Can anyone help this novice please?
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I'm having extreme difficulty copying these dvd-r's produced by
the DMR-ES35V system, i don't know how the Panasonic recorder
formats the discs but i have tried repeatedly (using nero 6) to
either burn as an image file or copy on the fly, and always get
the same error report:
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! 5:14:45 PM Burn Process Started at 4x (5,520 KB/s)
x 5:23:20 PM 5 - DVD-ROM
Cannot write track at correct position with this recorder
- 5:23:20 PM Invalid field command
x 5:23:20 PM Could not perform fixation
- 5:23:20 PM Invalid field command
x 5:23:20 PM Could not perform fixation
x 5:23:20 PM Burn Process failed at 4x (5,520 KB/s)
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This is my second dvd writer (samsung - writemaster & LG 20x Lightscribe) to
produce these kinds of error messages (other error message was: could not
find start command) when using 'ONLY' the Panasonic copied discs ...all other
dvd's copy without problem ...so just wondering if anyone can shed some light
on this for us? :confused: ...many thanks!

In most things, Nero sucks. Go to this site and download a copy of DVD Decrypter (http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/). Use this program to rip an .ISO image of your disk to your PC HDD. Then use it to burn the image to a new disk -- make sure you have the verify box checked. I have used it to burn hundreds of disks. If this doesn't work, there is something wrong with the original.

I do not use Nero software so I can not address that specific situation.

I use Roxio 8 Suite on one Dell and Roxio 9 Suite on my other Dell. These Dells have NEC 3520 and 3550 DVD burners.

I use a variety of Panasonics, mostly DMR-ES35V, DMR-ES30V, DMR-ES15 and DMR-EZ17.

I have found occasional difficulty making a direct copy of a DVD originally recorded on a Panasonic when the final title is a Flexible Recording instead of one of the "regular" speeds. This difficulty may usually be overcome by using DVD Shrink (a freeware download from a UK website) to save that DVD content to a dedicated folder on the Dell hard drive and then copy the audio and video folders to a blank DVD with Roxio. Now and then one of the Panasonic recorded DVDs will fail during the "open disc" or "backup" phases in the DVD Shrink program. In that instance the only way to "copy" the DVD content is to play the DVD in real time on one machine and record it on another.

A couple other suggestions:


Try reducing the burn speed
Try different media

In most things, Nero sucks. Go to this site and download a copy of DVD Decrypter (http://www.dvddecrypter.org.uk/). Use this program to rip an .ISO image of your disk to your PC HDD. Then use it to burn the image to a new disk -- make sure you have the verify box checked. I have used it to burn hundreds of disks. If this doesn't work, there is something wrong with the original.
There is also a new, updated version of ImgBurn out now. It will do everyhing DVD Decrytper does.

The discs my Toshibas make have some sort of VERY slight "irregularity" (not sure if I want to call it "copy protection" as I don't know quite what it is) that both DVD Decrypter and AnyDVD pick up-- not sure if that's what could be causing the issues. That said, when I make copies of discs I've made on the Toshibas, I use DVD Decrypter and have absolutely no problems.

I don't think ImgBurn does any sort of "correction" like this--which is why it's allowed to exist after Decrypter got wiped out. (it's a fantastic program but I don't know if it would help in this specific instance)

You really cannot copy DVD's "on the fly" unless your PC is configured specifically for that. I'd use the DVDDecryptor approach to rip and burn an ISO.
OR, just copy the files off the disc in Explorer, then use Nero to burn a video compilation with the files. There should be VOB, IFO, and BUP files on the disc.

I've had problems making copies of recordings that I made with my ES40VS. I answered this in another thread that Mickymike wrote in but here it is again.

What I noticed is if I make a recording that takes up all of the space on the disc, then I cannot make a copy. For example, if I record a 2 hour program in the SP mode, then I can't make a copy. If I use the flex mode and leave 5 minutes of blank space, then I'm ok. This was so frustrating after I first used my Panny to transfer my camcorder tapes and I wanted to make copies. My solution was to stop camcorder recordings at 55 minutes or use the flex time and leave blank space.

For my TV recordings, I bought a Philips 3505. I did notice that I always have four minutes left after recording a two hour show in the SP mode. I haven't tried to record all the 2 hours 4 minutes to see if I have the same problem.

I don't know if my problem is related to yours or not.

Many thanks for the wealth of information that has been submitted ...much appreciated, will also look at the DVD Decrypter option ...sounds good! The interesting thing i've discovered recently is that the dvd-rs that my samsung & LG writers won't copy ...my friends ASUS dvd/cd writer will copy, also using the same Nero 6 software without problem...so possibly the fault lies with the device ...prior to this i have tried copying on my sysytem via the following applications;
on the fly at 4x speed , i have also tried image files at 4x speed and the 'nero failure' recordings copied have all been half of the dvd-rs capacity (4.7 gb) size coming in at around 2gb (SP - 1.5 HRS - APPROX)...so size or speed i'snt the issue here i think ...its got to be device & software compatibility ...ok so we're not so experienced with the dvd decrypter option ...so when converted and when you drag / drop the files (vob/iso,etc) into nero's 'data copy' box how do i increase the size as it looks like the files are too big for nero using this method ...sorry for my novice
approach, thanks again for all assistance provided:), mike.

RE: You really cannot copy DVD's "on the fly" unless your PC is configured specifically for that. I'd use the DVDDecryptor approach to rip and burn an ISO.
OR, just copy the files off the disc in Explorer, then use Nero to burn a video compilation with the files. There should be VOB, IFO, and BUP files on the disc.
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Thanks 4 that ..although i don't have problems copying normal dvd's on the fly ...they all come out no probs! ...cheers.

Wristpad2,

Are you using DVD+R media?

From what I understand there are headroom issues with DVD+R media that do not affect DVD-R media.

This may be a particular problem with the DMR-ES40V as it reports DVD remaining recording time differently than the same DVD placed in other 2005 (and newer) Panasonic models.

Thanks Digado ...but yes we are using DVD-R blanks, cheers and thnx again 4 support :-)

DigaDo, I'm using DVD-R with my Panasonic. I didn't like using +Rs because the files had a weird time stamp from many years ago (instead of having a time stamp on the day I recorded it). I tried using several programs on my PC. What I discovered was that most of the files (VBO, etc.) could not be seen by the software, therefore could not be copied. I decided to stick with using the Flex Mode and my new Philips now.

AS you look into this further, forget about "recording time" and focus on the # of bytes on the disks. That's the only thing that matters. It is possible that the ES-35 is over-burning the DVD. If that is the case, software programs usually don't suport that unless specifically enabled which would lead to your copy problems.

cheers for that, but the video footage (music videos) that i'm transferring are only around 1 hour - 1.30 minutes long ...so this should not be a problem? ...thnx 4 support :)

cheers for that, but the video footage (music videos) that i'm transferring are only around 1 hour - 1.30 minutes long ...so this should not be a problem? ...thnx 4 support :)Again, time is meaningless, byte count is all that matters. From my experience, the magic number for a full capacity DVD-R is 4,571,696KB.