Hi all, I am a 1 day old newbie with a few questions. The posts here are outstanding, but I still need some clarification. First, what is the difference between -r and +r (what do these cryptic symbols mean?) Secondly, I have a TDK indiDVD Recordable DVD/ CD external drive as my only burner. I am using the latest version of DVD Shrink and DVD Decrypter. After following all the instructions to the letter, I have burned several copies of CSI 3rd Season and Disney's new release Miracle. They all work on my PC, but none will work at all on my Sanyo DWM-2600 player attached to my TV (I think you call that a stand alone). I am using TDK 4X DVD +R blanks, which I have read are kind of cheap, but is that the reason why it won't work on my TV? Thanks,
Hi Drew, Good DVD info: http://dvddemystified.com/dvdfaq.html#4.3 Try playing your copies in a different DVD player if possible. Switching formats from +R to -R media may help as well. Using re-recordable RW media will let you copy over mistakes so you are not making coasters. Try Ritek or Verbatim brands. Are you using Shrink's Deep Analysis feature on your CSI discs? There is a lot of data on these discs. I am working on season 3 myself. I am seeing compression numbers around 58% to 60% so I use Deep Analysis to help the program more accurately estimate the required compression. If you are not getting any errors during the rip/burn process then this is most likely a compatibility problem with your Sanyo player. I went to http://www.videohelp.com/dvdplayers to check for compatibility, your Sanyo is not listed. I assume you have your external drive connected to a USB 2.0 port. _X_X_X_X_X_[small]motorcycle racer computer newbie Sony VAIO Suzuki GSXR1000 [/small]
Thanks for responding Yes, my TDK is an external drive. What's driving me crazy is that, from all I've read, this process doesn't seem that complicated. Also, as the burnt dvds play fine on my pc, I assume I've followed the directions correctly. But I don't want to watch movies on my monitor, I want to watch them on my nice big TV from the comfort of the couch. I've looked at the manual for the Sanyo (which is new, btw) and it says DVD-Video disks can be played on this unit. Roxio boasts that their software puts that appropriate tag in the header of the burnt disk. How can I check to see if Shrink is doing this correctly?
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by a tag. I'm assuming the external drive is hooked to a USB 2.0 and not a USB 1.1 port. What exactly does your player do when you try and play one of your copies? Computers can read all kinds of discs so are not a great test of DVD-Video compliancy, however, because you did not get any error messages during the recording process, these discs should play. Trying these discs in another player or two is the best way to see if there is a compatability issue with this particular media and your DVD player. Could you describe in as much detail possible your method of using Shrink and Decrypter to burn your discs? Are you using the "Launch DVD Decrypter to burn the output image" method with Shrink? I'm trying to use the process of elimination here, but I think in the end, a change of media brand/type will solve this problem. Do you have Roxio installed on your computer? It can conflict with other burning programs but you would normally get an error message of some sort.
Hi Frank, My understanding of "tag" is that any dvd disc has a header burned into it with information that gets read by the player with things like region code and what kind of disc it is, etc. I was just wondering if there was a way to look at the freshly burnt dvd disc's information to ensure that it is being identified as a dvd video disc. Yes, my drive is attached via a USB 2.0 port. When I pop it into my Sanyo set top box, it starts trying to read the disc and then comes back saying "No Play". None of the buttons on the remote do anything. I don't really have access to other dvd players, so I must concentrate on the most probable other causes. I use re-author in DVD Shrink, select my files and then perform deep analysis. I then click on backup, create an iso image and select burn with dvd decryptor. I set the region to regionfree and click ok. It then performs its encoding process, after which DVD Decryptor burns it to a TDK 4X DVD +R blank disc. I'm pretty sure I am not missing any steps, but still the darn thing won't play on my stand alone DVD Player. I just traded up from a Go Video piece of junk that skipped every commercial dvd like there was no tomorrow to this Sanyo DWM-2600. I love it because the disc would have to be in really bad shape for it to skip or pause at all. Seems to be a pretty good player, but what do I know.
