What am I doing wrong??? PLEASE HELP!

[DrtyHarry]

Please pardon my technical ignorance, but this has never happened to me in the past....not sure why I'm having a problem now.

I have several MP3 and MP4 videos that I would like to burn and watch them on my big screen TV. I used to just drag and drop the file in TOAST (under Video>DVD) and I would wait a bit for them to rip and then burn them on to the DVD. I took the DVD and put it in my big screen TV's DVD player, and the Toast default menu would pop up....I would hit enter, and it played! SIMPLE!

Now that I did away with that old DVD player I gave it away and purchased a newer blue ray DVD player. Now, when I go to watch one of the movies I burned....it wont work!! I tried it with several disks. I get some error message.

How come I'm able to watch the movies on one player, and not the other? Is there a file I should be adding to the MP3 or MP4 that I am burning so that the player can read it? It's a Sony player if that helps....I can get the model # if need be. Thanks for your help!!


Harry

 

[old-wiz]

what error message do you get?

 

[MisterMe]

...

Now that I did away with that old DVD player I gave it away and purchased a newer blue ray DVD player. Now, when I go to watch one of the movies I burned....it wont work!! I tried it with several disks. I get some error message.

...

Home burned DVDs eventually become coasters because they are bleached by exposure to light. How do you know that your non-functioning DVDs have not been bleached into coasters?

Try this test: Try to play the non-functioning DVDs in your Mac's DVD Player.

 

[DrtyHarry]

Yes, the DVDs work fine when viewing them on my mac with the DVD software. It just doesn't work in the new blu ray players that I got. The error reads "cannot read disk".

I tried playing the DVDs in an old TV/DVD combo unit, and they work! Someone at work told me I need to install some CODEC file to the disk. Fine...I can't watch what I all ready burned, but I would like to know how to fix this from here on in for future DVDs that I burn. Perhaps it's some kind of setting in Toast? Thanks for the help guys.



Harry

 

[rocknblogger]

I would have to assume that new BD player is simply not capable of reading Toast disks.

Not all players support all formats. You may have to burn the DVDs again in one of the supported formats. Take a look at the user guide of the new player to see what disk formats it supports.

 

[DrtyHarry]

What other software aside from Toast can I use to try and burn DVDs that will work in new DVD/bluray players? DVD Cloner, Dragon burn, Roxio popcorn, express burn, macburn, Disco, Wondershare??? Thanks again!



Harry

 

[rocknblogger]

Before wasting any disks do like I said and check the owners manual or user guide of the player you have to determine what formats it can handle. Then you can search for the right software.

Personally I use Wondershare but I think Toast is capable of writing different formats too.

 

[DrtyHarry]

I found the manual....and it does in fact state that the DVD player can NOT play DVD-RWs/DVD-Rs of VR mode. Ugh...what is the "VR" mode?? Can I change something in Toast?




Harry

 

[rocknblogger]

Which player is this? Give me the model number.

 

[DrtyHarry]

Which player is this? Give me the model number.

It's a SONY Blu-ray Disk Player model BDP-S350. I sure hope you can help me. Thanks for the effort!!




Harry

 

[MisterMe]

I found the manual....and it does in fact state that the DVD player can NOT play DVD-RWs/DVD-Rs of VR mode. ...

What are you talking about? The Sony website explicitly lists DVD-RW and DVD-R in both Video Mode and VR Mode as compatible with the BDP-S350. The manual is even clearer. Page 58 of the Operator Manual is a list of playable discs. DVD±R/RW discs are included in the list of playable discs.

Page 59 of the operators manual lists discs that cannot be played. DVD-RAM, HD DVD, and DVD Audio are the only DVD format discs on the lists of discs than your Blu-ray player cannot play. If you are not telling the truth about this, then what else are you not telling the truth about?

 

[marzer]

Any particular need to burn in VR mode as opposed to standard DVD Video mode? As I recall, the only appliance I had that created VR mode discs was my Sony camcorder, to permit on disc editing.

 

[Mal]

What are you talking about? The Sony website explicitly lists DVD-RW and DVD-R in both Video Mode and VR Mode as compatible with the BDP-S350. The manual is even clearer. Page 58 of the Operator Manual is a list of playable discs. DVD±R/RW discs are included in the list of playable discs.

Page 59 of the operators manual lists discs that cannot be played. DVD-RAM, HD DVD, and DVD Audio are the only DVD format discs on the lists of discs than your Blu-ray player cannot play. If you are not telling the truth about this, then what else are you not telling the truth about?

