dbminter

Try the Verbatims. CMC makes a lot of junk recordable DVD and CD's. Ritek is hit or miss when it comes to their recordable DVD's. Some drives tolerate them, some don't. I'm surprised you got success with BD-RE on that Asus drive. I tried 2 different copies of that drive and each destroyed rewritable media. It rendered my 8x Ritek DVD+RW unusable and destroyed a Verbatim BD-RE DL it wrote to. It wrote to it a few times but eventually killed it. I returned my 2nd test of that drive because I find it to be trash at writing rewritable media.

Ah, that was it. CloneCD files was what it supported. However, I believe ImgBurn creates them when it reads an audio CD image? I believe that's what I've been using, some extra option you can set in ImgBurn in create .CCD files with an image read?

Try VirtualClone Drive. I use that and I believe it mounts BIN/CUE files of audio CD's. Although I think you have to "tell" VirtualClone Drive to associate .CUE files manually.

Yeah, it's getting more and more difficult to find songs I haven't passed along yet. I'm afraid next year I'll have to forgo trying to find a cynical song and just forward one of my favorite, lesser known "traditional" Christmas songs called The Little, Blue Bell.

Every Christmas, I try to come up with some kind of cynical song to convey feelings for the holiday. However, I'm gradually running out! I had to dig deep for this one. Holy Shit! It's Christmas! Hamster #1: Did you hear that? Hamster #2: Hey everybody, Santa's here! Hamster #3: Aw, there ain't no Santa Claus. Hamster #2: There is, too! Hamsters: He's here!!! Red: Ho, ho, ho...Merry Christmas! Hamster #1: Aw shit, it's Red Peters! Red: C'mon, you swinging hamsters, get over here. We're gonna sing us a happy Christmas song. Hamster #3: Oh no, not another corny stupid song! Hamster #2: Yeah no way. Red: Get over here and sing or I'll wring your little necks. Hamsters: Okay, okay Red: Grab your nuts hamsters, gather round with me. Forget about all that teasin'. We're breaking out the holly and aluminum tree Cause it's that jolly season. I know you've been naughty, but have you been nice? That's only Santa's business He's making his list and he's checking it twice. All: Holy shit, it's Christmas! Hamsters: Santa comes just once a year Just like you, Red. That's what we hear. He's got a soft spot for reindeer. Especially Rudolph's derierre. Red: Hey, knock it off fellas. It's a holiday. Go on, give Santa a big kiss. You can play "hide the hamster" on the one-horse sleigh. All: Holy shit, it's Christmas! Red: Hey what happened to my lyric sheet? Anyone seen my lyric sheet? Hamster #1: Heck, we don't need no lyric sheets, Red. We know our parts by heart. Right, fellas? Hamster #3: Yeah sure, I know my part Hamster #2: Yeah me too Red: Well that's great, guys. I love Christmas songs. Godfried: Santa tried reaching up the neighbor's blouse After drinking all the egg nog Bruce: Camped out in the bathroom for an hour or two Squashing off a yule log Raleigh: He wandered in his undies all over the house But we minded our own business Hamsters: Til we caught him stuffing hamsters up a gift wrap tube. All: Holy shit, it's Christmas Red: Santa comes just once a year. Up the chimney he'll disappear. Hamsters: Keep on the lookout for Mr. Gear Hamster deliveries in the rear Red: Gimme those lyrics Roastnuts chestin' on an open fire Santa's tongue stuck to the doorknob His balls got fondled by a caroling choir While the parson gave him a hand...what? The sleigh came down and took him away. The whole damn crowd was dismissed. All: It was a time to be jolly and a time to be gay. Holy shit, it's Christmas. Holy shit, it's Christmas. Holy Shit! It's Christmas!

Ah, so it seems I no longer need to shut off my Internet connection when running Freemake installers, then. Surely their servers wouldn't still be up if the company no longer exists. Well, of course, Freemake can still always bundle other advertisers in itself so I should probably still keep doing what I'm doing.

The log file for old burns is found under Help/ImgBurn Logs.

We seem to have a tale of two Disc ID: VERBAT-IM1-000. I remember I had used a Verbatim BD-RE DL as my first test disc for this media in an LG 3 years ago. That was a branded Verbatim BD-RE DL, so I ran the same burn as above with one of these branded discs. It had the same Disc ID as above, but it worked! The one that failed was an inkjet Verbatim BD-RE DL. Same Disc ID, just that one is a branded label surface and one is an inkjet surface. So, WHY is this the case with Verbatims? Until a firmware update fixed this issue, I encountered the same thing with Verbatim DataLife Plus DVD+R DL on Pioneer. The 8x Disc ID's were both the same MKM media, just one had a branded surface and one had an inkjet surface. So, why should the label surface matter if a burn fails to Verify or not? And why is it it fails on inkjet media but not on branded surface media?

