dbminter

Ah, so AUDIO_TS was basically only ever for DVD Audio. I never liked DVD Audio. The primary drawback, near as I can remember from trying to make a few, was the audio tracks were actually "menus" that were playing. They weren't actually "video objects," although the motion menus ARE contained in the VOB's. So, the big negative was you couldn't navigate through the audio. You could only skip back to the beginning or skip to the end and stop playback. Anyway, that's as near as I remember. You couldn't Forward, Rewind, or Pause the audio.

What I do with situations like this where certain MP3's don't import is I convert them to some other kind of format like FLAC and try again. Freemake makes a freeware audio converter that I use. However, you'll want to turn off your Internet connection before running the full installer, not the online installer. The installer will want to phone home and force other software on you you most likely would never want. Just turn your Internet connection back on after its installed.

I know there is something called layer/disc rot. It's apparently when, over time, the glue holding the readable layer to the physical disc rots and separates from the disc itself, rendering it unplayable. That could be caused by some kind of fungal infection, I suppose. Especially on DVD-R which uses organic dyes.

.SES would appear to be a proprietary file generated by Adobe/Sonic. The last time I created a Sonic disc, over 10 years ago, had noting other than AUDIO_TS and VIDEO_TS. So, that OpenDVD appears to be stuff just added by Premiere Elements. However, why a .VOB is linking to a .SES and how it actually does that I couldn't say. So, the OpenDVD does appear to just be "notes" added by Premiere Elements to show what created the DVD. To apply the appropriate "copyright" legalese. Yes, the audio tracks of a DVD are contained in the VOB, the video object. All the VOB's are contained in VIDEO_TS. Then again, there's the supposedly useful yet useless AUDIO_TS that can contain audio tracks. My guess was this was created at the start of the DVD Video standard before it was discovered it was simply easier to contain the audio streams with the video streams in the VOB's.

AUDIO_TS will be added by ImgBurn if you add only a VIDEO_TS. According to the DVD Video standard, a disc must contain an AUDIO_TS and a VIDEO_TS folder. However, EVERY single DVD Video I've ever seen since 2002 has had an empty AUDIO_TS folder. Apparently, AUDIO_TS is for some weirdly authored types of discs where extra audio streams are placed there. Personally, I've NEVER seen a use for AUDIO_TS. I'd be curious to see what the ClickMe file loads in your web browser. The VOB file is a video object file, a container file that has both the audio and video streams to be played. You could try loading the .VOB file in something like Windows Media Player, if your version of Windows supports it, or something like Media Player Classic Home Cinema. Just to see if it's temporary work files left over that would be copies of what is in VIDEO_TS. .DVD is not a disc image, but it's used by programs to write disc image files or to load them as virtual drives. Or it could be OpenDVD is using its own .DVD file extension for something else. PVM is also probably some kind of proprietary file used by OpenDVD.

Really, is that the reason? I had kind of wondered why myself.

I would guess the OpenDVD one is probably just some kind of internal note about what created the VIDEO_TS folder. I know when I build VIDEO_TS DVD's, I generally put some kind of folder structure in the root directory that tells what its contents are. In case I can't tell the contents based on its Labels, or if the label fields aren't displayed, because of Windows/File Explorer, the folder structure offers a bit more insight.

I don't even know what you're saying no to!

If you really are worried, disconnect your Internet connection before running the ImgBurn installer. That way, it can't phone home to get 3rd party offers. That's what I started doing with ImgBurn and Freemake software when I learned it had OpenCandy in it. (There's not really a Freemake Virus. ZoneAlarm even flags it, somewhat contradictory, that it's "Not A Virus" in it's "Virus" dialogue.) Freemake now bundles something called Fusion.dll that is flagged as the not.a.virus Virus. Once the installer finishes, the DLL is deleted. I am guessing this DLL is what phone homes to the 3rd party software server. With my Internet connection disabled, Freemake software never offers 3rd party software. It may still install WinPCap, apparently, as I never noticed it before until you mentioned it. However, there could be any number of applications I installed that may require packet capturing. From Freemake Video Downloader to ZoneAlarm. If malware installs it, it generally doesn't add WinPCap to Add/Remove Programs. It purposefully obfuscates it because it doesn't want you to know it's there doing something you don't want.

