New issue with Sony DVD Architect.

I have been enjoying using Sony's $39 DVD Architect program for burning 2496 wav files on to DVD-Rs for compilation discs. Now I have a problem and Sony has not responded with any ideas yet.

I have gone back and cleaned out my temp files and fragmented my HD. I also uninstalled the software and re- installed it.

After adding my files and insuring I have no error messages I now get a message: An error has occurred while writing the file. A reason for the error could not be determined.

When I preview the files they play perfectly, in sequence with no issues. I am hoping I do not have an underlying issue cropping up with my computer.

I did a complete back up of my computer on 4 DVDs just the other day in the middle of trying to trouble shoot this and had no issues, and I have burned CD with no issues as well.

Any ideas appreciated. This is a great, affordable hires file burning program, so I think it is at my end.

 

So I went back and cut back the number of tracks to 2. The disc burned this time, but between the tracks I get a loud burst of white noise from the left channel then silence, then the right channel, then silence, then then the right, then left, then both, and then the 2nd track begins to play.

 

I don't miss the Windows operating system. In answering your question, I would check, using Task Manager, what other applications are running in the background while running the Sony software. Have you recently updated Windows OS or drivers lately? If so, you may want to roll back to previous version until Sony updates their software. Have you tried running the software in Safe Mode(although DVD burning may be disabled)?

 

Not a solution to your problem but an alternative even if just until the issue is behind you:
http://audioplex.sourceforge.net/

lplex has worked well for me. A restriction is that it only writes files in filename order; not a problem when writing an entire folder where filenames are typically of the form "01 - Song Title.flac" but it will take a few extra steps if you are doing a compilation (i.e. copy original files and rename them in the order you wish, or create a project script).

 

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The only thing running is DVD Architect. In looking at the performance monitor my processor is running at just over 60% which cannot be good. I am more concerned that since this is a "writing" issue that my HD may be showing signs of trouble brewing. I am now running CC cleaner and totally wiping the empty space on my drive.

There have been some Windows updates, but I have not added anything that I can think of that would cause this. It worked fine for a long time.

 

How much free space on your drive? rather than wasting DVD-R discs, if you have DVD-RW trying burning test discs to it until you have sorted out the problem. Try other brands of DVDs too.

 

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I have over 244G of 449Gs of free space and the issue is "writing" as I never get to burning the discs when I have 4 tracks in the Que. The disc drive never starts spinning unless it is only 2 tracks, and then the errors start when that disc is played. It does not display errors when writing or burning only 2 files. I would think that "writing" is a HD problem, or is that not right?

Maybe it is my drive that is going bad? Every thing worked fine up until this past week or so. I have never had any issues with any Sony media, either DVD-Rs or Cds,.

 

Jim, check the Event Log in Windows, it may show a device or software error for the time frame you were working

 

I'm thinking it may be a disk caching error. While I like CCleaner as a program, I think you need a stronger, more comprehensive cleaning utility program. Before you wipe the drive and re-install Windows, I would delete the Windows paging file(I assume this is Windows XP operating system). Delete the paging file and re-start Windows, it make a complete new one. Just as a test, try to burn a disc using another burning software and see if the error returns.

 

I'm not trying to sell you on lplex when you already have something you like but trying it would confirm whether there is a general "writing" error or something specific to the Sony application. Couldn't be easier: download the lplex zip, unzip it, drag/drop your folder of 24/96 files onto the lplex icon. If all goes well it will take about 6 min to burn an album to a DVD-ROM ISO file.

If you need the 32-bit version it is here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/audioplex/files/lplex/0.3/lplex-0.3-win32.zip/download

 

OK - not a lack of space issue. You are saying that the problem occurs during the creation of the disc image (on the hard drive), not the burning process. A couple of suggestions - try creating a new user account and see if the problem persists. If it doesn't, then something in the user settings for your original account is messed up. Try creating a disc with the same track (that appears to have no issues) repeated several times.

It doesn't sound too serious. Worst case is either a reinstall of the software or a new DVD burner ($30). Sony Creative Software is very good about reauthorizing an install - even if you have done it a gazillion times.

 

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Win 7 64 bit.

 

If it's faster, you could try burning at 4x.

 

Hi Jim

Just to confirm, the file system you're writing these images to is NTFS, not FAT32, correct?

