SPOOKY: Can't burn 1:1 single-layer copies

[king_e_dawg]

OK, strap yourselves in:

It all started a year ago when I got my burner, a Sony OEM internal drive, to go with the Samsung DVD-ROM drive that came with my computer (Dell Dimension 4600, XP SP2). To burn DVDs, I'd start by using DVD43 to decrypt, then Roxio Easy DVD Copy 2 to copy. I'm using single-layer blanks, so dual-layers get automatically compressed--no problems there. Dual-layer to dual-layer? No problem. Hell, I even managed to re-author a DVD with different subtitles, no problems at all. But when I try to copy a single-layer disc to a blank single-layer, everything goes nuts.

Note that the burning process itself goes normally, but when the discs are played in any player, they exhibit the same symptoms. The first movie on the disc (the short one) plays just fine, as evidenced by the timecode on the player. Once it hits either the menu or the next movie, it goes black, scrambles the image and freezes it, or only displays one frame of the movie at a time, followed by another from a few seconds later. All the while, the sound is sputtering and skipping along at about half speed.

Now before you cry foul on one thing or another, let me explain my ordeal. It's not the Roxio program, as I tried several other popular programs and got the same result. It's not the media, I tried several different brands. So it's probably the drive, right? Well, shortly after I got my burner, the Samsung drive burned out and I had to get a replacement. I went with another Sony DVD-RW, this time from Wal-Mart. Now, for some reason, after this, it was actually working. After some experimentation, I found that both drives had to have the jumpers set to cable select to burn single-layers (or so I thought). So, stupid me, I had to trade in for a matching set of Wal-Mart RW drives, and then I couldn't burn ANYTHING, since every program initially recognizes them as the SAME DRIVE and I didn't have enough hard drive space to cache. So I got another ROM drive, Memorex this time. It started working again, for some reason, so, since Memorex drives are ugly, I got a Lite-On ROM drive, feeling pretty good about it. And now I'm back to square one. The thing is, I tried putting the Memorex drive back in and nothing changed. Jumper settings have no effect.

Note that none of this is taking into account changes I made to video codecs and the like, which I can't remember. It could have all just been coincidence, so I thought that reformatting (since I got a bigger hard drive anyway) might eliminate whatever error was causing this. So I did, and installed my DVD tools (DVD43, Roxio) before anything. My decoder is the PowerDVD/CinePlayer codec that came with my computer. Problem persists. I've been trying for a year to just get my computer to burn DVDs normally, PLEASE HELP. And please don't be discouraged if every response is met with "I tried it already," because I probably did. If someone could help me pinpoint what is causing this, I would be eternally grateful.

[setarip_old]

Hi!But when I try to copy a single-layer disc to a blank single-layer, everything goes nuts...
The first movie on the disc (the short one) plays just fine, as evidenced by the timecode on the player. Once it hits either the menu or the next movie...Please clarify - What are you referring to, when you speak of "the first movie" and "the next movie"? The vast majority of commercial DVDs have only one movie...

What's the Title and Region of your original, commercial DVD?

DVD43 is VERY MUCH an outdated and now problematic program...

[CWR03]

DVD43 is VERY MUCH an outdated and now problematic program...
...as is Roxio Easy DVD Copy 2. There are plenty of free tools available from this site, some of which have ceased development but are still perfectly functionable. There are also a few disks that need to be dealt with differently due to advanced copy protection schemes, or invalid characters in the labeling system.

[king_e_dawg]

As I said, I've tried multiple programs besides Roxio, same result each time.

When I say first movie, I mean, for instance, the FBI warning or something like that. Is it possible DVD 43 is causing it? I'm pretty sure I've tried alternative tools.

[king_e_dawg]

Sorry, to clarify further, the "next movie" is either the menu or the main movie itself, if the DVD is set to play that first. They are all Region 1 DVDs. There has to be some reason why the problem is limited to ONLY direct single-layer copies; after all, I would imagine those are the easiest to make.

[setarip_old]

Please provide a list of the problematic original, commercial DVDs...

