Problems with every disc!

[musiclover408]

I am having a problem with every DVD I try to burn. I have used both DVD Shrink and DVD Decypter for step 1....and then I have burned DVDs using DVD Decrypter, Nero 6 and Pinnacle Instant DVD. It doesn't matter what program I use, I have been getting this problem every time.

Disc burns successfully. Upon playback, the movie will get to about the 48-50 minute mark and start freezing and eventually will then stop and give up trying to work. Also, I am not able to look at any of the special features that were recorded. Nothing loads when you click on to play them (ie: trailers, etc)

I have burned hundreds of discs previously...so I am not a newbie to this whole stuff. I am using a Pioneer DV08 burner that is only about a month or two old.

Any help would be greatly appreciated!!

I am leaning towards me having a defective piece of hardware...but if anyone has any other ideas, please let me know.

Thanks!

[guns1inger]

Could be. Could also be defective or incompatible media. Find your burner in the DVD Writers section on the left, then check out the media people are using successfully. Also, try running Nero CD Speed (name ?) and DVD Info Pro over the finished disk to see if there are read problems.

[Deku Scrub]

I was having similar problems... then I switched media ... now I get perfect burns everytime.

[maansingh169]

it is the media. i have had similar problems and it is a big pain. DO NOT BUY PRINCO brands. sometimes, your firmware needs to be updated and that fixes some of the problem. Use DVDInfoPro to find you brand and then click dvd media, on the left hand menu and see if your media is Great or crap.

[steve2713]

Tell us what media you're using that is giving you problems. Also, run some transfer rate tests on some of your discs using Nero CD-DVD Speed, the discs will usually play fine if you get a smooth transfer rate test.

[Gurm]

Can we all sing the BAD MEDIA song together!?!?!?

[musiclover408]

Thanks for the responses but the reason I do not think it is the media is because I have used probably 200-300 discs before that are perfectly fine. I bought ProDisc blanks specifically because they are Pioneer approved for my recorder. I also burn at only 4X to try to save coasters from happening.

Any other ideas now?

[steve2713]

What's the media code? I've heard a fair number of people with Pioneer drives that have had poor luck with Prodisc media, a search of Prodisc will reveal that.

The symptoms you describe sound exactly like a poor burn, the errors on most media will increase as it gets closer to the edge of the disc.

P.S. - as I suggested before, a transfer rate test will probably reveal if you've got poor burns. The test only takes 2 or 3 minutes to do, and if the read speed on the test is not relatively smooth it will indicate a poor burn.

[musiclover408]

Ok I did the transfer rate test. How do I know if the read speed is smooth? My start speed was 2.43x and my end was 2.49x with an average speed of 2.46x.

I will try a test burn on a different type of media and see if that disc has the same issue.

Thanks!

[steve2713]

Were there any dips in the speed on the test, or was it a straight line? Most drives test at an increasing speed as you move towards the edge of the disc, that is, they will show a diagonal test line.

This is what a good test will look like:





This is what a marginal burn test would look like, a very good chance of skipping with this disc - you can see where the drive struggles reading the disc: