DVD writing woes :( - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

CityOfAngels · 03-18-2006, 03:58 PM

I attempted to create backups of two of my DVD's so I didn't have to scratch them up whenever I wanted to watch them. I just bought a spindle of Memorex 4.7GB DVD-R's. I've always had success with both TDK and Memorex, but not HP for some reason. So when it's time to burn, it states there was an error, but not what the error was (in Nero). I tried using alcohol, and sometimes it says there was an error, or sometimes it will say there's not enough space on the disc, or it will say No Disc. Last time I burned a DVD on this system, it worked flawlessly. I've burned a few CD's recently and never had any problems.

Do you think it might be something wrong with my burner or the new spindle I just bought?

ratbastid · 03-18-2006, 04:10 PM

The only thing there to go on is the "not enough space" problem. You should google "DVD Shrink", which is a program that re-compresses DVD video from double-sided discs so it fits on the single side of a writeable DVD disc.

It's entirely possible you got a bogus spindle of disc, of course.

Rekna · 03-18-2006, 08:12 PM

is your burner on a laptop? if so make sure once you start burning your laptop is on a level surface and you don't touch the computer. I've botched to many dvds by bumping my laptop to hard.

CityOfAngels · 03-19-2006, 11:38 AM

Ah yes I can see why one didn't work, because the image I created exceeds 4.7GB. But the other is about 4.2GB and should've worked.

Nah it's not on a laptop.

CityOfAngels · 03-19-2006, 12:47 PM

Now in Nero it's saying it could not begin Disc-At-Once, and the DAO option is selected and greyed out. This is hella confusing.

sashime76 · 03-21-2006, 08:55 AM

If you do't want to lose the clarity (due to video compression) then split it into two discs, unless your burner can burn dual layer disc. DVDShrink is handy, I also use Elby CloneDVD, it shows the compression ratio.

Generally I split a disc if the compression is more than 20%. It may look fine on a 27" TV but 80% quality of the original looks like hell on a 50"+ TV.

Plaid13 · 03-21-2006, 01:18 PM

i personaly user 1click dvd copy to copy movie dvds it compresses them automaticly to fit if its too big and a program called dvd43 to get past the copy protection stuff. considering you can find dvds for like 50 cents now its well worth making a backup not to mention you can use that program to get past some of the annoying stuff they put on dvds. if you want to just stick the movie in and watch it without dealing with the menu and all that you can set it up just for that. all in all its a nice program and it hasnt failed making a copy for me yet. For movies that are really big it may want to compress it alot but... if you have it only copy the movie itself and not the menu and alt launages and stuff you can almost always fit the whole thing on a normal size dvd without compressing the movie enough to notice anything was changed at all.

Oh yeah also nice if you have a old DvD thats scratched up and wont play in some picky dvd players. I had this happen to a dvd that was loose in its case for the longest time its all scratched to hell. stuck it in the computer and made a copy of it and the copy plays just fine in the dvd player that wouldnt play the orignal.

robbdn · 03-21-2006, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CityOfAngels

Now in Nero it's saying it could not begin Disc-At-Once, and the DAO option is selected and greyed out. This is hella confusing.

I'm a little confused by your problem... and I'm having a hard time understanding if it's a matter of figuring out compression or it there's something actually wrong with your DVD Burner and/or configuration, but in the event that it's the latter, you may be encountering problems with StarForce copy protection drivers... installed any new games lately?

http://www.boingboing.net/2006/01/30..._malware_.html

Quote:

...the common problems brought by Starforce: under Windows XP, if packets are lost during the reading or writing of a disk, XP interprets this as an error and steps the IDE speed down. Eventually it will revert to 16bit compatibility mode rendering a CD/DVD writer virtually unusable. In some circumstances certain drives cannot cope with this mode and it results in physical hardware failure (Most commonly in multiformat CD/DVD writer drives). A sure sign of this step down occurring is that the burn speeds will get slower and slower (no matter what speed you select to burn at). Starforce, on a regular basis, triggers this silent step down. Until it reaches the latter stages most people do not even realise it is happening.
...

