Discs or burner ?

[JonRead]

I recently burnt a lot of discs, around 60 in a go, only breaking the burning to sleep. I know this is not a lot maybe compared to some, but for me it is, so I am curious if maybe I have burnt my drive out ? Reason I mention is that recently I have found 1 out of 3 discs I have either doesn't even start to burn, or it gets stuck at around 10 percent, and it is REALLY annoying. I have never had coasters from Ritek before, but now I am, so I am thinking maybe it is the drive at fault ?

The problem did start when I got a new batch of DVD-R, but I can't be sure if it started on the old discs or the new ones, as they are all white label discs and I didn't pay attention. The old batch was G04 discs, and the new ones G05. Normally though, G05 work fine. I admit this is the first time I have ever had full face discs, but I am not sure why that would be a problem as they are still G05 discs.

I know the easiest answer would be to try different discs, but as I have just bought 100 of these, I am a bit broke to buy another 25 or so at the moment, also I thought I would ask here first in case this is a common problem.

So anyway, yes, I will buy some different media to test, but in the mean-time, does anyone know what this sounds most like ? Media or drive ? My drive is a Pioneer 108. I have problems with all software, from Decrypter, to Alcahol, to MovieFactory.

[Frankensmith]

Here are the guidelines I follow to burn disks. Hope 'some' of the info might help you.

TO BURN VIDEO_TS FILES WITH NERO

IMPORTANT: 1. Disconnect from the internet. 2. Disconnect USB or Firewire drives.
3. Burn FROM a ‘clean’ drive. The drive should ONLY contain the file you’re burning 4. Defrag after 4 DVD Burns (unless you’re deleting the prior files from the drive).

01. Open NERO Smart Start
02. Choose “Nero Burning ROM”
03. Click “File” and choose “New”
04. In the popup, change the media from CD to DVD
05. Below the DVD choice box, scroll down & choose DVD-Video. Make sure the settings under the ISO tab are as follows:

settings:
Max of 11= 8 + 3 chars (ISO Level 1)
ISO9660 (standard ISO CD-ROM)
Checkmarks in:
Allow path depth of more …
Allow more than 255 …

06. Click the “Label” tab. Change ‘volume label’ as desired.
07. Click the “New” button in upper right corner.
08. A ‘New Compilation’ window will appear and the root at far left ‘should’ be as you chose in step 06.
09. In the tree at far right, scroll to the directory where your VIDEO_TS directory is.
10. Choose ALL the files in the VIDEO_TS and ‘drag n drop’ them into the VIDEO_TS folder at left.
11. If there are any files (at right) in the AUDIO_TS directory, drag them into the AUDIO_TS folder at left.
A. Click ‘Recorder’ and insure it is set to the appropriate recorder.
B. Double-Check everything to make sure the settings are correct.
12. Click the “Burns The Current Compilation” tab.
A. Under the ‘Burn’ tab, make sure “determine maximum speed” and “write” have a checkmark in front of them.
13. Check settings and “Burn” the disk.

* I burned about 30 coasters before I realized my two primary problems. The first was I have to (for whatever reason) disconnect my USB external drives. The second issue was to have a drive set up ONLY for burning the DVD ‘from’. In other words, I copy the folder from my USB drive to the internal drive (dedicated to the video), and make sure no other files are on that drive. A fragmented 4.5 gig video, even though it’s in 99 mb sections, is a sure winner for giving you a nice coaster. Hope the info helps …