Before you decide to burn a DVD, it is important to know what kind of DVD you would like to burn. The type of DVD will usually determine the process you use to go about burning. The three most common types of DVDs to burn are Data DVD’s, Multimedia Files to a DVD and making a copy and burning a commercial DVD. The burning process will be determined by the type of data you want to burn. You could do three possible actions:
Burn Data to a DVD
Burn Multimedia Files to a DVD
Copy and Burn a Commercial DVD
Burning Data to a DVD
Ordinary data such as documents, spreadsheets, database files and backup files require only general DVD burning programs. The data that you burn can be viewed on any type of computer with a DVD drive. Popular DVD burning software programs include Nero 9 and Super DVD Creator 9.8.8.
You will need to purchase or download any of the DVD burning software titles that are available on the market. For some computers that are purchased new, DVD burning software already comes installed and configured for your machine and DVD burner. You just need to open up your DVD burner software, choose to burn a data DVD and follow the instructions. You can usually burn a full length DVD (about 4.7 GB of data) in less than 20 minutes and even quicker with high speed DVD burners.
Burning Multimedia Files to a DVD
Multimedia files are usually larger files that include video either recorded from a TV set, camcorder or digital camera or downloaded from the internet. You may also want to convert an old VHS tape to a more user friendly DVD.
With today’s DVD authoring tools, you can easily burn multimedia files and give them professional features such as adding a title or menu page or cataloguing many TV shows that you have already saved on your computer’s hard drive. Some DVD burning software packages even allow you to add subtitles that you can create yourself.
You can add DRM (digital rights management) with the help of your burning software, if you are creating commercial videos that you would want to make difficult to copy.
Copying and Burning a Commercial DVD
Many people use their DVD burner to burn copies of commercial DVDs. In most parts of the world, it is illegal to copy a commercial DVD and sell or distribute it. However, you may want to make a copy for archiving purposes.
There are many tools that can copy a commercial DVD. However, apart from the normal DVD burner and DVD burning software, you will also need special software that can decode or crack the digital rights management. It is also important to note that besides cracking the code and copying the data of the commercial DVD, you may need to shrink the file.
Most commercial DVDs are dual layer and have between 7 and 8.4 GB of data. These files must be compressed to fit on a normal 4.7 GB DVD. Once you have cracked the commercial DVD and compressed it, you can use ordinary DVD burning software to burn your DVD.
Problems you might encounter when Burning a DVD
“There is not enough space available for the recording process”
This error message means that there is not enough space on the hard drive for the temporary files that your burning software creates during the burning process. This doesn’t mean that your blank DVD doesn’t have enough space.
Here’s how to fix that...
Solution 1 – The error message will tell you which folder/drive is the problem, so just locate the folder being reported and delete some unnecessary files from that disk.
Solution 2 – You may also set a different folder for temporary files. If you have another disk/partition with more free space (5 GB recommended), you can configure your burning software to use that instead.
Advanced
Nero does not work. What should I do?
Use mkisofs, which is included in cdrtools (running under cygwin), to author your images, and use DVD Decrypter to burn them to a disc. A short guide on the basic usage of mkisofs can be found here.
What is the capacity of a DVD disc?
DVD-R/W: 4,707,000,000 Bytes, i.e. 4,489 MB or 4,38 GB
DVD+R/W: 4,700,000,000 Bytes, i.e. 4483 MB.
DVD+R9 (more than 10x as expensive as DVD±R!): 8,547,000,000 Bytes
My project is a litte bit larger than the capacity of the disc. Can I overburn?
No. Even one single MB too much is very bad luck. There is no overburning for DVD, so there won't be any way to overburn a DVD unless they release a new MMC command set.
How long does it take to burn a full 4,489 MB disc?
1x speed: 59 min
2x speed: 30 min
2,4x on 4,7 GB media: 25 min
2,4x on 8,5 GB media: 45 min
4x speed: 15 min
8x speed: 8-9 min, depending on writer
12x speed: 6-7min, depending on writer
How can I determine the manufacturer of a DVD±R(W)?
