colinhunt Posted March 24, 2008 Author Posted March 24, 2008 enable fastwrite regardless and do the full format and go paint your house OK, but what should I do when I'm done painting the house and format's still not finished?
blutach Posted March 24, 2008 Posted March 24, 2008 Paint the neighbours for the cost of a new BDRE disc Regards
colinhunt Posted March 25, 2008 Author Posted March 25, 2008 In all seriousness... the 40 euros I paid for that disc is heck a lot of money to me, especially at the moment. You guys might be loaded, but I'm not
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 25, 2008 Posted March 25, 2008 I've ordered a couple of those discs from SVP. They should be here tomorrow or the day after. Check back in a few days, at the moment there's nothing we can do.
colinhunt Posted March 25, 2008 Author Posted March 25, 2008 Great, thanks. Looking forward to your discoveries.
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 Oops, mine are TDK. I 11:17:35 Media Type: BD-RE (Disc ID: TDKBLD-Wfa-00) (Speeds: 2x) I can't find Panasonic ones here so I may have to get them imported via some US suppliers on eBay.com
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 27, 2008 Posted March 27, 2008 I 11:17:35 Operation Started! I 11:17:35 Device: [3:0:0] HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L YL02 (N:) (ATA) I 11:17:35 Media Type: BD-RE (Disc ID: TDKBLD-Wfa-00) (Speeds: 2x) I 11:17:35 Quick Erase: No I 11:17:35 Erasing Disc... I 14:49:59 Synchronising Cache... I 14:49:59 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 03:32:23 3.5 hours... lol Best to format these things overnight
colinhunt Posted March 28, 2008 Author Posted March 28, 2008 3.5 hours... lolBest to format these things overnight Indeed. Ridiculous, isn't it? I haven't found the time to try another full format on my Panny media yet. Care to hazard a guess what settings (FastWrite, Format without Spare Areas) I should use?
colinhunt Posted March 28, 2008 Author Posted March 28, 2008 (edited) You know that you don't need to erase DVD+RW, DVD-RAM or BD-RE media before rewriting on them, right? Simply click the Write/Build button and ImgBurn will ask you if you want to overwrite the disc By the by, I just noticed this seems to be incorrect. I placed a previously burned (with ImgBurn 2.4.0.0) Maxell BD-RE 25GB in the LG drive, and the Write/Build button is greyed out. Below that, the status line reads "Disc Not Empty". Certainly looks like the disc needs to be emptied/formatted first. edit: Unticked "Prefer properly formatted +RW" box and now ImgBurn allows burning without formatting first. Edited March 28, 2008 by colinhunt
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 28, 2008 Posted March 28, 2008 It'll tell you if it needs erasing (even though it's automatic) - by using those very words. Unticking that box did nothing. If the button was greyed out it's because your drive was reporting it as BD-ROM again, and that's out of my hands I'm afraid.
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 It'll tell you if it needs erasing (even though it's automatic) - by using those very words. Unticking that box did nothing. Ehh, sorry, what? First the write/build button was greyed out, then I unticked the box, and the button was no longer greyed out. Looks to me like unticking sure did something If the button was greyed out it's because your drive was reporting it as BD-ROM again, and that's out of my hands I'm afraid. This was a different disc altogether; a Maxell 25GB BD-RE and drive reported it as BD-RE. But while we're on this subject, any idea why the drive would report a BD-RE as a BD-ROM? Please note that this only happened after I used ImgBurn's Quick format on the disc. Is it possible to somehow 'override' the drive and force... hmmh, probably not.
