I recently replaced the DVD burner that came with my HP computer. The new drive is a Sony DRU-V204a. Copies of DVDs I create with the new drive seem to burn without any problems, but they will not play on my Panasonic stand-alone DVD player (they do play on my computer and Zenith and Emerson stand-alone players I have). I am using the same brand discs I used with the old DVD burner which I never had any problems with. Is it possible that the new DVD drive has some compatibility issues with the discs I am using that only allows them to play on certain players? That seems strange to me though because I would think if there were compatibility issues the DVD+Rs would not play at all. I have tried updating the Sony's driver but was told there was no available update.
@StevenSne That Sony is accually a NEC AD-7200A. I have this NEC flashed with Liggy and Dee's BitSet Firmware. All of my +R come out as Roms after burning.Go here: http://liggydee.cdfreaks.com/page/en/Optiarc-AD-7200A/ and use the Original 1.60bt fw or (crossflash to NEC - Only to be done by experience CDFreaks!!! LOL!). Burn On, Russell PS. If you want to check it for yourself; Go to CDFreaks.com . My call name is the same as here.
thanks for your help. i read the description by clicking on "rom" because i dont quite understand what that means, but im afraid i still dont get it. do you have any problem playing those discs in your dvd player? i also just tried burning an mp3 cd and sure enough that disc did not want to play in my panasonic player, but it would it my memorex. would this driver fix that problem too? thanks.
Sounds like that panasonic player is giving a no disc error message. This means you pop the backup in and the drive doesn't recognize it. Other error messages that relate to the no disc error may be: Dirty Disc,Wrong region,Wrong format,and illegal disc.It all depends on the brand name of the stand alone players. Sony players love to give Dirty Disc errors. Layman's terms as I try to interpret pernal's reply. If it was a reply to my 1st backup I'd say huh? Speak English! LOL. It's a very common problem and the stand alone players are usually the ones that suffer.Dvd backups are harder for them to read. 1) Your burner is actually an NEC AD 7200,according to pernal. Sony outsources their drives,so you're paying more money for the Sony brand name. 2) You switched burners,therefore the media you were using before,may not react the same in the newer dvd-rw drive-some stand alone players can pick this out.If you're using RW media,that can be even trickier on stand alone players. Great to practice with,just not going to be as compatable as the R media. 3) Main thing, It's a good backup because the pc,zenith,and emerson dvd players play those sony backups ok.So don't sweat it. You just gotta find the right recipe that suits all your drives and any of the following or combination of the following can give that issue: --------------------------------------------------------------------- 4)Most likely it's the format of your blank media.This would the 1st thing to troubleshoot for to eliminate that compatability issue.Try the opposite format. 5) Make sure you're using quality media.Quality media,burn half the rated speed of your blank media and you can eliminate a lot of issues now and later on.When you get familiar to what your players like,you can speed her up.With newer dvd-rw drives and quality media,burning slow can be bad. 6)After the format switch,test a backup in all the drives that you plan on playing your backups. There's a chance one of those players may do the same thing with that switch. 7)Crap media can also give picky players fits.Stick with Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim.Avoid most brand name media like Memorex,TDK,Philips,Maxell,Nextech,Imation,and store brand name media like Staple's. Office Depot is the only store brand media that I'll use. They use some decent manufacturers like Ricoh and Ritek. Best to use Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim.They'll prevent a lot of issues now and later. 8)Certain burn engines can cause that issue,so you may want to try another. I do see a lower compatability difference between my highly compatable nero backups and the backups from ImgBurn,dvd decryper, and ConvertXtodvd3. Huge differences between burn engines and a picky player can tell. 9) No sticker labels.Major No-No. They can defitinely give players fits.Sharpies will suffice. 10) Dirty laser lens can cause that issue-in the player that has issues.Eject tray-blow some compressed air into that drive.Take it apart and clean the laser with a swab,or run a hard lens cleaning disc as a last resort. They have been known to ruin drives.. 11) Now after you rule out the above and still have one of your players/pc drive giving a no disc error,then time to do your research on bitsetting-also called booktyping. Booktyping can only be performed with plus format media. This booktyping alters the plus format and turns it into the more compatable format of dvd-rom,just like original dvds. They're not actually dvd-roms,but fools picky players/pc drives/and game consoles into thinking they are playing an original movie/game. Not all dvd-rw drives have this bitsetting capability. Some need special programs,certain burn programs,and some like pernel mentioned,needs to have the firmware of dvd-rw drive to be flashed, crossflashed or even hacked firmware. This can be risky and ruin a drive. Lots of info can be obtained at cdfreaks.com with these flashes.That would be a last resort. Even updating to the latest firmware update at the sony website may do the trick. Firmware is the built-in programming for drives to tell them how to properly burn that specific media you are using. I am unfamiliar with the Nec 7200,but I know for a fact that quality booktyping dvd-rw drives will yield superior compatable backups.It'll usually fix that dreaded no disc error when everything else fails. Not all dvd-rw drives are alike and some do put out very low compatable backups. A person playing backups on 1-2 drives wouldn't notice this. 12) Another last resort,replace that panasonic player with a $20-$30 el cheapo player. They'll usually play anything you slap in them. The higher $$ drives tend to be fussier with backups. Especially those $3000 + denon players,LOL. Members spending that much money on a player only to find out they had to either buy a booktyping capable drive or revert to an el cheapo player and let the fancy denon sit idle. Sorry about the long post,just wanted to be basic and thorough for you or any other newbs searching for playback issues. Good Luck and Burn On!
thanks saugmon. im having trouble getting this new firmware. i followed the directions and went to install binflash (i think i was supposed to have downloaded the win 32 one for windows xp pro). but when i try to run the exe file a black window with white text pops up and goes away very quickly. any ideas what my problem with that might be? thanks.
If booktyping with +R does not work, try -R disc. You may also want to check your burnt disc (disc quality) with Nero DiscSpeed (free tool).
thanks grampy. what exactly is booktyping? and arent +Rs more reliable with playback than -Rs? thanks.
I’m not sure that your drive automatically set book type as DVD-ROM by updating firmware. I believe burning software take care of it. May I ask what is your burning software? As my understanding, some standalone DVD players are very picky, especially old one. I meant particular player likes one type than the other. Yours may like –R better than +R.
ah yes, saugmon did talk about that. i am using dvd shrink to read the disc (with dvd43) and copytodvd to write them. this panasonic player of mine has never given me trouble playing copied discs in the past (even the same brand as i am using now). but i think as one person pointed out to me, it may be a compatibility issue between my new dvd burner and the brand of disc. i read the glossary definition of bitsetting/booktyping including the links to books a-e, but im afraid i dont know how to go about changing that setting. would you mind pointing me in the right direction? thanks again.
o yes, and i tried burning another mp3 cd (which i also had playback issues with before) and thankfully now that played fine with this new firmware. so i suppose im moving in the right direction.
If you updated your firmware to ” Original 1.60bt”, your bitsetting may still be “DVD+R”, which I believe most of firmware’s default, instead of “DVD-ROM”. So, you need to change that. Though CopyToDVD may not be able to that. If you have Nero, it can. If not, get ImgBurn or Nero DiskSpeed. Both are free and you can check the book type of your burnt disk. Check, How to change Booktype for improved compatibility You may also want to read this link; http://www.booktypefaq.com/ (Which is menyioned in Ripper’s post “**Read First** Dvd Burners.. What to look for?! **”)
Sounds good. If your Sony drive is an Optiarc-NEC 7200A you got an excellent burner. I have the 7200S sata version and fw 1.06 and book type and they play fine on my upconvert panasonic player.
