XMS-888 and DVD-R backups

[davidf]

Thanx davidf & andw 4 your replies. I had already tried to reduce the movie size, although not as low as 4300MB, as I figured the XMS was behaving as if a full disc was 'overburned'. This was partially successful but I was still getting duds. Will have a go with the Lasers @ 4300MB file size.
Bought a 5-pack of TDK DVD-Rs from Tandy ($17.94 - all I could find on an Easter Sunday) & backed up 5 movies using DVD Shrink. Some I burned straight from the App & others with Nero. All played faultlessly in the XMS. The physical quality of the TDKs is noticeably higher although my Liteon would only burn them @ 2x despite them being labelled as 1x - 4x. So far, it appears my problem is media related & my XMS is fussy about cheap discs.
Will get an assortment from the next computer fair (Princos etc) & test them.

Firstly you have just seen a common problem with sony drives (liteon is a sony). Sony are extremely finicky with 4x media in most cases 4 times media just doesnt burn properly at 4x but works fine at 2x. For some reason if the burner isnt stepping down to 2x and the drive doesn't like the media you get poor burns at 4x. I use RecordNow DX and GearPro for burning, what I have noticed is that even some of the better 'branded' DVD's will hold the 4x burn and then flake out on me. The most interesting thing I noticed is that 4x burning on some disks works fine in 'small' data sessions up to about the 3.9gb mark but after that I get disk failure. I think that unless you want to pay a lot for 'Branded' disks the cheaper disks at 2x burn is the way to go. They size should still be 4.425 Gb at absolute max. Gearpro seems to recognise all dvd-r media as 4388mb so may there is a clue there.

The cheaper Princo always allows the burner to step down to 2x and no problems. I also tried the ultran blanks, due to a not to friendly discussion in a previous thread, only to find that this particular brand burns at about 1.8x (36 minutes). If time isn't a big issue I would suggest you try the Princos ($22 for a half tub or $42 per 50 tub, at Computer fairs) and see how long they take to burn, Im sure you will find they step down to 2x but at the price what the hay :)

[andw]

Thanx davidf & andw 4 your replies. I had already tried to reduce the movie size, although not as low as 4300MB, as I figured the XMS was behaving as if a full disc was 'overburned'. ...... So far, it appears my problem is media related & my XMS is fussy about cheap discs.
Will get an assortment from the next computer fair (Princos etc) & test them.
Hi basshead, I've got some TDK, and Laser, also cheap ($1.68) DVD+R Silver top discs from Strathfield, and also cheap ($1.18) DVD-R White top discs from Strathfield.
All of these have worked ok*, I prefer the Strathfield White tops, as they are cheap (you can buy them in any quantity - even 1 if you wanted) and they seem to (so far) have always worked for me.
I'm a bit nervous about using Silvertop discs, as I have found that when I have previously used Silvertop CDR's, they seem to scratch very easily.
(* 1 of my Silvertop DVD+R's has to be inserted twice sometimes before it will work)
But the white topped DVD-R's seem to be ok.

[basshead]

Bought a tub of Princo DVD-Rs from computer fair today ($39 for 50 - Woo Hoo!). Just finished burning a dozen backups using DVD Shrink & Nero & all play flawlessly in my XMS888.
So it appears that Laser DVD-Rs are very dodgy when it comes to the XMS. I'll stick with the Princos & all will be bliss! :dD

[davidf]

Bought a tub of Princo DVD-Rs from computer fair today ($39 for 50 - Woo Hoo!). Just finished burning a dozen backups using DVD Shrink & Nero & all play flawlessly in my XMS888.
So it appears that Laser DVD-Rs are very dodgy when it comes to the XMS. I'll stick with the Princos & all will be bliss! :dD

Just out of interest what burn speeds are you getting out of the princo ?

(don't you just love the computer fairs :g )

[jokiin]

Just out of interest what burn speeds are you getting out of the princo ?

(don't you just love the computer fairs :g )

I get 4x from A grade princos (around 15mins to burn a full disc) using 4x LG burner and they have all worked fine in the 888

[Penguin]

Hi All,

I've had an XMS-888 for a couple of months now, and all seems to be fine except for the same problem that the person that started this thread has, so I was wondering if there was any more advice ?

To summarise :
I can play any commercial DVD ok.
I can play any CD-R and CD-RW that I have burned DIVX, MPEG etc... on OK.
I can only play a few of the DVD-Rs that I have burnt the same stuff as the CD-Rs hold. The ones that fail just say "loading" then pop the DVD-R back out. They play fine on my PC.

Interestingly a friend who bought a Trio at the same time as I bought the XMS-888 can play them OK.

I am burning using Princo A Grade DVD-Rs. and have tried different options in the ISO options when burning, but it seems to make no difference. The only thing I have left on for all burns is Joliet. I think someone mentioned it was required ?

Is it the player, the media, or something more subtle ? If all the DVD-Rs had failed to play I'd have thought the player had a problem...

Any suggestions welcomed.

Thanks.

P.S. I upgraded it to firmware 1.2 the day I got it.

[andw]

I've had a total of about 2 that have done this.
Both of them backups.
One using DVDShrink, one using Nero, no specific reasons, but on my 4x burner, I've never had a fail at 2x burn speed, but both of the others were at 4x burn speed.
Maybe that has something to do with it.
Try burning slower if you havn't already.

[Penguin]

Ok, thanks andw. I've been using Nero 6.0.0.23 at 4 speed, on a Liteon 411S. I'll try dropping it and see if that helps.

[andw]

Ok, thanks andw. I've been using Nero 6.0.0.23 at 4 speed, on a Liteon 411S. I'll try dropping it and see if that helps.
Mine is a Liteon 451s....

[Penguin]

Ok, its either a large coincidence, or burning at 2 speed has done it.

I'll try a few more burns this weekend and post the results.
For those that (like I had been) lurk here and have the problem it may be the answer.

:)

[andw]

Someone somewhere (possibly on EYO) posted that the slower burn speed allowed for a deeper burn, and therefore better compatability with more players.
Whether this is correct or not, I know for a fact that my old DVD player (an XMS-150) would have serious problems if you tried to play a VCD or SVCD burnt at anything greater than 4x on my old CD burner (capable of 48x).
The XMS-888 certainly also seems happier with stuff burnt at 2x on my Liteon DVD burner.
So it certainly seems that this might be correct.

[davidf]

Someone somewhere (possibly on EYO) posted that the slower burn speed allowed for a deeper burn, and therefore better compatability with more players.

That was me :)

Disks are written too by the displacement of a dye. The dye is displaced by heat. Not enough heat and the displacement may be insufficient for the laser to pick up the 'shadow' created by the displaced dye. The faster you pass over an area you a burning into the less time there is to heat the dye.

[Penguin]

Ok, I have burned some more DVD-R's at 2 speed and all have played fine in the XMS-888.

So I'm happy now. I few minutes extra burn time is a small price to pay for confidence in the outcome.

And for the person who started a new thread about multiple DivX burns on the one DVD-R, this is what most of my burns this weekend have been. And since I switched from 4x to 2x not a single one has been "spat out" by the player.