[Erandas]

I just bought some Verbatim DVD+R DL media thinking that I would have around 7.9GB of free space.

But when I put a disc in it shows me:

7,972,472,832 free
575,191,040 used.

Anybody know why I can't access the whole amount?

Thank you!

[cdanteek]

Don't confuse GB with MB or bytes...This is a blank disc? Not formated in D2D or Vista packet writing software?



cd

This post has been edited by cdanteek: 10 December 2008 - 09:25 AM

[Erandas]

Don't confuse GB with MB or bytes...This is a blank disc? Not formated in D2D or Vista packet writing software?



cd

Thank you cd for you reply. Yes, this is a blank disc and I'm not confused about GB or MB. I fully expected to see only 7.9 GB of free space.

But it seems that I can only access 7.4 GB. If I would know how to attach an image I would add a screen shot.

This post has been edited by Erandas: 10 December 2008 - 10:15 AM

[gi7omy]

You have to remember that MB and GB on a disc are not the same as on the computer

Manufacturers of hard disks and optical discs use 1 KB = 1,000 bytes and so on, while everyone else uses 1,024 bytes = 1 KB

That does make a big difference on dual layer DVDs.

The half meg or so unusable is probably for finalising, TOC and so on

[cdanteek]

Thank you cd for you reply. Yes, this is a blank disc and I'm not confused about GB or MB. I fully expected to see only 7.9 GB of free space.

But it seems that I can only access 7.4 GB. If I would know how to attach an image I would add a screen shot.

7972472832
+ 575191040
-----------------
= 8547663872 My disc shows 8547993600!

What used 575191040 on your disc is the problem, some software used it or formated it..

cd

[Brendon]

Erandas,

Did you let Vista take some time and "prepare" the blank DVD for you when it offered ? If so, it has formatted the disc in Vista's "Live File System" and taken 5-600 MB while doing so.

You also won't be able to burn a Video-DVD to that disc, since it is no longer blank.

[Erandas]

Thank you all for the replies. I contacted Verbatim and they told me to contact the maker of the DVD writer (HP dvd1040i) which I did.

The HP tech support was very friendly and very helpful and they told me that they are aware of this drive having problems detecting the correct size with some DL DVDs. They told me that they are trying to release a new firmware which fixes this problem before the holiday season and that they will contact me directly when it is available (I never had such a great tech experience before to be honest).

Also, I played around with this a little bit more and it smells like a drive problem because the amount of used space changes from insertion to insertion. It looks to me like somebody has not all their pointers set correctly and is linking to some random memory block which is reported. So, I hope the next FW will fix it.

To answer all your questions:

Brendon, no I did not let Vista prepare the disc. I just insert it, VISTA detects that I inserted a new disc and I read the properties right after it.

cdanteek, I hope the new FW will fix my leaking memory.

gi7omy, yes, the conversion between bits and bytes can be confusing but I already expected to only see 7.9 Gbytes. Also, Roxio shows the capacity as 7.9 GB as cdanteek showed in his picture. But, somebody is "eating" my free space.

Thank you for all the suggestions!

~Erandas

[grandpabruce]

Thank you all for the replies. I contacted Verbatim and they told me to contact the maker of the DVD writer (HP dvd1040i) which I did.

The HP tech support was very friendly and very helpful and they told me that they are aware of this drive having problems detecting the correct size with some DL DVDs. They told me that they are trying to release a new firmware which fixes this problem before the holiday season and that they will contact me directly when it is available (I never had such a great tech experience before to be honest).

Also, I played around with this a little bit more and it smells like a drive problem because the amount of used space changes from insertion to insertion. It looks to me like somebody has not all their pointers set correctly and is linking to some random memory block which is reported. So, I hope the next FW will fix it.

To answer all your questions:

Brendon, no I did not let Vista prepare the disc. I just insert it, VISTA detects that I inserted a new disc and I read the properties right after it.

cdanteek, I hope the new FW will fix my leaking memory.

gi7omy, yes, the conversion between bits and bytes can be confusing but I already expected to only see 7.9 Gbytes. Also, Roxio shows the capacity as 7.9 GB as cdanteek showed in his picture. But, somebody is "eating" my free space.

Thank you for all the suggestions!

~Erandas

Well, it is good to know that it is a funky hardware error, that will supposedly be fixed. I hope that HP gets it to you, soon.

[cdanteek]

they told me to contact the maker of the DVD writer (HP dvd1040i) which I did.

A rebadged LiteOn LH-20A1H, your (HP dvd1040i) drive.

cd

[cdanteek]

Daithi, Brendon, and Bruce,

I Pm'ed Erandas, asking to send a jpeg of his disc to my email and I would post the screen shot..

Erandas, you may not want to believe us since HP told you the drive has problems. Two things, your disc and my empty disc, do you see the difference?

Used space and file system on your disc, it isn't blank! UDF 2.00 I would guess you let Vista touch it.

You asked in the email could the drive use LiteOn firmware? Probably yes, cross flashing a drive requires a certain skill level and that isn't a quarantee you won't toast the drive.

Erandas,





cd's,



cd

[Jim_Hardin]

Oh my yes, Vista defiantly got it!

You really have to wonder how someone would not notice the Pop Up questions as well as the time it spends formatting. And then the File System when everything else reports Blank Disc or RAW???

[Erandas]

Hello cdanteek,

Thank you for posting my picture. I was actually able to finish my project using my Server. When I build it I had used the cheapest DVD burner I could find at that time but I looked at it and to my surprise it can burn DL discs. So, I tried it and it worked.

My server is using VISTA and the discs show up just like in your picture with no space used. I put the same disc then into my normal computer and it showed the used space again.

Both use VISTA, same disc but different drives. Not to doubt you guys but it looks to me the drive is the problem. Unfortunately no FW patch yet. I will update here when I get the patch.

Thank you all for the help!

~Erandas

[Brendon]

Erandas,

-If your disc shows strangely on the HP machine,
-HP say there's a problem with the drive and they are trying to get a firmware fix
-You say Vista didn't get the time and opportunity to "prepare' [format] the disc
-Your server drive shows the DL disc to be empty as it should do
-[most importantly] the drive in the server completes the burn properly on that disc

Then I'm convinced! That seems pretty conclusive to me.

At the same time it puzzles the hell out of me. That drive has been around for years [since version 5] and it is very strange for a problem like that to surface now. Perhaps the problem only shows itself in Vista ? I would be very keen to hear more from you about it, if you or HP get any progress.

In the meantime, would you please fill in a couple of blanks for me?
-what revision number or letters is the current firmware in your DVD 1040i ?
-what operating system are you using in your server
-what software did you use on the server to burn the successful DL disc?

Thank you very much,
Brendon