Recently, I have been getting some weird problems on my DVD+R's. It will encode through Shrink just fine, burn fine (always on 2X or 4X), but absolutely will NOT play on any of my 4 DVD-ROM PC drives. It just sits there and reads, like it cant really find the movie, just whirring away. They will play in my DVD players, although on my Sony it will sometimes give me a "dirty disc" message when I put it in. After that, I eject it, and they play fine (this usually only happens IMMEDIATELY after I burn one and put it in). I am using DVD Shrink, and NERO 6.6 Ultra Edition (like I have for a year now), along with MAXELL 8X DVD+R's (though this same thing has happened with other media). Here are some pictures of the bottom of the discs. You will notice that the inner part of the DVD, on the writeable surface, there is a noticeable gap (the dark area in the photos). It seems like this is the common denominator and the problem occurs on the DVD's that have this gap right near where the hole is on the DVD. http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/jblank/DSCF0007.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v136/jblank/DSCF0006.jpg If I can get some help, it will be appreciated. I fly a lot and like to watch my movies on my laptop, but I cant even get some of these to play on the VERY DRIVE THEY WERE BURNED ON. The firmware on my NEC-3520A burner is up to date, and I dont do anything on the PC when I encode or burn. Please help, I dont know what else to do. EDIT-The little splotches you see on the discs are actually light reflections or a bit of dust on my camera lens. THe discs are perfectly clean and unblemished.
If the 'gap' that you refer to meaning the darker ring surrounding the center hole, then it's just the unused portion of the dvd, and should have little to do with the problem. Anyway, if your dvd players can play the burnt dvd, then it probably is just a compatibility issue. You may try: 1) use a different brand of dvd 2) use a different burning program (e.g. DVD Decrypter) Good luck!
I've had this problem, but note my newbie status. DVD ROM players are much more sensitive than stand alone players to any particle, smudge, write error or ignoring read and write errors while burning. Also, stand alone players do not need software to play, so you need to add that into the equation. Try, if you are not, to have NERO verify the media while burning. (Check the box) See how many errors come up. Take a closer look, sometimes I have to use a magnifying glass, and you might see what I call "Hotspots" because they look remarkedly similar to "hotspots" all you mechanics know about on rotors and clutch plates. If your PC is running hot (What is your CPU Speed?) it can cause your burner to act up, just as any power surge can make your burner's laser to get too hot. Thus the Hot spots. Some of my DVD's that have these hot spots tend to show what your pictures show, but some do not. I will immediately know what causes the hang you describe. Everytime I take the media out, sure enough, hot spots, and occasionally what you see. (A hot spot is just a slightly darker mark anywhere on the newly burned surface. The are usually no bigger than half the size of your pinkie fingernail.) How Did I fix this? In my case I switched back to DVD-R's and the problem went away. But I wasn't satisfied, I wanted DVD+R's; there supported right? (That's what I said to myself) So I went into my power management settings, (mine are controlled by Toshiba's utilities) but you can use CMOS, and slow down the CPU speed if you can, and set everything to run real cool). If all of this fails to solve the problem...You need a new burner. they are cheap. Go get one. Take it back if the problem persists. If you have a magnifhying glass, look for those hotspots, that can cause the burning process to go out of whack, i.e, not perfectly circular. How did I do Pete?
I dont think its a temperature issue. This is just a standard Dell with a 2.8ghz P4, no overclocking. I would appreciate some other thoughts on this.
Have you successfully burned a DVD-R since the problem began? Have you tried any other brand of +R media? All it can be is your media or your burner. Which one are you going to change? My "similar" problems were solved when the burner finally died. Factory said I burned it up. (I am only running a 2.0ghz AMD, your CPU speed runs hot.P4's especally.) It was still under warranty, so I lucked out, but since getting it back, I have none of those issues you suggest.
