My burnt BD-R discs appears as blank on my PC!

[Amigo]

Hi there!

I've been a very satisfied user of ImgBurn for many years. It is a wonderful software that I always recommend. I use it mostly to backup my PC, and have burned many CDs, DVDs and BDs with it.

But recently, after not burning anything for several months, I've had a few issues backing up data to BDs. I tried with CDs and DVDs, and they always work fine, but BDs sometimes end up appearing as blank, even if the writing process, verification process and log show no issues at all. My previous BD-R media was working fine, but I bought a new one anyways, and the result was the same.

The issue didn't seem to be the software (ImgBurn) or the discs (I guess), but I don't have another PC with a BD drive at hand to test the discs - except that I do have a PS3, and lo and behold, the console can read the data without issues! :-O

Now I believe my Blu-ray drive is the culprit (LG HL-DT-ST BD-RE  BH16NS40 1.03 ATA). Am I right in that assumption, or is there anything else that I can investigate / test on the PC side?

Any tips are appreciated. Thank you!

[dbminter]

The problem is either your drive or Windows in conjunction with the drive.  You say your PS3 recognizes data on these discs but Windows does not?  Since the PS3 recognizes data on them, ImgBurn is writing data to them.  It's just Windows is not recognizing it.  When you get one of these BD that Windows shows is blank, go into Read mode and see if ImgBurn recognizes a disc is inserted.  Then, try reading that BD to an image file.  If ImgBurn can recognize data on the disc, it's a Windows problem, most likely.  If ImgBurn can't recognize data on the disc, I'd be more likely to blame the drive as being problematic.

[Amigo]

4 minutes ago, dbminter said:

If ImgBurn can't recognize data on the disc, I'd be more likely to blame the drive as being problematic.

Yes, I already tried that, and ImgBurn also shows the disc as empty:

HL-DT-ST BD-RE  BH16NS40 1.03 (ATA)
Current Profile: BD-R

Disc Information:
Status: Empty
State of Last Session: Empty
Erasable: No
Free Sectors: 12,219,392
Free Space: 25,025,314,816 bytes
Free Time: 2715:27:17 (MM:SS:FF)
Next Writable Address: 0
MID: CMCMAG-BA5-000
Supported Read Speeds: 2x, 4.2x, 6.2x, 8x, 9.9x, 12.1x
Current Read Speed: 2.6x - 6.2x

BD Disc Information:
Disc ID: CMCMAG-BA5-000
Disc Type: BD-R
Disc Size: 120 mm
Disc Class: 0
Disc Version: 1
Number of Layers: 1
Layer Type: Writable
DVD Layer Present: No
CD Layer Present: No
Channel Bit Length: 74.50 nm (25 GB Per Layer)
Push-Pull Polarity: Positive
Recorded Mark Polarity: HTL
BCA Present: Yes
Maximum Transfer Rate: Not Specified
First PAA of Data Zone: 131,072
Last PAA of Data Zone: 1,658,494

 

[dbminter]

You could try not using the cheap CMC MAG discs.  However, if they worked before, changing to something other than cheap media probably wouldn't work.  But, you would be able to narrow it down to the drive if you tried the better Verbatim (NOT Life Series.) BD-R and got the same results.

 

[Amigo]

7 minutes ago, dbminter said:

You could try not using the cheap CMC MAG discs.  However, if they worked before, changing to something other than cheap media probably wouldn't work.  But, you would be able to narrow it down to the drive if you tried the better Verbatim (NOT Life Series.) BD-R and got the same results.

 

Now I've tried to read a couple more BD-R discs I've burned before, even different media (still cheap, though ), and the drive can't read them. This means I'll really have to change the drive... But you are right, I should use better media for this. Thanks again!