Still can't read Memorex DVD-R, but I can write a 4x now...

[jprock]

I've been a lurker here in the forums for a while before I decided to post this. I thought it would help anyone who is/was a lurker, but couldn't find an answer to their problem.

I was having a problem where I could not make a copy of a Memorex DVD-R that I burned in my Pioneer 106D. I was baffled. I would burn the DVD in the 106D and then go to put it back in to copy it and it would not read the disc. The PC acted as if no DVD was in the drive.

So I read a couple of posts here and decided that since I had another CD-R/DVD-ROM lying around, I thought I would throw that in the machine and see if the DVD-R would read in there. Sure enough, it read in the new one.

I'm still baffled as to why I can't get a burned Memorex DVD-R to read in my 106D. My brother has the same drive, but he said it reads fine in his. I upgraded the firmware to 1.07 and use DVDShrink and Nero 6 to burn. Is there anything I'm missing? The discs all finalize, so I at a loss. But this leads me to the other part of my post...

As soon as I took the hard drive out of my secondary slave spot on my computer and replaced it with the CD-R/DVD-ROM, I noticed I can now burn at 4x with a solid buffer in the 90s. AND, the best part, is that the combo drive rips DVDs a helluva lot faster than the 106D. Thanks to whomever kept saying to not use the 106D since its s-l-o-w. Plus I don't want to do some hack to unlock the 12x and void my warranty. AND I've read where people can't get it to work even after installing the firmware hack.

Before, with a hard drive on the secondary slave, and the 106D on the secondary master, my buffer was all over the place and generally inconsistent at 4x when I went to burn a DVD. So what I found was that burning at 2x remedied this. So I stuck with that process and thought that since I only had 512 MB of memory on my machine instead of 1 GB, that that was the problem. Turns out it wasn't.

Just thought I would share my results. And if anyone has any advice for the 106D not reading memorex DVD-R's after they are burned, (it reads TDK's and Riteks just fine after writing, btw), it would be much appreciated. And if anyone has an email address to email pioneer, that'd be great too.

Thanks!

-JP

[indolikaa]

From my own experience with Memorex DVD-R 4X discs.

While I have had decent to good success with them, friends around here who use them find they are about the worst discs they've ever encountered. I use an Optorite DD0203 and it tolerates them pretty well if I author in DVD-lab and burn with B's Recorder.

Good luck in your efforts, but I'd suspect it's the poor quality of these discs and maybe not your drive.

[jprock]

Yeah, I found this all out after I just sold the farm and bought 150 or so Memorex DVD-Rs when they were on sale for $50 a spindle.

No worries, my bro is going to take them off my hands. I just put in an order for 200 Ritek G04's from meritline. They should be here next Tuesday. They sound like they are the hands down winner for media after all the posts I've read in different forums.

[indolikaa]

They sound like they are. I don't use them, I favor Taiyo Yuden. But I don't think you will go wrong.

And quit being a lurker! Live a little!