[king_e_dawg]

Can't remember the titles, but they're all from my collection, Region 1, mostly older titles, ALL single-layer. Believe me, folks, I've been through the paces. It's NOT a particular DVD, it's NOT a particular form of blank media, it's NOT a particular player, it's not a particular anything; I tested quite a bit. Lotta coasters. The problem is somewhere in my system, I assure you. A driver, a codec, a drive configuration error, a software conflict, something. I mean, I JUST reformatted.

[setarip_old]

I've been through the paces. It's NOT a particular DVD, it's NOT a particular form of blank media, it's NOT a particular player, it's not a particular anythingYou started this thread because you are unable to solve your problem. Therefore, rather than assuming that you know what ISN'T the cause, it might be beneficial to make the extra effort to respond to questions asked of you.Can't remember the titles

I've asked you to provide a list of the problematic original, commercial DVDs. Doing so may provide some insight regarding the difficulty you're having. Perhaps it would be worth a little effort on your part to provide the list...

[king_e_dawg]

Hello? McFly? I'm not assuming anything, I'm not an idiot, I've been troubleshooting this for A YEAR. I've ruled out what it ain't, and it ain't any particular DVD. Why don't you send me a copy of... oh, I don't know, The Wedding Singer. That's a pretty old single-layer DVD I'm pretty sure I've never tried. I'll bet you a hundred dollars it does the same thing. Oh, wait, Wedding Singer is a two-sided DVD... Eureka, right? Yeah, ruled that out too. THEY ALL DO THE SAME THING.

Look, this is frustrating. I said right off the bat I tried almost everything. What am I supposed to do, call tech support? You've got as detailed an explanation as I can give, take it or leave it.

[kumi]

Perhaps one of the DVD burning programs you have installed has placed a faulty filter driver on your system. That driver is interfering with everything.

I would suggest you uninstall ALL burning-related programs (DVD43, Roxio, etc). Don't forget about A/V programs that have built-in burning capabilities (PowerDVD/CinePlayer?). Uninstall those too. Reboot your system and install DVD Decrypter (for decrypting) and ImgBurn (for burning) only.

Then you can see what filters are left over with ImgBurn (http://www.imgburn.com/). Start the program, go to Tools, select Filter Driver Load Order. You can use the Clipboard button to copy the full list to paste it in here. Maybe we can spot something odd.

[king_e_dawg]

Eh, manana. Getting sleepy.

[king_e_dawg]

Now, that IS interesting... I removed Roxio Easy DVD Copy 2 and DVD43; when I restarted, both my LiteOn DVD-ROM and my Sony DVD RW drives were recognized as new hardware. I'll proceed with installing the two you mentioned.

[king_e_dawg]

OK:

===============================================
Filter Driver Load Order - ImgBurn v2.3.2.0
===============================================

Upper Device Filter: redbook
Upper Class Filter: [None Found]
Device: CD/DVD-ROM Device
Lower Class Filter: PxHelp20
Lower Device Filter: [None Found]

Filter Name: redbook
File Name: C:\WINDOWS\System32\DRIVERS\redbook.sys
File Version: 5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158)
File Description: Redbook Audio Filter Driver
Product Name: Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
Product Version: 5.1.2600.2180
Company Name: Microsoft Corporation
Copyright: © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Filter Name: PxHelp20
File Name: C:\WINDOWS\System32\Drivers\PxHelp20.sys
File Version: 3.00.56a [3.0.56.0]
File Description: Px Engine Device Driver for Windows 2000/XP
Product Name: PxHelp20
Product Version: [2.0.0.0]
Company Name: Sonic Solutions
Copyright: Copyright © Sonic Solutions

Anything odd?

