Hi
I am using dvdfab platinum to copy a main movie to dvd for the first time (I’ve only used DVD to ipod before).
It has copied the movie, without any problems, however when I put a blank DVD in to start burning, it says I have to put a dual layer disc in.
Will DVD fab only copy to dual layer media.
I was trying to copy at DVD9, is that the problem. Will movies fit on a standard 4.7gb disc?
I’m new to all this so go easy on me!
Cheers
Jay
Hey Jay,
I’m new here myself but may be able to help — it may be the case of selecting the ‘target’ DVD type in the bottom middle drop down.
You should see choices such as DVD5 (single sided) or DVD9 (double sided).
If you’ve started the copy with DVD9 I guess it’s looking for a dual layer disc.
I hope this is the right answer but may bow to people who know more than me.
Cheers
Asbac
Many thanks Asbac.
I will try that right now! Can I ask, will a full movie fit on a single 4.7gb dvd? Does DVDfab compress the file?
Cheers
As far as I know it does do some compression and there is a little loss of quality but regardless the result is very good and this is not unique to DVDFab.
Other products like DVD Shrink/Nero Recode etc… will also adjust the quality to fit a to 4.7Gb discs.
Even for someone as simple as me, if you have a double sided to begin with (DVD9) and want to put this onto DVD5, then you need to have some compression.
I’ve only just started out and have only backed up a couple of fav’s DVD’s but am really pleased with results so far.
Again, will let other who know more help if I’ve missed anything.
Asbac
You seem to have got the hang of this quite well. 
Once you’ve stripped out any extras, other languages , subtitles etc then most movies under 2hrs will compress quite nicely onto a 4.7Gb DVD.
Personally I strip out any DTS audio as well and stick with Dolby 5.1 as that reduces the amount of compression required.
Ok guys I started again at DVD 5 and when I put a blank disc in to copy it started then immediately said that burning had failed.
I clicked try again, left the same disc in, and now it says ‘writing’ and the task time elapsed is running but the % completed is not moving, nor is the ‘task time left’.
Does this mean its not really burning?
I am using Verbatim DVD- … The movie is ‘night at the museum’
I am using DVDfab platinum 3.1.1.2
Drive is Matshita UJ-810.
I have decided to cancel the burn (or lack of it) after 15 mins of inactivity. I went to close DVDfab and it came up with a crash report./
Help!’ 
This is the crash log, does it help?
18/05/2007 12:31:43 info New media inserted. Burning layer is ready to write
18/05/2007 12:30:55 info Media removed. Burning layer not ready to write
18/05/2007 12:30:50 error Write error at 0 (16) - Code 03 73 03 [Medium error, Power calibration fail (CD-burner is dirty)]
18/05/2007 12:30:44 info Write started 2191616 sectors to write
18/05/2007 12:30:44 info Init success: DVD-R packet writing
18/05/2007 12:30:43 info Writing speed requested x1.0, effective x1.0
18/05/2007 12:30:42 info Available write speed: 1x
18/05/2007 12:30:42 info Media ID can’t be read from this media
18/05/2007 12:30:42 info Media type: DVD-R
18/05/2007 12:30:42 info DMA Mode
18/05/2007 12:30:42 info Scanned files #9, folder #2 - total size 4487333888 b. (4.18 Gb.)
18/05/2007 12:30:42 info Inserted media type : DVD-R
18/05/2007 12:30:42 info Write started
18/05/2007 12:30:40 info New media inserted. Burning layer is ready to write
18/05/2007 12:30:40 info Compatible media types : DVD-R, DVD-RW Seq., DVD-RW RO, DVDRAM, CD-R, CD-RW
18/05/2007 12:30:40 info New Drive selected : 1:0:0 - MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-810 C100 [D] (Ide)
18/05/2007 12:30:24 info New media inserted. Burning layer is ready to write
18/05/2007 12:29:58 info Media removed. Burning layer not ready to write
18/05/2007 12:27:36 info New media inserted. Burning layer is ready to write
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info Current Drive selected : 1:0:0 - MATSHITA DVD-RAM UJ-810 C100 [D] (Ide)
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info Using Patin-Couffin driver Version 1.37, Internal revision 37 - Async. Access mode
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info User default language : 2057 (0x0809h) - English (United Kingdom)
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info System default language : 2057 (0x0809h) - English (United Kingdom)
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info DLL Version 2.1.2.321
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info DLL C:\Program Files\DVDFab Platinum 3\vso_hwe.dll
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info Version 3, 1, 1, 2
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info ExeName : "C:\Program Files\DVDFab Platinum 3\DVDFabPlatinum.exe"
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info OS : Microsoft Windows XP Personal Service Pack 2 (Build 2600)
18/05/2007 12:27:34 info ******************** Report session started ********************
This is last burn log:
18/05/2007 12:24:47 info ******************** Report session closed *********************
18/05/2007 12:10:45 info Write started 2191616 sectors to write
18/05/2007 12:10:45 info Init success: DVD-R packet writing
18/05/2007 12:10:43 info Writing speed requested x1.0, effective x1.0
18/05/2007 12:10:43 info Available write speed: 1x
18/05/2007 12:10:43 info Media ID can’t be read from this media
18/05/2007 12:10:43 info Media type: DVD-R
18/05/2007 12:10:43 info DMA Mode
18/05/2007 12:10:42 info Scanned files #9, folder #2 - total size 4487333888 b. (4.18 Gb.)
