DVD burning troubles

[Thrasher]

I have a Imac G4 with the superdrive that came with the computer. For the first year or two or so I had no problems at all when burning a dvd. However, within the past months, I have had lots of problems when burning dvd. The main problem is when the computer verifies the disc after it is burned, it now almost always gives an verification error in some "sector" of the disc

80% of the discs I make are data discs containing videos and photos. THe other 20% is DVD format movies to play in DVD players. The software is Toast 6 Titanium that I use mostly.

At first I thought the problem was having other software running while writing a disc. However, quitting other programs did not really solve the problem. Just for safety I always quit any other running programs when I do burn a disc.

Then I tried different brand of blank media. I have only found one brand of DVD-R that has never verified correctly= Memorex. All the others I have have tried do give me errors lately (maxell, TDK, sony, JVC) but worked fine in the past

I have checked some of the error discs and most often, the videos play perfectly from the disc, but I cannot copy them back to the HD because it gives damaged file error or something.

however, sometimes I can copy every single file onto the HD perfectly from a disc which had verification errors. This is what confuses me the most. The errors are not consistent but they happen a lot lately

Can anyone think of what the deal may be?

[73GMCSprint]

*cough* mac *cough*

seriously though, about how many discs have you burned, and how old is the drive? If you've put a lot of discs through it, it may just simply be wearing out.

[vRS]

I have the same problems more or less. I use Nero, try to burn, it burns to about 5% then the error comes up. Ive tried countless brands, same thing happens. My burner is under 2 years old and isn't used very often. Oddly I can burn CD's fine but not DVD's as either data or video.

[Firecat]

Hmmm...not sure. Try burning something with like iDVD (or different software), and see if you get the same problem.

[Thrasher]

I have burned a lot of discs with it so it for about 2 years could be worn out. The computer is abuot 5-6 years old though. I have tried using the disk utitlity that comes with the system to burn discs but I still get the same results.

How long are these things supposed to last?

Also, what if I tried using DVD+R in stead of DVD-R. Would that make any difference

[Firecat]

I'm not sure if DVD+R works, because I had some difficulty with it before.

[jensked]

My Plextor DVD burner is like 3 years old and it also doesn't work as smoothly as it did before. And i don't even burn that many DVD's...go figure.

[Thrasher]

I've gone through about 14 packs of 25 DVD's within the last 2 years. Lately I've been using a lot more because most of them are failing

I've been considering getting a external burner. it will be nice to get one faster than the current 2x drive in my computer. BUt I dont' really have the money right now

[Susurrate]

I was going to suggest slowing the burn speed down, but if it's a 2x man that would be horribly slow though it may work.

[Thrasher]

Yeah for DVD's the max speed is only 2x which equals about 45ish minute burn/verify time for a full disk

If the drive was worn out, shouldn't it effect the reading of discs also. The part that really confuses me is why do a lot of discs still work perfectly even though they were said to have verification error

[matt2000]

i've had my LG burner for about a year and i've used about 100 DVDs with no problems at all. i only buy Verbatim though.

[73GMCSprint]

Originally Posted by Thrasher

I have burned a lot of discs with it so it for about 2 years could be worn out. The computer is abuot 5-6 years old though. I have tried using the disk utitlity that comes with the system to burn discs but I still get the same results.

How long are these things supposed to last?

Also, what if I tried using DVD+R in stead of DVD-R. Would that make any difference

Originally Posted by Thrasher

Yeah for DVD's the max speed is only 2x which equals about 45ish minute burn/verify time for a full disk

If the drive was worn out, shouldn't it effect the reading of discs also. The part that really confuses me is why do a lot of discs still work perfectly even though they were said to have verification error

I've seen burners last anywhere from 1-about 5 or 6 years depending on usage, so you might just be due for a new one. I don't think you'll see any difference between +/-R discs. Having the burning part of a drive go bad doesn't necessarily affect the reading part. As for discs with errors working fine in another player, if the error on the disc is only a few bytes, the player probably doesn't notice or ignores them. If it were data storage, you might see more problems, however. Do you see the same problems when you burn CDs?

If it's any consolation, it's a buyer's market as far as burners go...although I'm not sure if that applies to mac hardware too.

[Susurrate]

Originally Posted by Thrasher

Yeah for DVD's the max speed is only 2x which equals about 45ish minute burn/verify time for a full disk

If the drive was worn out, shouldn't it effect the reading of discs also. The part that really confuses me is why do a lot of discs still work perfectly even though they were said to have verification error

If DVD writers work the same as CD writers they have 3 different lasers, one low power laser for reading, a high power laser for writing, and a mid ranged laser for erasing. If your write laser or its controller are going out on you it shouldn't affect the other tasks.