16x Speed Mistake

OK, I did a dumb thing. I just got an iMac G5 a couple of months ago with a Superdrive (DVD/CD burner). I just assumed the hardware was cutting edge and I ordered a spindle of 100 16x Verbatim DVD-Rs only to discover that my Superdrive only writes at speeds up to 8x. It only took me about 4 or 5 misfires to figure out something was wrong. I even called Verbatim and they told me to look into updating the firmware on my drive, but after talking to Apple tech support that doesn't appear to be an option. So it would appear I have a spindle of disks that are useless to me. I also learned that it takes a stronger laser to burn at higher speeds, which means slowing down the write speed won't help, either.

Does anyone have any ideas other than trying to sell the 95 disks on eBay? Thanks in advance!

 

assuming your firmware is up to date on your superdrive, you can easily burn the 16x dvd-r Verbatims @ 8x, what's the point of you trying to burn @16x anyways? there is NO POINT to burning that fast unless you WANT to have a coaster...

most importantly with your burner right now is to find out who actually manufacturers it, get the updated firmware so that your burner will even RECOGNIZE the 16x rated Verbs, then proceed with other software programs to burn them @ 8x or slower if you want to be even MORE careful about it~

docTY~

those 16x Verbs are of good quality, no need to sell them or whatnot, they are in fact NOT useless to you~

 

Thanks!

OK, what you said is inconsistent with the tech support dude at Verbatim. I asked if I could successfully burn the disks at a lower speed and he said that wouldn't be an option, mentioning something about the dye requiring a stronger laser.

As for my drive, it's a Matshita UJ-845.

As for recognizing the disks, it seems to do that OK. I am using Toast to burn my disks and the speed setting I normally use is "Best". I wonder if Toast sees that the disks are 16x and tries to burn that fast.

Thanks for the help on this. As you can no doubt tell, I am new to all of this but everything I learn is sinking in so I might be able to help others someday.

Thanks again!

 

Excellent! I am trying a test run at 8x right now and I'll post the results when it's done.

What you're saying makes more sense than what the tech dude told me anyway. The package says the disks will burn at speeds 1-16x. I certainly trust you guys beyond any tech dude.

Thanks again for the help!

 

aww...binkie to my rescue~!! WHOOO HOOO~! thanks for the kind words, but yes, i will have to 100% agree, MANY times the tech support at various companies don't even know their OWN product line as well as others who have had a LOT of experience with the product, myself included as i've had 1000+ burns on Verbatim discs~

keep the speed of burn @8x or even slower if you would like, but, 8x is the fastest i would recommend going on 16x rated media...i have the 16x MCC004 dvd+r Verbatims, i only burn mine @8x and they are FLAWLESS~ it should be no different with the 16x dvd-r flavor you currently have MrKarst~

good luck~

docTY~

 

This is a new one on me, I gotta start burning faster just in case those 5 burners I have don't have a strong enough laser. Is Verbatim now using different dye than on all those others I bought and burned at slower speed and turned out okay? Too, strange for me

 

Bad news.

The disc burned OK, then I let verification run and it failed at about 20% of the way through with the following message:

"Sector 468640 is unreadable. Verification failed."

This is same result I got when I left the burn speed at "Best" (with a different sector number).

I am going to test the disc in my stand-alone DVD player just to see, but I don't have a real good feeling since all the disks I have burned have successfully verified.

I will also try burning the same exact disc at 4x and see what happens. I will post results, probably later this evening.

Oh, and arniebear: I don't understand your post at all but maybe one of the gurus who have been helping me can help.

 

Update part 1: I popped the disc in my XBox (which is more likely to reject a disc than my other stand-alone machine) and it has started up OK. I have obviously not watched it all to be sure there are no flaws, but it appears fine so far.

I will post results of my 4x burn test in a bit.

By the way, are any of you guys Mac users? If not, do you know of any gurus on here who are? Thanks again!

