Greeting!
Just bought a Mad Dog 16x external burner. I downloaded (and bought) a bundle package software that contained AnyDVD, and Clone DVD.
My first attempt to burn a DVD resulted in all of the following errors: 10 11 W2, media write error, please install recordable media...etc). I was using a Memorex DVD-R blank disc. Next, I tried a Maxell DVD+R disc and everything worked just fine. The burned copy was perfect.

After some investigation, I learned that other people were having problems with Memorex media when used with Mad Dog drives. I also looked at the compatibility chart on the MD site, and Memorex was not listed as a recommended disc. Ah, I thought my problem was solved. I went out and bought some Fuji DVD-R's expecting that I my problem was related to Mad Dog and Memorex not being compatible, but nooo......I was unable to write to the Fuji DVD-R disc's either.

So here's my question, why will my combination of AnyDVD, CloneDVD, and MAD Dog drive write to a DVD+R disc, but NOT to a DVD-R disc? What am I missing? Is there a setting that I've over looked? Thanks in advance for all suggestions.

I don't think it is a combination of the 3 that is the problem. Before you decide if is just that combination, maybe you should try and burn with some other software. You can try and back-up some information off of your harddrive with the -R's to see if it is working properly

Certain drives tend to be weaker or stronger with certain media types (+R, -R) and even brands. I have little problem with using any +R media, but I have to stick to specific brands of -R media.

I will try that. Thank you!

Hamp, would I use a DVD disc to back up info from hard drive?
-g

Yes, you would also use the same disc that you are talking about...

Thats what the Blank DVD's are really for, for data, they were not really made to make back-up of movies

I dont have an axe to grind in the +R or -R debate but I will say this as far as I am concerned Memorex media is crap regardless what burner you put it in.

You can start a DVD+R/-R debate, because the "cheap" +R media is usually of higher quality (usually Ricoh made) than cheap -R media, because there are much less chinese / taiwanese +R media manufacturers. Even the +R Memorex are quite good...

I have a preference for +R media and have never used -R but I tend to stay away from Memorex of any kind because of all the headaches their CDR media caused me.

I really don't have an "axe to grind" with either the + or the - media. I'm just curious why I'm able to write to one, and not the other. The other reason that I'd like to be able to write to -R's is because one of the DVD players that I have and only play DVD-R's, plus it has a zoom feature. The other DVD player that I have will play both +/-, but has no zoom. Normally when I rent a movie it's in letterbox format. I got use to zooming slightly to reduce bars at top and bottom of screen. I figure if I'm going to burn movies, I'd like to be able to watch them in the player with zoom.

Thanks for all comments and suggestions, still looking for a solution. Please keep inputs coming. Thanks to all! -Gary

I'm not sure that that means? but if you are having problems, you will have to test, to narrow down the problem....

it is just possible your burner will not burn -R's, possible defect, I don't believe the combination of AnyDVD, CloneDVD is the problem

Since you are not having any trouble burning the +R media, why not just change the booktype of the +Rs to read as ROMs so they will work in both players?

Does is burner have Bit-setting?

Hamp, I'm not sure, how do I tell? It's a Mad Dog MegaSTOR 7 in 1 16x DL DVD +/-R, +/-RW. I guess it's supposed to be a decent burner? Assuming it has bit setting, what would you have me to do or change? My thanks to all! -g

Hopefully this will solve his problems.

Visit the NEC hardware forum for more info on this drive. There are many firmwares available for this particular drive. MadDog is just a rebadged NEC drive. Enjoy!

Mad Dog firmware does support DVD+R to DVD-ROM bitsetting.

I am having the same problem. i even went out and bought different kinds of DVD-Rs and it still won't recognize it for some reason. I had no problem before and suddenly it changed. Any suggestions?

You're problem is the media you used, as is the case in most situations. The following media is pure cr*p, don't use them:

Memorex (any),
Teon (any),
Legacy (any),

One's that work:
Sony, Maxell, TDK.

Cheap DVDs that work: Ri-Tek (a newegg.com brand), and believe it or not the Staples DVD+R are also cheap and work great!

Hope that helps. Sometimes DVDs can also have problems if improperly stored over a long period of time too.

Well i have been using memorex all along. But then I tried to use Fuji and it rejected that too? Could it still be the media?

Tiger, those are the two brands I used as well. Everything is brand new (burner, disc's & software). The first disc I used was Memorex DVD-R...write function failed, then I used a Maxell DVD+R.....perfect copy. At this point I thought that the Mad Dog burner just didn't like the Memorex DVD-R's, so I went out and bought a 50 pack of Fuji DVD-R's. They fail in the same manner as the Memorex disc's did.

The reason I recommended going to the NEC forum was to see if any of the firmware for this drive maybe fix the issue. Plus they mod the firmware quite heavily for different media types. Those guys rock. They have both the MadDog and NEC firmware. I recommend sticking with the MadDog firmware simply because of the bitsetting options. But they may have a newer or modified firmware that could help.

Folks have already suggested looking for newer firmware to expand media compatibility of your drive - and that is a good idea.
I use -R media because it has a slight compatibility edge over +R. But, as I understand things, using +R media and bitsetting firmware to declare it to be DVD-Rom provides the best overall compatibility.
The problem with Memorex -R media is you never know what it really is until you open it and check it via DVDInfo or some such program. The Memorex media I've used was CMC (a very large Twainese oem manufacturer) and it worked fine in my Sony burner, but others have trashed CMC media as problematic.
But I've come to be a big fan of Ritek DVD-R media. Ritek 4x G04 DVD-R media has become my favorite on my Sony 510A burner. I would think in your rebadged NEC 16x burner, you might try some Ritek 8x G05 DVD-R media. TDK has also performed consistently well for me. I generally get my Ritek media at meritline.com.

Thanks to everyone that advised me. It turned out that i was using DVD-R and my computer is a DVD+RW and it needed +R DVDs. The only stupid thing that is now happening is that I keep getting a write 14 message telling me that my media is too large for the DVD which is odd because I have been using CLONE DVD and ANY DVD for a long time now and suddenly it is making me cut the size. Any new ideas? Thanks again you all are awesome!
Tiger

P.S. I also tried to update the firmware from the sites and they did not have anything available. Maybe i was looking in the wrong place.

Select DVD-5 from CloneDVD's drop down box.