Question 2: CD BURNING 4

[LFI]

Hey, okay so I have a path forward with my MP3 ripping. I'll be sure to update that thread with my results over the next 5 days.

Meanwhile...

My new Dell laptop, loaded with Windows XP Pro, has a CD Burner on it as well. I only used it for the first time recently (I've used the drive, but not the burning functionality).

(1) I burned an audio CD (using Media Player 9) that kept skipping when I played it on a standalone CD player (in despair, I tossed the CD without trying it on any other player... My mistake).

(2) I made a data CD (using Nero... version 6, I think) which I then could NOT read on my desktop computer, but COULD read when put back in my laptop.

Does this sound like I have a bad burner? ...or should I be seeking advice in another forum? Note that for CD and DVD playback, the drive works as expected.

Thanks!

Dave


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O Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!

 

[vacunita]

For the Skipping Audio CD, probably Media Player 9's poor attempt at audo conversion when faulty. Try Nero's Audio Cd capability.

The Data CD problem seems to me you did not close the session properly, or you used a RW (rewriteable) which by definition will only work when the Burning software i.e Nero is installed.

NOTE: Some older players will have problems reading discs burned in newer players at very high speeds. i.e 24X Try burning the CD at a lower speed, like say 12X or 8X.




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Ignorance is not necessarily Bliss, case in point:
Unknown has caused an Unknown Error on Unknown and must be shutdown to prevent damage to Unknown.

 

[LFI]

Thanks! 'sounds like software and human-error issues. I'm not going to be able to test these out until Sunday or Monday night, so I'll post back with how it went.

Have a great weekend!

Dave


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O Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!

 

[electronicsfreak]

When your burning an mp3 cd, heres a couple tips that i spent a long time learning, first off they must use strict iso standards, do not let any allowances, example like letting a longer filename than 64 characters and options like that are on nero. When burning make sure all "allowance options" are turned off and then your mp3 cd will play correctly. I spent 2 years thinking I had a faulty dvd player because of not knowing that at first lol.

 

[LFI]

Thanks. To clear things up, I was ripping CD tracks and making MP3's out of them. Later, I was taking music and sound effects and making a simple audio CD of them, not an MP3 CD, although if I do that, I'll definitely keep that in mind! Thanks!

Dave


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O Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!

 

[dglienna]

You can download Burn4Free. It is free, and works with most burners out there. It even makes bootable ISO CD's.

-David
2006 Microsoft Valued Professional (MVP)

 

[Nelviticus]

You can create data CD-RWs that are readable on all computers as long as you don't use packet writing. 'Packet writing' is where you use something like Nero's InCD that lets you treat a CD-RW like a floppy drive. Use Nero's wizard to create a standard data CD and make sure that you select the 'finalise' option.

Regarding playback of audio CDs, some CD players just don't like CD-Rs. A normal shop-bought audio CD is highly reflective. A CD-R is less reflective and a CD-RW is even less reflective than that. The lasers on some CD players just aren't up to the job of reading anything less reflective than a 'proper' CD, because up until recently they just haven't needed to be.

Some very old computer CD-ROM drives also have problems with reading burned CDs, but unless you have an ancient PC that's unlikely to be a problem.

Regards

Nelviticus

 

[cdogg]

Besides "packet writing" (i.e. DirectCD, InCD), the other possibility is that the session must be closed first before it can be read on a regular CD or DVD-ROM.

I would definitely try several brands of blank CD-R's before I assumed anything was wrong with the burner. Also, I would try a finished audio CD-R on other standalone CD players, to be sure it wasn't the player itself. As Nelviticus says, older CD players (more than 5 years old) could possibly have issues reading the reflective surface of burnt CD's. It's rare for newer players to have any issues, but you never know.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[LFI]

This is all great stuff. Thanks everyone! I'm just back from my weekend, so I'm going to tackle this tonight. When I've tried these suggestions and have some feedback on my progress, I'll report back! Hopefully, I'll arrive at a solution tonight and be able to report back tomorrow!