[king_e_dawg]

The DVD Decrypter log:

I 13:28:13 DVD Decrypter Version 3.5.4.0 started!
I 13:28:13 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2)
I 13:28:13 Initialising SPTI...
I 13:28:13 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...
I 13:28:13 Found 1 DVD-ROM and 1 DVD-RAM/±RW!
I 13:28:30 Operation Started!
I 13:28:30 Source Device: [1:1:0] LITE-ON DVD D LH-16D1P TL13 (E:) (ATA)
I 13:28:30 Source Media Type: DVD-ROM
I 13:28:30 Source Media Region Code: 1
I 13:28:30 Source Media Copyright Protection System Type: CSS/CPPM
I 13:28:30 Source Media Implementation Identifier: Daikin U.S. Comtec Lab
I 13:28:30 Destination Folder: C:\UNDEFINED\VIDEO_TS\
I 13:28:30 File Splitting: By File
I 13:28:30 Detect Mastering Errors: No
I 13:28:30 Multi Angle Processing: No
I 13:28:30 Remove Macrovision Protection: Yes
I 13:28:30 Stream Processing: No
I 13:28:30 Copying VIDEO_TS.IFO... (LBA: 288 - 296) - KEY: N/A
I 13:28:31 Copying VIDEO_TS.VOB... (LBA: 297 - 363) - KEY: N/A
I 13:28:31 Copying VIDEO_TS.BUP... (LBA: 364 - 372) - KEY: N/A
I 13:28:31 Copying VTS_01_0.IFO... (LBA: 373 - 400) - KEY: N/A
I 13:28:31 Decrypting VTS_01_0.VOB... (LBA: 401 - 200595) - KEY: EA E7 2D 6B 0C
I 13:29:23 Decrypting VTS_01_1.VOB... (LBA: 200596 - 724743) - KEY: EA E7 2D 6B 0C
I 13:30:46 Decrypting VTS_01_2.VOB... (LBA: 724744 - 1248810) - KEY: EA E7 2D 6B 0C
I 13:31:52 Decrypting VTS_01_3.VOB... (LBA: 1248811 - 1470563) - KEY: EA E7 2D 6B 0C
I 13:32:17 Copying VTS_01_0.BUP... (LBA: 1470564 - 1470591) - KEY: N/A
I 13:32:17 Copying VTS_02_0.IFO... (LBA: 1470592 - 1470604) - KEY: N/A
I 13:32:17 Decrypting VTS_02_0.VOB... (LBA: 1470605 - 1470756) - KEY: C4 FC 4A 30 AF
I 13:32:18 Decrypting VTS_02_1.VOB... (LBA: 1470757 - 1994810) - KEY: C4 FC 4A 30 AF
I 13:33:18 Decrypting VTS_02_2.VOB... (LBA: 1994811 - 2119625) - KEY: C4 FC 4A 30 AF
I 13:33:32 Copying VTS_02_0.BUP... (LBA: 2119626 - 2119638) - KEY: N/A
I 13:33:32 Copying VTS_03_0.IFO... (LBA: 2119639 - 2119647) - KEY: N/A
I 13:33:32 Decrypting VTS_03_0.VOB... (LBA: 2119648 - 2119732) - KEY: D0 6E D5 09 E3
I 13:33:32 Decrypting VTS_03_1.VOB... (LBA: 2119733 - 2126173) - KEY: D0 6E D5 09 E3
I 13:33:33 Copying VTS_03_0.BUP... (LBA: 2126174 - 2126182) - KEY: N/A
I 13:33:33 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:05:02
I 13:33:33 Average Read Rate: 14,078 KB/s (10.2x) - Maximum Read Rate: 18,700 KB/s (13.5x)

[king_e_dawg]

And now, the ImgBurn log for the image file:

