Media Center will no longer burn recorded TV shows to video DVD

Clay

Member
I had been recording cartoon shows off and on for my godson to watch. In February, I started getting errors and every attempt to burn a video DVD aborts. At first I thought maybe I had some bad DVD+R media, but I am able to burn other things to DVD outside of Media Center. I can burn data DVDs, but fail on video DVDs.

Here is what happens: In Media Center, I select the episodes of recorded TV shows that I want to burn to DVD. The process starts normally, indicating that it may take "several hours" to finish. After about an hour or so, at around 25% completion, I hear the DVD burner spin up like it is going to start burning the DV. After a few (less than ten) seconds, it stops and ejects the disk. In Media Center, an error comes up saying: "BURN FAILURE, An error has occurred in burning the CD/DVD." There is no further info nor error codes. It appears that something does get burned to the disk during those few seconds, because the system will no longer recognize the disk and it must be trashed.

I am running Vista Ultimate 64-bit on an HP system with a quad core processor and 4Gb of RAM. So far, I have tried all the tips that I can find for similar problems (install CODECs, reregistering DLL files, etc.), but nothing helps. I even went so far as to use the original system restore disks to wipe out the computer entirely and reinstall Vista, then let it do all updates (through SP2). Lots of things work better, but this one problem persists.

I can plug in external DVD burners via USB and I get the exact same failure. I destroy a DVD+R disk every time I make a burn attempt.

Media Center still records TV programs and plays them back just fine. But when it comes to burning a program to video DVD, I get the same failure every time. I'm running out of ideas to try.

Can anyone give me any clues of any other possible root causes for this error? Is there an error log somewhere that would give further info?

Thanks!

>>>> Clay >>>>
 

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Hi Clay and welcome to the forums :party:

What format are these TV shows in?

Tom
 

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Have you tried updating the DVD drivers?

Tom
 

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System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
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    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
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    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
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Have you tried updating the DVD drivers?

I have tried updating the DVD drivers,the DVD burner firmware, the Vista CODECs, re-registering the DLL files, but nothing helps. Since it used to work and now it doesn't, I'm wondering whether some Vista update from the February timeframe is actually responsible. After reloading the original system disks, I have not reloaded many other applications yet. Just Microsoft Office and Quicken so far.

WMC appears to actually start decoding and buffering the video data from the .dvr-ms files before starting the actual DVD burn process. It is something at that point that is killing the operation, when it actually starts the burn. Is there some kind of Vista error log somewhere that might actually keep track of what is happening and what the failure is?

>>>> Clay >>>>
 

My Computer

You could take a look at the System log in the event viewer, but I doubt that it will be of much use to you.

How recent is this problem?

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Ok, can you try this for me please:

1. Open the start menu
2. Type cmd in the search box
3. Right click on command prompt and click run as administrator

In command prompt, you will need to type:

sfc /scannow

And then press enter

Leave this to run for a while and when it finishes, let us know if it detected anything.

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Ok, can you try this for me please:

1. Open the start menu
2. Type cmd in the search box
3. Right click on command prompt and click run as administrator

In command prompt, you will need to type:

sfc /scannow

And then press enter

Leave this to run for a while and when it finishes, let us know if it detected anything.

Tom

Well, I ran it and the response was: "Windows Resource Protection did not find any integrity violations." Is there anything else I can try?

>>>> Clay >>>>
 

My Computer

Well it's good that it didn't find anything, but it's bad that it didn't fix the problem.

Can you check for updates for me please?

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
I was just doing some research, because frankly, I am stuck for ideas now.

I came across this:

http://stream-recorder.com/forum/repair-windows-media-center-files-windows-vista-t4568.html?amp;

But this also says that SFC will fix it, I don't think that deleting that XML will do anything so I wouldn't try that.

I have no experience with WMC so perhaps you will be able to explain this for me please:

When you have recorded the tv shows (to the dvr-ms files), can you play these files? Or only burn them? And if you can play them, then does it play all the way through?

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Sorry, open the start menu, and scroll up and Windows Update should be on the list, run that and check for updates in the top left hand corner.

