Compatability question about new Cyberhome DX162D

[MikeLaw]

Hi all! I'm hoping somebody here can help with a problem I'm having with a new DVD burner, a Cyberhome DX162D. I wanted to test it with commonly available media, so I picked up some Memorex DVD-R 4x discs to test. I backed up a movie I had using CloneDVD ver. 3. The copy & compression (DVD-9 disc to DVD-5) took forever and it once it got to the burn phase it burned in about an hour without any problems using the CloneDVD internal burn engine. I tried it out in the burner and it played in PowerDVD no problem. I ejected it and put it in one of my stand-alone players, a 3 y/o Toshiba SD-3750. Ouch! The disc wasn't even recognized by the player. I then moved on to my Sony DVP-NC600 5-disc player and it kept telling me that the disc was dirty. I then tried it in my wife's computer DVD-ROM drive and also the drive on this PC (LiteOn LTD163) and neither would read the disc. After reading the troubleshooting section of the CloneDVD help files, I decided to make and ISO image with CloneDVD and burn the image to disc using the bundled Nero Express 6. After testing the new disc (same media) I had the same trouble. I even went as far as to upgrade the firmware on the LiteOn drive but it still won't read the disc. There is good news though. I tried both discs in my son's new Zenith XBS444 home theater system and they both played flawlessly. Does this sound like a media problem? If so, does anybody know what DVD-R discs to recommend for this drive? I just bought the Memorex because they are so common I can even pick them up at Walgrens, Walmart, RiteAid, etc. I really don't want to buy any in bulk until I know which might be the most compatible with all of my hardware. I made that mistake in the early days of CD-R and ended up with a lifetime supply of coasters. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[G_osters]

Does this sound like a media problem? yes
If so, does anybody know what DVD-R discs to recommend for this drive? check the drive manufacturer's website
also try my troubleshooting guide

[Sportfish]

Hey MikeLaw.......

Try this link out. http://www.videohelp.com/guides.php?tools=&madeby=&formatconversionselect=AVI+to+DVD&howtoselect=%3B&orderby=Date&listall=1&hits=25&archive=0&listallusers=&search=Search+or+List+Guides

[MikeLaw]

Thanks for the links. I had already tried the Cyberhome page to see if they had a compatibility list but they don't have one. I emailed them but I'm not holding my breath. I did a little digging and found this gem of a page that rates DVD media:
http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
According to that page Memorex doesn't make their own discs. I checked the media ID on this batch of Memorex discs and they were made by CMC, which the above page gave a 4th class rating (BAD). Maxell discs got a 1st class rating as well as TDK, both of which were on the shelf where I got the Memorex discs. I'm going to try some Maxells and see how they burn. Hopefully they can be read by my various players and drives. Thanks again. I'll post how things work out with the Maxells.

[PhotoJim]

Cyberdrive drives use the Phillips Nexperia chipset, which means that they will burn DVD+R media better than DVD-R (although that quality gap is shrinking all the time).

This of course opens the bitsetting can of worms (not all players can play DVD+R discs unless you use bitsetting) but Cyberdrives usually default to bitsetting to DVD-ROM (so in short you can ignore what I just said until you're further along the learning curve and it makes sense ).

Try some DVD+R media.

Generally, "made in Japan" media is better than Taiwanese media. Try to find media of any company that is made in Japan. (Note that almost no companies that apparently make DVD media actually make it - there are only a few manufacturers of CDs and DVDs in the world and they sell their production to these companies who retail them.)

[MikeLaw]

Thanks for the advice. I wanted to start with DVD-R first since that's what my two stand-alone players support. I just bought a 3-pack of Maxell DVD-R (MXL RG03) discs to test. Hopefully all will go well. If so, My son's does DVD+R so I'll test some DVD+R discs next. If I still can't get these to read in my players, I may just go out and buy the same home theater system I go my son for Xmas since it played both movies I've burnt so far. My players are about 3 years old so maybe it's time I upgraded anyway.

[Sportfish]

Hey MikeLaw......

As far as Memorex, they're a crap shoot. The best that I have found with them is PRODISCR03 which were the 8X+R's. By know means high quality but better than CMC Mag. As far as the made in Japan issue, PhotoJim hit that one on the button. I will not buy ANY disk that says made in Taiwan. Not to say it's not possible but to this point I have not seen any quality media that states that it's made in Taiwan. The Maxcell and TDK can be excellent quality. I've not used the Maxcell but have the TDK's. And with them you do have to watch where they are made. I've seen in the same store at the same time, two different batches of the TDK 8X+R's. One made in Japan which also had a grey bottom and one made in Taiwan with a black bottom. Just stick with the made in Japans and you'll be good to go for quality media. That goes for + or -R DVD's.

Mark

[MikeLaw]

I burned the ISO image I made of a movie yesterday in Nero using a Maxell 8x DVD-R disc. It burned successfully in about 15 min. as opposed to the 30 min. it took with the Memorex 4x disc. Funny thing though, Nero said it only burned at 4x. Anyway, I popped it into my DVD-ROM and it had no trouble recognizing the disc as Windows launched PowerDVD and started to play the movie. I then tried it in the laptop and it worked fine there also. Then I decided to give it the real test and inserted it into my Toshiba player. It seemed that it recognized the disc, but nothing happened. It just froze on the Toshiba DVD screen. I unsuccessfully tried to eject the disc, I couldn't even power the thing off. I had to unplug/replug the player, turn on the power and hit eject before it could recognize the disc and freeze again. I then tried the Sony 5-disc changer. It recognized the disc and started to play, but went back to the Sony DVD screen as soon as the FBI Warning was finished playing. Out came the disc and off to the Zenith player and as with the Memorex discs, it played just fine. I guess I'll have to try some media that will "play nice" with the Toshiba, the Sony, or both. At least my PCs can recognize the Maxells. At least I'll be able burn data DVDs that will be recognized by both systems. Thanks again.