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 It's impossible for a properly recognised BD-RE to grey out the write button. period. Don't forget, I have the H20L too, I've NEVER run into this problem and I certainly haven't unticked that 'properly formatted' option. Here's a run down of what the program says in the status bar + button status for various BD-RE statuses. Brand New Unformatted BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L YL02 (ATA) Current Profile: BD-RE Disc Information: Status: Empty Erasable: Yes Supported Write Speeds: 2x BD Disc Information: Disc ID: VERBAT-IM0-00 Disc Type: BD-RE Current Format Capacity: Sectors: 12,219,392 Size: 25,025,314,816 bytes Time: 2715:27:17 (MM:SS:FF) Preferred Format Capacity: Sectors: 11,826,176 Size: 24,220,008,448 bytes Time: 2628:04:26 (MM:SS:FF) Maximum Format Capacity: Sectors: 12,219,392 Size: 25,025,314,816 bytes Time: 2715:27:17 (MM:SS:FF) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read Mode - Disc Is Empty - Button Disabled Build Mode - Ready (Disc Needs Formatting) - Button Enabled Write Mode - Ready (Disc Needs Formatting) - Button Enabled Verify Mode - Disc Is Empty - Button Disabled Discovery Mode - Ready (Disc Needs Formatting) - Button Enabled Empty Formatted BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L YL02 (ATA) Current Profile: BD-RE Disc Information: Status: Complete Erasable: Yes Supported Write Speeds: 2x TOC Information: Session 1... -> Track 01 (Mode 1, LBA: 0 - 11826175) -> LeadOut (LBA: 11826176) BD Disc Information: Disc ID: VERBAT-IM0-00 Disc Type: BD-RE Current Format Capacity: Sectors: 11,826,176 Size: 24,220,008,448 bytes Time: 2628:04:26 (MM:SS:FF) Preferred Format Capacity: Sectors: 11,826,176 Size: 24,220,008,448 bytes Time: 2628:04:26 (MM:SS:FF) Maximum Format Capacity: Sectors: 12,219,392 Size: 25,025,314,816 bytes Time: 2715:27:17 (MM:SS:FF) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read Mode - Disc Is Empty - Button Disabled Build Mode - Ready - Button Enabled Write Mode - Ready - Button Enabled Verify Mode - Disc Is Empty - Button Disabled Discovery Mode - Ready - Button Enabled Non-Empty Formatted BD-RE HL-DT-ST BD-RE GGW-H20L YL02 (ATA) Current Profile: BD-RE Disc Information: Status: Complete Erasable: Yes Sessions: 1 Sectors: 11,826,176 Size: 24,220,008,448 bytes Time: 2628:04:26 (MM:SS:FF) Supported Write Speeds: 2x TOC Information: Session 1... -> Track 01 (Mode 1, LBA: 0 - 11826175) -> LeadOut (LBA: 11826176) BD Disc Information: Disc ID: VERBAT-IM0-00 Disc Type: BD-RE Current Format Capacity: Sectors: 11,826,176 Size: 24,220,008,448 bytes Time: 2628:04:26 (MM:SS:FF) Preferred Format Capacity: Sectors: 11,826,176 Size: 24,220,008,448 bytes Time: 2628:04:26 (MM:SS:FF) Maximum Format Capacity: Sectors: 12,219,392 Size: 25,025,314,816 bytes Time: 2715:27:17 (MM:SS:FF) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Read Mode - Ready - Button Enabled Build Mode - Ready (Disc Not Empty) - Button Enabled Write Mode - Ready (Disc Not Empty) - Button Enabled Verify Mode - Ready - Button Enabled Discovery Mode - Ready (Disc Not Empty) - Button Enabled
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 It's impossible for a properly recognised BD-RE to grey out the write button. period. I'm not trying to pick a fight or say you're wrong; I'm simply reporting what I saw & experienced, that's all. Here's a start of a hypothesis: I've used Nero 8 to Quick format all my brand new BD-REs before Quick formatting them with ImgBurn. There was a good reason for this, but I've forgotten what it was. It had something to do with being somehow unable to use (or quick format, perhaps) new discs with ImgBurn, unless they were first formatted by Nero. Might that have something to do with any of this?
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 I know you think that you're reporting in good faith but I'm simply saying that it's not possible. Something else cocked up if the button was disabled - and as your drive has incorrectly reported BD discs before, I've good reason to believe that's what happened here. As mentioned before, a quick erase in ImgBurn just writes zeroes to the first 800 sectors (enough to knock out the important part of the file system) - via the 'WRITE' command. BD-RE (like DVD+RW) needs to be sent the proper 'FORMAT UNIT' command before *ANY* 'WRITE' command will work. The 'FORMAT UNIT' command is only sent when doing a 'Full Erase'.
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 (edited) Whoa, hey, stop the press! I took out another Maxell BD-RE 25GB. This one was burned with Nero 8. Started ImgBurn, ticked the "Prefer properly formatted +RW" box, closed ImgBurn and started it again. Dropped some ~20GB of Blu-ray data into Build window. Inserted disc into LG. Write button is greyed out, status reads "Disc Not Empty". What the...? And then I noticed that 'Current profile' reads "BD-ROM". It's possible that previous Maxell had also been reported as BD-ROM. I just realized that scrolling down the Device window, there's a Physical format information section which lists BD-RE. It's quite likely I took note of that and totally neglegted the 'Current profile'. So! I unticked "Prefer properly formatted +RW", ejected disc, reinserted it and boing! Write button is no longer greyed out and Current profile says BD-RE. This got me thinking (about time, too). I ejected the Maxell, inserted the 50GB Panny BD-RE.... and ImgBurn lists the Current profile for it as BD-RE -- and Write button is not greyed out. Clicked the Write button... and LG started writing on the disc. It's done 23% so far, at a steady Write rate of 2.0x. Lessons learned so far: 1) I'm an idiot. 2) Sometimes it pays to play with tickboxes. 3) If possible, don't use Nero 8 for anything. Edited March 29, 2008 by colinhunt
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 I don't know how you've left it but 'prefer properly formatted +rw' should be left ticked (as it is by default). I promise you that option is not the cause of / solution to your problems.
