[aaardvark]

I used the burn iso option from nero, surely this would just burn the image that clonedvd had created, which I assume would be in DVD video format?

[poopyhead]

well...when you're compressing the original DVD files, can you increase the compression so that it's smaller..i.e. around 4 GB and c if that burns ok.

[aaardvark]

problem I have now, is that the disc that I have just burnt, is now stuck in the drive, the one i said about in the above post that failed to finalize, has now been sat in the drive for about 15 minutes, and refuses to eject, surely there is something seriously at fault here, and i'm starting to think that it is not the software that i am using, because i have not read of anybody having similar problems.

I really appreciate your advice you are giving, because I am really starting to get very frustrated, and obviously would likje to know that there is definately a problem with the drive or the software before I send it back to the store to ask for a replacement.

BTW i'm fast running out of DVDs to burn to, because I have converted almost all my DVD-Rs and DVD+Rs to coasters, and my DVD+/-RW's nearly all crash the compyter as soon as I try to read them

please help i'm starting to get desperate!!

[poopyhead]

well...you prolly shouldn't leave your dvd in the drive for 15 min. if your drive is having a problem reading it...

just do a restart and eject out the DVD..

like i said...compress the DVD more (~ 4 GB) and burn it...if you still have problem...yea, then it's your drive

[aaardvark]

Thanks for all the advice poopyhead, i'm compressing a dvd now, and will try to do a burn with the new file, hope you will be around for a while, I will report my success or failure once I have burnt this new rip.

[TBoneit]

You could also try upgrading the firmware for the drive. there is a new(er) version on their website. Right from the Box

www.optorite.com

I have done one at work and will be doing another tomorrow (monday).

The firmware upgrade let it burn Fuji 4X-R with no problems.... Before the upgrade it wouldn't even try.

In my informal testing at work since we are now selling these drives ( I DVDShrink'd "The Matrix" Original we use to test dvd drives and burned a backup onto a TDK 4X +R before the firmware upgrade with no problem.

So in summary I have burned a 4X -R & +R in testing now and they play fine. Also did a 2.4 +RW (Don't recall the brand) and all worked. Burned em all with Nero 5.5.10.42 version.

One thing I did notice it didn't seem all that fast at ripping.

BTW I agree if the drawer won't open, reboot, and while it is rebooting it should open.

Good Luck
Roger T

[aaardvark]

Thanks for the idea, but one of the first things I done when I had problems was to flash the firmware to 2.11 i think,

the fact that you have managed to burn so many successful dvd's suggests to me that there may be a problem with my drive, because I have tried various different disks now, and the only thing I seem to have any suceess with is burning small (1gig or so) data dvds using nero.

[aaardvark]

Well, i just burnt yet another DVD-RW, this time I used DVD shrink 2.3 to make a 3.9Gig file and burnt it using CopytoDVD.
the drive went through the burn process, finalised the disc no problem whatsoever and ejected the disc at the end of finalizing.

However, when I put the DVD back in the drive it fails to read it, there is plenty of hard drive and DVD drive activity, but the computer just freezes up until I eject the DVD.

I am at my wits end now with this problem, and i'm suspecting that the drive might be at fault, but is there a way to prove it for definate?

I am using what I believe to be good quality media, and I have now used 4 different types of media, all with little or no success.

Please, if anybody has any more thought your help would be most appreciated.

[Bob W]

You're having a problem playing the DVD you made on the same burner, is that right? Have you at least tried playing the DVD in a stand alone DVD player? If you don't have a player take the disc to a store and try it there.

[vance43211]

i would take that drive back if you are still under warranty

and buy another brand to see if that works

[poopyhead]

However, when I put the DVD back in the drive it fails to read it, there is plenty of hard drive and DVD drive activity, but the computer just freezes up until I eject the DVD.

1) did you try on another DVD drive....(i.e. DVD-ROM)

2) how about standalone dvd player???

3) how about using a DVD-R....maybe the RW itself isn't very good...

[aaardvark]

I have tried the dvd's in a standalone player, and it sent it into a fit, it started vibrating in a ver unhealthy way, so i ejected the disc straight away.

I have also tried various different media now, includin DVD-R, DVD-RW, and DVD+RW, I hav eyet to burn a successful disc.

I have tried the 4.3G iso file that I was trying to burn on nero's virtual drive, and it plays perfectly. the problem is that the burnt copy won't work at all.

I think it might be time to contact the manuifacture/dealer and ask for a replacement drive.
Do you think I have tried enough to confirm there is a drive fault?

[vance43211]

yes

you have a lot of patience

after a couple of coasters

i would have been back to the store
demanding my money back

[aaardvark]

Well, I have run out of patience now, and have emailed Optorite's customer problems area to ask them to advise.

I am convinced that there is a drive problem, although I am a newbie at burninr DVD's I am fairly experienced on PC's, and am pretty sure that I am not doing anything wrong.

With the variety of different media I have tried, if the drive is that fussy about it's media then it can't be a very good drive, but TBoneit's post suggests that he has had no such problems, so I am gonna ask the company I ordered it from for a 1-1 replacement and give that a try.

Thanks to everybody who has tried to help me through this, and hopefuly soon I will be up and running and be able to help people out on here myself.

[itzRafiki]

Well you wanted to here of someone who has the same problem. Well here it is I have brand new drive heres what happens for me
Nero - 100% on meter never writes lead-out and says complete
tried 4.35 file size & 4.36
Copytodvd - never finalizes
tried 4.35 file size & 4.36

both require reboot to retrieve dvd, both play in standalone

just tried a updating aspi to 4.71 from 4.60

tried different back up of file size 4.35
with Copytodvd success....

going to try my first 2 problem childs and hope for the best but from my best guess I don't think it will work, but I will let you know