Errors burning to ridata discs

[sheets]

I tried the Ridata disks from newegg and got errors writing the leadout ("unable to perform disc at once") using my Pioneer A06 burner. Failed at 4x and 2x.

Any thoughts? I'm beginning to become very frustrated with this (highly rated) drive. So far, only $2/each verbatim discs can be written to for video. (All work fine for data) Unfortuntely, of my 2 standalone players, only one can read the verbatim +r discs...Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

[windtrader]

Sheets,

The Ridata discs are rated as quite reliable by most. You can read the various consensus on a number of the main (credible) forums and they are very much consistent. If you have tried other media than the verbatim and had troubles writing, then I would say you the problem is not the discs. Maybe you can try getting a couple RW discs and start troubleshooting your system before making more coasters.

[sheets]

Originally posted by windtrader
Sheets,

The Ridata discs are rated as quite reliable by most. You can read the various consensus on a number of the main (credible) forums and they are very much consistent. If you have tried other media than the verbatim and had troubles writing, then I would say you the problem is not the discs. Maybe you can try getting a couple RW discs and start troubleshooting your system before making more coasters.

I have made many +RW discs with no coasters using a variety of media. Of the non re-writeable, only Verbatim +R 4x has been reliable for video backups. Almost all the discs have worked fine for data from local non name cheapies to the more expensive verbatims. If the Verbatims weren't working, I would agree that it must be a hardware problem but the fact that those work leads me to believe it's just a disc/hardware compatibility issue.

This technology is definitely not ready for prime-time... :D

[windtrader]

This technology is definitely not ready for prime-time...
There are many, mnay people who are buring video to DVD without problems. You just need to figure out what is different with your system or process.

What software are you using to burn? Is the system being used for anything elese or network connected? The system could be making the burn get a buffer underrun.

[sheets]

Originally posted by windtrader
There are many, mnay people who are buring video to DVD without problems. You just need to figure out what is different with your system or process.

What software are you using to burn? Is the system being used for anything elese or network connected? The system could be making the burn get a buffer underrun.

I don't know if that makes sense. Why can I burn 100% of the time using 2.4x RW discs as well as Verbatim? If it was an overrun problem it would happen consistently and not work fine on the verbatim and RW discs. Also, because it's erroring during writing the lead-out, doesn't that preclude it from being a buffer over/underrun problem?

[windtrader]

Hye, I'm no expert in DVD media, I just know I have been burned by crappy media in the past and have found Ritek G04 discs to be very compatible with my Pioneer A05. I now use them exclusively and am very happy.

You can check at http://www.dvdrhelp.com./dvdwriters
for other compatible dvd media for that drive.

[OvERaCiD23]

I burn using the exact same combo (in fact, I even get my Ritek's from newegg.com), and of course, no problems like most others. What burning software are you using, and what OS are you running? Possibly try upgrading your firmware on your A06 to the *hacked* firmware from www.rpc1.org. You'll also gain 12x ripping speeds by upgrading the firmware ;)

[sheets]

Originally posted by OvERaCiD23
I burn using the exact same combo (in fact, I even get my Ritek's from newegg.com), and of course, no problems like most others. What burning software are you using, and what OS are you running? Possibly try upgrading your firmware on your A06 to the *hacked* firmware from www.rpc1.org. You'll also gain 12x ripping speeds by upgrading the firmware ;)

I'm using Nero 5.5.10.54 for burning under Windows XP Pro SP1A. One wrinkle I forgot to mention is that I'm running the burner over USB2 in an external enclosure. I would suspect an issue with the USB2-to-IDE conversion chipset but since the drive is working perfectly with RW discs and the Verbatim +R I'm not sure that's the issue...

What firmware hack version are you referring to? I couldn't find the one you are referencing? Also, can any of the firmware flashers perform the upgrade over USB ?

Thanks!

[windtrader]

You can find the firmware upgrade here too. Look in the left column.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/

That is an old copy of Nero. Try to get upgraded to the latest.

As to the USB external version, it may very well have its own oddities. The majority of comments I read are on the internal version.

I have no idea how flashing over USB works. Good luck.

[sheets]

Originally posted by windtrader
You can find the firmware upgrade here too. Look in the left column.
http://www.cdfreaks.com/

That is an old copy of Nero. Try to get upgraded to the latest.

As to the USB external version, it may very well have its own oddities. The majority of comments I read are on the internal version.

