Having Problems

[sharifdvdfab]

Thanks for the info. Gives me definite things to work on... which I will do over the next day or so...

I already downloaded imgburn, but I'll check out the tutorial for the answer to my drive speed question.

And... this really could be a Windows 7 issue! I do "think" I'm the Administrator, but I can definitely check that out (along with the DMA reset).

Thanks again!

S.

[signals]

DVDFab works flawlessly in Windows 7 when installed and run as recommended in the earlier posts.

[sharifdvdfab]

Still not working!

First, I want to apologize for not responding earlier... life has been hectic... let's leave it at that!

Second: thanks for all the great ideas to try to get DVD Fab 8 to work for me. I do appreciate you taking the time to respond to my problem.

Third: None of them worked! Really! Specifically:

Use high quality disks: Fail
Run as Admin: Fail
Use Imgburn (running cheap disks): Fail
Use Imgburn (running quality disks): Fail
Use both DVD Fab or Imgburn at 4X speed: Fail
DMA Reset: Fail

Now, between each of these trials, I was able to successfully copy files BY USING RE-WRITABLE DISKS. RW disks work every time, at any speed, in any condition, any disk quality. They work!

This would be a "fix", except that the RW disks are so expensive, and for most of my files, I want a "permanent" (not re-writable) solution.

So... what's the difference between DVD+R and DVD+RW that makes one of them useful and the other useless?

Does this give anyone a clue as to where the problem would be? Remember, I've used DVD Fab for years, with cheap disks, at high speed, with no problems...

Let me know...

S.

[Done4it]

This is just a thought, but from my past experience the drives that come built in to the PCs usually work great but if you use them a lot you will probably find that eventually you will begin to have problems with them. It has happened to me on my last two computers so the last time it began giving me a hard time I went and bought an external DVD burner and it has been working great for a couple of years now. If you have been using that burner for as long as you say you have do yourself a favor and go out and buy an external burner. You might be surprised at how inexpensive they are and most likely if you buy a decent one it will probably be much better than the one built in to your PC. I know it solved my problems and I'd be willing to bet that it would solve yours too.

[regnad kcin]

A few comments/observations...

The perception that ripping and burning dvds is a static process (ie., this has always worked) is flawed.
This is very much a dynamic process with constantly evolving software codes, new media and new write strategies, new operating systems, bios setups, etc., etc.

Your burner, as previously pointed out, is quite frankly a POS.
This is not a criticism of you, but it is what it is.
Matshita is known globally by its middle name.
In past years Fengtao's software carried a disclaimer that it did not support Matshita drives.

Your os is seeing your burner as an IDE drive, but telling us DMA is unavailable. This is a problem.
Please open device manager in win 7 and I'm guessing you will not see ATA (IDE)/ATAPI controllers.
Please try this and if you do, please enable UDMA.
It's not sufficient to see DMA if available, the burner must be in an UDMA mode.

You can try uninstalling the burner in device manager...
this will not harm anything...
and then simply reboot.
Windows will recognize and install the device and assign appropriate drivers automatically.
It's darn peculiar that you cannot write +R media, but can write +RW media.
Are you able to burn -R media?
The ATAPI error codes are pointing both to media problems and hardware problems.

I know you said you aren't interested in buying a burner, but I cannot stress how important this is as long as you wish to continue burning.
Please accept the excellent advice you've been given, particularly with respect to blank media and your burner

Buy an external burner or an internal and put it in an external case.
It'll connect via usb and the usb controller will serve as its master and not whatever controller is assigned in your bios...probably AHCI

[signals]

DVDFab will work with Matshita drives in most cases. It may not be able to read discs from outside the region for which the drive is set. I have a UJ-240B in my notebook and it works fine for DVD and BD. This does sound like a hardware or firmware problem with the drive or possibly the controller.

[StormJumper]

This is just a thought, but from my past experience the drives that come built in to the PCs usually work great but if you use them a lot you will probably find that eventually you will begin to have problems with them. It has happened to me on my last two computers so the last time it began giving me a hard time I went and bought an external DVD burner and it has been working great for a couple of years now. If you have been using that burner for as long as you say you have do yourself a favor and go out and buy an external burner. You might be surprised at how inexpensive they are and most likely if you buy a decent one it will probably be much better than the one built in to your PC. I know it solved my problems and I'd be willing to bet that it would solve yours too.

The life of a drive/burner depends on how you maintain them, I have three rigs (All HP) they are 10, 6 and 3 years old and the original drives still work perfectly, and the drives I have added (7 total) to them are also just as old are still going strong,

[sharifdvdfab]

Ouch. I'll try your other suggestions before plunking down $$ for a new DVD burner. Maybe something will work...

What would you recommend for a new burner? Something that's good and inexpensive. I just looked and see them ranging all over the place, from $30 to $300...

[sharifdvdfab]

Greetings;

Thanks again for the suggestions...

I did the uninstall and reboot... another failure when I tried to copy to DVD+R.

And, a failure when I tried to copy to DVD-R.

And, a success when I copied to DVD-RW.

You said:

Your os is seeing your burner as an IDE drive, but telling us DMA is unavailable. This is a problem.
Please open device manager in win 7 and I'm guessing you will not see ATA (IDE)/ATAPI controllers.
Please try this and if you do, please enable UDMA.
It's not sufficient to see DMA if available, the burner must be in an UDMA mode.

I see see ATA (IDE)/ATAPI controllers, but the Mashita drive is NOT one of them. ???

I don't know how to put the burner in "UDMA mode". Suggestion?

[90312]

This sounds like a dusty/dirty laser lens. Take a Q-Tip and moisten one end with a little water (not drippy wet) swab the lens then take the dry end and buff it dry then give it a whirl. If doesn't work buy yourself an external burner.

[sharifdvdfab]

That didn't work... BUT, it recorded all the way up to the last minute before it failed! So, SOMETHING changed!

I'm going to try again (tomorrow), but instead of water, I'll use some rubbing alcohol... unless you don't recommend that.

This is promising!

[90312]

Rubbing alcohol is fine but again just moisten the tip you don’t want it dripping wet. The reason I suggested that the lens might be dirty is because RW discs typically take less laser power to write data to them. They usually have a darker and less reflective surface, if this doesn’t work the laser may be losing power, it happens over time. Connect the power supply when attempting to burn as well.

[sharifdvdfab]

It worked! It worked! It worked! WOW! The Q-tip dampened with alcohol was just the trick...

And... thanks so much for the explanation re WHY the DVD+RW disks worked when the others didn't. Makes complete sense to me (and to my burner...)

And... thanks to all who offered the advice regarding replacing the burner... I'm actually going to do that. I'll keep the existing burner in the laptop as my "on the road" burner.

I consider this issue solved and the matter closed... unless someone wants to give me a heads-up regarding which DVD burner to buy.... or, at least, which ones to stay away from.

Thanks again to 90312 and to all who offered constructive advice.

Peace,

Sharif

[CBR929]

Hi sharifdvdfab
Glad it is working for you now

Good call 90312, I learned something today.
CBR929

[90312]

I'm glad you're going again too.
About the external drive, I would recommend a full sized drive in an enclosure with a power supply. The “slim” drives that work off the USB are handy on the road, but slim drives tend to be problematic over time. Just one opinion.