Do I need a new burner?

I have been using Cloner to copy DVD’s. I forget what version it was. Probably got it a few years ago. I did copy most of the DVD’s that I wanted. At times there were problems and I just didn’t copy those DVD’s. Then I got an email for an upgrade. I figured what can it hurt? (Did I mention that I am not the smartest person around?) So I paid the $30 to upgrade to the Cloner3. Now nothing new will copy. Although when I tried an old movie it did work. I have been back and forth with their support and after trying many different suggestions they now want me to try a different DVD burner (hardware). I thought it odd that my burner would go bad the same time I upgraded the software. So I started looking around on the web to see if I could try something else and found out that maybe a better way is to use “Decrypter” and “DVD Clone 2”. I had Decrypter on my PC from a long time ago. I downloaded DVD Clone 2 and I am currently using the trial version. The Decrypter seems happy and finishes without any errors. DVD Clone 2 has problems. It appears that during the actual burning stage the following message comes up. “”Writing to video media was not successful. Media write error. A Write error has occurred, probably by a bad media. Please replace the media and try again.” I have tried another disk and same message. Although it appears to me that the disc gets written to each time and it stops at different times into the burning stage. The discs I use were all from the same spindle stack. They have been working fine for a while now. The discs are TDK DVD-R. The movies that I have tried and had problems are “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” “House of Wax” and “Sin City”. The movie that did work was “Raising Arizona”.

So is there something I am missing? Is the software I am using good? Are these new movies made so they cannot be copied? Do I really need a new burner hardware?

 

Under tools in DVD Decrypter I do not see drives I see "IFO', "ISO", "Create DVD MDS File...", "Search for SCSI/ATAPI devices" & "Settings..."

 

Which version of decrypter do you have.

Get the latest here: http://mrbass.org/dvdrip/

Cheers.

 

Now I have the latest version of Decrypter and my durner has the latest firmware. I tried again with these 2 new improvments and I still get the same error. It might take me a few days to get some "good" blank disc. I will report back after attempting with the new discs. Thanks so much for your help.

 

I purchased some Sony DVD-R discs (later found out that they were made in Taiwan) and I also purchased some Maxell DVD-R discs. Same results with both. The usual error message about the media as stated above.

I am now noticing that when the error message comes up to try another media disc that the DVD Burner drawer will not open. My PC will not power down when I attempt to shut down. I have to manually hold the power button until the PC turns off. Once I power up again, things are back to normal.

I am back to thinking that maybe I need a new burner but before I do, let me spell out exactly what I do and if I am doing something wrong, please let me know.

1) Run DVD Decrypter by selecting all the files then hitting the button. I didn’t touch any of the settings.
2) DVD Decrypter ends successfully
3) Bring up CloneDVD2
4) Hit the center button “Clone DVD / clone a DVD including all titles and menus”. Should I be using a different button?
5) Under “DVD video files” I enter the path where the DVD Decrypter put the output.
6) Everything is checked off on the left and I can see the movie playing on the left.
7) Click on the “Next” button.
8) Checked off boxes are “English DTS/6”, “English Dolby AC-3/6”, “English”, “Dolby AC-3” & “DTS”
9) Click on the “Next” button.
10) Highlight my DVD Burner hardware and click on “Go!”.
11) It runs for a while.
12) Completes the “Creating DVD file” without a problem.
13) Starts “Writing” then the error message comes up.

Time for a new burner now is there more I should be trying?

Thanks.

 

@Paynbills

I have the feeling i've seen this before. Try burning a DVD-[bold]RW[/bold]. You should be able to burn it fine. (i know it sounds crazy but just try... Even if just to avoid shagging any more disks!)

Can you do 'the usual checks' for us please mate? HDD space free vs used, RAM, etc. Also is your burners DMA on?

 

Have you ever tried using the combination of DVD Shrink and burning with the burning engine of DVD Decrypter? Both are free, so you got nothing to lose.
Different programs react differently with different people/computers.
You can also down load a trial version of Nero to see if it is any more successful with burning.
And remember, when burning, don't use crap media, burn at slow speed (2x or 4x), and no multitasking. As well as what has already been mentioned in the previous messages.

JBurden

ps. I personally do not think you need a new burner.

 

Just to recap, I am able to burn some DVD’s, just not the more recent ones. I am currently trying to burn “Sin City”
My machine has Space = 37.6GB free and 55.8GB total.
I found RAM to be “Pentium® 4 CPU 1.80GHz 1.79GHz, 512 of RAM”
Not sure what a DMA is so I will need some help in making sure it is on.
I will get a DVD-RW blank disc and see if that makes any difference.

Not sure if I know how to use combination of DVD Shrink and burning with the burning engine of DVD Decrypter. I will play around and see what happens. Nero is another route I need to spend more time with to learn how to do it. A friend came over a while ago and loaded Nero’s latest version on my machine but I never could figure out how to burn DVD’s with it. Maybe a fresh look will help.