Just in case the compression tips don't solve the problem...

blahblah454 · 03-21-2006, 03:12 PM

I have had a pretty similar problem with DVD's and CDs. They were memorex. I tried to contact the company and I could never get ahold of them, I sent them emails and they only sent me canned responses. I gave up after about a week of trying, I ended up just sending a nasty (but intelligently written) email and recieved another canned response. The moral of the story is dont waste your money on memorex. I always go with either TDK or Maxell, I prefer the Maxell to all others. My guess is that you got a bad batch of dvd's. I would say when I was using Memorex that on average 1/3 blanks did not work (not including the two entire spindles that never worked). Since I switched to Maxell I have gone through close to 200 dvd and about 300 cdrs and not a single one has had a problem.

sashime76 · 03-21-2006, 04:42 PM

AnyDVD and CloneDVD is by far the best combo. A detailed tutorial for CloneDVD is here:
http://www.elby.ch/products/clone_dvd/manual/usage.html

I like both appz so much I paid for them. You should do the same.

magictoy · 04-02-2006, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Plaid13

i personaly user 1click dvd copy to copy movie dvds it compresses them automaticly to fit if its too big and a program called dvd43 to get past the copy protection stuff. considering you can find dvds for like 50 cents now its well worth making a backup not to mention you can use that program to get past some of the annoying stuff they put on dvds. if you want to just stick the movie in and watch it without dealing with the menu and all that you can set it up just for that. all in all its a nice program and it hasnt failed making a copy for me yet. For movies that are really big it may want to compress it alot but... if you have it only copy the movie itself and not the menu and alt launages and stuff you can almost always fit the whole thing on a normal size dvd without compressing the movie enough to notice anything was changed at all.

Oh yeah also nice if you have a old DvD thats scratched up and wont play in some picky dvd players. I had this happen to a dvd that was loose in its case for the longest time its all scratched to hell. stuck it in the computer and made a copy of it and the copy plays just fine in the dvd player that wouldnt play the orignal.

I second what Plaid said. Plus you get upgrades for life on 1-Click, and it will do double-sided DVDs. I don't remember how much it cost, but it comes with assurances that the software doesn't place any kind of identifier on the new DVD, or put a big "archival copy" brand at the beginning like DVDXCopy did.

I don't dupe movies to sell them, but I just didn't like the idea.

03-18-2006, 04:10 PM	#2 (permalink)
ratbastid Darth Papa Location: Yonder	The only thing there to go on is the "not enough space" problem. You should google "DVD Shrink", which is a program that re-compresses DVD video from double-sided discs so it fits on the single side of a writeable DVD disc. It's entirely possible you got a bogus spindle of disc, of course.

03-18-2006, 08:12 PM	#3 (permalink)
Rekna Junkie	is your burner on a laptop? if so make sure once you start burning your laptop is on a level surface and you don't touch the computer. I've botched to many dvds by bumping my laptop to hard.

03-21-2006, 08:55 AM	#6 (permalink)
sashime76 Addict Location: Hoosier State	If you do't want to lose the clarity (due to video compression) then split it into two discs, unless your burner can burn dual layer disc. DVDShrink is handy, I also use Elby CloneDVD, it shows the compression ratio. Generally I split a disc if the compression is more than 20%. It may look fine on a 27" TV but 80% quality of the original looks like hell on a 50"+ TV.

03-21-2006, 01:18 PM	#7 (permalink)
Plaid13 I want a Plaid crayon	i personaly user 1click dvd copy to copy movie dvds it compresses them automaticly to fit if its too big and a program called dvd43 to get past the copy protection stuff. considering you can find dvds for like 50 cents now its well worth making a backup not to mention you can use that program to get past some of the annoying stuff they put on dvds. if you want to just stick the movie in and watch it without dealing with the menu and all that you can set it up just for that. all in all its a nice program and it hasnt failed making a copy for me yet. For movies that are really big it may want to compress it alot but... if you have it only copy the movie itself and not the menu and alt launages and stuff you can almost always fit the whole thing on a normal size dvd without compressing the movie enough to notice anything was changed at all. Oh yeah also nice if you have a old DvD thats scratched up and wont play in some picky dvd players. I had this happen to a dvd that was loose in its case for the longest time its all scratched to hell. stuck it in the computer and made a copy of it and the copy plays just fine in the dvd player that wouldnt play the orignal.

03-21-2006, 03:12 PM	#9 (permalink)
blahblah454 Let's put a smile on that face Location: On the road...	I have had a pretty similar problem with DVD's and CDs. They were memorex. I tried to contact the company and I could never get ahold of them, I sent them emails and they only sent me canned responses. I gave up after about a week of trying, I ended up just sending a nasty (but intelligently written) email and recieved another canned response. The moral of the story is dont waste your money on memorex. I always go with either TDK or Maxell, I prefer the Maxell to all others. My guess is that you got a bad batch of dvd's. I would say when I was using Memorex that on average 1/3 blanks did not work (not including the two entire spindles that never worked). Since I switched to Maxell I have gone through close to 200 dvd and about 300 cdrs and not a single one has had a problem.

03-21-2006, 04:42 PM	#10 (permalink)
sashime76 Addict Location: Hoosier State	AnyDVD and CloneDVD is by far the best combo. A detailed tutorial for CloneDVD is here: http://www.elby.ch/products/clone_dvd/manual/usage.html I like both appz so much I paid for them. You should do the same.