Either use ADVDInfo, or, if this doesn't work, cdrecord-prodvd. DVDDecryptor also shows that info.
Can I write to DVDs at a higher speed than what they are certified for?
The Plextor PX708 can write to some 4x DVD+R media at 8x speed, the LiteOn 811 drives can, and the NEC 2500 will write some 4x DVD±R media at 6x or 8x (mainly Mitsubishi and Taiyo Yuden 4x discs), as well as Philips and Benq 8x DVD+R writers. Usually, those drives only allow 8x writing to 4x discs if it really works, and refuse to do that with cheap, bad media.
If your drive does not allow writing media at a higher speed, then there might be hacked firmwares which allow this, but you use those on your own responsibility!
Writing takes much longer than it should, even longer than 1h. Why?
Either your chipset drivers are broken, or you forgot to enable DMA. Enable it.
Does lower write speed mean better result?
Might be, might be not. Good media should work as good at maximum speed as at low speeds (or even better, if the burner 'knows' a good write strategy for high speeds, but not for low speeds, on a certain disc type).
Which media should I use for my recorder?
Some manufacturers of dvd recorders maintain lists of media they recommend, for example NEC and Plextor. Generally, it is a good idea to use known, branded media, and to stay away from cheap, unbranded spindle stuff.
Nero makes coasters (corrupt disks) when trying to record files larger than 2 GB. Why?
Nero 6 seems to be b0rked. Unlike Nero 5, it sometimes forgets to pop up an error message when the user tries to add a file > 2 GB to an ISO compilation. You have to use UDF.
General questions about DVD±RW media
Which media should I use?
Although you will generally be told that different discs work on different DVD writers, there are some discs which work on most, or even all, dvd recorders. Such manufacturers are for example Mitsubishi, Ricoh (note that there have recently been some mixed reports with Ricoh discs), Taiyo Yuden, TDK, Maxell.
If a cakebox says 'Maxell', 'Verbatim' or 'TDK', do I get discs as good as in jewel cases?
No! Princo has some time aso faked TDK codes, so that a cakebox labaled as TDK could very well be Princo, and Maxell - IDs are currently also used illegaly by an unknown chinese dvd-r manufacturer, making really, really bad discs. Some won't even work at 1x. If you want to be sure, buy juwel cased media only.
Nowadays, Verbatim is packing cheap stuff into spindles (like CMC), and sells Mitsubishi media in jewel cases.
I bought cheap DVD-R media, and now it does not work?
Some cheap DVD- media is really bad. See the question above...
Now, some special problems with Pioneer DVR-A03/A04 writers.
Can I write all media at 2x?
No! There is media around that even can't be written properly at 1x.
The following manufacturers make 2x compatible media (no highspeed-media!):
Mitsubishi (=Verbatim),
Mitsui
Maxell
Pioneer
TDK (DVR-A03: firmware 1.65 required)
Matsu****a (DVR-A04 required)
Taiyo Yuden (DVR-A04 required)
CMC (DVR-A04 with firmare 1.33 required) crap discs! not recommended!
Sony (DVR-A04 with firmware 1.40 required)
Prodisc (DVR-A05 with firmware 1.21 required) at 2x. Support for Ritek at 2x (which has been introduced in 1.31) has been removed in 1.32, probably because of unreliable burns, but seems to have been reintroduced with 1.40.
No other non-highspeed-media will be written at 2x (note that some programs always offer 2x speed. The writer will ignore this setting if there is not 2x compatible media inserted), unless Pioneer adds support for more media via firmware upgrade! Note that some of the mentioned manufacturers also make cheaper 1x compatible media, in addition to 2x compatible media.
There are hacked firmwares available to enable 2x for all media, but you use that on your own risk!
Why does Nero only show 1x speed?
If your firmware is 1.90/1.33:
-> Because you have not inserted 2x compatible media.
