dbminter

The 212 definitely is an unreliable performer when it comes to writing 8x DVD+RW. It fluctuates between writing at 6x and 8x maximum. You do one write and it's 6x max. You use the same disc that just wrote at 6x max and write the same image in the same enclosure and conditions, and you get 8x!

Nothing new to report since the last beta was released back in November.

Well, now I don't know WHAT to think! After the failed burn from before, the NEW enclosure I installed, completely different manufacturer, was ALSO returning Logical Unit messages on all inserted discs. So, I swapped in another Vantec enclosure, which was the same type that appeared dead before. (This one Vantec randomly causes drives to appear with blank contents in File Explorer until power is cycled. Vantec makes about 50% junk.) Now, the same disc that was writing at 3.3x is back to 8x! It's POSSIBLE both enclosures went bad simultaneously as the OWC had been sitting on a shelf unused for years. If the universe is ruled by god, I wouldn't put it past him.

Yeah, the 212 is junk as well. I put in a brand new unformatted 8x DVD+RW, wrote it once, played fine. Write to it a 2nd time, and it never got beyond 3.3x. Whenever this happens, Verify will always fail.

Further testing has shown the Pioneer drives are still junk when it comes to writing 8x DVD+RW. I put in a brand new, unformatted disc, let ImgBurn format and write it, and Verify failed on it. So, Pioneer has taken SLIGHT steps forward, but are still junk. In fact, the 212 DESTROYED the brand new DVD+RW I just tested! I tried using it again in an LG WH16NS60 and it won't even get past Logical Unit is in process of becoming ready. Which is what ASUS used to do on rewritable discs. EDIT: Actually, I may have jumped to a conclusion too soon. It could be the enclosure. I took out the 212 and put in an NS60 and I still get Logical Unit messages on all DVD+RW discs. Since it's highly unlikely both drives went bad at the same time and since I've tried other DVD+RW discs, the conclusion is either the enclosure, the USB cable, or the USB port are to blame. More to come. Must have been the enclosure. I used a different enclosure with the 212 and the same disc that had at first appeared to have been destroyed and the Logical Unit message went away. I used the same USB cable, so it's not the cable or port. Could be a power supply issue as the other enclosure uses a different type of power supply.

That's why I miss those days.

So, you're using 2 WH14NS40 drives? Writing in a 1.03 firmware drive and verifying in a 1.05 firmware drive? If that's the case, I'd wait and see if it happens again, but this time use the 1.05 drive to write the BD XL disc.

Is this the first time you've tried BD XL media? I know one of the reasons the WH16NS40 is not usable, as far as I'm concerned, is it doesn't properly write to double layer BD media. 9 times out of 10, it writes it incorrectly.

See if this helps: Tools --> Settings --> Build --> Page 1 --> Advanced --> Check the box for Include Reparse Point Files. If it's already checked, don't change it as that won't help.

I did recommend M-Disc in my initial reply, but there is one mitigating factor that may turn someone off to using them: cost. M-Disc are a tad bit expensive, particularly when compared to the price for BD-R. However, there is the initial cost of having to pay out for a more expensive BD burner if you're going to use BD-R. And you will need a BD drive to read the discs back. With M-Disc, as long as your device supports DVD+R, it will read it. So, M-Disc is a bit more "universal."

I do prefer the old days when apps stored settings in INI files in the directory they were installed in. It made configuring applications on a new system much easier. Plus, INI is safe from when developers change the name of the Registry key they're writing to or change/add/delete branches from the key.

One oddity of the firmware in the Pioneer 212. It takes 35 seconds longer to write an 8x DVD+RW than it does on the WH16NS60. At one minute and 25 seconds into burning, the drive drops the write rate to 0.0x and it stays there for 35 seconds before resuming, climbing back up to 8.0x. It does this on "Ricoh" 8x DVD+RW from years ago and on the current 8x DVD+RW from Imation, made by "Ritek."

So, in Verify Mode, if a user unchecked Verify Against Image File, ImgBurn would just do a Read of the contents as if it were creating an image file?

In the Verify mode, there's an option the user can check to Verify Against Image File. When a Verify is automatically performed after writing an image if the user has the Verify option selected, is the disc verified against the image file that was written by default? Or is the Verify just a Read operation without comparison against the image file contents being burned? Thanks!

Yeah, as far as I know, there's nothing like a Like on this board's forum software.

I appreciate the compliments and I'm sorry I can't be of more assistance.