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 It worked. The 50GB Panasonic BD-RE I feared would be fit only for garbage burned fine. The data on the disc is OK, too, since the movie is right now playing on the PC next to me. It's the same disc which Nero 8 couldn't quick or full format; the disc which ImgBurn was unable to format or write on while the "Prefer properly formatted" box was ticked. I unticked the box, write button was enabled and the disc burned fine. This has to have something to do with quick formatting brand new discs with Nero 8 before using them with ImgBurn. What do you think?
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 (edited) This is starting to get very mysterious indeed. I ran ImgBurn with the 50GB disc in LG drive, 'Prefer' box NOT ticked, and... Current profile: BD-ROM. Write button disabled. Ticked the 'prefer' box. Ejected tray, inserted tray... Current profile: BD-RE. Write button enabled. Dragged 40GB of Blu-ray data into Build window. Boom! Current profile: BD-ROM. Write button disabled. Deleted data from Build window. Unticked the 'prefer' box. Ejected tray, inserted tray... Current profile: BD-RE. Write button enabled. Dragged 36GB of Blu-ray data into Build window. Whoosh! Current profile: BD-ROM. Write button disabled. Ejected tray, inserted tray: Current profile: BD-RE. Write button enabled. Clicked Write button. Pop-up: "Data will be overwritten. Continue yes/no?" Clicked yes and writing commenced. Drive reports profile as BD-RE, but when you drag data into Build window and check again, profile's been switched to BD-ROM. What on earth is going on here? Edited March 29, 2008 by colinhunt
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 Your drive is a bit poorly! dragging data to the 'source' box doesn't refresh the drive info so if it's doing that without you telling it to, it means the drive went from being 'ready' to not being ready all by itself. As it's so on/off, any chance you could try it in another machine and see if it does the same? It can only be the hardware (cable perhaps?) or some dodgy/conflicting driver so troubleshooting shouldn't take too long. If say you did 10 tray cycles (without changing anything else), how many of those return a current profile of 'BD-ROM' where it should be 'BD-RE'?
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 Your drive is a bit poorly! Still under warranty, luckily dragging data to the 'source' box doesn't refresh the drive info so if it's doing that without you telling it to, it means the drive went from being 'ready' to not being ready all by itself. How is that even possible? Drive reported BD-RE, I dragged data to source box, and profile is changed to BD-ROM. If there's no refresh from ImgBurn, how would you explain this? (I'm not claiming ImgBurn does a refresh, I'm asking for a theory ) As it's so on/off, any chance you could try it in another machine and see if it does the same? Most of my PCs are from stone age, but I do have one other PC I could try the drive in. Will take some time to test, though. It can only be the hardware (cable perhaps?) or some dodgy/conflicting driver so troubleshooting shouldn't take too long. The drive resides currently in my video editing PC which has loads of various burning apps installed. It could certainly be a driver issue, but I don't know how to even start investigating that. If say you did 10 tray cycles (without changing anything else), how many of those return a current profile of 'BD-ROM' where it should be 'BD-RE'? I'll test this once the current burn is done.
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 Ah, do you have 'Auto Calculate' enabled? It would indeed refresh when that's on (it's not on by default and I don't enable it). There's still no reason for the current profile to change though - especially when the tray hasn't even been cycled!
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 Alcohol 120%, Daemon Tools, AnyDVD HD - any of these a possible culprit? I keep AnyDVD HD disabled when burning, though. During the previous BD-RE/BD-ROM profile swapping I didn't have AnyDVD HD loaded in memory at all. Alcohol and DT are also disabled, i.e. there's no tray icon for them, and neither is there a context menu for either one.
colinhunt Posted March 29, 2008 Author Posted March 29, 2008 (edited) Did a bunch of tray cycles. 'Prefer' box unticked- 10/10 cycles profile comes to BD-RE 'Prefer' box ticked- 10/10 cycles BD-RE Then I tested what happens when profile is BD-RE and I drag some data into Source box, with Auto calculate enabled. 10/10 x BD-RE is replaced by BD-ROM. Profile stays as BD-RE if I disable Auto calculate. Edited March 29, 2008 by colinhunt
LIGHTNING UK! Posted March 29, 2008 Posted March 29, 2008 Alcohol and DT both use a very low level driver. Make sure they're up to date and using SPTD v1.56
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