dbminter

Well, about the only way you'll know for sure if the drives needs replacing is to take both and test them in an enclosure or put them in someone else's computer and test them out. As I said, when drives die at writing DVD DL media, they will generally work for all other functions. Reading is not as problematic as writing is, so the laser doesn't have to do as much work. The fact that the drives still read fine does not surprise me. As for suggestions of a new drive, I've only bought Blu-Ray burners since 2012. I don't know anything about the DVD burner market anymore. I would make a general suggestion to avoid LiteOns. They randomly add pauses into DVD Video play back on DVD DL discs that are not layer breaks or layer changes. They don't do them a lot but they will do it randomly. Their BD burner did it more often: 2 out of 3 times. And now LiteOn no longer makes BD burners.

Generally age. A drive has a limited life span that range anywhere from 5 months to 2 years. It depends on the general quality of the manufacturer, the model in question, and how much it's used before it gives up the ghost. When a drive is dying, it will generally fail to either burn or Verify at the layer change. Dual layer burning is generally the first to go. All other types of media will generally still burn, even on Blu-Ray burners, where BD will continue burning, but DVD DL media won't.

If you really don't care about having a DVD menu, just having the movie play the moment you load it in a DVD player, here's what I would do. I'd go find an ancient but still viable program called DVDShrink. It's free and freely available online. You'd have to get the VIDEO_TS from the ISO so you'd need some kind of mounting program like Virtual CloneDrive or something similar or something that can extract folders from an ISO like UltraISO. Then, load that VIDEO_TS in DVDShrink, select Re-author mode, choose the largest size main menu movie, and make sure to choose no compression for output. It will write a new VIDEO_TS with no menu. DVDStyler may have an option to create its VIDEO_TS in a folder on HDD. If you do this and don't choose ISO, you don't have to worry about extracting the VIDEO_TS from the ISO. IF DVDStyler has such an option, I don't know.

Split point? Are they talking about the layer break? ImgBurn will return the same type of error if it cannot find a place to put the layer break. As your VIDEO_TS gets near the upper boundary of file size for a DVD+/-R DL, it will become more difficult to put in a layer break.

What was the problem why it wouldn't play, if you don't mind my asking? You've got me curious, now.

PC DVD player software is more forgiving than a standalone DVD player. The software player just looks for the VIDEO_TS.IFO file to play. You can pretty much put it anywhere and it would still play. Although to load it as a DVD player would, the player would probably look for VIDEO_TS.IFO in VIDEO_TS in the root directory. Why the standalone DVD player wouldn't play it would be down to the settings in the ImgBurn job. If they're not set for DVD Video, the disc probably won't play. The other possibility is your DVD player doesn't like the recordable DVD's you're using and won't recognize them for playing. If you're using the same DVD+R DL you used before with Roxio, that wouldn't be the problem.

One of the reason I never used I think it was DVDFlicker. It said it would take hours to do what ConvertXToDVD can do in 30 minutes. When you said the disc doesn't play on a DVD player, what exactly happens? You put the disc in and the player doesn't recognize anything to play? Make sure that VIDEO_TS is in the root directory. Check the contents of VIDEO_TS. Make sure there's a file called VIDEO_TS.IFO. When you dragged and dropped VIDEO_TS into the root directory and exited the Build mode interface for actual building, did ImgBurn tell you about changing some of the settings to default for DVD? It should have. If it didn't, then there's probably something wrong with the contents in VIDEO_TS. Actually, I just got to thinking, you probably know a lot of that already, having made DVD's before.

What you do is in Build mode, drag and drop the VIDEO_TS folder, if you created one. You can add AUDIO_TS if you want, but it will generally be an empty folder. Then, drag and drop the .MPG file into the root directory of the project. You can create a folder and subfolder like I do to name the contents, but you can always rename the MPG file to something descriptive, too. As long as it says the target fits on a DVD+-R/W or DVD+-R DL, you can play the DVD as a movie disc with the MPG contained on the disc. If it says BD-R/E or anything with BD, what you will have is an archive of the MPG and VIDEO_TS on a Blu-Ray. It will only be a data disc as no player will recognize VIDEO_TS contents (That I am aware of.) when placed on a BD.