Your process is correct. Try this tool to check your burned discs: http://www.dvdinfopro.com/ Once you install and open this tool, click on the media informatiion icon and you should get a list of the data thats on your disc. It should look like this: Media Information Disc Regions are 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 Media code/Manufacturer ID ProdiscS03 Format Type UDF 1.02 Volume Name DVD_VIDEO Application id Implementation id AHEAD Nero Recording Date/Time (mm/dd/yyyy) 5/22/2004 14:23:38 Format Capacity 4.36GB(4.68GB) Book Type DVD-R Media Type DVD-R Media Id Code Speed Unknown Available Write Descriptor CLV 4.0x 5540KBps Available Write Descriptor CLV 2.0x 2770KBps Write Strategy Speed 4.0x 5540KBps 2x Speed OPC beta 09 2x Speed OPC power 11 2x Write Strategy field 1 11 87 78 90 2x Write Strategy field 2 A8 82 00 20 00 00 4x Speed OPC beta 05 4x Speed OPC power 17 4x Write Strategy field 1 0D 10 0B 0B 4x Write Strategy field 2 96 08 0F 0B 4x Write Strategy field 3 C0 00 00 00 4x Speed OPC beta multi-pulse 07 4x Speed OPC power multi-pulse 1C 4x Write Strategy field 4 13 A8 89 65 4x Write Strategy field 5 B6 89 88 80 00 00 4x Write Strategy field 6 00 00 D0 00 00 Data area starting sector 30000h Data area end sector 22E21Fh Linear Density 0.267um/bit Track Density 0.74um/track Number of Layers 1 This is from a Memorex -R disc burned using Shrink and Nero. Cheers, Frank
Hi Frank, The good news is...it worked! I'm burning perfect discs now like a pro. Wierd thing, though. DVD Decryptor comes up with an error msg every time I put in a blank disc and click the Go button to start the burn. Msg says something about failing because it can't establish exclusive access to the drive. I just decided to try clicking the ignore button on this msg, and voila! It burns perfectly. Any idea on what that might be? Also, my burns always have subtitles on when I play the disc. Is there an option to get rid of the subtitles all together? Thanks,
Should your lucky streak come to a close and the coasters begin to mount you should seriously consider upgrading your media - Memorex is a good example as media goes, figures as high as 50% coasters have been reported (One member bought a stack of 50 and got 23 good burns.), not what I would call an impressive record. 4 different companies manufacture Memorex BTW and the quality varies widely as you might imagine. Easy to see now why the quality of a big-named company can’t be trusted - 1. * Cheap media freezes, skips, stutters, pixelats, partially jams, may be rejected and lest we forget, our old standby, giving you the old just, refuses to be recognized routine :-( Besides "Freezing", "skips" and pixelations, many times you’ll get a “Cyclic Redundancy error” or an "I/O error". This message can mean that your discs are scratched or dirty, it can also mean that your burner won’t accept your “cheap” media :-( Another problem which “pops up” is a “*Power Calibration Error”. This can stop you right in your tracks and most often is caused by, Yep, you guessed it, inexpensive media. *A “Power Calibration Error” can also be attributed to the Optical Components of a DVD Writer, though this isn’t usually the case. Trying to shut down your software and ejecting your DVD then restarting your program and re-inserting the same media recently cleaned has been known to help. Inexpensive media or even average media is great for text, Data, Spreadsheets, .Jpg and .Gif pictures and is good even for MP3 music BUT for DVD backups - BLAaaaaaT! It SUCKTH in an extremely Big-th way ! 2. A good grade media is needed for DVD reproduction ! “Branded” Ritek G04's or Branded Verbatim are what we’re looking for OR any media boasting “Advanced AZO Metal Dye”, this indicates a superior dye application, while they are sometimes a bit “pricey” they are acceptable. Prices online from Meritline.com have gotten Ritek G04 down below a dollar a disc - Question - If you make coasters out of 3 cheap or even average discs and good copies from 3 Branded Verbatim discs or 3 “Branded” Ritek G04 discs - which ones then will you say are too expensive ? The 3 “Cheapo’s with no movie backup OR, the 3 recommended discs with a perfect backup on each disc ? Bear in mind, Memorex, Fuji, Sony, TDK, Orange Pack and others are quite good for your MP3 music, picture archives, Spread sheets, Data and your text backups and archives, they just don’t work well for DVD backups. Even DataSafe G04’s made by Ritek have been reported as inferior quality and are evoking that “Oh no, I shouldn’t have gotten those.” Remember, for DVD backups, purchasing inexpensive media or even average media is a gamble, some people win, the majority of people lose, varying amounts but, they still lose :-( Let's try the right media for the job - just buy a 5 pack of what we recommend that will settle it once and for all - Don’t cheat though, buy the EXACT media we recommended - Using good grade media can guarantee you one thing to an absolute certainty; it surely cannot hurt. Meanwhile, don't fix what ain't broke. Just remember what to fix when it does break. cheers, Pete
Drew, You can try processing your back-up to your HD using shrink in the "Reauthor" mode. You can get rid of everything but the movie itself if you want. TC
Drew, One last pitch to entice you to upgrade media then I won't bother you with it again(sorry but it's hard to get rid of me, Huh ?) OK, my last bit of info, A time thing ? One thing I haven't addressed is the life of a backup made on an "el cheapo" disc. Point of fact, inferior discs have a tendency to "Break down" in time. Important, please read - http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_technology/story.jsp?story=513486 I have had 25 to 30 backups that have refused to play after being stored for a year or more. I test all of my backups when they are burnt to be totally sure that there are no problems. "In olden times," before I knew any better, the Maxell and TDK discs (and any thing that was on sale) was what I used to use before I switched to Ritek and Verbatim, it is the cheap stuff that I have been experiencing trouble with. I noticed that backup DVD's I had been using refused to play in my standalone player and on my PC. VOB files wouldn't play either and other discs that I backed up about the same time would "Jam" part way through the movie. After switching to Verbatim and Ritek s, mostly the Ritek's because the price was right, I've not had 1 go "Flat" in almost 2 years. I still have some backups done on the cheap stuff and as time wears on I lose a few more as I attempt to check them. I say to you, why did a backup play fine in "01"and "02" then "fail" in "03 ?? Some that were done in "01" never made it till "02" and others done about the same time and "Failed" in "04"? All of the backups from "02" and "03", done on the "good Stuff" work fine today - not a single failure ! Interesting, Huh ? Cheers there good guy, Pete
