I have had some bad luck earlier trying to burn a new box of Verbatim DVD+Rs (reorder 43205). The three first disks becane coasters. Recording proceeded ok until the lead-out, when I was shown an error message (Invalid Field in command - unable to perform disk-at-once operation). Recording failed and the disk was reported as empty, but trying to record on it again showed only 152MB left.

I am using a SONY DRUA and Nero 5.5.9.14.

After a short investigation I realized the drive had a "d" firmware and I had downloaded the latest "g" firmware, just in case. I decided this might be it.

After upgrading the firmware, I tried for the 4th disk. This time I decided to be on the safe side and did a simulation first. Done succesfully, so I decided to have a go in burning it. Nero said couldn't write to the disk because it was read-only and that I should replace it with an empty one.

Examining the recording layer revealed that the disk may really be recorded, so I took it to the stand-alone player for test. It is a perfect disk, the one I was trying to burn for hours.

So from now on, I am going to simulate recordings (rather than risk burning them). Sounds crazy, doesn't it?