DVDA gave me IOCTL errors, but Nero worked

fherr wrote on 7/25/2004, 8:43 PM
Just created my first DVD. DVDA worked well to prepare it but it could not burn it. Wasted several DVDs (both + and -) trying, just couldn't get it burned - kept giving me IOCTL error messages. Opened up Nero and it burned it like a dream, first try. Is this a known problem with DVDA, i.e., is it better suited to preparing DVDs than to burning them? Or is there something in my system that Nero likes more than DVDA does?

I guess I can keep burning with Nero, but I'd prefer doing it all in DVDA for simplicity's sake, if anyone has any tips. Thanks in advance.

Pioneer DVR-107D
DVDA 2.0
XP Pro
Inspiron 9100

Comments

ScottW wrote on 7/26/2004, 5:40 AM
Check to make sure your Pioneer drive has the latest and greatest firmware installed on it. I'm not having problems with my Pioneer, but it's the A06 model. Also make sure you have the latest release of DVDA 2.0.

I hate to say this, but Sony could probably reduce a lot of grief by simply admitting that DVDA will never be a burning application, and just remove the ability to burn entirely. Then they partner with Nero and bundle it with DVDA.

--Scott

SonySDB wrote on 7/26/2004, 5:40 AM
Are you using the latest update of DVDA2 (DVDA 2.0a build 121)? If not, please download, install, and try.
bStro wrote on 7/26/2004, 6:49 AM
Perhaps they could just buy Nero. ;-)

Rob
fherr wrote on 7/26/2004, 7:12 AM
> Are you using the latest update of DVDA2 (DVDA 2.0a build 121)?
> If not, please download, install, and try.

I was using version 2.0, Build 94. Just upgraded to 2.0a Build 121 and tried it again, but still no luck. Never gets beyond 3% in the overall burn process, and after about 6 or 7 minutes it spits out my DVD and gives me an IOCTL message. This is in the "details" field, if it helps:

'SFMMCX'-(17)
'USB/1394 Devices'-(2)
-'PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-107D 1.10'-(1)
Module sfmmcx.cpp Line 1639

Status: ff000000
Command: 2a 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 20 00
Sense: 02 04 08
Info: 00 00 00 00
Specific: 00 00 00
Extra: 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00
SonySDB wrote on 7/26/2004, 10:35 AM
We have the same drive and are not able to repro the problem you are experiencing.
fherr wrote on 7/26/2004, 11:18 AM
I hope you're not one of those doctors who conclude that if they can't see it, it's all in the patient's head :-)

I'm sure it's impossible for any developer to have every conceivable system configuration available for testing purposes. That's why I'm providing you with info "from the field". If you're interested and it helps at all, I'm connecting the Pioneer burner to my laptop via a firewire connection - the drive is housed in a BYTECC ME-320 USB2.0 FIREWIRE EXTERNAL 5.25INCH OPTICAL/HARD DRIVE ENCLOSURE (sorry for the caps, copied it from the vendor page). But again, with the exact same setup, drivers, etc etc, Nero keeps buring properly where DVDA keeps failing. Hope this helps you troubleshoot your problem - let me know if I can provide any further info.

Best regards,
- Frank

johnmeyer wrote on 7/26/2004, 11:22 AM
What sort of DVD are you burning? Is it menu based, a music compilation, a picture compilation, or some combination? Did the video and audio get created by Vegas, by some other program, or was it encoded in DVDA? Where do the files prepared by DVDA reside? Are they on a Firewire drive, or a network drive? Is your DVD drive connected internally or externally (via Firewire)? If internally, is there a second drive connected to the same cable? If there is another drive, is it a hard disk or another CD or DVD drive? (You might be having a master/slave problem that only shows up during burning).

It would be nice to resolve this problem, but having said that, even after Sony fixed the problems burning to Pioneer drives (the first release of DVDA version 2 had problems), I still decided to use Nero to burn. It is more flexible, more bulletproof, and doesn't "hog" the computer the way DVDA does. Thus, if Sony can't figure out what is going wrong, just continue to prepare with DVDA, use Nero to burn, and get on with life. The DVDA/Nero combination works just fine.

[Edit] We were posting at the same time. I see you are connecting via Firewire. I suspect that the problem lies somewhere in that connection.
fherr wrote on 7/26/2004, 12:24 PM
> What sort of DVD are you burning?

Menu-based video DVD - MPEGs created in Vegas.

> Where do the files prepared by DVDA reside?

On my C: drive.

> Firewire. I suspect that the problem lies somewhere in that connection

Quite possibly, but it's curious that Nero has no problem with the same connection.

> continue to prepare with DVDA, use Nero to burn

Thanks John, will do. But I'm still rooting for DVDA to fix the problem. The only reason I even use Vegas today is because Premier (which came packaged with my first capture card) was buggy as all get-out - crashed constantly while rendering. Downloaded the Vegas demo and it was rock solid, bought it the next day and haven't looked back since. Would be a pity if DVDA didn't achieve that same level of reliability.

> and get on with life

Definitely words to live by! :-)
johnmeyer wrote on 7/26/2004, 1:21 PM
If you have a re-writeable DVD to experiment with, you could try:

1. Disable the external preview in DVDA
2. Make sure nothing else is connected to your Firewire card, other than the DVD burner

You could also try this Firewire patch (it has cured problems other than just the one problem Microsoft designed it to fix):

Windows XP Patch

For more information, see this thread:

Firewire/1394 problems fixed
ScottW wrote on 7/26/2004, 4:31 PM
If you have any UDF formatting software installed you might also want to try disabling it. My memory is telling me that software will go out and "poke" at burners peridically to see if there's any media in them that may need to be formatted for writing.

Since you have Nero, look for NeroImageDrive - if you have it enabled, disable it. Nero probably disables it automatically when needed, but DVDA wouldn't know how to do this.

--Scott
fherr wrote on 7/27/2004, 9:49 AM
Thanks John and Scott - I'll go get a rewriteable DVD and do the steps and tests you've recommended. Might be next week - swamped at the moment, but still very interested. I'll post again if I have any success.

Best regards,
- Frank