DVD Burner/What Media can I use?

[zachary720]

Looked up my burners info using Belarc. _NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A Found some website that said it will burn using DVD+R DL. So I went out and bought a few and they won't burn. Now I am thinking that the recorder doesn't recognize that kind of media. I can't find the original website that I first went to and don't have any info about my DVD Burner from when I bought it. Just wondering if anyone knew what kind of media I could use with this burner. TIA

[Welshjim]

zachary720--DVD+R DL means DVD's using the + format and which are double layer (can be recorded on two layers of a single sided DVD DL disk, thus increasing the capacity of data possible).
I would think your new player/recorder would play and record both single layer and double layer DVD's, but only if the disks are + format. Unfortunately DVD's come in two incompatible formats, + and -. I do not think one is better than the other, but they are incompatible.
http://www.videohelp.com/dvd
Many recorders and players now will accept both + and - formats, but it seems yours does not unless you get an accessory driver which according to this article should be available now
http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Revi...rticleId=12314 .
You may also be interested in this article
http://www.nec.co.uk/DVD_RW_ND3520.aspx

(P.S. DVD recorders should play and record CD's, also, and you do not have to worry about the + and -.)

[zachary720]

unless you get an accessory driver which according to this article should be available now

Where do you see on those sites about an accessory driver?

Well I did purchase the DVD+R DL blank media and tried to burn to it with no luck. I was trying to burn some videos of family that were sent to me in email. The files are saved on my PC and was told if I burn them all together they would play as a whole movie they made/with titles and captions etc, and I could possibly play them on the DVD connected to my TV. Which if it didn't wouldn't be a problem. When I tried to burn them using nero I can add all the files but when I go to the next page the burn button is greyed out. I haven't tried to save them as data files because I didn't want to waste the DVD media for that. There are alot of videos and taking up alot of space on my HD thats why I wanted to burn them to DVD. Thanks.

[photolady]

What software are you using to burn dvd's with? That may have something to do with it, though I can't see why, unless it's windows built in software because that won't even burn regular dvds.

[zachary720]

I have Nero.

[photolady]

I saw after I looked back at your last post that you had indicated you're using Nero.

Is this the only optical drive you have? Have you updated Nero lately?

[Welshjim]

zachary720--

Where do you see on those sites about an accessory driver?

First link, second paragraph in my post above. "While the new NEC model is capable of writing DVD media at 16X, the drive cannot write -R double layer media for now although a new firmware upgrade will be available to support this media type in the future." I would not know if NEC followed through on that.
I understand you checked that you are using + blank DVD's.

When I tried to burn them using nero I can add all the files but when I go to the next page the burn button is greyed out.

Does that mean you can burn one file, but not subsequent ones?
It could be you have set the burning process to "close" the DVD after a single file is burned. This would prevent any further burning.

[zachary720]

Is this the only optical drive you have? Have you updated Nero lately?

Photolady
No we have a reg cd-burner installed also. And no I haven't checked for updates for Nero. When I open Nero Express it says 6. I will check for updates.

Does that mean you can burn one file, but not subsequent ones?

Welsh
No what I do is this...open up Nero Express and choose DVD video. Then I add the video and audio files that I want to burn and add them to be burned. Then there is a next button which I click. On the next page it has my burner listed and a place to name the DVD. Below that has the speeds and to verify after burning. It's on that page that the burn button on bottom right is greyed out. So I can't get it to start burning.

I understand you checked that you are using + blank DVD's.

Yeah I made sure I bought the + media. Now I bought 3 of them. Should I try the others to see if they work?

[Welshjim]

zachary720--

Yeah I made sure I bought the + media. Now I bought 3 of them. Should I try the others to see if they work?

How long ago did you buy the burner? Have you been successfully burning regular DVD's using it?
I hate to see you waste more DL DVD's. But I cannot offer any more help.
You might see if any Tech Support is available from this site
http://support.necam.com/Optical/ND3520A.asp .
I see NEC now says the drive is +/-.

[photolady]

When you go to burn them, are you making sure that the dvd drive is in the drop down box at the top right of Nero? Because I have two drives also, if I don't check to make sure it's set to burn to which ever drive I'm using at the time, I get an error message.

[Train]

NEC DVD_RW ND-3520A
Yes it will burn DL dvds, and Nero if you select the right configuration, will burn them.

I use that burner and nero to burn DLs at times.

No where near my desktop, so I can not tell you how to do it step by step.

[zachary720]

Yes it will burn DL dvds, and Nero if you select the right configuration, will burn them.

Train
Well I am going into Nero Express and choosing DVD Video and tried it there. Not sure where else to try it. When you get a chance Train maybe you can explain where to go in Nero.

When you go to burn them, are you making sure that the dvd drive is in the drop down box at the top right of Nero?

Photolady, yes I made sure that the correct one was listed.


I haven't tried the other new blank DVD's I have yet. I am kinda not wanting to open all of them if they aren't going to work.

How long ago did you buy the burner? Have you been successfully burning regular DVD's using it?

Welsh, I wanna say probably had the DVD burner for a year now. And no I haven't burned anything else with it. I never had the need to burn something on DVD til now. All other things I have been using my reg CD-burner to burn my CD-R's. Tomorrow I will try and burn a CD-R in the DVD one to see if that works.

[Train]

See if this helps.
http://www.dvd-guides.com/content/view/40/59/

[zachary720]

Train TY TY TY

Ok let me explain what I was doing wrong so that others can read and see it was resolved.

When I added the video files I wasn't putting them into the empty RED video folder that comes up in Nero. I added them to the right place and was able to burn. TY again

On another note the first DVD DL I was trying when I put that in to burn to that it says it wasn't empty but when I go to open it its says no data is on it so I guess that one is dead. Am I correct? I had to use another blank DVD and it burned.