A lot of people are finiding it hard to get certain media to work on their xbox. (I get a lottttt of emails and PM's regarding this)
So I thought Id help a little on the forum.
1/ What burner? (dvr)
Ok, here is the MAIN culprit (nope not the media!)
it depends what burner you are using, AND what firmware is flashed to it. You may find new writers such as the pioneer109 are having problems with your xbox dvd-r backups, well its not your discs, its the drive and firmware. Further updates may be available, but fo rnow (especially for samsung xbox drives) dont burn xbox discs with the 109 (unless you use +r..hence the samsung issue)
I now use a NEC 3520A, cheapest DL & 16X on the market today, and one of the most supported (forums all over the place) to prove my point regarding xbox reading the media. I used a stock 3520a, with a velocity dvd+r 8x discs, made a backup, tried it in my samsung and nope no luck.
I then updated the firmware (pm me for firmware info on the drive) which includined BITSETTING (look for a drive that supports bitsetting, makes a heck of a difference) and not only did it burn at 12x, but 5 discs continous, ALL booted first time, and yes, in a sammy drive ! no stutters or frezzing with over an hour of play on each.
Although media is SOMETHING of the reason, the reason I say the drive is mostly to blame is you CAN do something about it, in most cases, with "modified" firmware.
It is good to know this as people are spending a damn fortune with walmart discs, when they could be buying ritek g05 (incidently after the firmware flash, they loaded much faster, and the burn was more "even" in the chart) for $35 for 100 (g05 are -r), velocity 8x +r for $30 for 100 and so on.
Bitsetting is a big thing with firmware updates these days, without going technical, it basically "fools" the dvd player, and allows more compatibility
check here for more info
http://www.cdfreaks.com/article/150 Ive been looking into this for a month or so now, and find the BEST drives that can be bitset through firmmware are (most of) the later generation NEC dvr drives, but you will find drives from other brands that support it too.
What I recommen is you check on your drive and model, look for a firmware with bitsetting, or failing that , just a general firmware upgrade can help a lot too.
I highly recommend though, if you are in the market for a drive, check out the low cost NEC drives, generally from model 2500 and up (the 3520a is around $60 or so)
Youll save a load on discs if nothing else!!
