WTF is up with my DVD burner?

[GT40FIED]

Got a TDK burner awhile back and haven't used it a whole lot but I've got this bitch of a problem. Any time I try to burn DVD +/-RWs It will burn just enough that I can't reuse the disc and then kicks the disc out and says it can't burn it. I don't know if this is a buffer problem or what but it's pissing me off. Burns data just fine, but I've gone through 5 or 6 blank DVDs (not cheap) that are not useable and don't have anything on them. Any ideas?

[ebpda9]

i heard there were 2 standars for burning dvd's and some disks are not compatible with certain drives.

[GT40FIED]

Well...my drive is a +/- drive so it should take either. The discs themselves are -Rs.

[blind34_1]

what is the model number of your drive, what burning software are you using, what OS are you using, and what are you trying to copy?

[GT40FIED]

It's a TDK 440N (as best I can tell). The software I was using was the software that came with it...a Roxio media suite, but I've since been trying to use DVD X Copy (I wanted to back up my original DVDs with copies but Roxio won't duplicate "protected" DVDs. DVD X Copy doesn't seem to care if it's protected or not). My OS is Windows XP on a Compaq with a 2.4GH Pentium processor and 512MB RAM. Mostly I'm trying to simply duplicate my own personal DVDs (not making illegal copies) so I can use the copies as my primary copies and keeping the originals safe.

[blind34_1]

Well, your machine is well fast enough to handle most tasks like this. You're running XP, which is good. You shouldn't have to worry about any driver problems. Just to eliminate any odd variables, are you running SP1? and when was the last time you wiped it and started fresh. A bogged down install of Windows can really screw things up.

You need to make sure that the media you are using (DVD-R) is compatible with the DVD player you are going to use. Most players like to have +R's, and also that has been the so-called agreed standard that will be used in the future. The type of media you are using should not be causing these problems, but then I've never used anything other than +R.

have you tried the rip an image of the disc, then burn it, or are you ripping/burning on the fly? I'm not too familar with X Copy (it frustrates me; no options!), but maybe there is a image function you could use? You could try using CloneDVD. I believe the second version is out. Considering how well CloneCD works, this might eliminate your problem.

What I've been doing is this:
Use a program called DVD Decrypter (or DVD Shrink <-fantastic program for master discs that are more than 4.7Gb). This will extract all the files you need from the disc. It takes up a fair amount of space, and can take about 30 minutes.

Then you need a program that will take all these files and burn a dvd in video mode. I can't remember the exact name of the program I've been using, but I believe it is DVD Copy One, or CopyDVD, something real generic like that. There are plenty out there. I usually start burning before I go to bed, and in the morning its done. Actually it shouldn't take much more than a half hour.


What I do may not be necessary for you, so I would start with getting a copy of CloneDVD (you'll need to register after a while, I think it is Trialware...there are cracks easily found if thats what you want to do.)

[GT40FIED]

Well let's see...I've tried CloneDVD...same result. DVDXCopy screwed me too. I updated the firmware for my burner and that didn't help. I shut down every program and even disable my anit-virus stuff for burning...same result. I'm trying to use DVD2SVCD right now but it's taking forever since it formats through DVD2AVI, BeSweet, and TMPGenc (must wait 5 hours for TMPGenc alone. woohoo!). If that STILL doesn't work I'm about to say fuck it and use DVDx and DVD Decrypter (already got both of those) and just make MPEG files out of this stuff and burn it to VCD. I've gotta head out tomorrow to pick up some more blank DVDs so I'll pick up some +Rs just for comparison. I wish you could get a simple serial for CloneDVD (and it's fuckin $100)...the new version needs a keygen and I don't have a fuckin clue how to work a keygen. At least DVDXCopy came with a crack.

[GT40FIED]

Update...The +R discs seem to work. I'm doing a test run as I write this but at least it's writing and not just spitting it out right away. Hopefully this will fix this bitch.

[blind34_1]

thats very odd. remind me not to bother with -R's! I wouldn't have thought that would have made a difference. Oh well, problem probably solved!


As far as cracks and keygens go, they are pretty simple. Most even come with documentation, depending on where you get it from. A keygen is just a program someone wrote that duplicates the same keycode algorithm that the program uses to register itself. It fools the program into thinking that you bought a registration code (and paid the high fee for it), when really it just generated an educated guess.

Cracks also circumvent needing a serial by just modifying the executable. This is the same method used for making a No-CD "patch".

Both methods are tried and true, the ethics of which are obviously questionable. Its the problem of our day isn't? Music, movies, and programs are all free if we want them to be, but it still isn't right.

Now that I am WAYYY OT, I'll shut up now.

[GT40FIED]

Yeah...I dunno what the deal is with this thing. I mean...it's a DVD -/+RW drive so you'd think it would work with either media form. The -Rs work fine for data but for some reason won't work for shit with video. I just used DVD Decypter to rip and burn and Daemon tools to make a virtual file. Took me maybe 45 minutes total. After all of that strife and money I was so pissed that it was so easy. Oh well. Yeah...I've used a few keygens...but I've only gotten a few to work and that was shear luck. You're right about the ethics...but it became a little late to bring ethics into things after the first time I downloaded Napster (in the good old days).