I am now on the right track in using better DVD blanks. I always burn without anything else running. I burn at 4X.

Thanks for all the help.

 

@Paynbills

I done Sin City using Clone DVD2/AnyDVD without problems.

To check if DMA is on right click on 'My Computer' then choose:

Properties\Hardware\Device Manager\IDE ATA/ATAPI Controlers.
Right click on the channels then pick 'properties' then 'Advanced settings'.
It should tell you there if they are on.

 

Under “IDE ATA/ATAPI Controllers” I have “Primary IDE Channel” and “Second IDE Channel”
Properties/Advanced Settings under “Primary IDE Channel” has “Device 0” and “Device 1”
In Device 0 it has “Device Type:” with “Auto Detection” lightened out so I cannot change it.
“Transfer Mode:” has “DMA if available” that I can change to “PIO Only” if I want to.
“Current Transfer Mode:” has “Ultra DMA Mode 5” in it. Looks like I can over type but there is no pulldown.
In Device 1 it has “Device Type:” has “Auto Detection” that I can change to “None” if I want to.
“Transfer Mode:” has “DMA if available” that I can change to “PIO Only” if I want to.
“Current Transfer Mode:” has “Not Applicable” in it. Looks like I can over type but there is no pulldown.
Under “Secondary IDE Channel” has “Device 0” and “Device 1”.
In Device 0 it has “Device Type:” with “Auto Detection” lightened out so I cannot change it.
“Transfer Mode:” has “DMA if available” that I can change to “PIO Only” if I want to.
“Current Transfer Mode:” has “Ultra DMA Mode 2” in it. Looks like I can over type but there is no pulldown.
In Device 1 it has “Device Type:” has “Auto Detection” lightened out so I cannot change it.
“Transfer Mode:” has “DMA if available” that I can change to “PIO Only” if I want to.
“Current Transfer Mode:” has “Multi-Word DMA Mode 2” in it. Looks like I can over type but there is no pulldown.

Do I need to change any of these? Obviously I haven’t a clue as to what I am doing with this. Thanks for the help.

 

It's cool Paynbills,

You just 'overinformed' me about your DMA... Chill. LOL

Recap:
Your firmware is top date, you should have enough RAM to do the job, your DMA is on and you do have enough space in your HDD.

Next step:
Open 'Task Manager', and under 'Performance', have a look at the 'Physical Memory'. Give us those numbers for 'total' and 'availabe'. This will give us an idea of exactly how much RAM you have available for a burn session. If you have a lot of stuff running in the background it will crash/freeze.

Another option is to get hold of a trial version of Nero, like Jburden said before and burn a DVD-RW and post the Log in here. (if you burn an -RW it should work, if you try a normal -R, it will probably freeze your pc up again.)

 

Physical Memory (k) total=522,736 available=183,276
I will hopefully get some DVD-RW discs soon to give that a try.
I will make certain that I do not have anything running in the back ground. Usually I do have my email (outlook) up.
After trying the above I will look into Nero.
Thanks.

 

Hi again mate.

184Mb is not exctly a lot, you need to try to free up a bit more room, when you burn, close everything, net connection, anti-virus, anything that might be eating your memory up...

Here, have this:

http://www.answersthatwork.com/Tasklist_pages/tasklist.htm

Open your 'Task Manager', check all the processes you have running against those lists on that link. In there it tells you what is what. Shut down [bold]ONLY[/bold] what is irrelevant for the system!!

Good luck mate.

 

First I tried shutting everything down on the desk top and in the system tray that I could and tried another burn. This time it went longer then the rest. Sounds like a clue to me.
I am now working on figuring out what is running in the back ground and what I can get rid of. I found at least 5 occurrences of svchost.exe running. Sounds like I have some virus issues. I ran a scan of McAfee and it didn’t find anything.
I also went out shopping for some good DVD-RW and could not find any so I will have to order them.
Bottom line is that your help has been greatly appreciated and as soon as get through all I have to do I will report back. It might take a few days. Thanks.

 

No worries mate.

 

Paynbills.
when you are sucessful at a back up, what lenth of a VDD are you backing up, at what speed, and how long does it take?

Thanks

Tom

 

When I am successful you will not need to check your PC. You will hear me yell.
I am currently waiting for some DVD-RW’s to arrive. Should be early next week.
VDD? Not sure what that is. Please let me know and how to check its length.
I have tried 1X then switched to 4X for my recording speed. If there is a “best” speed, please let me know.
How long does it take? The actual burning phase will fall down (error) after only a minute but on my last attempt where I had most everything closed on the PC while burning the burn lasted much longer. Sorry I don’t recall the actual time but it did burn about 40% of the disc.