I've searched and searched but still can't make this work. After lurking for a few weeks, reading everything I could find (a BIG "thank you!!" to ScubaPete and bigorange, among others) and assembling all the necessary parts and pieces, I finally got around to giving this a shot. Just for reference, I'm using Shrink, Decrypter, and a brand new Sony DRX-530UL with the most recent firmware (2.1a). The PC is a P4 3.2 with 1Gb RAM and 120 Gb hard drive with over 100 Gb free. I'm using Sony DVD-R media. I've followed Pete's directions precisely and have produced nothing but coasters. Oh sure, they play fine on the PC but as soon as I try to play them in my standalone (a late-model, mid-range Panasonic 5-disc unit), the picture is pixellated, jerky and generally unwatchable. Sometimes it will make it 20, 30, or even 40 minutes into the movie, but eventually it starts acting up. Does this sound like a problem with my standalone player? I've tried 3 different packages of the same media, all with the same results. I ordered some Ritek G04's from Meritline and they should be here early next week. Until then, I'll keep trying with the Sony's I have. If anyone has any suggestions, I'm all ears. DF
I would also give them a try in a different DVD player I notice alot of mine will not play in my pioneer 5 disk changer about 3 years old but them all play fine in my (cheapy) cyberhome DVD player If upgrading you might want to check out the phillips DVP642 sold at walmart for around $69 it will play almost anything even DIVX files
Hey All, I'm new here and my word what a fab forum! Some excellent tips from patient and knowledgeable people on here. OK here's my first problem which is very much like dumbfukers. I thought I would start off backing up something simple without CSS encryption. So I chose "Highlander" and have proceeded to use CloneDVD 2 to back it up onto DVD-R on my BTC combi drive. This completes no problem and works on my PC with PowerDVD but will not work on my dad's Pacific standalone DVD player. It simply comes up with "error." I then tried creating another backup using DVDXcopy Platinum but exactly the same result. I then tried a different manufacturer's blank DVD-R. This worked first time round with a lot of jumping and missing audio. I took it out to clean the disk and it has come up with "error" again since. I've repeated the whole thing at 1x speed and still the same. At first I thought the DVD player didn't support DVD-R backups but this was proven wrong when I borrowed a DVD-R backup of Lord of the Rings from someone and this worked on my dad's player fine. I tried my copy in someone else's fairly new standalone player and exactly the same happens ("Error" appears). Grrrr!!! Any ideas folks? EDIT: I'VE JUST FOUND OUT THAT HIGHLANDER IS DVD-5 AND YET IS OVER 8GB? IS THIS RIGHT? IF SO, SHOULD I JUST USE DVDSHRINK OR SIMILAR AS NORMAL?? Thanks in advance _X_X_X_X_X_[small]Paul L Liverpool, UK [/small]
Sounds like a media problem for both of you. Sony should be good quality media (as long as it is genuine and not fake). You might check the media with dvdinfopro or dvd identifier to see what the media code is. Here is a good media guide. http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm Another thing to try, if your dvdrw is capable, is to get some good quality dvd+r media and booktype it to dvd-rom with a bitsetting tool. There is a compatability guide to see what media works well for your set top player and dvdrw. If I find it I'll post it for you.
Mort, I'm anxiously waiting your link to the compatiblity guide. In the meantime, I'm heading over to digitalfaq right now to check it out. Thanks, DF
OK....I'm confused. Mort's link to digitalfaq says Maxell is 1st class media and Ritek G04's are second class. This seems to be contradictory to what most on aD have said. Am I missing something? After all, I am a dumbfuker. DF
Mort81 you are fantastic!! It definately seems to be the media. I was using some crappy Mirror and Datasafe DVD-Rs and they come up pretty low on that list. I also used the NeroDrive Speed program to check the DVD-Rs and one out of two had surface problems and they're brand new! I've ordered 25 Verbatim DataLife Plus from play.com. Works out at 70p a DVD all in which isn't too bad for what I hope will be quality
alfapaul, Glad I could be of some help. Verbatim should be a good choice. The best is Taiyo Yuden but it is also the most expensive. dumbfuker (great name), Maxell is usually good media. The reason a lot of people like ritek g04 is because it works well for a lot of applications and is quite a bit more affordable. My litey is picky and doesn't do too well with g04 but it loves ricohjpn which is made by ritek under ricoh specs and priced about the same. You might want to buy a sample pack and when you find something that works well for your setup stay with it. It may not be a media problem at all. What is the media code on your sony media? Let me know and we'll go from there. Btw stay away from memorex. Look here for a media sample pack. http://www.meritline.com/
OK Mort, after a long delay, I finally can report back. DVDinforPro reports that my Sony media is TYG01, which is ok, rght? So assumng my media is not the problem, should I start looking at my standalone player? I check a few of my coasters with the scan disc utility in Nero CD-DVD Speed and amazingly they all checked out fine....no unreadable areas. Does this mean I am indeed buring good backups? DF
TY is indeed very good media. What does the compatability guide say about your set top dvd player? Try your backups in some different set top players. It now sounds more like a compatibility problem. Let me know if they play ok in other set top players. My backups play fine in almost every dvd player I've tried but still don't perform well in my brothers high end JVC. What is the model # of your panasonic?