 

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I does not appear to be a burning issue, and the slowest I can go is 8X and the fastest is 16X which I never do. I keep getting a "writing error" and the burner is not spinning during this writing process...it seems.

 

Jim,
If this is the same computer that you've posted about recently, then it's likely slowly failing hardware. The most likely culprit is the HDD, but it could be other components too. You could try to salvage the computer by replacing parts, but it may be better (time and cost) to purchase a new one.

 

I was able to get rid of WSERocket with SpyHunter 4 and my wife has a bunch of stuff on her computer as it is running now.

 

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I installed SpyHunter 4 and cleaned out WSERocket and other stuff.
I uninstalled DVDArchitect and reinstalled it and it is doing the same, showing a "writing error" before the DVD drive can be heard operating, so it may be the HD going.

This is exactly why I gave up computer recording years ago.

 

Jim, I do not think you have a failing hard drive. I've seen a similar thing myself, but I set aside any deeper examination due to other more pressing and entertaining needs. I've heard the playback "white noise" as well, though my dimmish memory recalls it occurring on my Oppo "93"...but not on my Marantz DV9500 (for the same 24/96k DVD).

It will take several days before I can turn any attention to this. For diagnostic purposes, I have DVD Architect Pro running both on a Vista/64 machine and on a Win 7 Pro/64 machine. No guarantees, but I may gain some insight (and I now know two different ways DVD Architect can burn 24/96k audio disks).

In the interim, can you tell me if you have modified the procedure I initially passed on to you for burning such disks? It may be that one of the two methods I know produces more generally (read: Oppo) successful results than the other. Any methodology specific information you can pass on to me would be more than useful.

 

Once I open the program I hit "new" and then "compilations" . In the bottom "Explorer" tab I then move my files to the lower right area. On the lower compilations tab is will show your files in order of placement. If you click timeline it will show your files in order of play as well with timing marks.

On the top right if you click "end action" I click and change that to music video and below that your first track should be high lighted. On "remote buttons" I go to "Menu" and turn it off. If I don't do that I get a blue message icon as I begin the burning menu. You can click on the "preview" tab and see if all your tracks play in sequence and mine do just fine.

Let me know how that works for you. I get to about 40% and I get a "writing" error which may mean my hard drive is going(?) , except that I can burn CDs just fine in Sony SoundForge and I just did a 4-DVD back of my system with no burning issues.

I just don't know what is going on and Sony has not gotten back to me with any ideas. Good luck.

 

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Drive is NTFS

 

Jim, I'm just confirming I've seen your procedure post. Thank you for it, I believe you've provided good and useful data.

I will respond in this thread once I've conducted some analysis. Let me repeat, I do not believe you have a failing hard drive...nor do I believe you have a failing disk burner.

 

Sony asked me for the DAR file to see if they can come up with a reason for this happening. I wish I was more software savy, but it becomes troublesome when something worked and now it does not. And that is even after a clean re-install.

I was hoping that when I was able to use SpyHunter4 and get rid of malware from WSERocket that would solve my problems, but SpyHunter4 did a good job of wiping my computer and everything else works great except DVDArchitect. My wife had 3 times more malware in her computer than I did, but she surfs the internet way more than I do. I probably should download their registry cleaner, but the programs for that I have now seem to work fine.

I'll keep you posted. It is probably some embedded setting that is off.

 

Reinstalling does not mean that incorrect preferences are written over.

 

Jim, I'm ready to report back. It should be possible for you to make up a playable DVD of 24/96k files with your DVD Architect, and I'll pass that on, but first some things I learned.

By way of our respective systems, you have Sony DVD Architect (Studio) 5.0 on a 64 bit Windows 7 system. For a DVD player, I think I've seen that you use an Oppo, though I don't recall which model. I conducted my research on a 64 bit Windows Vista system and on a 64 bit Windows 7 Professional system. On both systems, I have Sony DVD Architect Pro 5.2 as well as Sony DVD Architect Pro 6.0 (both supplied as part of various Sony Vegas Pro purchases). From my reading of all respective DVD Architect manuals, I believe the primary difference between the "Studio" and "Pro" versions is that the "Pro" versions also support mastering and burning Blu-ray media...nevertheless, there is a common layout to all versions and, Blu-ray excepted, common functionality. I expect that in relation to the problem you have surfaced, my version 5.2 is most like your version 5.0. For players, I made use of an Oppo BDP-93 (Blu-ray), a Marantz DV9500 (DVD), and a Panasonic DMP-BDT500 (Blu-ray)...these are my players and I'm familiar with their operation. If I don't quite have your setup in all respects, I think I can approximate yours to a reasonable degree, and I have enough variations I can come to some broader conclusions.

