I've used various different backup programs which have all worked great for me giving good quality video when played from the hard disk but I always have problems when I then burn them. I get pixelation, stuttering and thin blocks of colour across the screen both on my pc dvd and stand alone.
After reading these forums I've tried 3 different media
(optodisc, datasafe (ritek G04) and branded verbatims all without success.
I've tried burning at all different speeds, with different programs, upgraded my fireware.. but nothing seems to make any difference.
The files are fine before the burn but I just can't get them onto the disc successfully.
What else could be the problem apart from a duff drive?
I'm running win98 so can't create image files of the discs - could this be a problem?
Deffiantly sounds like a hardware (burner) issue. Out of the media you mentioned, I would stay away from optodisc. That is terrible media. Could you list what burner you have, and the speeds you have burned at. Also look for 2 programs to determine the errors on the dvd, Kprobe and Nero CD/DVD Speed and Quality test. Your burner may not report PI and PIF errors, so listing that first would be helpful.
Hi dcliffe, Here's a couple of things to check that may help. In device manager, check your IDE channels are set for DMA not PIO. PIO will slow down data transfer and may cause burn problems. Also your burner drive should be set to the master position on the second IDE channel. You can defrag the HD also. It can't hurt. Good luck.
A fragmented drive can cause the symptoms you mentioned. I know this from first hand experience. Also, these distortions can usually be seen when playing from the hard drive. The standard Win 98 defrag utility is very slow, and if you don't have Diskeeper Lite (free), I highly recommend it. You can also run it in the background while you do other tasks:
http://www.majorgeeks.com/download1207.html
The other thing that will cause you problems is letting Windows manage your virtual memory. VM is temp memory stored on your hard drive. This needs to be changed to 4000 MB min and max for video encoding. Control Panel >> System >> Performance >> Virtual Memory. Ignor the warning.
I believe that making these changes will clear up the problem. I should also mention that defragging after every third burn would be a good idea.
im having a similar problem in that my discs suffer read speed fluctuations starting at around 3 gig to end which normally buggers the discs up.Ive replaced the burner,dvd rom etc still having grief.Have eliminated media issues as i now have 8 differant brands.Im about to change the mobo (Jerry, still having grief!!).By the way, the dma settings on my hdd are diff from my opticals.....does this matter???
pieman... ...yes, different DMA settings can matter. Opticals should also be DMA enabled. I would also suggest downloading Nero InfoTools if you don't already have Nero. Check "Configuration" to make sure everything is DMA enabled, and also check the ASPI tab to make sure you see the green bar telling you that the ASPI is properly installed.
Speed fluxuations are normal, and so I don't think this is what the problem is. If you have Nero, and can post a burn log, this would be helpful. Remember to edit out your SN. It will begin 1A23-xxxx.
Also, I think there are a lot of things to check before you decide its a MoBo prob. Personally, I would try a clean OS install, including a new HDD format, before deciding I had a MoBo problem.
