Frustrating new formats and 'standards'

i4ybrid 2005-07-19 19:22:01 UTC #1

I have a NEC ND-1300A (2 years old) burner. It's a dvd+/-rw. When i bought this drive, i assumed there wouldn't be any more formats and people would generally be satisfied with the + and - dvd writable medias. However I guess I was wrong..or hopefully you guys can tell me I'm not wrong.

Today, I bought a 50-pack of Sony dvd-r's for $20. Apparently, in tiny print on the label, it stated it's Version 2.0 for 8x burning. I'm confused. Is this compatible with non version 2.0 burners? Cause when I try to back up my data, I get an improper procedure message with my alchohol 120% which is the following:

22:18:18 Processor info: AMD Athlon(tm) XP 2600+ (2119MHz)
22:18:18 Memory Available to Windows: 523,764 KB
22:18:18 Memory Buffer size: 128 MB
22:18:19 Image file loading: C: emp\ptc-aiem\ptc-aiem.iso
22:18:19 DVD Source Info: Session: 1, Track: 1, Length: 2.42 GB / 282:05:01
22:18:22 (E:) NEC DVDRW ND-1300A(1:1): Recording Method/Speed
22:18:22 Recording - DVD DAO - 2.0X (2760 KB/Sec)
22:18:22 (E:) NEC DVDRW ND-1300A(1:1): Recording failed!
22:18:22 Error message: [05/30/05] - Cannot Write Medium - Incompatible Format
22:18:22 (E:) NEC DVDRW ND-1300A(1:1): Recording failed!
22:18:22 Image file loading aborted!
22:18:24 Something is wrong with the recording procedure!
Please check the log file and report any errors to Technical Support.

Should I just return these dvd-rs or what? should i get a new version of the software? i can't believe this sort of change wouldn't be stated as clear as the DVD-R or DVD+R when almost all drives nowadays are +/- compatible, when there are still many non version 2.0 compatible drives, or so it seems out on the market.

1969 2005-07-19 20:00:04 UTC #2

I would first check to see you have the most current firmware as it is very likely the current media are not listed in the older firmwares.

http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/1x00.html

I would also consider spending the $50 to get a current burner as it is very likely that you will get much better quality and faster burns as well as much more media compatibility.

i4ybrid 2005-07-19 20:36:57 UTC #3

thanks so much, that fixed the problem, however I tried flashing my sister's dvd+/-rw drive, and it said I was using the incorrect version. Here's a screenshot of the driver information:

I downloaded the firmware files from here: http://www.micheldeboer.nl/firmware/25x0.html
Unfortunately, all of the files I used said there wasn't an ND-2510A drive detected...any ideas?

tehGrue 2005-07-20 06:28:05 UTC #4

There's no such thing as DVD-R version 2.0, to my knowledge. Sony +R's that I've seen say version 1.2 or something... It's just Sony jargon, it only refers to their own discs.

The problem is either a firmware issue, or just a 'get with the times' issue... an 8x rated disc probably won't do a good job at 2x. It'd probably be a good investment to just take $50 or so and get a 16x model, since I'm pretty sure that 16x is really pushing the speed limits of the format.

Edit: Whoops, sorry, looks like you fixed the problem already! A faster drive would still be a good thing to consider, though.

cnlson 2005-07-20 08:39:11 UTC #5

http://simplythebest.net/info/pc/dvd.html

First there was the DVD-R Version 1.0 that provided a 3.95 Gb disc using a 635 nm drive. Later the 4.7 Gb disc was released as Version 1.9 using the 635 nm technology. Now DVD-R Version 2.0 media and drives are available. Version 2.0 media is 4.7 Gb Authoring DVD-R and can only be written on Version 2.0 drives. (1.9 and 1.0 media can be written in 2.0 drives as well).

tehGrue 2005-07-20 10:09:40 UTC #6

Crap, can't jump to conclusions, can I? So then, we all have Version 2 drives. Good to know.

cnlson 2005-07-21 08:34:05 UTC #7

well you never know... somebody might still have one of the old 3.95GB drives... they were back in the day when dvd forum, which was put together by content producers, thought they could keep people from duplicating by making the recordable format incompatible. those recorders cost huge bux