Mort, The model number is DVD-CV52. Accoring to the compatibility list http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers.php?DVDnameid=1129&Search=Search&#comments it should read -R media.....and it does but it seems very hit-or-miss. Sometimes it will make it through a good portion of a movie before it starts acting up. I don't have another player to test the backups on, but will enlist the aid of a friend or two. Also, I did a CRC read error test with DVDINFOPRO and it reported no errors. I guess this is more evidence supporting the compatibility theory. Is there an easy way to pick a new player that is "most" compatible? I'm heading back to the compatibility list and see what to see what I can figure out. Thanks, DF
See how your backups do on your friends set top players and also try some backups on your ritek g04's when you get them. The only other things I know to suggest is: remove any spyware and defrag your hd prior to any rip/burns. Try disabling your anti-virus software and screensaver prior to any rip/burns. Remove the InCD packet that came with nero as it can interfere with some software. I don't have any recommendations as far as a set top dvd player. Mine is a mid priced RCA dvd vcr combo that I bought primarily because it will play vcd's (nothing special). First wait and see how your backups work on your friends dvd players. Your media (TY) is about as good as it gets. As a last resort you might end up getting some good dvd+r media and booktyping it to dvd-rom (I think sony's are capable of this although before you cross that bridge I will steer you to a place to find out for sure). Let me know what you find out.
It could also be that your standalone is getting hot. Mine use to get pixilated after about 15 min of playing. I moved by dvd player to the top of the unit so it would get more air and get it away from other set top boxes. It worked fine after that
Jetster, Good suggestion, I've read some posts where that could be a problem. I also wanted to add (refering back to what I wrote previously) I always remove any spyware prior to a rip/burn and defrag my hd after about 3 rip/burns.
Mort and Jester, I'll try anything at this point. I tend to be quite anal about PC maintenance. I routinely scan for both viruses and adware (Norton AV and Lavasoft Ad-aware) on a weekly basis, so hopefully nothing has slipped by me. I defrag more often than anyone I know, usually at least once a week. Also, I physically disconnnect the PC from the hub on my LAN prior to any burning. Finally, after starting the burn, I don't touch the machine until it finishes. We haven't touched on burn speed, but incase it's releveant I've tried both 2x and 4x with the same results. I will remove InCD and see if that helps as well. Based on everything I've read and on the fact that my backups seem to complete with no errors, I'm really hoping it's just a compatibility problem. I don't particularly want to buy another player, but if that's the weak link, I see no other solution. Perhaps I can take one of my backups with me to some local electronics retailers and try out a few players with it. Although, I can't imagine sitting through an entire movie multiple times just to make sure it works. I'll keep you posted. Thanks for all the suggestions. DF
Sounds like your on top of things. I'm fairly convinced you've got a compatability issue w/ your set top player. I bet your backups will play fine on other dvd players. Good luck and I hope we were of some help. Sorry I couldn't completely help you resolve your problem.
UPDATE: So far I'been able to test one of my backups on a friends player. It played perfectly from start to finish. It looks like it might be my player after all. The one it played fine on is a $39.99 imported unit from Best Buy.....I don't recall the name. This seems to be consistent with what I've been reading. People seem to have great luck with the entry-level machines. Anyway, thanks for all the help. I'll keep trying other players in hopes of confirming our suspicion. DF
