prashant joshi
Right off the assembly line
Hi everybody!
I am posting my first query on this forum, and I am afraid it is going to be rather elaborate. So please bear with me while I explain my predicament
Last August, I supplied the following configuration to a professional videographer friend of mine: P4 2.8 HT (HT setting enabled in BIOS), 865 Intel original motherboard, Hynix 256 x 2 RAM (400 MHz), 80 GB Samsung HDD (PATA), Sony 12x DVD Writer (80 pin cables for both - HDD and DVD writer), Iball Full GrabIt cabinet, 17� Samsung Magic Bright monitor, Iball multimedia keyboard, Blue-eye optical mouse, Isound 2.1 speakers, Pinnacle Studio 9 AV/DV internal card, Win XP with Service Pack 2, alongwith other standard drivers and utilities (Direct X, Winzip, winamp etc.). He also has a Sony PD 170 digital camcorder and D100 Nikon Digital camera.
The problem we faced initially was that there would be intermittent noise (low pitch, base type), when the video DVDs burnt on his machine were played back on the same DVD writer, while there would be no noise if the same DVD was played on the DVD player attached to a TV. The same file, if played from HDD, would not have any noise. Other sound files played well (MP3 etc.), as well as other DVDs (brought from Video library). He being new to computers (and our being new to video editing and DVD burning), we checked and cross-checked everything – various settings, free HDD space, swap file settings, his sound mixing and video editing procedures, cleaned the registry, checked for viruses – you name it. Still the problem persisted. In the meanwhile, we also added another 80 GB HDD (Seagate, PATA; 120 GB or 200 GB SATA were not available in Nagpur then), to cater to his growing space requirements.
Later, the problem of DVD-burning developed – when clicked on the icon of Nero, it would fail to respond, or if it did, it would flash ‘Internal Error’ during the process of building up the files for burning the DVD. The system became too slow. Any amount of fiddling with settings, registry cleaning, uninstalling and reinstalling the softwares, drivers and utilities didn’t help. The problem persisted, even after formatting (this time in NFTS instead of earlier FAT32), and trying out various options alternatively from both the HDDs (we installed all the softwares, drivers and utilities etc. on other HDD as well, as standby provision). We also tried burning the DVDs at slower speeds, but to no avail.
While installing Nero (after Pinnacle Studio 9 AV/DV software and utilities were installed), two error messages would flash – one from Pinnacle and other from Nero- specifying conflict with DVD Writer Drive Letters, and errors in registry entries. While Nero would fix it automatically, Pinnacle would give the option of fixing it. To add to our woes, the DVD writer icon would vanish intermittently. I read about clearing the Upper Filter and Lower Filter keys in registry, and followed the steps accordingly, uninstalled and reinstalled Pinnacle and Nero, and the problem vanished – but only for a short period, and we were not sure of exactly what worked. Then the problem recurred.
We suspected the DVD Writer, and took it to the service center, where it is being tested/ repaired. In the meanwhile, we installed another Sony 12x DVD writer borrowed from another professional videographer friend, which worked fine, on the same driver.
In order to avoid loss of business, we purchased 16x (dual layer support) DVD writer from Gigabyte, but even after changing two pieces, the problem persisted, this time it was burning failure midway (3-4 minutes), after ‘writing lead in…’ message. So we returned them, and went in for Sony DVD writer (16x, dual layer support), and yet, the problem remains the same. The Gigabyte vendor gave the feedback that both the pieces were working fine, though there is no way of knowing whether they put them to as grueling tests under similar conditions like ours.
In order to isolate and identify the problem, we again tried various combinations – there would be no problem during transcoding, burning simulations through Nero worked fine, but problem recurred during actual burning. Trial-runs on DVD-RWs worked fine, but DVD-Rs continued to be wasted. We have been using only branded DVDs (Sony, Samsung, Maxell etc.), both +R and –R types.
In the meanwhile, our friend’s standby Sony 12x DVD writer continues to work very well on the same machine, with zero error.
Iball card reader (external) has been added to the existing paraphernalia.
Another factor worth considering (probably) is the summer heat in Nagpur – exceeding 47 degrees.
Are we overlooking something simple and obvious?