It sounds like the OP had a DVD-R DVD Video and used Handbrake to make an MP4 from the VIDEO_TS. They then tried burning that to a new recordable disc. As LUK said, DVD-R is a simple Read and Write operation: Read the disc to an image file and then Write it to a new recordable disc. However, be aware some DVD-R type movies from big studios have structural copy protection on them. Which means ImgBurn won't directly copy them; it will tell you if it can't Read the disc. Also however, if you got Handbrake to make an MP4, the disc either didn't have structural protection or you already circumvented it to make files Handbrake can process. DVD-R is simply a cheap ass way for studios to save money on production costs. Frankly, I'm surprised all studios haven't abandoned pressed discs in favor of DVD-R and DVD+R DL's. Most TV series are now released on DVD+R DL.

Unfortunately, your information just furthers my idea that there's no way to know what you're supposed to do with this X-Ray disc without asking who made it. The BIN file on that disc is not an image format you can burn, so ImgBurn has nothing to do with viewing the X-Ray on this disc. It appears to be some kind of proprietary format, so only its creator can tell you what you need to do with it.

Unfortunately, it's not immediately obvious what this disc is supposed to do in terms of behavior. BIN is a disc image format that ImgBurn recognizes, but BIN generally is associated with BIN/CUE, which is a file format pairing generally exclusively for Audio CD. BIN could also be shorthand for BINARY, but without knowing what the BIN file is supposed to do, I couldn't say. You could try copying the BIN file to somewhere temporary and loading that BIN file in ImgBurn's Write mode. If it is a disc image file, it will be available for writing to a recordable disc. If it isn't, ImgBurn will say it's not a proper disc image file. Oh, NOW I think I see why ImgBurn was called in this case. You may have had ImgBurn already installed before you received this X-Ray disc. Double clicking on the .BIN file would have invoked ImgBurn to try and burn it, which may have caused ImgBurn, when it opened, to check for an update. Then, it may have detected your ImgBurn was an older version. So, at this point, I'd do what I recommended before about copying the BIN file to some temporary location, loading it in Write mode, and see if you can burn it to a recordable disc.

I'm guessing Xray is a subfolder in the folder Study in the root directory of the disc? It depends on what Xray is. Is it a folder or a file? If it's a file, it will usually have some kind of . extension after it defining what program opens it. Unfortunately, probably only a screenshot of what you're seeing where it says Unknown in the properties would help here. And I don't know if you know how to create one.

It is possible that whoever made this disc with an "X-Ray" on it constructed it to run ImgBurn, but there's no need to view "X-Ray" with ImgBurn. The X-Ray would either be a simple picture file or some kind of proprietary file that requires special software on the disc to view. Whatever the case, ImgBurn is not required to do any of this. ImgBurn just makes copies of discs or creates images for burning to discs.

Well, it's not entirely clear what you're attempting to do. No disc when inserted should say you need to download ImgBurn unless it was prepared to do so. In that case, it should have had a copy on the disc to begin with. Viewing the images implies you got a disc with pictures on it. Unless "viewing images" means you got a disc with disc images on it. In that case, you'd want to burn the images, but that begs the question of what these disc images on the disc are. Read and Build are different things. Read mode creates an image copy of a disc which can be burned to writable media. Build creates images from existing files and folders that can be burned to writable media.

I think I actually have one of those linked Verbatim DVD burners, but I bought it entirely as an external reader. I don't think I ever tested its write abilities.

MP3 should be avoided whenever possible. It's a lossy format, so the sound quality will be affected. FLAC is one of the lossless formats, so the audio is pretty much 1:1 as on the CD's. Your best bet is to always try and use an original CD and rip the tracks to FLAC. Or make an image of the disc, but images are not necessarily reliable. Plus, reading at slower speeds is recommended and using something that generates hashes like Free Audio Converter. (Not the 4dots one, the other one called Free Audio Converter: freac.)

Your faults are most likely one of two things, both already suggested previously. Slim models are generally less reliable than half height optical burners. And the CMC discs are the worst optical discs out there. Verbatim does release some of the best, but they also make some of the worst in their Life Series. Try the Verbatim DataLife Plus, NOT Life Series, or ones listed as AZO dye, as was previously suggested. It's probably why the CD-R's failed but the CD-RW's succeeded. The CD-RW's may not have been CMC. There was no attached log for a CD-RW burn, so I can't say who made those CD-RW.