 

i am completely unfamiliar with Macs, never had one, never tried...so, i can't help you there at least with the burning processes/programs that you use to make a backup~

but, when it comes to media, that Verbatim "tech" guy is so full of it, talking about "hot lasers" and stuff...this reminds me of some dude on here that was talking about having a "good strong power supply" that makes your "lasers" really hot and blah blah blah and then THAT IS THE SOLUTION to ALL burning problems..simply ridiculous...

so, if your backup DOES play on your xbox, then it should be ok? try it with your standalones and see if it makes a difference? the proof is in the puddin' hehe, if it DOES play fine on your xbox and stand alones, don't worry about the "Verification process"...it's not a "coaster" in MY eyes if it plays back flawlessly without pixellation/freezing/distortion on a stand alone~

let us know how it works out~

docTY~

 

Update Part 2: I burned the same disc and verified it successfully at 4x. Whatever. Like you said, if the one that didn't verify works, then it works. When the verification failed, the drive sputtered and made generally nasty sounds for the better part of three minutes before it told me that verification had failed.

I guess I will go with 4x burn speed on the 16x discs and go with "Best" for anything else.

Pardon the remedial question, but is there a sticky post someplace that explains the whole brand/dye/manuafacturer thing? I have seen the huge list of codes, but is there anything beyond that? Also, I am not sure if there is a way to read the codes on a Mac. I installed one small application (Japanese, I think) that is supposed to do it but it's not possible for me to make much sense of it.

Thanks again, everyone! I am off to bed for now but I'll be back on the forums tomorrow. Afterdawn rules and I have referred several people here.

 

If you want to learn you have also to pay for the lessons...
After spending time and money I realized that for SL discs the max writting speed must be kept till 4X and for DL discs till 2.4X. Theese settings are fine for the most stand alone players (Some times the compilation appears OK to the PC but not for the stand alone devices).
Personally I use Verbatim and Philips SL and DL discs but no matter what they state I do not surpass the above mentioned limits.

 

what oracle has stated is the "general rule of thumb"...SL discs burned @4x and DL discs burned @2.4x, but, once you start getting the hang of it, AND if your system is up to it AND you are using quality media, then you can increase the burning speed...this is only a SUGGESTION, as i personally burn @8x on quality Taiyo Yudens and Verbatims (8x and 16x rated speeds) all the time with FLAWLESS playback~

but, ONE thing i will have to ARDENTLY disagree with oracle is his choice of media...Verbatim is top notch stuff, but, Philips is CRAP~! i know i am NOT the only one that thinks of Philips so lowly, but, sticking with Verbatim you are MUCH better off~

stick with the "limits" that oracle stated, BUT, do NOT buy the Philips blank dvds...you will regret it in the future~ and this is NOT only MY opinion~ many, many others will say the same thing...

docTY~

 

They now have CD's that will burn at 52x yet if I burn mine beyond 32x some of my CD players will not play them. It is the same for DVD's if I burn beyond 8x there are some of my older standalones that just don't like it and error out. I stick to the 4x to 8x, which is usually half or the burn speed listed on the disk. This works and all my burns are as [bold]Doc TY [/bold]usually says "flawless". My nephew once told me the slower the burn the deeper the burn, don't know if this is true or not but it sounds good and I will stay with the slower speed. My 2 cents.

 

Update 3: Bad news. I have attempted burning several more discs since last night and verification has failed on all of them. Not that it means the discs are bad, but this is the first time after dozens of discs when verification has failed. I have been burning at 4x and even tried 2x. Is there any way to check the integrity of a burned disc without watching it all the way through?

 

Have you found what model drive you have yet? Could be as simple as a firmware update.

Raymond

 

Yes, it's a Matshita UJ-845, firmware version DBN9/MMC-3. I googled it for firmware updates but came up with nothing. But from what the gurus are telling me, the discs should burn fine at a lower rate so I don't really know what to make of it.

 

I am relatively inexperienced at burning DVDs(at most I have 200 burns using Ritek, TY, and Verbatim media) but I say you may have gotten a bad batch of Verbs(as unlikely as that is)
Another interesting fact that I have experienced is that burning at slower speeds does not always produce the best results. I set up a controlled expermient , in which I burned a movie using my Pioneer onto 2 16X Ritek R04-01 discs, one at 4X, and aother at 12X. I scanned both discs for PI errors, and surprisingly the one burned at 12X had less errors...Just thought I should mention.

And also, if you are handy with computers, you can buy a reputable drive, install it and see if it works. I have not had any experience with Matshita drives so can't help you with that.

Good luck