HELP!! I have just bought a DVD player/burner (Samsung). It won't play my DVDs that I have burnt on my PC. Is there software out there that can enable this for me? The users manual says 'unfinalised DVD-R recorded on other equipment cannot be played on it'. What does 'unfinalised' mean? I have tried everything that I can think of to try and get to play my DVDs (but I'm only a beginner) and really don't know a lot. I feel like I've wasted my money. If any one can help I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks
hi have you put in the latest firmware for you drive? it helps amongst other things in seeing discs better... finalized is to close/finish a disc after burning so as not allowing any more data to be wriiten to it. unfinalized means you can keep puting more data on till its full then you can finalize it could be reporting wrong? shoot for the firmware
Hi thanks for replying - now I'm going to seem really dumb but what do you mean by firmware (I have been using DVD Shrink). Also I understand what you are saying re finalise but what do I need to do to finalise a disc? Thanks again Marg
hi firmware is a file you get from the makers website of the drive, you download it from them and insatll it to your drive/burner to correct bugs and as mentioned help the reading of other disc brands etc... have you done any dvd burning before? and did they work? or is this a new drive been fitted? did you fit it? is it on a single cable with 2 drives on this cable? meaning did you set master and slave up for each drive? do you have DMA enabled? have you installed a ASPI layer? need as much info as possible
I can burn and play CDs & DVDs on my PC which is a HP Pavilion the firmware I use came installed on the system - I have not updated it in anyway all I have done is download DVD shrink and use that to burn dvds. I have had a few minor problems with the DVDs that I burn but overall am happy with the outcome, only problem is that I can only view them on my PC!!!!. The DVD/VHS player that I have just bought is a samsung which will burn DVDs from either the TV or a VHS tape. But it even states in its manual that it will not read DVDs burnt on another medium unless they are finalised. I have tried using DVD-RW and when I insert them in the DVD/VHS player it formats them, then they can be used by that system bor copying to. If I take a DVD that has been formatted in the Samsung system and put it in my PC drive, the PC tells me that the disc is not empty and I have to delete everything off before I can burn again - it is all very confusing- especially for someone like me who has absolutely no idea what they're doing. I haven't set up a master and slave for each drive wouldn't this be something that the manufacturer have done? And I'm really sorry but I don't know what DMA enabled is and I sure haven't installed a ASPI layer (that I know of). I'm at work at the moment so I can't suppy model numbers ofeither the PC or the DVD/VHS unit- would this help anyway??
@marg what burning app are you using to write to dvd and it sounds to me like you might be writeing to [bold]dvd-rw's[/bold] a lot of stand-alones(set-top players) are not compatable w/ this format try using dvd-r's as they might play nice w/ your system
@marg hi i'm not an expert but you'll find that most player/recorders will record in the -rw +rw -r modes i found that mine is better with the +rw. if the disc has information on it already dvd shrink and dvd decrypter see's the disc as already used, so before they will allow you to rerecord it must be erased. you can do it with dvd decrypter, but i have found it best to erase with my recorder by useing the reformat mode. if it still dos'nt work after the format way, try to erase with dvd decrypter and see if it works that way. then you should be able to burn on your pc and play on any recorder/player with no problem. hope this helps geoff
Thanks for replying guys - I'm not going to let this beat me!! I have tried using both DVD-R and DVD-RW, neither will work, but here's some more info - OK here goes - I have a HP Pavilion t820a with a DVD/CD writer combo (Double layer (8.5GB) 16X DVD +-RW/+-R Drive) and I use DVD Shrink and DVD decrypter to burn DVDs. The set top player is a Samsung DVD Recorder and VCR DVD-VR320 with RAM-RW-R DVD Recorder - in the manual for this it states (and please bear with me because this is rather long) 'Discs that cannot be played: 3.9GB DVD-R disc for authoring; DVD-RAM not recorded following the Video Recording Standard; Unfinalised DVD-R recorded on other equipment; DVD-ROM/DVD+RW/PD/MV-disc, etc; CVD/CD-ROM/CDV/CD-G/CD-I;' it also goes on to say that 'This DVD Recorder & VCR can only operate with discs that are compatible with DVD-RAM Standard Version 2 (could this be where I am going wrong?) 'Discs with NTSC programs recorded on them cannot be recorded using this DVD'
More detailed reply - I have used Sony DVD-RW 4.7GB 1x-2x and Sony DVD-R 4.7GB 1x-4x and Imation DVD-R 4.7GB 8x - none work
have you addressed the firmware issue it might have possibly got lost in the thread if not what is your drives make &model # I got my p.c. new and the firmware on my writer was about two years out of date meaning that any new forms of media that came out in the last two years could not be identified properly or used correctly bt my burner let's give it a go
also there is a function in decrypter that will allow you to change the book-type (ram,rom-/+)if your drive will support this function when in write mode there is a book icon in the lower right corner of the window by your manualit looks as if your player preffers DVD-RAM try this out and see what you get
If I am looking in the right place it looks like I have Intervideo Win DVD Creator thats the only DVD Creator program I can see in 'programs' does this need to be upgraded/changed? and of it does how do I do it? Also I will try changing the book type and see if that works. Thanks for helping me.
@marg19540 dvd shrink does not have a burning engine so you must be using dvd decrypter or nero if that is how you are burning the dvd's on your pc the steps I gave are in decrypter and you have to set the option before burning. so you might have to re-burn. I hope I am under standing the dilema correctly.
Thanks heaps, now I'm beginning understand - I'm using DVD Decrypter - so I'll try re-burning per your previous instructions. I'll advise either way. Thanks again
Nothing works - so in my frustration I emailed Samsung with a complaint - here's their response 'Thank you for your e-mail and sorry for your inconvenience. We would like to apologize for the inconvenience. Sorry, DVD VR-320 model isn't support the Divx function. Sorry for your inconvenience. Great (NOT!!!) So looks like I have no option but to suffer not being able to play my PC burnt DVDs on the Samsung recorder/player!!!!!!!!!!!! NOT GIVING UP JUST YET
The stand alone is a Samsung VR320 which burns DVD-R DVD-RW and DVD-ROM I have used both DVD-R and DVD-RW with no problems - althoug DVD-RW has to be formatted. Still can't read PC burnt DVDs but the PC will play stand alone burnt DVDs. If I format a DVD-RW (for the stand alone then the PC can't read it! I don't know enough about pc's or dvd player/burners to know what i'm looking for or what i should be looking for. My PC has a HP DVD Writer 630c - this came loaded on the system when I bought it - any suggestions??
hellp marg I think i might have found your firmware seems you have a OEM BENQ DW1620 and there is two newer versions. not sure which is newer. I think you would just use the benq/phillips flasher the process is pretty simple. here is the link that I found http://tdb.rpc1.org/ you might see if one of the more seasoned vets here has any input on this as I don't know which version you would need or if this is a trustworthy dl this(the dangerous bro's) is where I got my latest firmware but this looks fairly new and might not be properly tested. if yo do just make a back-up of your current firmware before. good luck and hope it helps
hi.i do understand your problems.try to use nero for your burning it works very well with the shrink.you can get it at nero.com trail version..but you should be able to get a key gen for nero,then get all of package ,like you pay for,also you must download all three to get full package use..hope this helps..
