dvd writers using xp

[birdygal]

I currently have 2 dvd recorders -r/ram that I can't get to work in xp or on my system period even trying to go back to windows me which it did before and a sony +rw I can't get my money back on my -r/ram that is wasted but I can only sell the replacement drive I will be getting. I currently have 125 new dvd-r discs and want to use them my sony +rw is the first release so when +r does come out I doubt if they will do +r's anyway but it is a great drive and the bunch of +rw discs I alreay own will suffice for testing authoring. I am looking at getting the pioneer 104 I really need to know before I waste another $400 bucks will it work in xp and work side by side with my sony +rw both type discs play on apex players my+rw and -r that I did manage to burn both play on them, Is the support less on the oem version less than the retail version.

[nagiw]

yes u can i am running axp with a pioneer a04 no probs had to convert to ntfs to have images over 4gig hope this is of help to u later it works along side my 24 speed plex as well

[cranyum]

I'll second that. I've XP with an A04 with no severe issues that we all aren't aware of...(i.e. Less than perfect success rates when $2 discs are used, perfect when 7$ disks are used)

Cranyum

[Faustus]

Same here... DVR-A04 and winXP running NERO 5.5.8.0 no issues at all.... I've found the 2 dollar disk to be horrible but I've been using some that cost $3.40 each perfectly.

[crjackson]

I just purchased a Pioneer DVR-104 and installed it today. I thought it was the newest drive they made. Now I'm reading about the DVR-A04. Did I get ripped off or something? Also I haven't burned single DVD with this thing yet. What media should I use?

Could you tell me if a program exsists that will let me make a DVD image of a movie and simply burn a copy like I do with CD's. I use NERO 5.5.8.2 and I do notice there is a copy feature there. Does this work or am in in for a lot of work?

I"m in the process right now of trying to convert my VHS tapes to SVCD, the image qauality seems really good, but how the hell do you get the audio to sync with the video. It's like watching an old Chineese karate film. I assume it has to do with the constant 4% dropped frame rates but what can I do to lock the audio to the frame rates?

Any help for this newbie would be greatly appreciated.

[Faustus]

The DVR-A04 is the Retail version of the 104. They are the same drive. I back this up with the FAct that I got the A04 package but then I install the drive it sees the actual drive model as A04.

What I think is strange is now I'm seeing a DVR-104MA listed on pricewatch... dont know whats up with that...

As far as DVD copying and software goto the ifo edit website, thats as good as it gets for now, its tricky because most dvds are dual layer and dvd-r disk are single layer, but it can be done.... I do it often.

[Eug]

I currently have 2 dvd recorders -r/ram that I can't get to work in xp or on my system period even trying to go back to windows me which it did before and a sony +rw I can't get my money back on my -r/ram that is wasted but I can only sell the replacement drive I will be getting. I currently have 125 new dvd-r discs and want to use them my sony +rw is the first release so when +r does come out I doubt if they will do +r's anyway but it is a great drive and the bunch of +rw discs I alreay own will suffice for testing authoring. I am looking at getting the pioneer 104 I really need to know before I waste another $400 bucks will it work in xp and work side by side with my sony +rw both type discs play on apex players my+rw and -r that I did manage to burn both play on them, Is the support less on the oem version less than the retail version.

First of all, punctuation is a good thing. :P

Second, my XP box works great with my Panasonic LF-D311 DVD-RAM/-R. Are you trying to use the DVD+RW and DVD-RAM/-R on the same machine?

[birdygal]

Yes and I have them both working now together, though the ram doesn't work with xp but that's ok I didn't want it anyway. apparently the discs that came with the -r/ram recorder were defective , I had to go through aquiring an rma # to return the drive , I purchased a few different types cheap dvd's and they worked fine.

[xiaNaix]

Birdygal... Since you have both + and - drives, have you done any comaptibility testing of the two media formats? I'd be interested to hear any comments you may have as to compatibility with standalone DVD players.