If your firmware is 2.00/1.40 (or higher):
-> Because you have inserted only 1x compatible media
Has 2x writing speed lower quality than 1x speed?
Usually not. Pioneer only allows 2x writing for media that they are satisfied with. However, there are some bad reports about Ritek media at 2x. There have been reports that some players reject 2x written media, but play the same media if it has been written at 1x, and there is also the possibility of getting bad batches of 2x compatible media, which might then not be reliable (such as Princo 2x, which seems to be B-grade TDK). You will have to try and find out on your own.
Can I bypass the media check?
Not with official firmware. This would only cause coasters, so Pioneer does not allow to switch it off.
There is a "modified" firmware available which allows 2x writing to all discs, but you use that on your own risks. Don't complain if you get coasters then. You were the one to install it.
I get write errors, "communication failure", system crashed while writing a DVD, verification errors or other weird errors. help!
There's a bug in the firmware which sometimes causes these errors if you run Pioneer DVD writers in DMA mode. You must set it to PIO then. Current CPUs are powerful enough to run the device in PIO mode at 2x speed. Setting to PIO mostly fixes the problem.
I bought 2x certified media, but my DVR-A03 only writes it at 1x. Help!
First possible reason: You use media that only the DVR-A04 can write at 2x speed. Second possible reason: There is so-called "2x"-media around which even the A04 can't recognise as 2x compatible. Then you should have a talk with your vendor.
The windows firmware loader doesn't work...
I have the DOS loader for DVR-A03 delivered with firmware 1.68 here. Boot into DOS mode and upgrade there. I used it to upgrade to 1.90 and it worked fine. Unlike what Pioneer claims, this loader can also downgrade. Note that this loader does not work if firmware 1.90 is installed. Pioneer seems to intentionally prohibit its use if firmware 1.90 is installed.
Can I downgrade firmware?
For DVR-A03, with firmare 1.90: Get the DOS-loader and firmware file here. You must then boot ms-dos or win 98 dos prompt in order to install it. Note that this seems to work only if 1.80 or earlier is installed. If you want to downgrade from 1.90 to 1.68, then rename your r3100101.168 to r3100101.91, download this, boot to dos and execute upgdvd.exe.
For DVR-A03, with firmare 2.00 (should also work with older ones):
1 - Download Pioneer firmware 2.0
2 - Remove installer (UPGDVD.exe) and place it in a folder with the firmware that you want to use to downgrade the firmware of your burner.
3 - Make a shortcut of UPGDVD.exe to your desktop
4 - Rightclick your new created shortcut. Go to properties and change the target from .../ UPGDVD.exe to .../UPGDVD.exe /F
(carefully check the space after ".exe", and the letter "F" must be a capital letter).
5 - Double click your shortcut. Wait until process is DONE!
Can bad-flashed drives be repaired?
Try doing a bad-flash-recovery with a DVR-A03 using the DOS loader.
Can Pioneer DVR-A03/A04 write the new 4x media at 2x speed?
Latest firmwares (2.00/1.40) are required for this.
Why? Very easy:
There are 1x and 4x discs, but no 2x discs. What we call "2x media" are actually high-quality 1x discs which can even be written at 2x.
And 2x writing on 4x discs requires a different write strategy. Since older firmwares could damage the writer when inserting 4x discs, a quick fix was made. This fix did not include the new write strategy, and thus only allowed 1x writing on the new 4x discs. Only the abovementioned firmwares now allow 2x writing to 4x discs.
Is it necessary to format a dvd-rw disc before burning?
Usually not. This should be required only for some crap media which gives bad burns otherwise. However, if a good disc is not recognised by some players, you can try a full erase and reburn the disc.
What about heat?
Pioneer DVR-A03/A04 consume about 20W, which is more than most other burners. Make sure that there is no drive mounted directly underneath the Pioneer DVD burner. Installing an extra fan is not a bad idea either.
Please share your comments and experiences on the comment area.
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