Dave


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O Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!

 

[LFI]

Just about ready to close this one out.

(1) I burned an audio CD (using Media Player 9) that kept skipping when I played it on a standalone CD player (in despair, I tossed the CD without trying it on any other player... My mistake).

Before testing again, I upgraded my laptop to Windows Media Player 10. I then made two CDs (from the same files I had attempted to make the problem CD; one of them the same brand of CD-R I used initially [Memorex] and the other of another brand [Audiobahn]) and so far: they both work on the laptop, on two different boom boxes, and in my car. I have not been in the location of the stand-alone player I had my first problem on, but I keep the CDs in my car and will try them out at my first opportunity. It appears, however, that this was either a one-time fluke, the result of using Media Player 9, or the stand-alone player is unable to read from my discs (I'll know if it was the third one soon).

(2) I made a data CD (using Nero... version 6, I think) which I then could NOT read on my desktop computer, but COULD read when put back in my laptop.

I thought I might have messed something up with the Data CD since I began recording to it using Nero on my desktop computer, then (a few weeks later), used Nero on my laptop to burn more to it and finalize it. When I put it back on my desktop, it was messed up. Back on my laptop it was fine.

I've since tried the data CD on other computers and it's been fine. I've tried other burned CDs on my desktop and have had troubles (these same discs work on my laptop). Therefore, I think this second problem is really the "Death of My CD Burner?" problem I'm chronicling in thread602-1179763. I'm considering the data CD portion of my post closed, therefore. I assume it will resolve itself when I resolve the "Death of My CD Burner?" issue.

I must not have discovered the two problems (#2 here and thread602-1179763) at the same time, or I wouldn't have been so long in connecting them!

I'll let you all know how the test on the stand-alone goes.

Hopefully the discs will work there and I can consider the problem resolved. I suspect the discs will play fine. We have used other burnt CDs on this stand-alone player before.

I could really put the cap on this by returning to Media Player 9, burning a CD, and testing it at different locations (including on the stand-alone), but that'd be a lot of trouble since I've already upgraded to WMP10.

Thanks again for your valuable contributions. I'll let you know how my (hopefully) final test goes.

Dave


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O Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!

 

[LFI]

(1) I burned an audio CD (using Media Player 9) that kept skipping when I played it on a standalone CD player (in despair, I tossed the CD without trying it on any other player... My mistake).

I made it back to the place I had tried this. Since they never emptied the garbage, I was able to retrieve the CD! It still didn't work there, but it sounds fine in my car and other places I have tried it. I had also burned another CD (this time at home, on WMP10) which sounded okay on this stand-alone player (i.e., wasn't distorted or skipping like the other disc), but the volume was very low and couldn't be brought up. As it turns out, this CD, too, sounds fine when played elsewhere.

Before testing again, I upgraded my laptop to Windows Media Player 10. I then made two CDs (from the same files I had attempted to make the problem CD; one of them the same brand of CD-R I used initially [Memorex] and the other of another brand [Audiobahn]) and so far: they both work on the laptop, on two different boom boxes, and in my car.

I tried both of these CDs on the stand-alone player that had given me problems before and they both play fine. I therefore attribute at least part of my original problem to a combination of WMP9 and the stand-alone player.

I had also burned another CD (this time at home, on WMP10) which sounded okay on this stand-alone player, but the volume was very low and couldn't be brought up.

Why this happened, I cannot guess. I am having hardware issues on my desktop (thread602-1179763), but would think that the CD would play poorly everywhere if this had been a hardware issue. I suppose I could do one more test: burn a CD on my desktop BEFORE I resolve my hardware issue and burn one AFTER and see if either/both play on the stand-alone player and elsewhere. I do not know if I will get around to trying this one out (as it has taken me this long to do what I HAVE done), so I'm closing the book on this one (for now).

Thanks to you all for your suggestions! My #1 concern was being able to burn good CDs from my laptop and upgrading to better software seemed to be the key to doing that.

Dave


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O Time, Strength, Cash, and Patience!