I have no idea how flashing over USB works. Good luck.

I tried the trial version of Nero 6 and was unimpressed. I installed it on Jan 29 and not only did it force an uninstall of version 5 but then announced that it would only work until Jan 31. It didn't work any better than version 5. I got the exact same set of errors and then had to dig out my Nero 5 disk and re-download the latest patch.

There seems to be a lot of confusion over external USB2 vs. External Firewire. Maybe I'll pickup a Firewire enclosure and see if it performs any differently.

Thanks for your continuing help! :-)

[sheets]

OH well,

I'm almost ready to bag this whole DVD burning idea. It just seems like it's not ready for prime time. Per several suggestions, I went out and bought a firewire enclosure. It didn't matter. The exact same results. Sor far with my 106, the only discs I can burn to are khypermedia +rw and Verbatim +r. I'm sure there are others that will work also but it bugs me that it's not consistent with what other folks are finding in terms of the Ridata discs and others...

[atreides93]

Ok, first off, please stop with the "not ready for primetime" comments. Even my mother can burn DVD's these days and she's clueless when it comes to computers.!!
Not many people are using their drives the way you are as an "external" drive. How about hooking it up directly to the IDE port like normal and testing it out first.

DVD burners are being sold in record numbers now...but the way you're using it is "unusual"...so don't start saying its not ready for prime time.

[sheets]

Originally posted by atreides93
Ok, first off, please stop with the "not ready for primetime" comments. Even my mother can burn DVD's these days and she's clueless when it comes to computers.!!
Not many people are using their drives the way you are as an "external" drive. How about hooking it up directly to the IDE port like normal and testing it out first.

DVD burners are being sold in record numbers now...but the way you're using it is "unusual"...so don't start saying its not ready for prime time.

I call 'em as I see them. Both my computers are notebook computers. I don't have the luxury of using them "like normal". It is working with two media types I mentioned and I'll be trying some other media types of those two brands but I know dozens of folks who have bought and returned DVD burners and along with the fact that there are more than 4 standards for formats -R, +R, +RW, -RW, dual layer etc., just shows that we don't have a mature format we're dealing with. One of my standalone players can play +RW videos but not +R. The other can play +R but not +RW. DVDR is a hit or miss proposition at this point.

When I called Newegg to tell them that I wanted a refund on the RIData discs even though their site says no refunds on the RIData media, the guy told me he's taken dozens of complaints from folks about RIData discs so I'm not the only one having problems.

[JustinH]

not all media works well with all burners.

I have a sony unit and have found two brands of media that work good for me, and I have burned 250 DVD-R's with probably less than 5 coasters.

If it wasn't ready for primetime, do you think there would be this many people into it?

You mentioned a standalone dvd player problem with media. If you did some reading you would learn that DVD+R is not the format for playing in older Standalone DVD Players. DVD-R is the format you want.

Same deal with DVD+RW or DVD-RW, they don't play in many many standalone units at all.

The media you say you are using is fair at best. That knaper whatever media is junk that they pretty much give away at office max. Verbatim is usually CMC media which is junk also.

I have had some problems with Ritek discs in my sony, so I don't use them.

Right now I am using Samsung BeALL media at 4x with zero problems whatsoever for archives, about 90 cents a piece.

And i'm using Sonic 4x media with zero problems for less important data and dvd backups for the truck. About 60 cents a pop for this stuff.

Also I agree with the other poster, your setup may be causing a problem. List your system specs please, also make sure that you have DMA enabled on your drive.

I have seen some instances of those external IDE boxes working OK over usb2.0 or firewire, and I have seen some bad instances also.

If you are still having problems after trying some of the stuff I mentioned, I encourage you to use your drive as it was meant to be used in a desktop computer.

JH

[sheets]

It's the new unit that plays +RW but not +R or -R and the older unit can't read the +RW but reads the others.

One interesting thing I discovered is that even though the -R discs "fail" with a cannot perform disc-at-once, they still play on the computer. I'll have to try them on my other standalone unit and see if they play there as well...

[int 21h]

Try burning with DVD Decrypter instead.

[sheets]

Doesn't dvd decrypter just use the nero engine?

[sheets]

Thanks for the media tips Justin. I'll check some of those out.

[int 21h]

Originally posted by sheets
Doesn't dvd decrypter just use the nero engine?

No, DVDDecrypter has its own burning engine.