Actually, with ConvertXToDVD it varies, depending on the codec and compression used in the source file. Sometimes, you get a DVD when converted that won't fit on a DVD-5 even though the contents are under an hour. And sometimes you can get over 2 hours of footage on a DVD-5. Just had one recently where I got 2 hours and 19 minutes of footage on a DVD-5. However, that video was mostly just an audio stream and 2 hours and 19 minutes of a still image in the video. So, that wouldn't take too much space to begin with. It's not the time length that matters, it's the video compression that matters. For instance, I have a zombie movie collection where they put 4 movies on each DVD-9. They compressed the hell out of them but managed to get just under 8 hours of footage on the disc. Unless you are really that concerned about the video quality, I wouldn't worry that your source file converted contents fit on a DVD-5. MPEG 2 DVD Video is generally compressed anyway. However, you rarely see the results of the compression. And if you have an upscaling DVD player, you won't notice it at all, generally. You can do what I do. I often times get a VIDEO_TS that fits on a DVD-5 but I put the source file in the root directory of the DVD as a backup. This can result in a DVD-9, but not always. I like to have a backup of the file on the disc, just in case.

Yes, there's a setting in ConvertXToDVD where you can choose to use a DVD-9, but it will only prompt you if you need it. Otherwise, it will make the biggest file sizes it needs. It often fits DVD-9 material to DVD-5 with conversion to MPEG DVD Video. Even if you choose DVD-9 as a target size, it will only affect the size of the output if you want it to fit without compression to DVD-5. The best bet is to just import the file and choose DVD-9 if you're prompted. Otherwise, ConvertXToDVD will use only the maximum file size it needs. Freemake Video Converter lets you choose DVD-9 or DVD-5 from its conversion menu. So, you could just choose DVD-9 from there. However, if the contents will fit on a DVD-5, the target size won't matter.

Are you talking about how to do it in ConvertXToDVD? It's been a while since I used version 5 as I'm now using version 7, but there should be a Plus button on the left side of the main interface when you open ConvertXToDVD. That will let you load the file, as long as it's a supported container file. What's the file extension? You say MPEG 2, but is it an .MPG file? Depending on the age of the codec, version 5 may not import it or convert it incorrectly. As for converting to VIDEO_TS, I think all conversion of container files uses some kind of compression to get it down to MPEG 2 VIDEO_TS. Though I generally see no artifacts when converting so it shouldn't be noticeable.

Freemake Video Converter is a free application that will take most container files and convert them to VIDEO_TS. It will only create chapters every 15 minutes, though, and the free version will leave an about 3 second watermark against a black screen right after the video, at the end. I guess the paid version removes this, but I don't know. You might be able to edit it later to remove this watermark. I use ConvertXToDVD, but it's paid software. Still, it's done the trick for me for the past 6 years. It creates menus, but you can always use DVDShrink to just copy over the main movie VIDEO_TS it creates to make a DVD without a menu.

It used to be worse. When I first started the world of DVD burning 15 years ago, there was only 1x media. And what would invariably happen is you'd get to 99% complete on a burn and then it would crap out, wasting an hour's time. DVD Copy probably didn't do Verifies or back when you were using it, the Pioneer was still alive. The easiest way to determine if you have a firmware update is open ImgBurn in write mode and select the drive you want to check the firmware for from the drop down list of target drives in Write mode. Right click on the drive entry in the bar and choose Check for firmware update in the context menu. It will tell you your current revision before opening your web browser to the firmware site ImgBurn checks. Now, sometimes the site won't find firmware for your drive based on its drive string. USB drives are notorious for not being found on that site. And if you want to check the model manually, open ImgBurn and in the log window that displays opening information on startup of ImgBurn, find your drive listed in the log. It will tell you the drive model string and firmware version currently installed. Now, sometimes model drive strings are vastly different from what the model name actually is. But, it beats cracking open the tower unless you have to.

Amazon.com is where I get my media from, too, because you only buy the quality DataLife Plus/MKM stuff online. Well, you can buy good Verbatim BD-R from Office Depot brick and mortar stores, but only in packs of 10 that are far less economical than buying them in packs of 50 from Amazon.com. Well, the media can't be 100% ruled out. If you've used them before in this drive fine for a period of time, then you can. However, if this is the first time you've ever tried them, then that Pioneer may not necessarily like that media. For instance, as weird as it sounds, before a firmware update fixed the issue, the 2209 had a problem where it would write to 8x DVD+R DL MKM media that was branded but NOT the inkjet variety, even though they shared the same Disc ID. The only difference was one had a branded surface and the other was inkjet printable. Shouldn't make a difference, but it did.