Wow. Accusing him of lying just because maybe, on the off chance, he misread something or found the wrong manual? Your charm knows no bounds...

jW

 

[rocknblogger]

It's a SONY Blu-ray Disk Player model BDP-S350. I sure hope you can help me. Thanks for the effort!!

Harry

Well, if this is the player you have you should definitely be able to play the burned disks. So, did you buy it new? Can you bring it back and exchange it?

There's no special way that you need to burn the disks. As long as you create a DVD project Toast takes care of the rest.

There's really nothing more I can help you with. So either you made a mistake with what model you have or you're reading the wrong manual. If it is the right model then as I said before you should take it back to where you bought it.

I have a question: When you insert the DVDs that you've burned in the past are they showing up as DVD's in whatever device you insert them into? In other words if you put them in the Mac are you playing them with the DVD player app? Or are you opening the file on the DVD through finder? Hope that makes sense to you.

 

[DrtyHarry]

Wow....take it easy on me guys. WTF would I come on here and lie about something like this?? I have better things to do with my time.

I did make a mistake in my post. I got the manuals mixed up with an older SONY BR player, that model was the BDP-S300....that was the manual I was looking at. My mistake. On page 6 of the manual, it does in fact say the DVD player can NOT play DVD-RWs/DVD-Rs of VR mode.

I can not find my manual for my newer player, model BDP-S350. Even if I did find the manual....the DVDs still don't work! New ones play fine. And yes, I purchased the unit brand new. I can't understand why some of you think I would lie about this? What am I to gain?

And yes....I did see this on the Sony website for my model:

# DVD-R Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
# DVD-RW Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)


Still....I CAN NOT VIEW MY BURNED DVDs ON THIS PLAYER!! I'm taking the unit back to PC Richard right now and am going to exchange it for the same or newer model. I will let you know what happens.


I still can't get over how some of you guys would call me a liar over this...I'm in awe.




Harry

----------

Any particular need to burn in VR mode as opposed to standard DVD Video mode? As I recall, the only appliance I had that created VR mode discs was my Sony camcorder, to permit on disc editing.

I didn't know what VR mode meant....





Harry

 

[DrtyHarry]

Just came back from PC Richards, they would not exchange or give me an upgrade....understandable seeing how old it is.

In any case, I have the model BDP-S350 and it DOES NOT PLAY MY BURNED DVDs! It plays everything else. I can view these DVDs on OLDER players.

I was going to buy the newest model they have....but I fear that I'll have the same problem. As mentioned above, Sony states the BDP-S350 WILL play

# DVD-R Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
# DVD-RW Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)

However......mine does not! So why would the newest one play them since the specs on the S350 say they will play, when in fact they don't?




Harry

 

[rocknblogger]

First of all don't worry about what the other guy said, screw him.

As for why this player isn't playing the DVDs I can't say for sure but it is possible there's something wrong with it.

You missed my earlier question too. When you use your Mac to play the burned DVDs do you use the DVD player app or do you use some other media player and open the file through finder?

When you burn the disks do you start by creating a DVD project in Toast? In other words are you sure your not just copying the file over to the disk? Toast has to create a DVD disk in order for it to play.

There are some players that can play avi or other types of files without the need for creating a DVD so thats why I ask. I'm not saying you ARE doing it wrong I just want to make sure you're doing it right

Just came back from PC Richards, they would not exchange or give me an upgrade....understandable seeing how old it is.

In any case, I have the model BDP-S350 and it DOES NOT PLAY MY BURNED DVDs! It plays everything else. I can view these DVDs on OLDER players.

I was going to buy the newest model they have....but I fear that I'll have the same problem. As mentioned above, Sony states the BDP-S350 WILL play

# DVD-R Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
# DVD-RW Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)

However......mine does not! So why would the newest one play them since the specs on the S350 say they will play, when in fact they don't?




Harry

 

[thekb]

Just came back from PC Richards, they would not exchange or give me an upgrade....understandable seeing how old it is.

In any case, I have the model BDP-S350 and it DOES NOT PLAY MY BURNED DVDs! It plays everything else. I can view these DVDs on OLDER players.

I was going to buy the newest model they have....but I fear that I'll have the same problem. As mentioned above, Sony states the BDP-S350 WILL play

# DVD-R Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
# DVD-RW Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)

However......mine does not! So why would the newest one play them since the specs on the S350 say they will play, when in fact they don't?

Harry

Well, I don't know if your DVD player is to blame, but I can tell you from experience in the earlier days of burning DVD's that it can be more art than science. Maybe it's better now, but I made many, many coasters trying to figure out how to burn compatible disks. Of course, this was late 90's / early 2000's, so I suppose much may have changed.

I would investigate alternative burning methods first. There may be some little tweak you need to your settings to make it compatible.