I 13:35:35 ImgBurn Version 2.3.2.0 started!
I 13:35:35 Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition (5.1, Build 2600 : Service Pack 2)
I 13:35:35 Total Physical Memory: 1,309,680 KB - Available: 892,380 KB
I 13:35:35 Initialising SPTI...
I 13:35:35 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...
I 13:35:35 Found 1 DVD-ROM and 1 DVD±RW/RAM!
I 13:40:45 Operation Started!
I 13:40:45 Building Image Tree...
I 13:40:57 Checking Directory Depth...
I 13:40:57 Calculating Totals...
I 13:40:57 Preparing Image...
I 13:40:57 Checking Path Length...
I 13:40:57 Image Size: 4,354,441,216 bytes
I 13:40:57 Image Sectors: 2,126,192
I 13:41:01 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:00:15
I 13:41:01 Operation Started!
I 13:41:01 Image Contents: 18 Files, 2 Folders
I 13:41:01 Image Sectors: 2,126,192
I 13:41:01 Image Size: 4,354,441,216 bytes
I 13:41:01 Image Single Layer Profile: DVD-R/RW (Media Capacity: 2,298,496)
I 13:41:01 Image Volume Identifier: DRAGONBALL Z
I 13:41:01 Image Application Identifier: IMGBURN V2.3.2.0 - THE ULTIMATE IMAGE BURNER!
I 13:41:01 Image Implementation Identifier: ImgBurn
I 13:41:01 Image File System(s): ISO9660, UDF (1.02)
I 13:41:01 Destination File: C:\Documents and Settings\Ian\Desktop\test.iso
I 13:41:01 Destination Free Space: 221,251,948,544 bytes (216,066,356 KB) (211,002 MB) (206 GB)
I 13:41:01 Destination File System: NTFS
I 13:41:01 File Splitting: Auto
I 13:41:01 Writing Image...
I 13:45:08 Image MD5: c273f9cf3f6b434a9d55814540de3838
I 13:45:08 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:04:06
I 13:45:08 Average Write Rate: 17,286 KB/s (12.5x) - Maximum Write Rate: 22,304 KB/s (16.1x)

[king_e_dawg]

You've GOT to be kidding. Now it works, perfect. I would still like to know what exactly was causing this.

But hey, DVD Decrypter and ImgBurn are pretty nice little applications, think I'll hang on to them. Question, though. These do have the option to compress a dual-layer disc to a blank single, right?

[kumi]

I would still like to know what exactly was causing this.One of the programs you uninstalled. You can reinstall them one-by-one, and watch for changes in the ImgBurn Filter Driver list. Once you see a change, make a test burn and see if the problem has re-appeared. Then you know the culprit.


DVD Decrypter and ImgBurn [...] have the option to compress a dual-layer disc to a blank single, right?No, that requires a dedicated program. I highly recommend you look into DVD-Rebuilder for this purpose. There's a whole forum on Doom9 dedicated to it.

[blutach]

That PxHelp20.sys is now superfluous, too. You can remove it via ImgBurn (www.imgburn.com)'s filter driver load order tool.

Regards

[kumi]

That PxHelp20.sys is now superfluous, too.
What is it for, anyways? I don't have any Sonic programs installed, yet it's on my system.

[setarip_old]

@kumi

Hi!

Do/Did you have any Adaptec or Roxio software on your system?

[king_e_dawg]

Thanks for the suggestions, kumi. I went through so much installing and reinstalling that I couldn't remember what I had and hadn't tried as far as filters, but it seems DVD43 was the culprit after all. I can still use Roxio Easy DVD, though; it suits my purposes. Not that ImgBurn isn't a nice program, but it seems to want to create an image file first, whereas Roxio can go straight from the decrypted folder (plus, it compresses).

I have a 250 GB HDD now, so it's really not an issue, but I was hoping to reach a solution that would still allow me to copy straight from ROM drive to RW. Maybe in time I'll come up with something I like.

[Jeffster]

Not that ImgBurn isn't a nice program, but it seems to want to create an image file first
Actually if you change the Output in Build mode from Image File to Device then ImgBurn will burn your files directly to disc without creating an image first.

[setarip_old]

@king_e_dawgit seems DVD43 was the culprit after allAs I suggested in post #2 to this thread.

Glad to simply eliminating "DVD43" resolved your issue which, after, seems to have had nothing directly to do with single layer versus double layer original DVDs...

[blutach]

What is it for, anyways? I don't have any Sonic programs installed, yet it's on my system.It's installed with Roxio products.

Regards