18/05/2007 12:10:42 info Inserted media type : DVD-R
18/05/2007 12:10:42 info Write started
18/05/2007 12:10:24 info New media inserted. Burning layer is ready to write
18/05/2007 12:09:58 info Media removed. Burning layer not ready to write
18/05/2007 12:09:53 error Write error at 0 (16) - Code 03 73 03 [Medium error, Power calibration fail (CD-burner is dirty)]
18/05/2007 12:09:47 info Write started 2191616 sectors to write
18/05/2007 12:09:47 info Init success: DVD-R packet writing
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info Writing speed requested x1.0, effective x1.0
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info Available write speed: 1x
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info Media ID can’t be read from this media
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info Media type: DVD-R
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info DMA Mode
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info Scanned files #9, folder #2 - total size 4487333888 b. (4.18 Gb.)
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info Inserted media type : DVD-R
18/05/2007 12:09:45 info Write started
18/05/2007 12:09:43 info New media inserted. Burning layer is ready to write
18/05/2007 11:30:34 info Compat
Don’t want to sound like a real smarty pants, but why not try a more recent copy of DVDFab?
Unlike other s/ware houses, the beta label on some of the versions doesn’t mean that the software is full of bugs lying in wait for you.
Just seems to mean that it’s an update. 3115 beta is running great for me, anyway. See you later, then. Jim
I am running 3.1.1.2, this is the latest version, ain’t it???
It’s probably the combination of your burner and the media. These MATSHITA laptop burners can give all sorts of problems.
You can try to change the write option to use SAO for DVD-R rather than packet writing.
Use CD-DVD Speed and the disc info tab with a blank disc in and post back the result. Should tell us something useful.
here it is:
Nero CD-DVD Speed: Disc Info
Basic Information
Disc type: : DVD-R
Book Type : DVD-R
Manufacturer: : unknown
MID : n/a
Write speeds: : 1 X
Blank Capacity : 4.38 GB
: 4488 MB
: 4706076672 bytes
Extended Information
Layers : 1
Copyright protection : n/a
Recorder information
Disc Status : Empty
Raw Data
Physical Format Information (00h)
0000 - 25 0F 02 00 00 03 00 00 00 03 00 00 00 00 00 00 - %…
0010 - 00 60 00 10 20 30 40 50 00 00 00 21 00 00 00 00 - .`…0@P…!..
0020 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - …
0030 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - …
As suggested earlier, your drive does not recognize the blank media (see below). The CD/DVD Speed info confirms the data from the burn logs. See if a firmware update is available for your drive or change to different blanks. The 1X speed selection caused by the unrecognizable media may be triggering the Power Calibration error.
How do I find a brand of media that my drive will accept without spending a load of money on discs, surely it would be trial and error and cost me a small fortune?
I bought verbatim as I’d heard they were the best.
Also I have tried everywhere to get firmware update for my Matshita UJ-810 drive for a packard bell laptop and I cant find it anywhere, can anyone help please?
Verbatim is always a good choice. However , I suspect you might be using 16x media - try for some 8x discs.
Try on your laptop manufacturers website under Support to see if any firmware updates are available.
Hi thwapy, read this
might help…
“Google is your friend”
Thanks for that, google is indeed all seeing !!
So what your saying is I have bought 25 Verbatim Discs and they are not suitable for my recorder… Boll*cks ! Really??
Thought I might try another angle, so I’ve spent my afternoon downloading DVDShrink and Decoder.
Copied to hard drive, then used DVD Decoder to burn. Went all the way through the process without any problems. Popped disc out as it successfully completed the burn.
Success… Walk over to dvd player, insert burned DVD…
It doesn’t bloody work !!!
:a :a :a
Hi thwapy,
This is a tough one and everyone is giving good advice.
As Tim said, Matshita drives cause all kinds of problems.
Fengtao has always had a disclaimer on his home page that he does not officially support Matshita drives and firmware availability for this drive is horrible
Don’t shoot the messenger.
I couldn’t find firmware for this drive when installed in a packard bell, although a few others…sony and toshiba seem to have one or two available.
You may want to look here:
The Firmware Page
and I think this may be your burner?
Video Help
Taiyo Yuden -R may be your best bet.
Hope this helps.
The 8Xs are almost impossible to find around here at retail. My Litey prefers (and produces better scans) with Imation 8Xs than Verb 16s.
thwappy:
I would NEVER use anythjing but the best available DVD writer. I have found, to my regret, that going cheap on one will always come back to bite you where it hurts the most.
HP, Sony, and a host of other manufacturers sell high quality DVD burners. Make certain you get one with dual layer writing capability, because those blanks are getting a LOT cheaper than they used to be. You can get very good quality for less than $50.00, on sale.
I own over 500 DVD movies, and I back each and every one of them up. I have found that DvdFab makes excellent dual layer copies, and they have no compression at all.
It also helps to have a ton of RAM, as well as a very good HD.
Good luck
Old Medic