451s burned DVDs only show 1.99GB

CD, DVD and (Ultra HD) Blu-ray Writers LiteOn / PLDS / Sony Writer
#1

Hi Guys,

I have a really weird problem: When I burn Data-DVDs (I mostly use +, but it also happened with -) the explorer will show all files, but when I look for the properties of the DVD it says 1.99 GB even if I added more than 4GB. In addition, although all burned files are shown, I can only open some of them, supposedly those which are in the first 2GB. I usually work with Win98SE, but this also happens under Win XP. More oddly, some DVDs are ok, but about 2 out of 3 show the error. I use Verbatim DVD+Rs which were recommended for the 451s on some webpage. The error occurs with DVDs burned with MyDVD as well as Nero Express 6.

Any suggestions? I would be very glad if someone would know an answer. Could it be that my 451s is simply broken somehow and that I should try to exchange it? Or can it be a driver issue or some file-system (iso? juliet?) problem?

I’m looking forward to some expert knowledge :wink:

Martin

#2

My first thought was, that it is a win9x issue but you said it also happens under XP. What do you use to write DVDs? XP or 98? Older Windows versions quite often only report 2GB, which is the max. partition size of the old 16bit version of FAT.

I suppose the disks are ok and it is just a display issue. The ways of Software coming from Redmond are quite often rather strange :slight_smile:

Just for fun, copy the contents of a DVD you have written back onto your harddrive and see what size it reports then. That should also give you an indication, whether the stuff is really written onto the DVD.

Cheers
DaMista

#3

Hi Damista,

Thanks for that amazingly fast reply.

I tried copying those files several times. The Explorer will start copying and then (supposedly at the “2GB-barrier” it either gives out an error message or even the drive hangs up (happens with the 451s as well as with my DVD-drive). I even made a new Win98SE installation to make sure it’s no driver issue.

I really can’ believe this error is so special because I have quite an ordinary PC (P4, no extras).

I thought about this FAT16 issue myself, but I don’t have any FAT16 partitions on my PC (just FAT32 and NTFS) and come on, this is 98SE not 95.

I’d still be very thankful for any suggestion what to try or what might be the prob.

Martin