question about repeated DVD burn failure at about 90%

[jimdagys]

I have accumulated a lot of experience converting avi into DVD. This time however I had a big problem. I want to describe the problem and would appreciate if somebody could give me some possible reasons and ideas about the problem. In this particular case I just got an 1.5 hour avi. As usual, I spent about 2 minutes scanning through the avi (beginning, middle and end) to see if it was OK, and it seemed fine. I then used DVD Flick (ver 1.2.1.3 build 348) to convert the avi to DVD. Everything seemed to go smoothly. After I got the DVD on the hard drive, I spent about 2 minutes checking it (at each 10 minute chapter point) and it played fine. Then I used Nero to burn to DVD. However at about 90%, the Used Read Buffer just went to 0 and stayed there and then I got a burn error (data problem). I got another blank disk and the same thing happened. Nero acted as if there was no more data to burn at about the 90% point. Then I used TMPGEnc DVD Author3 to try to extract out the mpeg2 from the DVD on the hard drive. However, after awhile, I also got an error message. Then I knew there was really a problem with the DVD on the hard drive because I have never had a problem using TMPGEnc DVD Author3 to extract the mpeg2 from a DVD. So I don't know whether there was some mysterious problem with the original avi, or if DVD Flick created a problem, or if maybe the hard drive lost some data.
At any rate, I used Nero again and this time converted the defective (hard drive)DVD to a Nero image. There wasn't any problem doing this. Then I used Daemon Tools to mount the image and again used TMPGEnc DVD Author3 to extract the mpeg2. This time the mpeg2 extracted without any error message. Then I used TMPGEnc to de-multiplex the mpeg2 into video and audio. Then I used GUI For DVD Author and made another DVD on the hard drive. Then I used Nero and it burned perfectly and the resulting disk seems to play perfectly on a DVD player.
After I deleted all the files on the hard drive (D) , I used the Check Disk (see below photo) and after checking for about 10 minutes, it didn't find any errors. My question is: I am wondering why there was a problem when trying to burn the original DVD folder made with DVD Flick.

[VegasBud]

jimdagys,

The only sure way to determine what went wrong is for you to post a burn log...preferably the one from when the original burn failed. If you don't have that log any longer, you could go back to the original files output from Dvd Flick, and try burning it again (to get a burn log). Even if the burn works, a log would give a clear picture of what is happening, and what might have gone wrong before. Without a log, all anyone can do is speculate.

The one thing that is certain is that how the material was prepared didn't affect the ability to burn the material.

[jimdagys]

I am posting a section of the log that seems to pertain to the problem:

11:06:45 PM #121 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:06:45.589 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

11:06:45 PM #122 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:06:45.629 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

11:06:45 PM #123 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:06:45.659 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

11:06:45 PM #124 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:06:45.689 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

11:12:58 PM #125 TRANSFER -25 File Reader.cpp, Line 382
Error reading data

11:12:58 PM #126 Text 0 File Reader.cpp, Line 385
Exception value: -1

11:12:59 PM #127 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 228
all writers idle, stopping conversion

11:12:59 PM #128 Text 0 File DVDR.cpp, Line 2603
EndDAO: Last written address was 1846079

11:13:01 PM #129 Phase 38 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1832
Burn process failed at 8x (11,080 KB/s)

Second attempt at burning (last part of log):

11:56:13 PM #121 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:56:13.346 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

11:56:13 PM #122 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:56:13.376 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

11:56:13 PM #123 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:56:13.406 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

11:56:13 PM #124 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
23:56:13.436 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

12:02:25 AM #125 TRANSFER -25 File Reader.cpp, Line 382
Error reading data

12:02:25 AM #126 Text 0 File Reader.cpp, Line 385
Exception value: -1

12:02:25 AM #127 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 228
all writers idle, stopping conversion

12:02:25 AM #128 Text 0 File DVDR.cpp, Line 2603
EndDAO: Last written address was 1846079

12:02:28 AM #129 Phase 38 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1832
Burn process failed at 8x (11,080 KB/s)

[guns1inger]

Maybe I missed it, but you don't say what media you are using. Try limiting the write speed to 8x and trying again. I would also use Imgburn, but that is a personal choice.

[jimdagys]

I was using 8x on Chinese media only found in China. Remember that I determined (see above) that the DVD on the hard drive was defective because I could not extract the mpeg2 using TMPGEnc DVD Author3. In the past I can always extract mpeg2 from DVDs. (As a test) I was able to extract the mpeg2 on the successful (hard drive) DVD when finally made by GUI For DVDAuthor.

