Video playback of burnt files poor (but has been fine before)

[Aimsbury]

Hi All,

I've been recommended here by someone at another forum

I have successfully been burning avi files with nero as data files and playing them on both my pc, laptop and dvd (divx)player/recorder for years. Recently, I have been having a few problems. The original avi file plays perfectly on the computer, but when I burn it to disc and then try to play it back on the same computer, the file is pixellated, and the images do that weird negative/blue image thing where you only get the outline etc. This also occurs on any other playback machine I use (stand alone Divx player, a laptop etc)

I'm using the same computer, with the same dvd burners (1 x HP DVD Writer 940d 3H23 and 1 x Sony DVD-Rw AW-G170a 1.71), and the same burning software (Nero 6.6.1.15) as I always have, so I can't work out why suddenly I am getting a problem.

I've tried burning files with nero, CDBurnerXP and ImgBurn but the same thing happens all three ways. ImgBurn actually came up with a message in it's log that said "Arrrrgggh! Too Many 'Miscompare' Messages!" I've also tried different discs - both CDr and DVDr (Various brands including Sony and Verbatim). The burns always complete and eject as usual. I've even run them through a divx repair, and it says they are fine.

I have also tried burning with 3 different DVD Writers, but the same issue has occured. The I would usually use are both less than 18 months old. I've also tried burning at different speeds.

I've also tried to make my own video from home movies which I created in Windows Movie Maker. I burnt these as wmv files, but still, the pixellation is bad.

In an attempt to solve the issue, I've updated all the drivers, downloaded the latest updates from Microsoft and have more CD coasters than I know what to do with.

Does anyone have any ideas what the issues could be? I've (hopefully) uploaded an example of the original file, and then an extraction of the file after it's been burnt to disc to show you the difference in quality. (Many apologies for the home movieness. I've been trying to burn a copy of my friends wedding for her for a month now!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tROdxY9jd9g

As I said, I've been recommended here as the guys at the other forum were stumped. I'm sure there's a setting or something that needs tweaking, but I haven't got a clue where it is. The only time I get any success is if I save the file to my external hard drive and burn them on a different machine.

Many thanks in advance

[redwudz]

The only time I get any success is if I save the file to my external hard drive and burn them on a different machine.

That's the only valid clue as far as I can determine. Maybe your power supply is failing and the burner isn't getting enough power. But that's just a guess.
Thanks for providing all the information. The exact text of the ImgBurn error might help. Or post the Nero or ImgBurn log.

And welcome to our forums.

[sambat]

If ImgBurn generates a log showing problems, you might try its 'Discovery' mode.
It writes an internal ISO to a CD using memory (not hard drive).
If the log still has errors, perhaps it's a memory problem (perhaps running Memtest will help).

http://www.memtest.org/

[Starman*]

Have you checked the transfer mode of the IDE channel the drives are using in Device Manager? Should be UDMA 2 at least. Any other reason the drives are not communicating properly?

[Aimsbury]

Hi All - been having a few other issues on my computer so apologies for not getting back to you sooner.

Am downloading memtest now so will do a few cycles of that do see if there are any issues.

I'll try burning a new imgburn and post the log. The last one I did was very long!

Will be back in a mo...!