 

[DrtyHarry]

You missed my earlier question too. When you use your Mac to play the burned DVDs do you use the DVD player app or do you use some other media player and open the file through finder?

When you burn the disks do you start by creating a DVD project in Toast? In other words are you sure your not just copying the file over to the disk? Toast has to create a DVD disk in order for it to play.

There are some players that can play avi or other types of files without the need for creating a DVD so thats why I ask. I'm not saying you ARE doing it wrong I just want to make sure you're doing it right

Thank you for your reply. If I want to watch a burned DVD on my MAC, I use the standard DVD player application. No problems.

When I burn the disk with Toast, I'm not just throwing the file on to the DVD. I select the DVD-VIDEO option from Video. It takes some time for the file to convert....could take an hour or so.

After it's done doing that, it starts to burn the disk automatically. I know I can't just take an .AVI file, throw it in Toast and start burning right away and in 4 minutes I have a DVD. I've been doing this for YEARS and I never had this problem. I tried using different brands of DVDs...no luck.

If I knew that buying a new player would solve my problem, I would happily do so. Perhaps look at another brand than Sony? Ugh....what a pain in the A$$!




Harry

----------

I would investigate alternative burning methods first. There may be some little tweak you need to your settings to make it compatible.

I really do hope that's the case....I just need to figure out what needs tweaking! lol





Harry

 

[onomike]

One possible option - do you have the latest firmware on the player? Sometimes that helps. I vaguely recall that updating the firmware on that model requires either a disc or usb drive with the files on it. The version your player has will be listed in one of the system menus, and the Sony website will have the current version. If yours is older it may be worth a shot.

 

[Mal]

Do you have iDVD, or is your system too new to still include it? If you do have it, I'd give a try burning a disk through there just to see how it responds. That should help eliminate problems with either Toast or the DVD disks themselves as the issue.

jW

 

[mchalebk]

Don't know how much difference this might make, but I always limit my DVD and CD burns to 4x speed. It takes longer, but it seems to really cut down on compatibility issues. Might be worth trying (I suspect most people burn at the fastest speed their drive is capable of).

I would also suggest trying iDVD in place of Toast to see if that helps.

I realize there may be reasons you don't want to go this way, but have you considered getting some kind of media server? I quit burning DVDs for home use years ago when I got my AppleTV. Many other devices (such as Playstation, WD-Live and even Blu-ray players and TVs) will give you similar capability. I find this to be a huge improvement over DVDs (and the video quality is better).

 

[dakwar]

... and in 4 minutes I have a DVD. ...

Burn at the slowest speed possible.

I used to have this problem. Turns out if you burn a disc at max speed, some (most?) standalone players out there won't be able to play it - software/firmware restrictions to limit pirating, or some such. I've learned to stick to a burning speed of 2.4X whenever possible. At 2.4X, the burning should take about 20-30 minutes, not 4 minutes.

 

[DrtyHarry]

I'm trying to figure out how to use iDVD. I have it, but have no clue how to use it. Can anyone give me some simple tips? I'm using 6.0.4. It's a bit confusing....forgive me, I'm not the most technically inclined outside out CS5.5. Thanks!




Harry

----------

Burn at the slowest speed possible.

I used to have this problem. Turns out if you burn a disc at max speed, some (most?) standalone players out there won't be able to play it - software/firmware restrictions to limit pirating, or some such. I've learned to stick to a burning speed of 2.4X whenever possible. At 2.4X, the burning should take about 20-30 minutes, not 4 minutes.

I do use the lowest speed....sometimes burning can take up to 30 mins or so, with smaller files, it's obviously faster. Still trying to figure out this iDVD app.




Harry

 

[Amazing Iceman]

Hello Harry,

Sometimes the brand and dye of the DVD surface may not be compatible with some players.
Have you tried just one brand or several brands?
Could you please list the brands you have used and whether each one is a DVD+R, DVD-R or DVD+RW?

I have just checked at Sony's website and it says the following about the BDP-S350:

BD-R/RE Read Compatibility : Yes (BDMV & BDAV format)
BD-ROM : Yes
CD (CD-DA) : Yes
DVD Playback : Yes
DVD+R Read Compatibility : Yes
DVD+RW Read Compatibility : Yes
DVD-R Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
DVD-RW Read Compatibility : Yes (Video Mode and VR Mode)
JPEG Playback : Yes
x.v.Color™ Technology : Yes

Hopefully good news:
There's a firmware update for this player.
It's version 024, dated 05/27/2011:
Link: http://esupport.sony.com/US/perl/model-home.pl?mdl=BDPS350

Well, that's all I have to say for now.

-John