Yeah, that's the MKM I mentioned earlier. The good stuff made by Mitsubishi. MKM is on the DVD-R and DVD+R DL. VERBAT is on the BD-R.

It really doesn't matter what the label on the package is or where they were manufactured. What matters is who manufactured them. And that is determined by the Disc ID returned by ImgBurn. For instance, Verbatim sells 2 kinds of DVD-R and DVD+R DL: the good kind and the bad kind. The bad kind are manufactured by CMC Magnetics and are sold in brick and mortar stores and online as their Life series. The good kind are MKM media made by Mitsubishi, sold only online under the DataLife Plus brand, NOT Life. The BD-R DL you were failing on said they were made by Verbatim. However, I have no experience with DL media except for BD-RE DL. So, from experience, I can't say anything about BD-R DL. But, what the ImgBurn log returned was they were quality Verbatim BD media. The Verbatim BD-R I always use have VERBAT in their Disc ID string like your BD-R DL did. Burning at slower speeds when you're experiencing problems is generally a good idea. Personally, I've never had any problems burning at Max speeds, so I leave my burns at Max.

Hey, no problem. We've all been there where we didn't know what we know now. It's how we learn. By asking. A red AnyDVD icon in the Notification area means AnyDVD is active. This means it can interfere with Verifies and writes of certain kinds of media. Write once media like BD-R shouldn't be affected by AnyDVD, but I haven't tested it yet. I do know it interferes with DVD+RW when writing when it's active and doesn't interfere with DVD-R writes when active. Try right clicking on AnyDVD and unchecking Enable AnyDVD to turn it gray like you suggested. Then, I'd next try to do a Read of one of these discs that failed Verify. This would test if AnyDVD is interfering with Verifies. If it still fails, then AnyDVD might have interfered with the writing of the BD-R DL. You should try another BD-R DL burn with AnyDVD grayed out and see if you get the same results. You say when you use File/Windows Explorer to write this information to BD-R DL, these discs play without pixelation? If that's the case, the "logical" answer would be AnyDVD might be interfering with the Write. However, of course, the logical answer is not always the correct one. It could be the way the drive is interpreting the commands. ImgBurn just sends out generic burn commands. Some drives may not interpret them correctly. Unfortunately, there's no real answer to which burner you should get. The bottom line is no drive does everything it should because the manufacturers don't know what they're doing. Pioneer used to be one all be all, until they borked the firmware with 8x Ritek DVD+RW. Plus, the general quality decline I've experienced with them. Unfortunately, I need 2 different drives to do different things. What I described in my last reply. If you had luck with your Pioneer model in the past, then your best bet probably is to keep sticking with that kind. As for if you should update the firmware, it depends on what you want to do with it. I don't have the 209. I have the 2209. However, the firmware revisions are the same for both models. This indicates to me the 209 might have the same firmware bork in it that the 2209 does. Despite being 209 as a substring in both model numbers, the 2209 writes to BD XL media and the 209 doesn't. So, it could be because of the different laser necessarily to burn BD-R XL media, the lastest firmware for 209 might not bork 8x Ritek DVD+RW. If you plan on never writing to 8x Ritek DVD+RW, you should probably update the firmware. And who's to say this borked DVD+RW writing isn't across all DVD+RW models and speeds? I don't have any other kind of DVD+RW to test with. When I need to replace my 2209 or the next time I need to replace my LG, I'm going to either try the 209 and see if its firmware is borked or try the newer BDR-211UBK. The only difference with that model is it supports 4K HD Blu-Ray playback. But, depending on the laser and the firwmare, it might write 8x Ritek DVD+RW fine. I won't know until I test both of them. I can always return them with Amazon.com if they don't. And I don't really need 2209's BD XL capability as I've never owned such a disc. I believe the 2209 might also write to M-Disc, but my LG does the same thing. And I've only ever burned like 5 of those. So, I don't really need that capability either. As for updating the firmware, you can downgrade firmware, but it takes some other tools, a little work, and a little knowledge of what you're doing. In fact, I didn't know it could be done until LUK told me. So, you can always regress back to the firmware one revision less if you find DVD+RW doesn't work right.

