dvd only plays on pioneer A04

[riggssc]

Hey, I'm new to this but I have spent some time reading other post to this forum. I'm using a pioneer DVR-A04 which I have not upgraded the firmware due to other users saying that it causes problems for them. I have tried burning both dvd-r and dvd-rw that came with my pioneer drive. The dvd's only play in the pioneer drive. I have another dvd drive in my computer, but the disk isn't recongnized when I put it in it. My standalone (apex) just displays the message "loading" for about a minute and then stops with a loading error. Does anyone have any ideal what is going on with this? Thanks

[thxtof]

1) What kind of DVD-R did you use ? Which brand ? Can you use ADVDInfo to check the manufacturer ?

2) Which soft did you use to copy the DVD ? Nero ? Did you create a UDF/ISO DVD ? with VIDEO_TS in uppercase ?

[padre]

riggssc

In addition to thxtof's excellent questions, I would also ask:

- What version of Firmware does you drive currently have?

What you are describing sounds like an encoding/burning issue. The reason it probably plays on the PC and not the Apex/standalone DVD player is - WinDVD and PowerDVD are very tolerant to issues that standalone players are not. For example, if the files are in lower case, if the proper files are all not in place, etc.

So it's not uncommon to be able to play a disc in the DVD-ROM or burner and NOT play it on a standalone. The only thing you need to figure out is = which is it? Your building/encoding process, or a media issue.

[padre]

One other question - what model of Apex player do you have? For example, the Apex 600a is NOT compatible with DVD-R's or -RW's. It will give the exact same message.

[riggssc]

hey, the dvds that I'm using say pioneer on them. I don't know if they are made by pioneer. were can I download the software to check that? I used Veritas Record Now DX to burn the dvds and the video_ts file is in uppercase. I don't know if I used udf/iso to burn the dvd, I'll have to look at the software to see what options it gives me. The standalone is an Apex AD-703. Thanks for all your quick responces.

[riggssc]

I"m using firmware version 1.20

[padre]

Well, you're using Pioneer DVD-R/-RW's for the test, so let's assume it's not a media problem.

You're firmware is not the latest, but v1.20 is not known to cause the problems you are seeing (so I'd rule out a firmware issue). I'm not sure of the DVD player, but according to the reports on www.vcdhelp.com, in the DVD player section, it should play DVD-R's.

Can you describe (briefly) the process you go through to create a DVD?

Something like:

1) I rip the DVD with Smartripper
2) I strip the streams with IfoEdit
3) I build an image with IfoEdit
4) I burn the image with Recordmax

Then we'd have a starting point for the suggestions/questions.

Are you burning ripped copies of DVD's? Are you trying to create DVD's from recorded video? (Like AVI's, MPEG's)

[riggssc]

here is what i do when trying to burn a copy of a dvd.
1. I rip the dvd with dvd decrypter.
2. Strip with ifoedit (I have followed the instructions at http://www.doom9.org/index.html?/mpg/ifoedit-basic.htm)
3. i then adjust the audio with ReMpeg2
4. Then rename folder to VIDEO_TS
5. Burn Video_ts folder to dvd with Record Now DX

When this process wasn't successful, I then tried the method described at Doom9's Forum > DVD and miniDVD > IfoEdit > Foolproof DVD9 to DVD5 Comprehensive Guide, Includes ALL details!!!

I have the same playback problem with both methods.

[padre]

Two suggestions:

1) Try copying a small DVD, less than 4.2gb. Use DVDDecrypter to make an ISO image of the disk. Then burn that ISO file to your DVD-RW disc and see if it plays. That's the simple, straight-forward type of copy, and if it doesn't play on your DVD player, then it's not you processing with IfoEdit/Rempeg, it's your burner/hardware.

2) Have you tried playing the DVD-R you created on someone else's DVD player? Take it to a Best Buy, Target or anywhere they have DVD players hooked up and see if it will play there. Try a couple different models.

[gooki]

I seriously suggest you use the image tool in infoedit to create more compatible burns.

[riggssc]

do you mean create a disk image first before burning gooki?

[gooki]

yes. also open your .ifo file through info edit first as info edit can pickup little errors that some burning programs might miss out.

[klona]

Do not forget to do a GAT VTS sector in IfoEdit just before burning, and try Gear DVD Pro to burn. It solved me a lot of problem using this tool. Demo is available to download on Gear site.

And as suggested, first do an ISO rip with DVDDecrypter of A DVD5 and burn it direclty, without modification. This will avoid mistakes in ifoedit/encoding etc.

[thill]

this is a copy/paste from vdchelp.com

Just picked up the Pioneer DVR104 DVD-R/RW burner. Burnt my first DVD 'backup' but couldn't get it to work on the APEX 600A DVD player. Had to search the net to upgrade the firmware (like others have) - finally found it here

http://www.nerd-out.com/darrenk/dvdrom_firmware/dvdrom_firmware.htm

Once I upgraded the firmware, the DVD worked like a champ!

p/s: I tried and it works! just give it a try! good luck