Discovered another drawback related to Verbatim BD-RE DL. I had one formatted as a giant floppy in Windows. I was trying to copy over about 44 GB of contents to the disc but I never finished. Because it said it was going to take 8 hours to complete! And after 8 hours, it was only 25% complete! So, this drive is a terrible writer to BD-RE DL.

I won't be posting any sort of graphs for quality, etc. just hit the highlights I've discovered in using this drive over the last few years. It's accepted everything I've ever thrown at it with 2 caveats. The first is Ritek 8x DVD+RW. You don't get a lot of rewrites out of these discs to begin with, but with this drive, it seems you get only about 20 rewrites out of them. Eventually, what happens, is ImgBurn will write an image to them, but never starts Verify. The disc is ejected and reinserted, but the Verify never starts as the drive just keeps trying to read it. Inserting the disc into any other drive causes the same thing, infinite read attempts. With drives like Pioneer BD writers, what usually happens when this occurs is a Verify starts but craps out immediately, attempting to read like sectors 0-31. This drive just destroys the media, rendering it unreadable. While the discs can't be salvaged anyway, it is unusual that this model can't even get the Verify started to fail reading. The other problem is a BIG one. It does not properly write to the 2nd layer of Verbatim BD-RE DL (Disc ID: VERBAT-IM1-000). Verify fails at the layer break change. I 12:35:11 Source Device: [0:0:0] HL-DT-ST BD-RE WH16NS40 1.02 (S:) (SATA) I 12:35:11 Source Media Type: BD-RE (Disc ID: VERBAT-IM1-000) I 12:35:11 Source Media Supported Read Speeds: 2x, 4x, 6x I 12:35:11 Source Media Supported Write Speeds: 2x I 12:35:11 Source Media Sectors: 24,438,784 I 12:35:11 Source Media Size: 50,050,629,632 bytes I 12:35:11 Image File Sectors: 13,401,120 (MODE1/2048) I 12:35:11 Image File Size: 27,445,493,760 bytes I 12:35:11 Image File Volume Set Identifier: 584057A558405765 I 12:35:11 Image File Implementation Identifier: Microsoft IMAPI2 1.0 I 12:35:11 Image File File System(s): ISO9660 (Bootable), UDF (1.02) I 12:35:11 Read Speed (Data/Audio): MAX / MAX I 12:35:12 Read Speed - Effective: 2x - 6x, 6x - 2x I 12:35:12 Verifying Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 13401119) I 12:35:12 Verifying Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 13401119) I 12:35:12 Verifying Layer 0... (LBA: 0 - 12219391) I 12:56:30 Verifying Layer 1... (LBA: 12219392 - 13401119) W 12:56:34 Failed to Read Sectors 12219424 - 12219455 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error W 12:56:42 Failed to Read Sector 12219424 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error W 12:56:42 Sector 12219424 maps to File W 13:04:02 Retrying (1)... I 13:04:07 Verifying Sectors... W 13:04:15 Failed to Read Sectors 12219584 - 12219615 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error W 13:04:23 Failed to Read Sector 12219584 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error W 13:04:23 Sector 12219584 maps to File E 13:04:35 Failed to Read Sector 12219584 - Reason: L-EC Uncorrectable Error E 13:04:35 Sector 12219584 maps to File E 13:04:35 Failed to Verify Sectors! Immediately after this burn failed, I put the same disc, burning the same image, in a Pioneer BD writer that I know properly writes to this media. It passed Write and Verify. So, this drive seems to handle everything except Verbatim BD-RE DL. Which kind of makes sense. There hasn't been a firmware update to this drive in over 2 years, and these discs probably came out after the drive was manufactured. I've thrown Verbatim DataLife Plus DVD-R, Verbatim DataLife Plus DVD+R DL, Verbatim DataLife Plus CD-R, and Verbatim BD-R at this drive with no problem. I had never tried a Verbatim BD-RE DL with this drive back when I had it 2 years ago, though, to my knowledge. I just got another one of these last week because Pioneer's had become too much Only problem is, there's only one option left for me try, and that's the other Pioneer BD-RE they make, without the TL support.

Have you tried reading one of these burned audio CD-R's to an image file in ImgBurn? If it reads to an image file, then, there are contents on the disc. If it won't, then there's something wrong somewhere with the data coming back and forth between the drive. Since you're getting nothing on a standalone CD player, I'm curious to see if anything was actually written to the disc. Which is why a log is vital. Maybe it wasn't closed or finalized?

I've never used ConvertXToDVD's ISO function. I always preferred to make my own images from its VIDEO_TS with ImgBurn.

