Can't write to DVD [solved]

[neddie]

Hi all,

 

Just been trying to write my first DVD (I usually just backup to CD-R and CD-RW) and K3b doesn't like it. So I went over to the dark side and that didn't like it either (Exporer and Sonic RecordNow). The error messages from K3b are "media is not formatted or unsupported", "write failed: Wrong medium type", "K3b detected a problem with the media", "Please try another media brand, preferably one explicitly recommended by your writer's vendor". Am I using the wrong kind of blank perhaps?

 

The drive is a built-in laptop drive, the laptop is a Dell Inspiron 510m and the drive is apparently an NEC ND-6500A. According to the nec website, it should be able to cope with DVD-R, DVD+R and DVD-RW, even double layer. Write speed for DVD-R is given as 8x. The drive can read all kinds of CDs, write CD-Rs and CD-RWs, can read DVDs but I've never tried writing DVDs before.

 

So I went to the shops and couldn't find any blanks marked as 8x, so I got a pack of DVD-R marked as "1-16x". They're TDK, DVD-R, 4.7GB single sided, 1-16x speed, and that's about all it says.

 

Hunting further I found a list of "empfohlene Medien" on nec.de which even mentions TDK, but at speed 4x. I can't find any blanks in the shop less than 16x, but I figured 1-16x was covering my bases. Maybe not?

 

A colleague suggested I might have to upgrade the firmware (mine says 202c), but that looks like a minefield with different version numbers, conflicting information and a few notes saying that doesn't work for OEM models from Dell.

 

Any ideas? Should I take my blanks back to the shop and try to find something with 4x written on it?

Edited September 16, 2006 by neddie

[ianw1974]

Hi neddie,

 

First, check if you have the same as me installed:

 

[ian@esprit ~]$ rpm -qa | grep k3b
libk3b2-0.12.3-11mdk
k3b-dvd-0.12.3-11mdk
k3b-0.12.3-11mdk

 

I can write DVD's fine, but make sure you're choosing the right option in K3B as I tried making a DVD once, but as a data CD - doh! :P

 

The 1x - 16x is telling you what speeds the disk supports, so no more than 16x for writing.

[neddie]

libk3b2-0.11.20-7mdk
k3b-dvd-0.11.20-7mdk
k3b-0.11.20-7mdk

Yes it's definitely a data dvd project, and it chucks the same errors with 2 disks from the pack. Yes I know that 1-16x means the speed, but on some of the packs in the shop it said things like "this is 16x, if you use it with a drive that can't do 16x, you might damage the device or the disk" or "your player might need a firmware upgrade", so that's why I made sure I got one that said "1-16x" hoping that a lower speed drive would be ok too.

 

I've just noticed on the receipt it says "no exchanges" too, which is nice of them. Guess that means I could be s.o.l. if I go back to change them :(

[AussieJohn]

The 1-16 simply means speeds UP TO a MAX of 16. If your DVD drive has a max of 8 then in K3B you select 8 or let K3B do the select by selecting auto

Doing a flash upgrade for most drives is no big deal.

In the very vast majority of drives, if the flash upgrade version is not appropiate for that drive then it will not perform the flash.

This is mostly a problem with cheap unknown make model drives.

Also do you have the Latest K3B ??? Lots of changes made to K3B in recent versions is in relation to DVD. Also make certain that dvd+rw tools is installed.

 

Cheers. John.

[neddie]

The 1-16 simply means speeds UP TO a MAX of 16.

Yes, I know. And yes, I'm using auto speed in K3b.

Also do you have the Latest K3B ?

See above.

Also make certain that dvd+rw tools is installed.

Yes, dvd+rw-tools-5.21.4.10.8-2mdk.

[scarecrow]

Cannot really help, as I'm using K3B 1.0 preview 2... but I've been using the 0.12.X series since a few days ago, and never, ever had probs burning DVD's.

You must have HAL daemon running, else K3B won't work properly.

[neddie]

Well it looks like it was the media, after all. I went back to the shop and they let me exchange them for a different kind - I went for DVD+R this time from imation, 4.7GB and "16x compatible". K3b liked these ones, wrote at 4x and it all worked fine.

 

Don't know why the other ones didn't work, according to the specs my drive should be able to do both. Maybe it's just pot luck. *shrug*

 

[ianw1974]

I bought some cheapo DVD's once from dabs called "budget" and I think I probably wasted about 30% of these. I've gone for TDK since, never had a problem.

 

I've come to the conclusion that sometimes cheap media is OK, but don't want to take the risk. Hate wasting disks! :P

[neddie]

Yeah, I was tempted by the cheaper brand that I'd never heard of, but then I thought, no, I'll buy the TDK cos that'll be less risky... Maybe it just depends on the drive, I didn't realise they were so finnicky. But I'll certainly be sticking with these imation ones now.