New member! Have DVD burning questions!

[SOTK4ever]

Hi everyone!

I am new to this forum as well as video editing and using a DVD burner. Moderators, if I am posting in the wrong forum please move this to the appropriate forum.

I own a TDK 840G multi-format DVD burner. I've been trying different media to find out what works the best. I have the latest firmware for this drive as well.

Here's my issue and/or question:

I've been having problems with the DVD's I've created. I've made a few Picture slideshow movies and I've also made a few DVD's with video from my Digital camcorder. Also, I've copied a few of my DVD movies for back-up purposes.

With the majority of these DVD creations, they work okay maybe once and then quickly become unreadable. For instance, I'll go to watch a one of my DVD creations in my home DVD player, and the DVD will either not play at all or will play for a while and then quickly become unreadable. The behavior reminds me of a disk which is dirty and just needs to be cleaned or my DVD laser needs to be cleaned but that's not it. Other purchased DVD movies play just fine.

What's causing this? As I've said, I've tried a few different types of media and I think I've found the best so far but it still will show this behavior as well. My IDE drivers are updated and working fine so it shouldn't be that. Is it my home DVD player which is the problem? Or something else?

Any advice on this issue will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks.

SOTK

[johns0]

One thing i found with nforce2 ide drivers are that the nvidia s/w ide drivers can give a lot of problem with burning(myself included) among other things.Try installing the default ms ide drivers instead and see if this makes a difference.

[iooi]

Will these disks play Ok in your computer, Seems strange tht they will work once then become unreadable unless something in your player is causing marking on the disks... Do the disks look as good as new when they have been played ?
Which brand of media are you using to get best results at present and what other brands have you tried that havent given you good results.
There is some software that will test the quality of your burns, but off hand cant remember what it is called. If you have a look in the tools section it should be there.

[SOTK4ever]

Thanks for the replies!

I was using nVidia's IDE drivers but am not now. I went back to MS's generic IDE drivers. I did this very recently too; last week I think.

Since then, I made a copy of a DVD movie. The movie played fine on my computer using both Windows Media Player as well as Intervideo's WinDVD software. It would not play on my home theater DVD player at all. It wouldn't even start.

For the media, I've tried Sony (-R and +R) and a lot of TDK media (-/+ R and +RW). I recently bought a 50 count cake box of Princo 4X -R media on Ebay. I figured this media was gonna be a little bit of a risk since it was so cheap, but believe it or not, this media has given me pretty good results. However, I'm still having the same problem with playing DVD burnt movies in my Home Theater DVD player.

I started thinking a while ago that it was probably my Home Theater DVD player but the thing is, I was having problems with these same disks on my computer as well. However, my most recent burnt DVD movie played fine on my computer. It's hard troubleshooting this problem because it can be a little inconsistent!!

Has anybody else on these forums experienced these kinds of problems? I don't get it. My DVD burner works great buring regular CD's. I don't understand why I can watch a burnt DVD movie once without any problems and then I start experiencing reading errors.

I'll try looking for the burning test software you mentioned. Thanks for the help! Keep it coming!

SOTK

[/u]

[SOTK4ever]

Any more thoughts on my problem?

Thanks!

[FulciLives]

Any more thoughts on my problem?

Thanks!

Well how are you burning these DVD discs? Are you doing DVD-R or DVD+R or have you tried both?

Also what make and model is your stand alone DVD player.

Last but not least ... sorry ... but Princo is ass ... throw them out now.

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

P.S.
If you haven't tried it yet ... I suggest you try using DVD Decrypter as your burning app. It only burns from ISO IMAGE files. An ISO IMAGE file can be created with ImgTools (you want the CLASIC version).

If that doesn't work then you have serious problems.

[SOTK4ever]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm using a 3-4 year old JVC progressive scan DVD player. I forget the model number. It was one of the few progressive scanners first released at the time. That could be the problem. Maybe it's having a hard time reading DVD-R and DVD+R media.

