Greets all. I'm trying to make backups of my stargate episodes. Just got an Iomega DVD+-RW/+-R dual Layer as an early Xmas gift. Probably not what I would have chosen if I bought it myself but it seems to be a fairly decent one anyway. I just bought CloneDVD2 and AnyDVD along with some Sony DVD-R's.... Everything goes over well. AnyDVD sees a CSS key and CloneDVD seems to remove it. However, it will only play on my computer. When I put the disk into my JVC player, it just sits there and says "Reading". It's been doing that for over 10 hours now... :-)

I specifically stayed away from cheaper media because I didn't want any problems. Does anyone have any suggestions as to what might be happening here? I will try using some Maxell disks when next I get to the store, but one would think Sony is a good brand.

Thanks all...

Some Standalone DVD players will not play all +R's and -R's, it sounds like you might have a compatiblity issue. Can you give the model of your Standalone DVD player?

You might have to switch to +R's instead of using -R's

also, which model # is the Iomega burner?

My Home DVD player is a JVC HR-XVC1U DVD/VHS combo. I tried going to their site and they apparently don't list the specs anymore. The closet model I could find that was still listed said it could handle DVD-R's, so that's what I bought. My Grandpa needed a hobby in his old age so he's been copying Star Trek Enterprises off the Sci-Fi channel to Maxell DVD-R's and sending them to me. They play just fine.... That makes me think it's either with the name brand of DVD's that I'm using or maybe an issue with my software that I'm using. AnyDVD's options were all left on the default.

The only thing I could find on my DVD writer is "IDVD16DD". It's an internal 16x writer (100 bones at Target). Device Manager lists it as "ATAPI DVD DD 2x16x4x16"...

I burned the disk at 4x to be on the safe side.. The 'quality' was around 60% in the yellow. I have alot of options I could change just as a process of elimination, but thats going to be an expensive learning process...

Thanks for the speedy reply. I've already made 2 coasters and don't feel like making another. These disks are fairly pricey...

Use a DVD+-RW for testing...

It sounds like your standalone will play burnt DVD's that are -R's because of your grandfather doing it.

What you can do next is find out who are the Manufacturer of both your Sony DVD's and the one's your grandfather is using.

you can use DVDInfo pro. it is a free program DVDINFOPRO link

If you are wondering what I am talking about here is another link that will explain alot about DVDR's DVDR's informatin Page

The way you have explained your problem, someone would think that it is a CloneDVD issue, but I don't think so. What program is your grandfather using to burn with?

My Grandpa bought a DVD-RAM drive. I think that's what it's called. Has a 100 GB harddrive. He records Enterprise from Cable straight to the recorders hard drive. Then he takes out all the comercials and records it to disk....

Your right, I'm not sure what your talking about... Doesn't Sony make Sony disks? I will look at your link. Thanks for the help. As for the RW idea... Not bad but my DVD player won't read RW's of any kind. Just R's.... Kind of at a loss. I will look into that link tho...

try to burn one DVD-R with only 1x Speed

I had an JVC Player in the past and he always made propblems with
fast burned DVD's

i dont know why but i seem to have better luck with +R media!

RR

O.k... I tried burning at 1x with the same results. I also found some Sony disks that my Gramps used that work in my DVD player. I don't know... Maybe it's the burner. I'll try getting some +R disks... Not sure if my player is capable of reading them but I suppose I could just buy a 5 pack or something. This really sucks!! Those 2 progs set me back a bit.... Maybe I'll try ripping them with something else and then encoding them to another format. Pretty sure my player can read mpeg's... Sigh..... I'm stumped. I suppose push comes to shove, I can take this burner back. I always hate returning Xmas gifts. Makes you feel kinda bad.

Can anyone suggest a REALLY good burner? I suppose it doesn't matter if it's 2/3 hundred... As long as I start getting some results. Thanks all for your help so far. Much appreciated...

I hope you read the links I gave, believe me, they will explain alot about DVD burning and the difference with of media.

Yea, thanks for the Links. Some good stuff.... The Media ID is listed as "SONY08D1". Also found this concerning said disks:

Burnt with Iomega Dual DVD±RW at 2x using firmware 1.21.
Burning reliability is Poor.
Media color is Gray.
Media text is Sony DVD-R 120 min 4.7 GB with DVD-R ver. 2.0 1x-8x inset.
Media package type is Cake Box. Number of discs 25.
Media made in Taiwan.
Authoring/Burning comments:
Nero 5.5.10.56

*Someone else says:

The 1x-8x media will not burn at all in Iomega DVDRW 4216 IND-A. Burned a whole 50 unit spindle of 1x-4x Sony DVD-R in this drive without any problems whatsoever.

