Bad DVD burns - unhappy camper

Caruso wrote on 12/25/2004, 1:00 PM
Why is DVDA2 burning coasters for me. I have a 1.5 hour video that I'm working with. DVDA2 burns the disk and reports that the burn was successful. I insert the disc into my DVD player. It plays for about 20 minutes, then, gets all full of artifacts, starts, stops, stutters, you name it.

For what it's worth, I'm running a 3.0 gHz machine with 1.5 GB RAM, Two internal discs totalling 360 GB of storage space, 80% of which is free.

McAfee along with all other background aps disabled before the burn.

I'm burning to Sony DVD+R media rated at a top speed of 4x . . . I'm burning at 4x.

I have an internal Lite-On burner and also a TDK Dual (Firewire/USB) external 8x burner hooked up to my machine via the firewire ports. Have tried both drives, same disappointing result.

Video and Audio look fine on the beginning part of the disc. I have disabled all background aps, and the preview of the DVD as well as the source files play ok on my computer. The TS files also are free of defects.

I know I've got all the hardware I need, there is nothing fancy about this footage, it's straightforward, no menus, just the video.

I've had success with DVDA2 previous, so, I cannot fathom what I may be doing wrong.

Any suggestions welcome. Seems as though I manage to spend every Christmas troubleshooting some aspect of my computer. That tradition is getting old as am I.

Any suggestions welcome.

Thanks.
Caruso

Comments

MozartMan wrote on 12/25/2004, 1:06 PM
Caruso,

First, Sony media can be bad. In another words, some DVD players have problems with some media.
Second, DVDA2 burn can be bad, even if it eports that the burn was successful.
Third, I would try another app to burn DVDs.

I always use DVDA2 to prepare VIDEO_TS folder on hard drive, then burn disk with Nero. Never had any problem.
RichMacDonald wrote on 12/25/2004, 7:31 PM
1) Most likely the DVD player and the Sony media don't get along. Try some different media. Can you do -R? How about +-RW?

2) Find a buddy with a different DVD player and try it on there. Or go to a big store and pretend you're evaluating DVD players. Tell the salesperson you're seeing how each plays *tough* DVDs, which is true.

3) Use DVDA to prepare the files and some other burner software to burn to disc.

4) Burn some other non-DVDA video with some other software.

5) Reinstalll virgin Windows and DVDA and try again.

I'm guessing its bad media, which is pretty common. Some media work with A but not B, while others work with B but not A. There is no perfect media. However, ritek ridata has the best reputation around here. But it online, as you won't find it at the "big" stores. Good luck and post back. And don't get too frustrated because it *is* you, not DVDA, so you can and will lick the problem :-)
Mandk wrote on 12/25/2004, 8:15 PM
I have had great success using the comments received above. Burning with Nero and using Ritek Ridata media DVD-R

A couple of other suggestions - encoding at a lower rate and burning at 1x rather than 4x.
I use 5.25 as the average encoding rate in DVDA. This seems to work out as a good rate for a variety of players.

Others have recommended burning at 1x in DVDA. It supposedly generates a more stable burn.

I use NERO to burn at the maximum rate with verification and have not had any issues.

Good Luck
Caruso wrote on 12/25/2004, 10:09 PM
Thanks for getting back to me.
We gave my daughter a new DVD player (some Sony model). Tried those coasters in that player, and they played fine. Guess it's time to get a new DVD player for my home setup.

We've had a couple of rented DVD's give us a bit of trouble in that "old" machine, as well.

That's one of the reasons I've not really jumped into a lot of the latest e-media techno stuff. I'm still watching my mid-'90's something Sony TV and rely on my SLV1000 SVHS tape machine for watching movies.

While I remember the Beta/VHS format debate, even the earliest of those machines in my "collection" will still track tapes today. Oh, well, I won't rant - it's a holiday.

Thanks again for your responses. This was starting to upset my day.

Caruso