[guns1inger]

A bad encode or even author won't necessarily cause burn issues. You can burn bad data as accurately as you can good data. The burning application doesn't care. Yes, it might not play, but that is another issue.

I have found DVD Flick to be reliable in it's output in the past, although if you are using the latest beta then you have moved past me in version numbers.

Again, a bad encode from DVD Flick would not necessarily cause your burn problems. However cheap no-name media certainly would.

[jman98]

It could be your media. It could be Nero. Haven't we told you before to try ImgBurn instead of Nero? You could also try burning at a lower speed, which might work better with crap media.

[VegasBud]

jimdagys,

While I appreciate the effort to post the log portions, it would be much better to post the full log, which contains many details surrounding the burn that are still unknown. A burn log is kind of like a story...if you only have the last couple of sentences, you know how the story ended, but not what the plot was.

As I mentioned earlier, and guns1inger has elaborated on, the actual burning part is nothing more than writing a sequence of bytes to a disk. What values are in each of the bytes doesn't matter. The drive and media don't care whether you're burning a dvd-video disk, a spreadsheet, or just random bytes. No matter how bad the encoding or authoring of a dvd-video disk, the resulting sequence of bytes should be able to be burned successfully. Since nero says "Burn process failed...", there is no doubt there's a problem with the burning part, so that's something to be addressed.

As to the other problem...just converting the dvd-video files to an ISO, and then opening the ISO in Daemon Tools should be exactly the same as using the original files. Why there would be a difference escapes me, at least for the moment. I'll give it some thought.

[jimdagys]

The Nero log can be viewed at: http://www.fileden.com/files/2006/11/30/441298/nerolog.txt

This log includes 3 things:
1) second failed burn that was attempted to be made from (hard drive) DVD made from DVD Flick
2) successful Nero image made on hard drive. This image was made from (hard drive) DVD from DVD Flick
3) successful burn made from (hard drive) DVD that was made using GUI For DVDAuthor. Video for this came from the above Nero image

[VegasBud]

jimdagys,

That's much better. Thank you.

The #1 recommendation I have is to switch to using ImgBurn instead of Nero. The reason for that is that since the drive is ~2 years newer than the version of Nero you're using, Nero isn't recognizing the drive correctly. That's what the following line from the first and last logs means:

Connected to MMC as unknown drive...

ImgBurn is free, so it doesn't cost you anything to give it a try...and it is the most probable way to solve the burning problem.

If using ImgBurn doesn't fix the burning problem, please post back with the ImgBurn log from the burn.

Other changes you could make to improve your burning process:

Your drive is using firmware version 1.09. Version 1.24 is the latest version available here straight from Pioneer. The newer firmware is likely to handle newer meda better.

The CMC MAG media isn't very good, and may cause more problems than it's worth. This page has a reference to what is...and isn't good media. By the time you factor in waste (coasters) and the wear and tear on your nervous system, using good media is a wise choice.

Your computer would work more efficiently if you added some more ram. 256 MB doesn't leave much breathing room.

In reference to the other problem, the only thing I can think of would be that the original file(s) included one or more bad disk sectors, but since Checkdisk didn't find anything, that wasn't the problem...so I don't understand that one at all.

[jimdagys]

Thanks for the info. At this point, all files have been deleted. If I get any more situations like this, I will try your suggestions and post back.

[dadrab]

Why wait until you burn another unusable disc?

Bag Nero now and avoid the Christmas rush. 8)

You've recieved sound reasoning for using IMGBurn instead. I wouldn't trust another disc to something that has failed me - especially since I know why it failed me.

[oldandinthe way]

An empty read buffer is often an indication that some other action in the system has interfered with the burn process.

If the both the hard disk and the burner have DMA enabled, and you have already checked the hard disk, the empty read buffer is probably the result of another process sucking up all of the CPU. Possible choices - something you are consciously running, spyware, your antivirus doing a background scan, media player automatically scanning for files to add to the library etc etc.

You should also consider whether your hard disk is unduly fragmented.

Although Imgburn is great software, there is no evidence that Nero is the cause of your problem.

I just read your logs. Your memory configuration 256mb is a bit light. The free memory on the second burn is substantially greater than the first (2x) suggesting something else was definitely running during the first burn. I would assume that your system is somewhat older and slower (based on the physical memory size). You should not be running anything else while you are burning.

[budz]

use better dvd media and use IMGBURN.

