Real trouble burning second layer on Blu-Rays. Need a RELIABLE burner.

[Matt_Stevens]

I have had an LG BD burner for about 5 years now. The LG WH10LS30. It's performed beautifully since I bought it.

Recently I built a new system. I bought a new LG burner (don't recall which one) and it constantly failed burning a second layer on BD's. Long story short, I have tried FOUR different BD burners and none will properly burn the second layer. They either fail during the burn, or massive errors during the verify on the second layer. LG, Pioneer, Sony and one other that escapes me.

I'm on Windows 7 and use IMGBUR 2.5.5.0, the most stable one I have tried (and no f***ing adware/malware when you install it). I've used this version for years.

I'll take these various burners and test them in three different system (two with Win7, one with Win8.1). Result is always the same and I have wasted a sh*tload of money on coasters. The only burner that still works right is my old LG from five years ago.

Right now I want to tear my hair out. I'd appreciate some advice. I am moving soon and would like a good reliable EXTERNAL Blu-Ray burner that is known to be good with dual layers. I would prefer an external player that needs power as I do not trust USB powered burners with dual layer burning.

Internal burner recommendations are also helpful.

But I only want advice on decks that you KNOW will burn dual layer discs. Single layer is a cake-walk compared to dual layer performance.

And naturally... What could possibly be causing all of my dual layer issues? If it was one PC, I'd say my system was buggered. But I have tried many burners on many PC's.

Any advice on different software to burn dual layer Blu-Rays?

 

[Chapbass]

people actually use these? wild. Good luck in finding one (no sarcasm).

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Yes, we do. Physical media is extremely important. My side business wouldn't survive without it. Many people hate dealing with media files, flash discs, etc.

 

[Chapbass]

I didn't say physical media wasn't important... but as you're seeing, it always seemed to me that bdr burning has always been a bit of a redheaded stepchild of the disc-based media world.

 

[LTC8K6]

Yes, we do. Physical media is extremely important. My side business wouldn't survive without it. Many people hate dealing with media files, flash discs, etc.

Why can't you use the old LG burner?

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Why can't you use the old LG burner?

I have two systems. One for each location. I'm crippled without having a working burner at both locations.

 

[LTC8K6]

I have two systems. One for each location. I'm crippled without having a working burner at both locations.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...13&cm_re=dvd_enclosure-_-27-993-013-_-Product

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Nice suggestion, but I don't want to take it back & forth. And the internal LG that I currently use may not work the same once I remove it. If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

 

[LTC8K6]

Nice suggestion, but I don't want to take it back & forth. And the internal LG that I currently use may not work the same once I remove it. If it isn't broken, don't fix it.

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Internal-Rewriter-WH10LS30/dp/B0037FQUMW

 

[Matt_Stevens]

http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Internal-Rewriter-WH10LS30/dp/B0037FQUMW

Okay, I clearly need to be more specific. I have purchased that exact same drive from that exact same seller. it was a coaster manufacturer. Killed five BD blanks in three systems testing it.

Mine, which I bought five years ago, burns everything no problem in any system I try it.

I am looking for something recent,that verifiably burns dual layer BD's.

I've Googled this and no reviews ever mention dual layer burning. Hence my hope that someone here actually burns dual layered media and can tell me what they use.

 

[LTC8K6]

How many different disc brands have you tried?

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Many. It's not a disc brand thing. Verbatim, Ritek, even unbranded. The 5 year old LG burner will burn everything I throw at it. Those same brands fail in the other burners I am sent.

Those burners all burn single layer BD's just fine (as well as 25GB BD rewriteable). It's dual layer that is the issue.

 

[vailr]

Check for burner firmware upgrades, and also try using a different brand (or a more expensive version within a given brand) of recordable disc.
A list of BD burners, sorted by user rating:
http://www.newegg.com/Blu-Ray-Burners/SubCategory/ID-600?Order=RATING
One of the reviewers for the Pioneer BDR-209DBK mentions: "no problems with dual layer media".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ3AD2094

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Check for burner firmware upgrades, and also try using a different brand of recordable disc.
A list of BD burners, sorted by user rating:
http://www.newegg.com/Blu-Ray-Burners/SubCategory/ID-600?Order=RATING
One of the reviewers for the Pioneer BDR-209DBK mentions: "no problems with dual layer media".
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA0AJ3AD2094

Thanks, I have checked NewEggs page and read through them all. What I have been hoping is that someone here burns dual layered media frequently and can tell me what he or she successfully uses.

I tried the two top rated LG decks and they both failed miserably with dual layer burns. Neither ever finished a single one.

It's like my old one is magical. I actually bought two more of them this year and neither would burn dual layered media without errors.

Believe me, I buy the best media. TDK has tended to be the most reliable, but even so you need to pay attention to where the media is created. Anything from India, Pakistan, China tends to be sh*t. So far anything actually made in Japan has resulted in the fewest amount of coasters.

 

[vailr]

It's like my old one is magical. I actually bought two more of them this year and neither would burn dual layered media without errors.