IMO, Pioneer quality has gone downhill over the last few years. I still have my first one that works fine as far as I know after 2 years. My 2nd one still works fine as far as I know after 1 year. The only reason I replaced either one was a design flaw in their manufacturing. After a certain amount of time, Eject commands and pressing the Eject button don't work the first time they're issued. Issuing them again causes them to work. ImgBurn's auto eject function after burning/verifying, when turned on, seems to work fine, though. Then came the story of my 3rd Pioneer Blu-Ray drive. It stopped writing quality Verbatim BD-R after 7 months. My 4th one was worse! It failed right out of the box to write to these same Verbatims! Plus, Pioneer borked the latest firmware so they don't write properly to Ritek 8x DVD+RW. It used to write to them fine for years, but then they released the last firmware they will probably ever release for this drive and it borked those discs. So, I wouldn't put it past needing to replace a Pioneer after less than a year. I have an LG modern burner, too, but their modern model hasn't had a firmware update in 2 years. And, it needs it. It writes giant floppy formatted discs at half the speed of the Pioneer. Plus, it's a rotten reader and absolutely almost always fails to write to BD-RE DL media. So, I have the LG primarily to write DVD+RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R, BD-RE SL, and BD-R and the Pioneer for reading discs and for writing BD-RE DL and discs as giant floppies. There's no real way to test a dying burner. You're already doing it with discs that have passed and are now failing. You can test if it's the discs by getting another drive, putting it in, and testing it. But, there's no way of telling if it's the discs or your burner if they fail again. Wait, if you have AnyDVD running while ImgBurn is burning, you absolutely shouldn't be doing that. AnyDVD can cause problems with Verfies if it's running while a Verify is being performed. Plus, you shouldn't have AnyDVD running when burning to DVD+RW. It will cause an error in the write that will bork the disc from being rewritten properly until it is fully erased again. The take away is you should really only have AnyDVD running when you need it. Try disabling AnyDVD and perform a Read on one of these discs that was failing. See if it will read, however, I doubt it will. Experience says there is nothing wrong with ImgBurn. Otherwise, every drive I've had to replace wouldn't be miraculously fixed when the drive was replaced. Plus, you're experiencing problems at the layer change. Experience says this is because of cheap quality discs, disc incompatibility with the drive, or a dying drive.

I notice the errors happen right at the start of Layer 1. However, what's weird is the Empty Sector errors. I can't comment on those, but my experience has generally been that if a drive is failing to Verify at the layer change, it's one of a two things. 1.) your drive doesn't like that Disc ID brand of media 2.) your drive needs replacing How long have you had this drive? Have you used these type of discs before with success? You're using quality Verbatim media, it seems, so it's probably not that your drive doesn't like those discs. Unless you've never gotten success with them before. They don't appear to be cheap quality discs, so that's probably not the problem. Layer changes almost always are problematic when errors occur. I just replaced a Blu-Ray drive last week because it wasn't writing DVD+R DL correctly anymore. It was failing Verifies at the, yes, you guessed, layer change.

It happens. We all make boners at some time in our lives. My biggest one was, as a computer science major, I know you NEVER plug in the power supply to an internal peripheral with the power turned on. And, still, I did it anyway, without thinking about it! Partly fried the HDD.

That's the AnyDVD log. We need the ImgBurn log. There would be no burn/verify errors in the AnyDVD log. Unless this AnyDVD log is an attempt to read one of the failed burns that ImgBurn failed on.

I believe, last time I checked, Philips DVD-R's sold at Dollar Tree and Big Lots were CMC Magnetics. So, Philips CD-R's are probably CMC's, too. Meaning your drive may not like them because they are cheap media. Without the log there's no way of telling who made your CD-R. I'm pretty sure Philips themselves didn't make them.

I haven't used Daemon Tools in so long I've forgotten pretty much everything I knew about using it. I use Virtual CloneDrive now.

Ah, yes, you did. I forgot that.

My empirical evidence says otherwise. I know it makes no sense, but none of my 5 DVD players would recognize these discs and all 3 of my optical discs, 2 SATA's and one USB, would flash their lights forever attempting to recognize them. It sounds impossible, it makes no logical sense, but it was never said that the improbable can't happen. I've had it happen to me 3 times. ImgBurn is always set to Eject after writing, so it should have "cleared" the drive of anything after writing. Now, I think all these discs were DVD+RW's. It's possible, and really the only logical solution, that they wrote fine, were readable on Verify, but on eject after Verify, they "died" because they're random access memory and could have been "destroyed" with each read of sectors from it. Reads shouldn't affect writing, but it's the only logical explanation. The discs were close to dying and the laser power, though set to read, was hot enough that it destroyed the sector(s) necessary to recognize the disc as a loadable disc.