[VegasBud]

oldandinthe way,

In a nero log, the only time I have seen the two lines:

Connected to MMC as unknown drive with class-nr : 1
Drive is autodetected - recorder class: Std. MMC recorder

is when the drive in use came out after the version of nero being used. This case is the same, where the drive was first released about 2 years after the version of nero that made the log. The message seems fairly self-explanatory...nero is switching to a generic handler for a drive it doesn't recognize correctly. Over the years, in situations where there is no atapi error, I've seen numerous examples in forums where if nero is updated to a version more recent than the drive, the message goes away, and so does a variety of burn problems. Rather than recommend purchasing a newer version of nero, I suggested switching to ImgBurn. It's a far cheaper path, and I'm not alone in believing ImgBurn is the better tool.

The reason there was much more free memory for the second "burn" is that nero was just creating an ISO in that instance. The first and third logs were actual burns to the drive, and had virtually identical memory use, yet the burn in the first log failed while the burn in the third log succeeded. Lack of memory may have been a contributing factor, but it doesn't appear to be the primary factor responsible for the burn failure.

[oldandinthe way]

Thanks Vegasbud I learned something new

[jimdagys]

After reading all the above, I just guess that the original (hard drive) DVD was severely defragmented at a certain point. The Nero burn failed, but also extracting the mpeg2 with TMPGEnc DVD Author3 failed. Unfortunately I don't have the failure log for TMPGEnc DVD Author3 anymore. This is the only time I failed to extract the mpeg2 from a (hard drive) DVD. I am guessing making the Nero image copy on the hard drive was successful because the Nero image process doesn't pump data through a laser and therefore can be more forgiving on a severely defragmented file. The above is just my guess.

[jimdagys]

Still trying to pin down this burn failure problem. This time I got 2 coasters. Burn failed at the very beginning, even before the buffers filled up. Tried again to extract mpeg2 from the DVD with TMPGEnc DVD Author and couldn't extract any data. So I knew there was something screwy with the files. But the DVD files play fine on the computer. Eventually burned the disk by first making a Nero Image burn, then mounting the image and then using DVD Fab Platinum to copy and burn the DVD. Following is failed burn Nero log.

6:21:23 AM #22 Text 0 File Mmc.cpp, Line 21235
Set BUFE: Buffer underrun protection -> ON

6:21:23 AM #23 Text 0 File DVDR.cpp, Line 2340
Start write address at LBA 0
DVD high compatibility mode: Yes

6:21:23 AM #24 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 8430
---- DVD Structure: Physical Format Information (00h) ----
Layer: 0, Address: 0 (0 h), AGID: 0; Length: 2050
Book Type: DVD-R (2), Part Version: 5
Disc Size: 120 mm, Maximum Rate: <not specified> (F h)
Number of Layers: 1, Track Path: Parallel Track Path (PTP), Layer Type: recordable
Linear Density: 0,267 um/bit, Track Density: 0,74 um/track
Starting Physical Sector Number of Data Area: 30000 h (DVD-ROM, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW)
End Physical Sector Number of Data Area: 0 h
End Sector Number in Layer 0: 0 h (LBN: FFFD0000 h, 4193920 MB)
Data in Burst Cutting Area (BCA) does not exist
Start sector number of the current Border-Out: 0 h
Start sector number of the next Border-In: 0 h
Media Specific [16..63]:
00 30 00 10 20 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 .0..............
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

6:21:24 AM #25 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1287
06:21:24.401 - PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-112\H1 T1 : Queue again later

6:22:00 AM #26 SCSI -1135 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1435
SCSI Exec, HA 1, TA 1, LUN 0, buffer 0x07C40000
Status: 0x04 (0x01, SCSI_ERR)
HA-Status 0x00 (0x00, OK)
TA-Status 0x02 (0x01, SCSI_TASTATUS_CHKCOND)
Sense Key: 0x03 (KEY_MEDIUM_ERROR)
Sense Code: 0x0C
Sense Qual: 0x00
CDB Data: 0x2A 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x20 0x00 0x00 0x00
Sense Data: 0x71 0x00 0x03 0xFF 0xFF 0x30 0xE0 0x0E
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0C 0x00

6:22:00 AM #27 CDR -1135 File Writer.cpp, Line 311
Write error

6:22:00 AM #28 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 228
all writers idle, stopping conversion

6:22:00 AM #29 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 222
conversion idle, stopping reader

6:22:01 AM #30 Text 0 File DVDR.cpp, Line 2603
EndDAO: Last written address was 767

6:22:01 AM #31 Phase 38 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1832
Burn process failed at 8x (11,080 KB/s)

[poisondeathray]

I'm not a software engineer, but this might suggest bad media:

Sense Key: 0x03 (KEY_MEDIUM_ERROR)

A quick search suggests this, there are many on google, but here is one:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/f48/sense-key-0x03-key_medium_error-152518/