[mythtv-users] mytharchive creates invalid disc

[Brian Wood]

On Dec 17, 2006, at 4:33 PM, Paul Harrison wrote:

> Peter Abplanalp wrote:
>> all,
>>
>> i've just created my first dvd using mytharchive and gxine seems  
>> to be able to open and play it just fine; however, when i put the  
>> dvd in a normal, stand alone dvd player, the player says it is an  
>> invalid disc.  can anyone shed some light on why this is?
>>
>> thanks,
>>
>>
> That could be down to the media you are using. I have seen something
> similar when using some cheap and nasty discs, they would play fine in
> one standalone player but would nearly always fail in another. Using
> better quality discs works 100% in both players I have.

Compatibility with standalone consumer DVD players has always been a  
bit slippery, and will never be 100%. Paul's comment about media is  
quite valid. A few other points:

The newer the DVD player the better the chances it will play a  
"burned" disk. Some players specifically state that they will play  
DVD-Rs and/or DVD+Rs, but the lack of such a statement doesn't  
necessarily mean they won't play them.

Make sure you have the latest firmware installed in your DVD burner,  
especially if burning at 16x or faster.

Burning at slower speeds sometimes increases compatibility.

Players with dirty lenses will fail to play burned disks before they  
fail to play pressed ones. Clean the player lens with either a  
cleaning disk or "traditional" methods.

Some players have problems with disks that have only a small amount  
of video on them. Sometimes adding "padding" in the form of an extra  
video clip or two will help.