_________________
Prashant J
I am posting my first query on this forum, and I am afraid it is going to be rather elaborate. So please bear with me while I explain my predicament
Last August, I supplied the following configuration to a professional videographer friend of mine: P4 2.8 HT (HT setting enabled in BIOS), 865 Intel original motherboard, Hynix 256 x 2 RAM (400 MHz), 80 GB Samsung HDD (PATA), Sony 12x DVD Writer (80 pin cables for both - HDD and DVD writer), Iball Full GrabIt cabinet, 17� Samsung Magic Bright monitor, Iball multimedia keyboard, Blue-eye optical mouse, Isound 2.1 speakers, Pinnacle Studio 9 AV/DV internal card, Win XP with Service Pack 2, alongwith other standard drivers and utilities (Direct X, Winzip, winamp etc.). He also has a Sony PD 170 digital camcorder and D100 Nikon Digital camera.
The problem we faced initially was that there would be intermittent noise (low pitch, base type), when the video DVDs burnt on his machine were played back on the same DVD writer, while there would be no noise if the same DVD was played on the DVD player attached to a TV. The same file, if played from HDD, would not have any noise. Other sound files played well (MP3 etc.), as well as other DVDs (brought from Video library). He being new to computers (and our being new to video editing and DVD burning), we checked and cross-checked everything – various settings, free HDD space, swap file settings, his sound mixing and video editing procedures, cleaned the registry, checked for viruses – you name it. Still the problem persisted. In the meanwhile, we also added another 80 GB HDD (Seagate, PATA; 120 GB or 200 GB SATA were not available in Nagpur then), to cater to his growing space requirements.
Later, the problem of DVD-burning developed – when clicked on the icon of Nero, it would fail to respond, or if it did, it would flash ‘Internal Error’ during the process of building up the files for burning the DVD. The system became too slow. Any amount of fiddling with settings, registry cleaning, uninstalling and reinstalling the softwares, drivers and utilities didn’t help. The problem persisted, even after formatting (this time in NFTS instead of earlier FAT32), and trying out various options alternatively from both the HDDs (we installed all the softwares, drivers and utilities etc. on other HDD as well, as standby provision). We also tried burning the DVDs at slower speeds, but to no avail.
While installing Nero (after Pinnacle Studio 9 AV/DV software and utilities were installed), two error messages would flash – one from Pinnacle and other from Nero- specifying conflict with DVD Writer Drive Letters, and errors in registry entries. While Nero would fix it automatically, Pinnacle would give the option of fixing it. To add to our woes, the DVD writer icon would vanish intermittently. I read about clearing the Upper Filter and Lower Filter keys in registry, and followed the steps accordingly, uninstalled and reinstalled Pinnacle and Nero, and the problem vanished – but only for a short period, and we were not sure of exactly what worked. Then the problem recurred.
We suspected the DVD Writer, and took it to the service center, where it is being tested/ repaired. In the meanwhile, we installed another Sony 12x DVD writer borrowed from another professional videographer friend, which worked fine, on the same driver.
In order to avoid loss of business, we purchased 16x (dual layer support) DVD writer from Gigabyte, but even after changing two pieces, the problem persisted, this time it was burning failure midway (3-4 minutes), after ‘writing lead in…’ message. So we returned them, and went in for Sony DVD writer (16x, dual layer support), and yet, the problem remains the same. The Gigabyte vendor gave the feedback that both the pieces were working fine, though there is no way of knowing whether they put them to as grueling tests under similar conditions like ours.
In order to isolate and identify the problem, we again tried various combinations – there would be no problem during transcoding, burning simulations through Nero worked fine, but problem recurred during actual burning. Trial-runs on DVD-RWs worked fine, but DVD-Rs continued to be wasted. We have been using only branded DVDs (Sony, Samsung, Maxell etc.), both +R and –R types.
In the meanwhile, our friend’s standby Sony 12x DVD writer continues to work very well on the same machine, with zero error.
Iball card reader (external) has been added to the existing paraphernalia.
Another factor worth considering (probably) is the summer heat in Nagpur – exceeding 47 degrees.
Are we overlooking something simple and obvious?
_________________
Prashant J
