How do you know if its a bad burner or software

[lukskywalker]

Hello Everyone,
I have been backing up my dvds for sometime now and recently (I guess for the last 6 months) all of my DVD's I backup endup turning into coasters. I use DVD shrink along with DVD Dycrypter. What seems to be the case is this, the burns goes good, the record goes good, but when you stick the dvd in the player the DVD freezes up or starts to skip horrible and this is usually half way in the middle of the show. I never had this issue before. Another friend of mine has the same software but different burners and he doesnt have this issue. Can it be my burner???, or more Likely software, or can it be my burn speed which is 8x?? I dont want to invest in another burner unless I know my is bad. Also just a fyi. Can someone please help me with this issue. I certainly would appreciate it.

[TooLFooL]

if your disks burn ok but don't playback, first suspect is poor media. what disks are you using?

[lukskywalker]

Om using FUJI DVD-R

[lenti_75]

looks like media problem...

[redwudz]

Usually not software or burners or burn speed. The most common cause as mentioned is the media. And it's the easiest to change.

And have you tried the disc in different players, just to rule out yours as a problem?

I'm assuming you are using Decrypter to burn for Shrink? There shouldn't be any software problems with that combination. I switched over to ImgBurn for burning with Shrink as it is newer and seems to work better with some burners. http://forum.digital-digest.com/showthread.php?t=63869

If all else fails, it may be a burner problem, but the problem would be their with just about any DVD burn, irregardless of the software used.

[painkiller]

If this is of any help to you, I had a dvd burner go bad some time back.

At first, I wasn't sure whether it was software, hardware or me.

Then I looked at the recording side of the dvd media.

It looked like an oil slick.

Definitely not a consistent smooth burn pattern.

That's how you may know the laser/driving electronics go bad. Sometimes.

[blinky88]

Shrink and Decrypter, the very best software, so you can eliminate that as being the cause.

Sounds very much like the dye on the disc is bleeding, bad media ?

[lordsmurf]

Sounds very much like the dye on the disc is bleeding, bad media ?

Huh? That doesn't make any sense.

At any rate, media is likely the issue. I would agree to the "bad media" conclusion.

[painkiller]

Lordsmurf, Blinky88 may have been referring to my prior message.

If this helps - I should have pointed out that my history with this one failed drive of mine kept on making coasters until I finally came to realize where the failure actually existed.

On the last burn I was making with that drive, when I looked at the data side of the disc, it was a very strange random pattern. Not a pleasantly defined smooth burn as most of us would see.

I wish I had kept one to try and see if it would scan so others could see this result.
Which is why I made the comment - it looked like an oil slick.

In any case, it was at that moment I knew the drive/laser was definitely the culprit (problem).
And promptly threw out the drive.

[oldandinthe way]

Since you didn't identify your burner my response would be that it appears to be a burner and media combination issue.

In any case the next thing you should try is another media supplier. Since Fuji uses multiple makers of media you should make an effort to find media with a differing media ID.