[birdygal]

I only have apex players 1000 ,1100 , 600 a 1000 and 1100 play both flawless +rw and -r 600a played neither

Just got a new burner for my second computer the pioneer 104 I like it the best not quite as picky as the panasonic lf-d311 with cheap media, I burned 7 -r discs so far that the panasonic wouldn't even recognize.

[pacoreguenga]

OK, here´s just something for Everyone!

- Pioneer A04 and 104 are the same drive, just as A03 and 103, the difference being retail/oem versions. Oem versions are (supposedly) supported by your computer maker (Compaq, Packard Bell, Sony, Dell, etc) and retail versions are backed up directly by Pioneer. (there´s the chance, also, to convert your oem version to a REAL Pioneer by reflashing the firmware, but It´s up to you and it´s kind of tricky. If you follow this link you´ll know what I mean:

http://forum.vcdhelp.com/viewtopic.php?t=90203

The 104MA contains a Mac-specific firmware.


- About multiple devices on XP, just remember XP´s ASPI layer treatment is different from other OS´s. Look on the web for "ASPI for XP"


- About the audio/video sync problem, it´s very easy to fix.

There´s something called FRAME RATE and TIMEBASE. Don´t confuse it with data rate.
Standard broadcast video signals run at a 29.97 drop frame Timebase.
Computer video usually runs at 30 fps, be it at a home or a professional environment.
You can color correct, edit, compose and deliver your video all the way at 30 fps non drop, but when it comes to broadcast, you have to make it run at 29.97 (bandwidht and signal multiplexing issues, leave it that way for now)
Same comes true for your VHS tapes, your DVD´s, VCD´s, and every consumer distributable media. (standards issues apply here)

Now... You know your computer captures video at, let me guess... 720 x 480 pixels, standard DV or MJPG Compressed, 0.9 aspect ratio, 1.333 pixel ratio, (CCIR standard aka full D1 is 720 x 486, FYI) or 640 x 480, square pixel ratio.
Anyway, your frame rate could be 29.97 drop frame or 30fps non drop. So could be your timebase.

You know your computer captures audio at, let´s say... 44100Hz (or 48000Hz for DVD), 16 bit, stereo. Isn´t it?
Well... at which timebase? 30 fps or 29.97?
Ahahaaa!

You gotta match both a/v framerate / timebase in order to capture perfect synced a/v streams. Period.
Almost forgot! If you can, capture both at 30 fps. Editing will be way easier, ´cause you´ll have a constant rate to work with.
29.97 conversion can be done later into your mpg encoder.

If you don´t have access to Adobe Premiere (which lets you adjust that capture parameters), try vidcap32.exe from Microsoft (shareware, look for it on the web). Yes. It´s small. But a very powerful tool and a must-have for the video-inclined windows user. It doesn´t support open DML, but it works great with any capture hardware you could possbly have.

Vidcap lets you tweak your capture parameters just enough to capture in sync.

Now this works for everyone with a windows PC... what about the rest?

Mac, SGI, Linux and the others: Try the same (same parameters, not same vidcap program). It will work.

[crjackson]

Well, I installed my new DVR-104 today and got the same error using NERO 5582. I tried STOMP RecordNOW! and it also errored out durning either CD/DVD burns. I thought perhaps a my PSU didn't have the ooomph needed for all my attached drives.

I disconnected everything, shut down all non-essential processes and still I get the Communications error.

This is how my drives are configured.
Promise controller Chan. 1 - Boot drive
Promise controller Chan. 2 - Data/working files
Onboard controller Chan 1 - Pioneer DVD 106S reader
Onboard controller Chan 2 - Pioneer DVD-R/RW DVR-104

No slaves on any channels, all drives set to master.

I finally got the thing to burn without errors only when setting the drive to PIO mode. I just can't handle DMA2 no matter what I do.

I find this very strange. Any suggestions...