Oh, that was the spare areas command that wasn't supported? I just know that supposedly there's a command that can double the amount of time it takes to format a BD-RE. And I've never seen that command ever successfully carried out on any BD drive I've ever owned. Yeah, my knowledge of Blu-Ray is nowhere near as extensive as DVD. I've only been using BD 5 years, anyway, versus 15 for DVD.

The 1.34 firmware is borked, so don't update to that. It doesn't write properly to Ritek 8x DVD+RW. If it does write to them, you must fully format the disc again in another drive before they can become useful again. 1.33 is safe as far as my use has shown. It's not a one way trip like Pioneer says. It's just not possible with anything Pioneer gives you. I used a tool designed to regress firmwares and it worked fine. That unsupported format command has appeared in all BD burners I've ever used. Apparently, all it does is a verify of each write command to the disc as it performs it. This effectively doubles the amount of time it takes to format the disc.

Well, the most logical conclusion is the LG stand alone doesn't support the playback of .M2t files. Unless you've gotten it do so before. Then, there is something odd going on somewhere.

Well, I don't know if the graph data will get worse as the years go on or just, one day, you find you can't read the disc at all. MDisc does not use DVD type organic dyes. BD-R uses metal oxide so it lasts longer. I don't know how MDisc works but the analogy is similar to using a laser to etch pits in stone.

While I doubt the Power Calibration Errors have anything to do with it, could the device buffer issue be down to the SPTD driver?

Don't get the Verbatim DVD-R you find in brick and mortar stores. They'll be the Life series, made by CMC, the worst manufacturer of optical media out there. CMC causes well over 50% of the problems we see on this board. You'll want the Verbatim DataLife Plus MKM/MCC media you can only find online. It is somewhat odd you had this issue at first, it went away, and then came back. You probably just lucked out in that your drive is iffy with that media. However, you seem to indicate you've been using this drive for a long time. Seems like years? I would be willing to be bet it's, most likely, just a case of a drive that's given up the ghost. However, it does seem equally odd that you haven't gone through 1 complete set of discs yet before it dies.

I just now realized. Yeah, you did say VOB and I failed to see it at first.

It does say VOB but not IFO. IFO is how a DVD is played. VOB is the video object being played. You can load a VOB, but a DVD movie is usually split into multiple 1 GB chunks. Without the IFO, the player has no idea how to navigate between the parts. So, you can put all your VIDEO_TS folders on the BD, but you won't get the menu you're looking for. You won't get any menus. You may only be able to load the individual VOB. It says it supports VIDEO_TS, but I still don't know for sure it supports IFO. VIDEO_TS IMPLIES it does, but I've learned to always look for the gotchas with what tech companies tell you and the actual fine print.

Yeah, that's a drive string name, right? It's returned by the drive itself. Is that what ImgBurn looks for? Something hard coded into the drive itself? I'm guessing this drive renamer only changes the identifying string, e.g. "name," in Windows/File Explorer. That would be a local system variable, and not what is contained within the drive.

You said you've been using Sony for years, so apparently you had no problem before? Even though they're Ritek, Sony has been using Ritek on their DVD-R's (NOT CD's. ) for as long as I can remember. So, it doesn't seem Sony changed manufacturers. That can't be your issue. If you've been using Sony DVD-R for years, does that mean you've actually been using that same DRIVE for years? If so, then your drive probably definitely needs replacing. Optical drives aren't generally meant to last for years. The longest I've had lasting, and it still works, is 2 years old. And that's twice as long as I usually get out of a drive. If this is a new drive you're using that you haven't used before, then it could definitely be a case of your drive not liking Ritek media. About the only way you can tell, especially if it's the drive that needs replacing is to try another maker of discs. Try to get your hands on some Verbatim DataLife Plus DVD-R. At least in the United States from Amazon.com, Verbatim DVD-R is MKM, made by Mitsubishi, probably the best manufacturer out there now that Taiyo Yuden has ceased production.

I use BD media for backups even if they fit on double layer DVD. They've gotten to the point where they're cheap and they last longer. Plus, as single layer BD's, there's no second layer problems to worry about. No worry that in some years time, the 2nd layer can't be read. The thing to worry about when it says it plays VIDEO_TS, that might mean natively. Meaning, it will read a DVD with VIDEO_TS on it. It doesn't say it reads IFO or VOB files. VIDEO_TS MIGHT mean IFO and VOB. However, if I had to make a guess, that just means it will play a VIDEO_TS if it's on a DVD media. However, it does say it plays ISO files, so supporting IFO and VOB is not entirely out of the question.