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Sorry, open the start menu, and scroll up and Windows Update should be on the list, run that and check for updates in the top left hand corner.

Tom

Yes, I run Windows Update quite frequently. It says no important updates are available.

>>>> Clay >>>>
 

My Computer

Okay good, can you do this for me:

1. Open the start menu
2. Type device manager in the search box
3. Click on device manager

At this point, you will be shown a long list of expandable categories, expand DVD/CD Drives, and you should be shown something like the photo below.

Right click on it, and select Update Driver Software...

Let it check for updates and let me know how this goes.

Tom
 

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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Driver Update says my device driver is up to date. I also tried updating the firmware on the drive recently. All good stuff, but still doesn't fix the DVD burning problem.

Recap: I can burn data DVDs just fine. But when I try to burn a video DVD, either in Windows Media Center or directly in Windows DVD Maker, the process starts out fine, doing the encoding/decoding and buffering the data for about 30 to 60 minutes. When it gets to a point that is around 25% finished, it spins up the DVD burner to actually start burning the disk. After about five to ten seconds, the DVD drive shuts down, and I get an error saying the disk could not be burned. When I use DVD+R (Verbatim) media, the disk is then unusable, indicating that something was indeed burned on the disk. Now that I am using DVD+RW media, I still get the same failure, but can still reuse the disk again, I don't have to throw it away.

I can still record TV shows off the air to the hard drive and I can play them back on the computer just fine. I can even burn them to DVD as data files, but you can't play those on a regular video DVD Player. You need a video DVD format disk to do that. That is what I can't seem to burn now, although I could burn them just fine prior to February. I have completely wiped the computer hard disk and reloaded Vista from scratch back to its original state, and then ran all the updates through SP2. I have tried loading all the updated CODECs that have been recommended, as well as drivers and firmware. I am stuck!

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. This is really bugging me!

>>>> Clay >>>>
 

My Computer

Sorry, I'm all out of ideas.

There is one last thing that you can try, if you donwload and install this:

DVR-MS Converter - Free software downloads and software reviews - CNET Download.com

Then you should be able to convert the dvr-ms files to WMV (or another mpeg layer 2 codec extension), which you will then be able to burn to a disc.

Although it wont fix the original problem, you should be able to work around it now, I know it may be a pain, but at least it should work.

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Here's a better link, that one is for the cnet.com one, but this is the developers own website:

DVR-MS Converter Download

There are a few to choose from.

Tom
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Build #1
    CPU
    Intel Core i7 3770K @4.4GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P8Z77-V PRO
    Memory
    Corsair Vengeance 2x4GB DDR3 1600MHz Low Profile (White)
    Graphics Card(s)
    Gigabyte Radeon HD 7850 (2GB GDDR5)
    Sound Card
    Integrated on motherboard
    Monitor(s) Displays
    23" LG LCD/LED IPS
    Screen Resolution
    1920*1080
    Hard Drives
    Samsung EVO 128GB SSD
    Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200rpm
    2x500GB Seagate FreeAgent 5400rpm
    PSU
    Corsair TX650W V2 (80+ Bronze)
    Case
    NZXT Phantom 410
    Cooling
    Corsair H100 Water Cooler, 1x140mm and 1x120mm stock fans
    Keyboard
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Desktop 2000 Wireless Mouse
    Internet Speed
    95 Mb/s Download 70 Mb/s Upload
Here's a better link, that one is for the cnet.com one, but this is the developers own website:

DVR-MS Converter Download

There are a few to choose from.

Tom

Thanks, I'll give that a try. At least that will tell me whether the problem is in the way that Vista is converting the DVR-MS source files to the video format, or if it is something in the way that Vista is trying to actually do the video burn.

>>>> Clay >>>>
 

My Computer


Sadly, the free demo/trial version is only good for a 1 minute video. I'm not likely to buy the converter when I don't even know whether it will fix my problem. However....

It does give me a good idea, which is to take some AVI files and see if I can get the Windows DVD Maker to burn a video DVD from them. My digital camera makes AVI video files, so I'll give that a try.

>>>> Clay >>>>
 

My Computer

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