I tried about 6 different VIDEO_TS folders that were created by Wondershare. They all play perfectly with VLC. They all don't display the navigation icons to select "play" or "scenes" on the DVD player. The buttons are there, they just can't be highlighted and selected. I am now trying to save and burn the .iso file from Wondershare with ImgBurn instead of the saved VIDEO_TS folder. I'll see if that makes any difference. Yeah, the ISO probably won't make a difference. The ISO will just be the VIDEO_TS contents with the necessary image options like the file system type, etc. The problem is either in the VIDEO_TS or the DVD player not playing them. Barring anything else, you could try someone else's DVD player or another one if you own one. Of course, Sony does make a lot of junk so it could be a problem with the player not like the created contents of Wondershare.

Yeah, I've found that the time remaining listing by ConvertXToDVD isn't really reliable.

Ah, you replied while I was typing. I've been using ConvertXToDVD for over 5 years now. It suits my needs fine. Of course, I don't need anything fancy for what I convert. It's mostly to convert PAL to NTSC for my TV format.

It's most likely the conversion software. Plus, it could be a random fluke with that one conversion. I use ConvertXToDVD and one time I got a conversion exactly like you described. I had no navigation icons on the screen. However, when I converted the exact same project again, it went away. How many times have you tried converting this same project? You might want to try converting again and writing to an RW to test on the player.

The bottom line, I'm pretty sure, is they won't help you because the only way to fix the issue is, probably, replace the laser in the 103 with one that supports that MID. However, it's possible a firmware update for the player might help. Generally doesn't, but it's not outside the scope of possibility. Maybe OPPO support can direct you to a newer firmware.

It also depends on personal preference. It's flagging OpenCandy, apparently, which phones home to a server for targeted advertising on installation, offering you other applications you may or may not, usually not, want to install. If you're really worried, just turn off your modem connection before running the ImgBurn installer. The installer will pause momentarily because OpenCandy can't contact its server, but it will eventually close off and continue running the ImgBurn installer unimpeded.

Which is the newer player? The 93 or the 103? If I had to guess, 103 is a larger number, so it would seem the 103 is the newer player, but that's not always the case. If the 93 is the newer player, that might explain why it has no problem with both MID's. The laser was probably made after the introduction of both MID's and thus it would have a higher compatibility rate. The bottom line is, most likely, the 103 just doesn't like the IMf MID's and won't play them. Most likely, your only solution is to replace the 103 or just use the 93 exclusively.

One thing you might want to try. Since it seems that sometimes you can get this drive to recognize the empty discs, you might want to simply try to power off the PC each time you get a disc to be recognized. Then powering back on might cycle the problem out. However, given what has been said so far, I'd say you need to focus on cleaning or replacing the drive. I've never had any luck with cleaning drives, so you most likely will need to replace the drive. All cases I've ever seen where weird read or write issues popped up required replacing the drive. Plus, it's been my experience most drives need replacing after 9 to 12 months of use.

Since the MID's are different, the most logical culprit is the different MID's, and thus different discs. I don't have any experience burning DL BD-R, just BD-RE DL. So, I couldn't say beyond I'd try seeing if you can get the IMd's versus the IMf's. Or you could try an entirely different burner. However, since you have 2 different oppo players and one plays the discs but the other doesn't, it's probably not the burner. It's most likely your 103 doesn't like IMf discs. I've seen it on the PS3 where Verbatim BD-R plays fine but Ritek Memorex BD-R doesn't. And I've also seen discs with the same MID not work in the same burner. One Verbatim DVD+R DL was inkjet printable and one was branded, but both had the same MID. The inkjet discs would always fail on Verify at the 2nd layer until a firmware update of the Pioneer drive fixed the issue. The branded discs worked fine out of the box for the burner. The MID's were exactly the same but the discs in terms of manufacturing were not the same discs.

Inferring that ImgBurn actually detects the discs being loaded, you check the MID/DID of blank discs by inserting one and opening ImgBurn in Write mode. In the pane of information on the right, under Disc Information will be the MID/DID. For discs that are completely burned, do the same thing in Read mode.

Oh, I take it the drive is a PATA? Since you're on Windows XP, your hardware might be that old. I think the last PATA drive I had where I had to worry about Master/Slave/Select pins was like 2006. I recently found some PATA cables I still had unopened. I got them years ago to have on hand for replacements. Turns out they replaced PATA with SATA before I ever needed those cables! So, that was a waste of money.

Are the Disc ID's the same for the Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL ImgBurn detects for reading and the blank Verbatim 8x DVD+R DL that it can't? Well, that's kind of a stupid question to ask unless you have another DVD drive that can detect this disc for writing. If you do, try and see if the Disc ID's are the same.

The Verify portion should be immediately after the log you copied and pasted if you have Verify automatically set to run after a burn. So, it should be there if it was performed. Barring that, you could run a manual Verify. It won't compare against the image file, unless you still have the image file, I guess. It will just perform a Read attempt operation. If you still have the disc, of course. You could try either a Verify or a Read operation. Then copy and paste the log from the log window of the new attempt to Verify or Read. That should give a better view of maybe why it's failing and what to do. If you don't have the DVD+R DL anymore, of course, it's moot.