Dual Layer media not recognized

[Aslanna]

Ok, the DVD burner I have (Lite-On LH-20A1L) supports DL media but I've now bought two different brands and they still don't seem to work. When I put them in it makes some noise for awhile and eventually decides it's had enough and gives up . Is there something I'm missing to make these worky work or do I just need to buy a new burner? In particular ones that work well for 360 backups if I ever decide to get one of those. Would prefer SATA but IDE is fine too!

[Winnow]

The only (ONLY) DL DVDs you should get for 360 back ups are Verbatim DVD+R DL made in Singapore.

The problem even with that is Verbatim makes the same DVD+R DL in a factory from India and there's no way to know which you're getting unless you look at the tiny print on the label. Compounding this are that you can only get the Singapore versions in 20-packs. The cost of these 20 packs of DVDs has always been around 39.00 and hasn't dropped.

I just looked at Best By and don't even see the 20 packs any more. There are 15 packs for 35.00:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp ... 5848825217

Even so, they aren't guaranteed to come from Singapore.

I spent many hours trying to find DVD DL that cost less and would do a good job making 360 back ups. There aren't any. You can read through a telephone book worth of "scene" forums and it always comes back to the Verbatim DVD DLs out of Singapore. This, while expensive, used to make life easy as you could order them from New Egg, but even that well dried up and you can see the comments on New Eggs' thread about the Singapore/India version crapshoot.

It's been six months since I bought new DVD DLs and , as usual, I went to an actual Best Buy store and rooted through their stock to find 20 packs made in Singapore.

I've made 100+ 360 backups using these particular DVDs with 100% successful burn rates. The 1 or 2 I messed up were faulty images, not the fault of the media.

These may not even be sold at Best Buy anymore (the 20-pack Singapore versions)

Here's the 500+ comment thread on the 20-Pack at New Egg. The price is now 23.00 for 20 which is the best I've seen:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductRe ... 6817130008

Looks like peeps still having some luck getting the Singapore versions:

1/20/2009

Pros: Go ahead and believe the hype! These are the best out there. Mine were made in Singapore so you know they are good. Very reliable and very affordable. I am ordering more right now! You have a quality product, Newegg. Keep up the good work.

Cons: None whatsoever. Not a single coaster yet. I'm going 10 for 10.

Other Thoughts: Makes backups of 360 games flawlessly.

Pros: Never burned a coaster on any 360 backup out of the multiple spindles I've purchased.

I wouldn't use anything else.

Cons: None

Other Thoughts: I've had people bring me Memorex, Sony and others for backups and they all have thrown dirty disk errors eventually.

Nothing compares to verbatim.

Pros: Perfect burn every time. No coasters! This is the DL disc you want to use.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: I ordered this item 1/12/09 and the product shipped was made in Singapore. The label on the cake box actually says "Made in Singapore." The manufacturer code is MKM-001-00. The recording speed is 2.4x and 4x, and I'm burning at 4x without any problems on my Sony DRUV204A.

Pros: If you are burning 360 backups, there is NO substitute for Verbatim DVDs. I have never had a coaster. I bought some Memorex DVDs and had about 3 coasters out of 10, and most of them wouldn't play correctly in the xbox. Verbatim DVDs use high quality dye in the disks, so there is no wear on your laser from reading the disks. If you own a modded 360 these disks are HIGHLY recommended.

Cons: I guess I would have to say price, even though most DVD+R DL disks are about the same price, they are all a lot more expensive then your average media.

Other Thoughts: If anyone was curious these ARE the ones made in Singapore, the higher quality disks. Buy fast before they are all gone!

Pros: Moderately priced ($1.25/disc), great for 360 game backups, quick write speeds.

Cons: 1 coaster out of 60 discs. Not bad at all when you compare with other discs that would fail more often than write.

It goes on and on and on and on...and that's just from the first two pages of comments from the 500+ thread. Of course, your DVD burner might be hosed too but since you mentioned 360 back ups. You simply don't buy anything other than these particular Verbatim 20-packs for 360 backups unless you want to waste time reburning coasters.

Time it takes to burn: ~ 12-13 minutes per DVD DL 360 game at 4X speed. I've had batches that burn at 2X ~20 minutes but most will will go at 4X even though they show 2.4X speed on the label.


More to your point:

Pros: Reliable and reasonably priced.

Cons: None.

Other Thoughts: I just went through an entire 20pk of these and not one coaster. I think peeps having trouble are looking at a failing burner. My old Lite-On wouldn't even recognize these. I ordered one of the new Samsung burners and haven't had a problem since.

Pioneer drives work great for 360 backups. It's been awhile and with all the new brands, I'd go here to get advice:

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php? ... wforum=135

That's specifically for 360 burning and the main site forum:

http://forums.xbox-scene.com/index.php

[Aslanna]

Well my current problem isn't even that the media I have makes coasters. It just doesn't seem to be recognized by the drive. I originally had some Fuji and thought maybe that was the problem so bought some Verbatim (15 pack. Says Made in Singapore on label) last night and still no luck. So figuring it must be the burner for some reason which really makes no sense. I did some reasearch last night and will probably go with the Pioneer just need to decide on IDE vs SATA.

[Winnow]

I'd go SATA unless you're short on SATA ports for some reason.

[Aslanna]

I went IDE and got the 116D. First DL disc I put in was recognized no problem. So all I have to say about that is boycott Lite-On! Crappy drive. Although I never had a problem with it with single layer media. Will give the Fuji media a spin as well and see how that turns out. Already bought them so might as well use!

I notice some images are DVD5 so do you still need to use DL media on those? Also someone mentioned xdvdmulleter so will look into that. Anything else to look out for? Although might be a topic for console or modding forum!

[Winnow]

all Xbox 360 images I have are 7.05 GB uncompressed.

[Aslanna]

Yeah those were Xbox images (not 360) I discovered. Nevermind!