[ccubsnumberone]

What is the difference in the + - DVD's? If you were going to a local department store what brand would you get?

thanks

[bigmike7]

Yo-

The Maxells are on sale for like $6 for 15 at Staples this week-

And Mark - you say that you would not buy any discs made in Taiwan - ? What about The Verbatim brand (all made in Taiwan) - DUH???

Mike

[Sportfish]

Hey MikeLaw......

One more thing you can investigate. Check and see if your Cyberhome supports Bitsetting or if like PhotoJim said that he thought it may default to Bitsetting. If this is the case, try a quality +R disk set to Bitsetting. That may cure your headache with the Toshiba standalone. But hey, at least we're making progress.

Mark

[Sportfish]

Yo-

The Maxells are on sale for like $6 for 15 at Staples this week-

And Mark - you say that you would not buy any discs made in Taiwan - ? What about The Verbatim brand (all made in Taiwan) - DUH???

Mike

Hey Mike....... ya devil dog.
Ya got me on that one!! So I had a little brain fart. Still not bad for having only 38hrs. before I meet the KNIFE!!! So I'll forgive myself for not being 1000% focused on topic.:eek:

[ripit]

Hey MikeLaw, I would give some of the maxell Bigmike7 mentioned a try (specifically 4x+r). The 4x+r are usally ricohjpnr01 which are very good media that seem to have very good compatibility. They could also be ritek or ty but the majority of the time they are ricoh. After you burn one, use whatever program you are using to read media codes to see if it identifies as dvd+r or as dvd-rom. If it identifies as dvd-rom (or shows the book type as dvd-rom) then your drive is bitsetting. Also don't be suprized if they burn at 8x. Some drives will burn it at 8x with factory firmware and others with hacked firmware and it burns great at 8x too.
Fyi, Sportfish, good luck with your sugery, our thoughts are with you. Hope it works this time.

[Sportfish]

Hey ripit.....

Thanks for the thoughts. I can use all I can get. But I've got an F.Y.I. for you. Mention "+"R media under your breath if you have Big Mike's name near it. He's very negative - when it comes to this.:bigsmile: Don't try and figure it out. Just an inside joke between Mike and myself. Thanks again for the thoughts. 26hrs and counting. Later

Mark

[bigmike7]

Yo Mark-

Here's wishing that it is a "positive" knife without any "negative" results-

Love ya Bra-

Mike

[Sportfish]

Yo Mark-

Here's wishing that it is a "positive" knife without any "negative" results-

Love ya Bra-

Mike

Hey Mike.....

Thanks for the kind wishes Brother. Sounds like me and my laptop are going to become re-aquainted for a spell. My office area is in the Bsmnt. and I'm not sure how soon I'll be handling any steps. But thats why I bought the damn thing last year right before the first surgery. It's not bad for a Laptop. It's out of the business line of Compaq that I still feel I stole from Newegg. 3.06 P4, 512k ddr ram, and a fairly decent DVD/RW,CD/RW combo drive pcmcia card, and a 3&1/2" floppy for $1475.00 and free shipping. Great price for what it has. So we'll still be in touch. Takes a ton to keep this old fart down.:bigsmile:
PEACE!!!

[MikeLaw]

OK. I tried a TDK TTG01 DVD-R disc. It gave the same results in the players as the Maxell MXLRG03 discs. I picked up a Maxell DVD+R to test. According to Nero DVD Speed it's a Ricoh JPNR01. I read a post here ( http://club.cdfreaks.com/lite/t-112803-p-2.html )that said this drive defaults to DVD-ROM, but DVD Speed and Nero Express detect it as a DVD+R. I checked Nero to see if I could change the book type, but there found no option for this in Nero Express. I'd like to burn this and see if it will run in at least the Toshiba player. Can anyone recommend any freeware/shareware utilities to change the book type to DVD-ROM? I downloaded DVD Bitsetter but when I click "Check Settings" it gives me an error that it failed to read the DVD structure and that I either selected the wrong drive or have an incompatible drive. If I go ahead and try to change the type to DVD-ROM it just crashes the program. Go figure! Any ideas?

[G_osters]

your trouble is a hardware one. ie. the age of the toshiba dvd player. i think you'll just have to face this fact. you have 2 other dvd players ? be happy, most people don't even have one

[MikeLaw]

You're right. It seems the older hardware just can't handle the discs this drive burns. I went ahead and tried the Maxell +R disc. After the burn, the book type showed it as a DVD-ROM. Again, it played well in the computer DVD drives, but never past the FBI warning on the Sony and the Toshiba froze up as it did with the Maxell and TDK DVD-R discs. I was ready to get a new DVD player anyway. I'll just have to find one that likes what I can burn. At least the burner is working as expected so I guess it's a keeper.

[Sportfish]

Hey MikeLaw.....

I have a new (about 9 months old) Sony DVP-NC665P DVD stand alone player that has played every +R disk I've thrown at it. This was part of a home theatre pkg. Just an FYI in case your interested in staying with Sony.

Mark