[sheets]

I'll try it but most of the discs I've been burning are dual layer 8gb discs and won't fit on a single disc so I've been creating an ISO image with decrypter and then burning from dvd shrink...

[int 21h]

Make DVDShrink generate a Nero Image instead by using the 'Image Recorder' burner in the configuration properties of DVDShrink.

DVDDecrypter can then burn the .nrg file from DVDShrink.

[sheets]

Thanks! I'll give that a try.

[brett]

Wow. I can't understand all this complaining when you're running Nero on a laptop trying to burn across USB to an external drive at 4X. That's a downright weird way to make DVD's.

First off, Nero pretty much sucks for burning DVD's. If you're burning data discs, use Stomp RecordNow MAX (the new incarnation of Prassi) and you'll have much better luck. If you're burning DVD video, use DVD Decrypter, ImgTool Classic or RecordNow MAX. Look around the forum and you'll see countless problems people have using Nero with DVD Video -- especially some older versions of Nero. There are plenty of people who use Nero and it works out fine, but there are tons of people with problems.

I use a Pioneer DVR-104 drive (1.41 firmware) to burn Ritek G04's (from newegg) at 2X. It is the secondary IDE master in a desktop system with a 350W name-brand power supply. I have burned about 75 movies on G04's at 2X in DVD Decrypter without a single problem. I have burned several data backups with RecordNow MAX -- usually with over 50,000 files -- without a single problem. I have re-ripped many G04's without a single read error or even a slowdown. I have burned about 150 of the older Ritek G03's and 50 Verbatim 2X DVD-R's with the drive, also without problems. The only problems I ever encountered were with an old batch of G03's purchased from SuperMediaStore in 2002 which had trouble reading in some drives with images over 4,000,000,000 bytes.

What you're doing is highly unconventional. First, I would suspect the external enclosure, then I would suspect Nero, then I would suspect your laptop. My brother has an external USB 2.0 enclosure he got from NewEgg, and it works reliably, but if you try ripping a DVD from a DVD-ROM in the enclosure, it usually rips at 2X when connected to a USB 2.0 port and 1X when connected to a USB 1.1 port. He has a laptop with a good USB 2.0 PC card, and it can rip faster than 2X, but I would still never try burning at 4X on the thing.

I think your external enclosure isn't ready for prime-time. I think Nero's DVD burning ability isn't ready for prime-time. Your laptop may not be ready for prime-time. Don't blame the drive.

[Buddy]

There is a lot of verbatim -R disk on the market at the moment with many complains. At the moment it isn't a good idea to buy verbatim -R. It has nothing to do with external burners Verbatim sucks at the moment. But only with -R:D

[sheets]

Originally posted by Buddy
There is a lot of verbatim -R disk on the market at the moment with many complains. At the moment it isn't a good idea to buy verbatim -R. It has nothing to do with external burners Verbatim sucks at the moment. But only with -R:D

Verbatim are the only ones working on my 106d...

[Buddy]

Originally posted by sheets
Verbatim are the only ones working on my 106d...
Sorry you are right I did mis that part with my simple english. I don't think that it is your burner that is making the problems. Maybe you should try some other media brands. Arita works fine in -R it is a ritek disk in +R an ricoh. It sounds to me that you try to overburn your disk. :(
What I allmost forgot there is a lot of verbatim -r running around that is not working properly.:D

[sheets]

I noticed the local store had the same model pioneer as mine (106D) but in a "official" pioneer external firewire enclosure. The enclosure looks to be made by iomega since it has the iomega style 5 pin connector with +5 and +12 pins.

Anyway, took it home and burned a video DVD from an ISO image onto a $0.29 no-name brand 2x -R cheapie. Played fine in the standalone unit which previously could only play RW discs. The new 106D has the exact same firmware 1.07 as the old one. My conclusion is that it's the cheapie $29 enclosure that was causing the problem.

Problem is that half the external drives I've seen use the enclosure that the older drive was in. It's the plastic one that's got the integrated power supply (takes a standard computer-style power cable). It's also held together by a plastic "belt" on either side. When I tried the firewire enclosure with the old drive, the only enclosures the store had were this same type. I notice that mwave.com and newegg.com are blowing these enclosures out for $25-$30 so maybe there were many problems with them.

The odd thing is that I was getting "good" burns on certain media but just not on Ridata, imation or my cheapies. I wasn't expecting the new drive to work with the cheapies. I just tried it for fun.

Anyway, thanks folks for your help and patience.

Jaz