Are these newer burners on the same firmware version as the older one?
There's a free "Nero InfoTool" that can show the firmware versions of optical drives. The latest version of "Nero InfoTool" seems to be: 8.0.1.100. There's a download link at the bottom of this page:
http://forum.my.nero.com/index.php?showtopic=17388

This page rates the Pioneer BDR-2209 highest:
http://www.bestcovery.com/best-blu-ray-writer?sem=3884548241

The details for that drive:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/39196698#about
mentions: "The drive supports the BDXL format, which provides for 128GB quad-layer and 100GB triple-layer Blu-ray disc media." So: a drive with BDXL support would seem to be more likely capable of reliably burning dual-layer discs.

Same model # at Newegg & Amazon:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA3V634N3776
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827129076
http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Electronics-Internal-Blu-Ray-BDR-2209/dp/B00GD792US

Note: one of the reviews on Amazon mentions that the inkjet printable DVD-DL discs (Verbatim MKM-003 8x DVD+R DL) are not as reliable as the non-printable version discs.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

Unfortunately I have to have inkjet printable for my clients. It's a bummer, but what can I do?

The versions of the older LG's I bought were returned after testing.

I actually do have one in a closet. Hmmm... I'll see about which firmware is on them. Thank you for that suggestion. How did I not think of that?

 

[escrow4]

Yes, we do. Physical media is extremely important. My side business wouldn't survive without it. Many people hate dealing with media files, flash discs, etc.

Who? They can't plug in a USB? Or rent a dedicated server and upload what you want there and how your clients FTP from it with Filezilla or use something else in the cloud. Burning is just odd in 2015.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I have the LG 14X OEM BD-RE XL drive from Newegg. I haven't tried burning any DL BR media though. Only SL DVD and BD-R. So far, though, with those, it works flawlessly.

BD-R DL media, to me, seems way too expensive. If I can get BD-R SL media for $0.30/disc or less, paying $2-3 for a DL media seems outrageous. Flash drives seem around as cheap as DL media.

 

[Matt_Stevens]

I have the LG 14X OEM BD-RE XL drive from Newegg. I haven't tried burning any DL BR media though. Only SL DVD and BD-R. So far, though, with those, it works flawlessly.

BD-R DL media, to me, seems way too expensive. If I can get BD-R SL media for $0.30/disc or less, paying $2-3 for a DL media seems outrageous. Flash drives seem around as cheap as DL media.

No question that DL media is insanely expensive. But I can't help what my customers want. They want what they want and it works for me profit wise.

I've ordered the Pioneer mentioned in a post above and should have it Monday. Fingers crossed.

 

[vailr]

Unfortunately I have to have inkjet printable for my clients. It's a bummer, but what can I do?

There's a feature called "light scribe" that can use certain models of burner's laser to write labeling information on the non-data side of the disc. It seems that the Pioneer model 2209 does not include light scribe capability, however.
Maybe using light scribe instead of inkjet printable discs would result in fewer "coasters"?

 

[Matt_Stevens]

I know all about lightscribe. Won't be satisfactory in this situation.

And remember, I don't get any coasters on my main LG burner. I have like a 99% success ratio.

But I have a 100% coaster rate for DL media on the other BD burners I have tried. A full 100%. So something is wrong. Media has nothing to do with it. The same media burns 99% in my 5 years old LG.

 

[LTC8K6]

The 100% failure rate with different drives and different media suggests that the problem is not the burners or the media.

 

[VirtualLarry]

The 100% failure rate with different drives and different media suggests that the problem is not the burners or the media.

Agreed, mostly. It could be a software / driver issue / OS issue, or burning too fast. (Do you manually specify the speed of your burns, or do you just let the drive do it at default (max) speed? That might be the problem right there.)

 

[Matt_Stevens]

I really don't know how many times I have to explain this. The LG burner from five years ago will burn anything and everything in ANY computer I install it. I can put it in any computer on this planet and it will successfully burn dual layered media. I even it in my sister's shitty old computer and successfully burned a BD50 first time out.

However, the other burners I have tried all failed in burning the second layer, or in verifying the second layer. Again, my older LG models works perfectly in all of the same computers.

I'm not so ignorant that I would not try different burning speeds. That's a novice mistake. The media I use is typically 2X-4X. When using my old LG I can burn at 4X with zero problems. In testing the others I have tried all available burning speeds. I always start off at 2X when testing a burner.

People who do not burn dual layer BD's won't understand how difficult it can be to find a reliable burner for such media. I just spoke with a friend of mine who went through five before finding one that did it reliably. He uses the external LG BE14NU40, which goes for around $125.00. It does not get its power from the USB port but from a separate power supply. Should the pioneer I just ordered not work out I will give this a try.

 

[vailr]

That LG model #BE14NU40 also indicates support for BDXL 128GB discs:
http://www.amazon.com/LG-Electronics-Super-Multi-External-BE14NU40/dp/B00ACOQF2Q
Asus:
http://www.amazon.com/Computer-International-Direct-Blu-Ray-BW-16D1HT/dp/B00DWFPDJI/