Hi mindgod, I read in one of your posts that your file size was 4.35gig. Thats really maxing out the disc. A blank dvd r disc is 4.36gig. Your file size should be about 4.3gig to be safe. Maybe the illegal disc error is because the data won't fit. Just a guess. Jerry
Karen2003, All the disks under that heading are good. Some are "Branded" some are silvertops (shiny and matte) and some are printable Hence, 4 types. cheers, Pete Hi mindgod, good to see you again, I am using NEC ND-1300A burner..it supports all formats. Not quite right - The 1300A doesn't like -R media unless it's mucho expensive (Verbatim "Advanced Metal AZO." The vast majority (almost all) of -R media will give you that illegal disc thing as will any disc not programmed into it's firmware. BTW, the correct firmware for that drive is 108. Here's the link for that: http://www.de.nec.de/softwareoverview2.php/id/215 To cover all bases, my friend Jerry brought up a very valid point - you are pushing out to the limit. You should go to DVD Shrink, "Edit," then "Preferences," where it says "Target" - change that to "Custom" and in the size box. type in 4279MB. That allows a bit of room at the edge of the disc. Lastly, and this is very important - shut down all programs except those dealing with the backup job. DVD Shrink and Nero or DVD Decrypter only. DO NOT TOUCH THE PC FOR ANY REASON AT ALL WHILE ENCODING, RE-ENCODING OR BURNING ! I would even go so far as to say, before you start, go to msconfig and if you are running XP - un-check everything, All of it ! Your PC needs all of it's resources to do your job. No email, No anything. set your burn speed at 2.4. Slower is better. Although my Pioneer will fry at X8, I never go over X4. And if you wonder where all my info comes from, look at my sig. Cheers, Pete
Karen: The tdk and fugifilm discs I used before were all DVD+RW at 2.4X Jerry: the illegal disc error comes up even when I try to format the disc. Pete: I couldnt find the firmware you stated: "108" I got 1.0B. Also, no background programs were working in the process. i even shut off Norton anti-virus. I tried RecordNOW (trial version) and as I expected it doesnt recognize the drive! Karen: "P.S. In your original post, you wrote that you'd successfully burned your camcorder capture files. You burned those on a DVD disc? If so, what kind -- what brand & what type, +R, -R, +RW, -RW? And with what program did you burn those files?" Yes it was a DVD+RW ritek Ridata disc and I used NEro vision express. those files totalled to about 2 GB. on a side note: i doubt it, but could the illegal disc error be because of the high GB usage. I doubt it, because When I tried to burn a 4.13 GB movie, i got the illegal disc message.
And, I don't understand these posts - The only time you may need to format an RW disc is when you first get it - From then on, just record over it - Whenever you get ready to record you'll be prompted that you may lose the information on your disc if you continue - select "OK." BTW, When using RW discs - Since burning an RW disc won't result in a coaster, it's not necessary to have it be a Ridata or Ritek - Almost any decent "name brand" is fine. I use Memorex and Sony - Perhaps that was the trouble all along ? Pete
Pete: thanks for the info on DVD shrink. Maybe Nero couldnt burn because of the high GB usage. But, the thing is.. I always USE DVD+RW media (so far) and So far I got the illegal disc on all the brands I tried: Fujifilm,TDK and now The RITEK RIDATAS. I don't have INCD (i uninstalled it when a member on this forum informed me that it MAY be the reason for the illegal disc)so I actually CAN'T format my discs, however I can "erase rewritable disc" in NERO. And when I put in a blank DVD+RW disc in NERO and try to erase it, I get the illegal disc message. Pete, (or any one else) if it isn't too much trouble, what is the correct firmware for the NEC ND-1300A drive... I have 1.0B.. will that do? or the better question is does this firmware recognize the ridata discs. one more thing: I don't really HAVE a NEC driver installed. When I go to the NEC drive in MY computer and click properties.. under driver it says: Microsoft driver version 5.1.2535.0. Is this significant?
No, it's not significant. What you're looking at is the driver for your Nec ND 1300A DVD burner, the same one as I have. Pete
[bold]I don't have INCD (i uninstalled it when a member on this forum informed me that it MAY be the reason for the illegal disc)so I actually CAN'T format my discs, however I can "erase rewritable disc" in Nero. And when I put in a blank DVD+RW disc in Nero and try to erase it, I get the illegal disc message.[/bold] A Rewritable must be formatted before use, if it is not formatted it will be an "illegal" disc. You can't erase it if it is not recognized as a legal disc. So was the disc previously formatted or not. _X_X_X_X_X_[small]emachines T1862, 1.8mhz, 762 ram, 60gig hdd, 10gig hdd, lite-on multiformat dvd, 1394 IEEE[/small]
[bold]No[/bold]. For most normal uses a rewritable disc only has to be blank or erased to be used (disc-at-once or track-at-once). A rewritable disc only has to be formatted when it is used with packet writing software. Packet writing is a technology that enables the writing of data to a disc incrementally, in multiple small blocks of data, rather than in a single block (as in disk-at-once recording), or in blocks defined by tracks (as in track-at-once recording), the other two common methods. Packet writing software makes it possible for the user to save data to a disc in the same way as it would be saved to the hard drive or a floppy. So the question's here really are. 1. Why are these disc's being formatted in the first place when they don't need to be? Making a DVD-Video back-up is a disk-at-once operation and doesn't involve any packet writing. 2. Why once these disc's are formatted for use with packet writing software, they can't be erased? Is the illegal disc caused by the format failing or the erase failing or both.