I don't know.... All other reports on this media looked favorable from:

http://www.videohelp.com/dvdmedia.ph...=2140#comments

Should I try getting a different Burner? Or perhaps find a brand of media thru trial and error that works with this drive... I AM using the 1x-8x Sony's.... Maybe I should look for the 1x-4x disks as guy from above suggests. Thats what all my other disks are that work (from my gramps. Maxell/Sony 1x-4x). I'm also getting an "unknown" under "Manufacturer Rated Speed" thru DVDinfo on these Sony's that I bought.... Is that a red flag like your link may suggest? What would you guys do? I'm new to all this DVD crap.... Thinking I should just get a new Plextor or something...

I think I should probably stick with the media side of it for now. The ID on one of the Sony disks that my Gramps sent me was "TYG01", which was listed as a first class disk on that link. I'm still not overly happy with the idea of an Iomega Burner... The name alone just radiates "CHEAP"... Ya know?

Regardless, I don't think I'll be buying my media from Target anymore....

I don't have anything good or bad to say about your burner, also I don't feel the same as you, what I mean is, I don't see anything cheap about your burner. I don't think the name of the company says cheap, it is possible you have a rebaged "Benq".

If you can find out if it's a rebaged Benq or BTC, you can goto those websites and see what is recommended media for those burner's, then you will know what kind of blank DVD's to buy or not to buy.

I would not base my burner on what kind of DVD's it cannot burn, but it would seem that Sony is not the one for you. I have great burns with Verbatim's 4X@8X and 8X@12X speeds and I like the prices I pay, I get mine from the Net or at Sam's Club.

Just thought about adding a few links for you to look over, Once you find out if it is a BTC or Benq goto the provided links


Benq link forum



BTC link forum


also people are talking about the same thing here: BTC or Benq

O.k.. Thanks for the links again and Merry Christmas.. I keep getting the names confused. IOMagic, IOMega..... Atleast it's nice to know that the drive might also not be made by what the label might have you believe, just like the disks... There needs to be some sort of standardization on the part of these manufactures... Caveat emptor indeed...

I have LOTS of searching/reading to do apparently... I'll do a final post when I figure out whats going on just incase it might help someone down the road... Thanks again for all your help..

Jon

My drive is:

BENQ Corporation
Model No: DW1620,0C1
Mfg. Date: AUGUST, 2004
G7-AA0C9B 0A G7C9

Who knew? Not me... So I guess, from what others have been saying, that I lucked out and didn't end up with a BTC like some of the IOMagic's are. I got on this idea of flashing new Firmware for it. The BENQ firmware drivers aren't compatable with this one. If your firmware starts with a "G" then you seem to be stuck using IOMagic's firmware... So, I upgraded to G7Z9 and now I'm miraculously burning viable disks.... I've had 3 in a row that work in my standalone so far. That's not enough to rule out the possibility of bad media, but it looks pretty conclusive that it was the firmware that came with the drive that was causing the problem.

Thanks again HAMP for all your help. You pushed me in the right direction and I learned quite abit in the process.... Most appreciated.

Now, once I figure out how to ditch the menus and get all the titles to play back to back, I'll be in good shape!

Nice Drive, very nice, I had a chance to read about it during some of my searching around for some good links. I kinda remember reading some reviews on the BenQ, but I will let you read all about your burner yourself..

Review for the BenQ DW1620A

I won't take all the fun out of your research, Have fun finding it...

I do believe that can rule out bad media, that's pretty much one of the reason to upgrade to newier and better firmware. Sounds like you resolved your problem.

AND You Should feel ashame of yourself, it was a christmas gift.....lol Just kidding

You are very much welcome, this forum has alot of information and people willing and wanting to help, Not sure if anyone has said it yet, but welcome to the forum....

Yea, I do feel bad. But it looks as if I'm keeping it anyway... I called it a lemon before I even bit into it...

There doesn't seem to be a way to get these episodes to play back to back with CloneDVD alone. I'm in the middle of testing something out right now. Not sure if it's going to work or not. I've wasted about 10 disks thru this whole process so I pretty much don't care if the entire spindle gets wasted. As long as I learn something with every attempt...

I'm using the 'Dvd Files' option to rip it to my hard drive. AnyDVD is in the background, so that should remove the Encryption Key and misc stuff. Then I'm going to use DvdShrink's re-author to edit out the ending credits for each episode and then burn it all to disk using DvdShrink/Nero...

Sounds like it will work. Someone in another thread mentioned DvdShrink being able to play multiple Titles back-to-back with no Menu... We'll see...

Thanks again for all your help.

You should always use RW's for testing, this way you are not losing anything.