The method you are now using to make 24/96k DVDs is reasonable, and it is what I followed for my testing of your problem...until I decided to try some variations. I generally did not master and burn DVDs in a single step. If I could successfully prepare a project to a hard drive folder, then I would go ahead and burn appropriate folder files to a DVD.

Using Vista 64, Win 7 64, and Architect Pro 5.2: every single time, I mean every time, the preparation was stopped by DVD Architect, and the following pop-up message was provided:

Warning: An error occurred while writing a file.
The reason for the error could not be determined.

(And an "OK" button on the pop-up let me confirm the message, oh joy.)


However, using the identical 24/96k .wav files with Vista 64, Win 7 64, and Architect Pro 6.0: every single time the preparation ran to a natural completion. And I was then able to burn the results to a functioning 24/96k DVD. Well, except for one thing anyway. While the DVD would play entirely as expected on both my Marantz and Panasonic players, the Oppo player had some intermittent problems. On the Oppo player, it would play a few files successfully, then a file was played where white noise strongly overlaid the music. If I used the remote skip button to go back to the start of the noisy track, the white noise would stop and the track would play normally. A few tracks later, the white noise would start again...and the white noise could again be cleared by skipping back to the new track's start. Using the remote's track skip buttons to skip around on the DVD always produced correctly playing files. It was only when letting a track naturally complete and naturally progress to the next track that there would be white noise on the Oppo (but not every time, only some times). When white noise occurred, it was never after a track already started correctly, it was always at the instant the track started. My belief is that there is something DVD Architect puts in the track transitions that throws the Oppo, but doesn't throw the Marantz or the Panasonic. (Though on the Marantz and Panasonic I might hear a very brief and quiet "tick" at a selection start.)

One more experiment that occurred to me, then my overall conclusion. In the next post (to provide some separation from this post,) I'll pass along a DVD Architect procedure (a slightly modified version of a process you and I once worked out) which should give you the capability to make playable 24/96k DVDs.

Okay, my final experiment...

My Windows 7 Professional 64 has the capability to run what is referred to as a "virtual machine". In that virtual machine, I am able to run a Microsoft provided capability of Windows XP Professional 32. Within that "virtual XP 32" I can install 32 bit versions of (older) programs intended for Windows. My thought was that maybe DVD Architect 5.0/5.2 was at its best in a 32 bit operating environment. While my Architect 5.2 provides all the features I normally make use of in 64 bit, maybe some features weren't transitioned correctly from 32 bit to 64 bit. I installed DVD Architect Pro 5.2 within my Window 7's "virtual XP 32", and used the same 24/96k .wav files I'd been using for Vista 64 and Windows 7 64 analysis. In a 32 bit environment, DVD Architect 5.2 ran to a normal completion, and I was able to burn the results to a DVD! Unfortunately, the DVD had the same "white noise" characteristics on my Oppo 93 as 64 bit DVD Architect Pro 6.0 results.

Conclusion: DVD Architect 5.0/5.2 has not been well transitioned from a 32 bit to a 64 bit operating system. Some features do not run correctly. These 64 bit problems seem to have been cleared with DVD Architect Pro 6.0, but unfortunately DVD Architect 5.0 is the highest standard $40 version. Nevertheless, if DVD Architect 5.0 is installed in a 32 bit system, all features (should) function as designed. But there is still the Oppo situation. Is it my Oppo alone? (I think not.) Is it Oppo BDP-93s only? (I suspect not, but I cannot say with any certainty.) My strong suspicion is that something about the DVD Architect "compilation mode" track to track transitions sometimes triggers a "white noise" effect in all Oppos. As Oppos are upgraded for improved audio/video quality, the underlying operational firmware remains without significant change.

You do not have a failing hard drive.

Next post, Jim, a way that DVD Architect will work.