DVDs burned with Superdrive skip all the time

jacobj said:

I have a PB 17" 1Ghz. Whenever I burn a DVD there seems to be a 50/50 chance that the damn thing'll skip with I put it in a commercial DVD player.

Any advice.

PS I was also reading about systems lock ups on the PB on another thread. The same thing happens to me once in a while.

Do you think it could be related. I am a techie, but only software, not hardware. Any ideas anyone?

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are you trying to copy a movie without decrypting it and you see constant skipping every few seconds?

I have found that burning at "best" causes issues. I find burning at 2x to be the best.

Chip NoVaMac said:

I have found that burning at "best" causes issues. I find burning at 2x to be the best.

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I agree, I've burned quite a few DVD's using various versions of the superdrive and have always burned at slower speeds than what is possible. I've never had a problem with skipping.

I did have one problem though, and it was with a DVD burned on the first generation of the superdrive back in the early PM G4 era. I burned a few different video clips on to one DVD and it played back fine, but on the third viewing I lost one of my video clips. I have no idea how this can happen, it's not like the data was changed around by the commercial dvd player. But whenever I select the mountain bike trip (which has the correct 30sec loop of video) it always comes up with the video of a softball game, which is a different video clip on the same disc.

Sorry to change the topic to my own problem, but I've always been really curious how this could happen. Anyone have any ideas?

Beware of cheap media!!




I would venture to say that the culprit is cheap media.

What brand are you using? I would recomend Verbatum, which is now under a $1 per disk at Sams. If you need a cheapo disk, try Ritek from meritline.

These are the brands I have found very consistant on many burners / players.


If you really want to find out more, go to video help .

Max.

jacobj said:

Is it worth getting an external DVD writer capable of more that 1x, or is it the 1Ghz G4 processor?

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I can't imagine that it's the 1Ghz G4 because I've burned about six or seven DVD's using the same CPU in my 15" PB and I've never had any problems.

At this point I would say you may have just received a bum superdrive. Do you still have a warranty on the PB? Maybe you can get a replacement?

I would take it to Apple

I have used several DVD burners, and even worn out a couple since the original PM DA 733.

You TDK media should be good, and from what you are decribing, you are getting bad burns. I believe that your superdrive is defective. I would take it in for repairs.

If it is out of warentee, there are several places to get an internal 4x DVD+/- RW drive that should work well in your 17". An external is an option, but I would stick with Pioneer due to thier history and track record.

Is it worth getting an external DVD writer capable of more that 1x, or is it the 1Ghz G4 processor?

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I burn perfect DVDs all the time at 4x with a DA 733 G4.

Max.

One other note, just for best practices: Keep your Hard Disk defragmented. It could cause this problem.