The only issues I've ever encountered with inkjet media were double layer media. For whatever reason, the inkjet Verbatim DataLifePlus DVD+R DL would fail to verify at the layer break on my Pioneer BD burner. The branded ones, with the SAME Disc ID, would work, but not the inkjet ones. A firmware update fixed that issue, though. Now, my LG burner does have the same issue with Verbatim inkjet BD-RE DL that Verbatim makes. They fail at the 2nd layer to verify. Now, the same Disc ID on Verbatim's branded BD-RE DL don't fail, and neither do the inkjet Verbatim BD-RE DL that TDK made for them. However, the ones Verbatim makes themselves came out AFTER the last firmware update to the LG BD drive 2 years ago. Since it seems LG will never update the firmware for this drive again, it seems unlikely this issue will ever get resolved. The only failures I've ever had with the BD-R branded were drive related. The drives needed replacing. The last Pioneer I got of the same kind failed to write to these BD-R right out of the box. I did have one weird case where a Verify failed because it said the next sector it was expecting to read simply wasn't there. I burned the same image again without problem.

There are two kinds I've gotten, branded and inkjet. The difference is simply the branded surface has Verbatim's logo on it, and other identifying information about the media, and the inkjet media can be printed to on its label surface. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00GSQ4DBM/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 https://www.amazon.com/Verbatim-DataLifePlus-White-Inkjet-Printable/dp/B004477BQQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1484853459&sr=8-1&keywords=inkjet+verbatim+bd-r I've used more of the branded label surfaces versus the inkjet label surfaces. Oh, wait, those inkjet BD-R's do say DataLifePlus. I had forgotten. I thought there was no such designation for BD-R. I was wrong. Of course, I haven't used the inkjet ones in a long time.

I checked Amazon.co.uk for any DataLifePlus BD-R media. The only DataLifePlus BD media there is DL, but you seemed to already have a good BD-R DL source as that wasn't CMC. So, I guess there is no BD distinctly labeled DataLifePlus. I know on Amazon.com, there was no need to look for DataLife Plus Verbatim BD-R as all the BD-R's I ever got weren't made by CMC. My guess is CMC will probably never make a BD-R(E) DL because they can't be made cheaply. Verbatim used to farm out to TDK for its BD-RE DL before it started making its own. If they could be made cheaply, CMC would already be flooding the market with them. They do make DVD DL media and some of Verbatims BD-RE, and apparently their BD-R for the UK market.

No, there is no indication on any manufacturer's packaging that lists who the actual manufacturer is. They don't put that information on there because if you knew the source of who made it, you may not buy it because it's junk media. The only way you'll know relatively surely is to buy off of online stores with reviews that tell you the manufacturer. However, that's not always reliable because companies can change the manufacturer of their discs at a moment's notice. I used to use Optodisc about 15 years ago because they used to make their own quality blank DVD. Then, they switched to CMC, and that's how I learned about them. I posted somewhere else about my issues and they eventually revealed to me I was using CMC media. And, some people don't mind using CMC. Some people never have burning or verify issues with CMC on their particular model of burner. However, the disc quality is generally so low that the discs probably won't be readable after a few years. Anyway, issues on this board deal with CMC media all the time. In like 75% of the cases, their problems go away when they don't use CMC. So, we God posters tend to immediately lay the blame on CMC media when we see it used and recommend getting rid of it as the first step. As I said, it doesn't ALWAYS solve the issue. But, since it generally happens a lot, it tends to fix a lot of the issues.

Verbatim is known to farm out to CMC for its BD-RE. Never have known Verbatim to farm out to CMC for BD-R. Verbatim also farms out all of its CD and DVD to CMC if you buy the Life series from brick and mortar stores. Only the DataLife Plus CD and DVD media found online are any good from Verbatim. What country are you posting from? Verbatim might be using CMC when selling in other countries. I know some other manufacturers in other countries farm out to other manufacturers for their outside the US sales. I know the BD-R Verbatim makes that are sold in Office Depot are not CMC. If you're in the United States, I can give you a link to the Amazon.com BD-R SL I've used for 5 years.