I actually use DVD Decryptor quite a bit already. I have a few ISO image making and burning programs. I use Alcohol 120% and Nero 6 quite a bit for burning images.

I've burned movies using DVD +R, DVD -R, and DVD +RW media. I've experienced this problem with all of the above mentioned media formats.

[FulciLives]

Thanks for the reply.

I'm using a 3-4 year old JVC progressive scan DVD player. I forget the model number. It was one of the few progressive scanners first released at the time. That could be the problem. Maybe it's having a hard time reading DVD-R and DVD+R media.

I actually use DVD Decryptor quite a bit already. I have a few ISO image making and burning programs. I use Alcohol 120% and Nero 6 quite a bit for burning images.

I've burned movies using DVD +R, DVD -R, and DVD +RW media. I've experienced this problem with all of the above mentioned media formats.

OK well the reason why I asked for the make and model number is because you can search it here on the website (see left hand sidebar ... DVD Players) to see if your DVD player is compatable with DVD recordable discs and if so what formats.

So you should double check this as it very well could be that the problem is nothing more than your DVD player being an "older" model that does not like recordable DVD discs.

As for why I brought up the DVD Decrypter burning method ... this is considered by many to be the BEST way to burn a DVD disc. So by using ImgTools (classic version) along with DVD Decrypter you rule out (or confirm) that the problem is your method of burning. For instance NERO is well known to cause burning issues for many people.

The best way to test your JVC is to RIP a single layer DVD that you bought in a store using ISO MODE in DVD Decrypter then burn that ISO IMAGE FILE with DVD Decrypter.

If that doesn't play back then your JVC doesn't like DVD recordables.

Please note that some DVD players will do DVD-R but not DVD+R etc.

Also it always COULD be a MEDIA issue. To rule that out buy a pack of MADE IN JAPAN DVD-R discs such as the 10-packs of MAXELL or the 10-packs of FUJI. That is about as good a quality as you can buy ... so you can rule out MEDIA being an issue.

Good Luck!

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[dfluke]

I had a similar problem with a Sony home DVD player that did not specifically say that it could play DVD Rs. It would play about 45 minutes of a movie and then stop. If I tried to start the DVD R again from the begining it would not play at all. If I tried another DVD R it would not play either. But if I tried it again the next day the same thing would happen all over again.
It seemed like the laser frequency must drift enough after it warmed up that it was no longer able to read the DVD R.
I purchased a new player that said it could play DVD Rs and I haven't had a problem since.

[SOTK4ever]

Thanks again guys!

I am starting to become convinced that it's my stand alone DVD player that's the problem. In fact, I don't even think DVD burners and DVD blank media was even around when I bought this.

Any recommendations for good DVD players to replace my out of date one? The only thing I really care about is progressive scan and the ability to read blank DVD media.

Thanks!

[RabidDog]

You will have no luck reading blank dvd media. Get any cheap no-name player, apex springs to mind. Congratulations on the new member!

[FulciLives]

Just about any new major brand DVD player ... SONY, PANASONIC, JVC etc. will play DVD-R discs and usually DVD+R as well.

Most now state on the packaging somewhere that they can do this.

So buying a DVD player today is much easier than it was even a year ago when most didn't say this (or worse yet said they did but still had issues).

Friend of mine just about a SONY progressive scan DVD player a couple months back and it clearly states it plays DVD-R/RW and DVD+R/RW and so far he has had no issues the the DVD-R discs I have given him. I think he said it was only $99 from BEST BUY

- John "FulciLives" Coleman

[budz]

Panasonic DVD standalone players are not factory made to playback DVD+R discs. This can only be done if you have a dvd burner that has bitsetting ability then the DVD+R can be set to burn as DVD-ROM. Dvd burners that I know of that have bitsetting are LITEON, NEC & BTC. Although bitsetting can be applied it doesn't necessary mean the burned DVD+R will playback ok on a Panasonic or any other brands that don't have the capability for DVD+R discs. I had a friends Toshiba dvd player playback the disc fine but lost the use of menu function.