I have used Rewriteables with Nero several times for backups and every time Nero had me format the disc the first time I used it. After the first time there was no problem. Maybe completly unrelated to this problem but worth a shot. Have you updated your Nero programs with the latest versions? Maybe you have a flaky install,after all this it couldn't hurt to try a fresh install or an update if you don't have the latest version.
It has been a while since I had a completely blank never used DVD+RW. So I went out and bought a few. Yes Nero does say formatting when it first starts to write to a blank DVD+RW. But it is a very short format. It is not at all the same as the UDF format that packet writing software like InCD does. If you format with InCD then you have what is supposed to be a blank UDF formatted disc. But if you then use Nero Burning Rom to write DVD-Video to that disc it will say that the disc is not empty and needs to be erased.
Now we're rolling on the same highway! I never did any real packet writing so what you just said is what I was refering to. I'd still like to know if a reinstall or an update to Nero would do anything, could be a glich in the install.
thanks for the comments guys, It is NOT Nero, I am using the latest version of Nero and the install is clean. The previous version of Nero (6.3.15-i think) gave me the same exact problem. I popped the DVD+RW into the drive, clicked to burn video files, the disc began the '"short format" the format was successful and then the very second it began to burn, the burning failed and said "illegal disc" Members told me it's the media, so I got Ritek Ridatas and I have the same problem.
It sounds like for whatever reason your burner is having a problem, pretty much everything else seems to not be working. Since scubapete has the same burner and no probs maybe your drivers are not right or your firmware is corrupt.
I think we need a new plan. Download and install DVDINFOPro. http://www.dvdinfopro.com/ http://www.dvdinfopro.com/download/dvdinfo2.zip Put one of your DVD+RW disc's that are giving you an Illegal disc error in the burner. Run DVDINFOPro and click on the icon of a disc with a pencil & eraser. Under Main Options check Full Format and click Go. After it is done close DVDINFOPro. Select a DVD you want to backup. Run DVD Shrink. Select Open Disc and select the disc you want to backup. Select Full Disc. Select Backup. Select target device: ISO Disc Image. Check Launch DVD Decrypter to burn the output image. Click OK and let DVD Shrink encode and DVD Decrypter burn your DVD. Report if you have any error doing it this way and if you do post the DVD Decrypter log.
Veblin yes sir!! I will try your suggestion and post the results tommorrow. Today, I have to study for a exam!
IF you want to check out and/or upgrade your firmware on your NEC drive check out these pages. http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?category=4&manufactor=23 http://forum.rpc1.org/viewforum.php?f=2 http://club.cdfreaks.com/forumdisplay.php?f=86
Is the drive still in the external enclosure, or is it now properly jumpered to it's own IDE channel? It would be best to have it installed internally ... and this would eliminate the possibility of faulty electronics within the USB communications package. And, I would agree with Veblin that a new plan is needed. 99% of the problems like yours are solved by using proper media. You are the 1%. As such, you may also be looking at a corrupt system file. The best way to find out is with the system file checker (sfc) routine. For info and repair: http://www.networkclue.com/os/Windows/commands/sfc.php . _X_X_X_X_X_[small][/small]
Veblin: I performed the steps that you described, and Decrypter successfully burned the ISO image. (thanks) Doc: The drive is still in the USB 2.0 enclosure, I am not that experienced with hardware, and plus if the Drive worked once, then it's not faulty. therefore, I think this was the problem all along: Nero just didnt work well with my drive. OR!!! My firmware is corrupt, in which it makes the drive behave randomly. question: (to anyone who is willing to answer) Is there a software to check the validity of the firmware? aside: I tried to burn (this is a month ago) an ISO image with Decyrpter and I used Fujifilm DVD+RW media, and it said error-check source condition. So this "problem" is very puzzling. but this time (with the ritek) I was able to successfully burn the ISO, so I will keep doing that. I will post if there are any errors. BTW: Is it just me? or that with DVDINFOPRO takes a WHILE to format a DVD+RW? thank you all for the support
DOC: thanks for the file checker info... wow i didn't even know that existed. Do you think that will solve the problem? The site you kindly provided says to use it "as a last resort." What if I do a RAM upgrade... now i have 384 MB DDR RAM. Will a upgrade to 768 MB.. increase NERO's performance? If anyone else has other conclusions PLEASE post them, but I just have a feeling that Nero doesnt work well with my drive in terms of Video_ts files. Pete, do you have Nero? if so..how does it work with the NEC.
The reason the article says to use the system file check as a "last resort" is because a lot of problems have easy fixes, such as changing settings. It doesn't make sense to eliminate a problem with the OS as a first step. You are down to last resorts, though. Your results are a moving target, in that what works one day, doesn't the next. Also, some procedures work, and others don't. This is typical of a corrupt system file, corrupt firmware, or a marginal electronic component somewhere in the overall drive package. I also suspect a data transfer problem within the USB package. The only way to eliminate this is to install the drive internally. The installation is not as difficult as you think.
