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DVD backup failure
I have burned my EX1 clips to DL DVDs. Unfortunatly, this process seems to be not so stable as I thought it would be. Now it seems that several of these DVDs are not possible to use.
– when copying in the Finder to an external HDD, it suddenly stops when copying the .MP4-file, with errorcode -36.
– XDCam Transfer cannot play from the DVD
– copying with XDCam Browser to another folder suddenly stops with the message that another application is using the file (!).
The Disk Utility doesn´t find any errors on the DVD.
Obviously the verification process right after the burning of the DVD is not enough. One should play the clips one or both of the XDCAM applications immediatly after burning.
Now I know …
… but what can I do to save the clips on the failing DVDs? Are there applications or facilities for this? Or are they lost forever?
TIA
Sverker Hahn, Stockholm
Slower is better!
Sony EX1
Final Cut Studio 2
iMac Intel -
13 Replies
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Some of these DVDs may be seen in XDCam Transfer I try to import smaller subclips, finally finding the bad frames. This means that the long clips (20 min) will be reduced to some ten minutes. This is not good, but I have no option so far …
Sverker Hahn, Stockholm
Slower is better!
Sony EX1
Final Cut Studio 2
iMac Intel
MacBook Pro 15″ -
Wish I could help more but sorry to say I could never recommend DVD-Rs as backup media for footage. Maybe as a secondary backup but never the primary- for this exact reason. they are highly susceptible to scratching or breakage and if not burned with verification can contain unreadable errors.
Instead I’d go tape backups like LTO, DLT and then hard drives in order of preference.
Noah
My FCP Blog. Unlock the secrets of the DVX100, HVX200 and Apple Color and Win a Free Letus Extreme.
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https://www.callboxlive.com -
They were properly verified, no scratching, no breakage.
Quite disappointing that technique is so unreliable – I have had several HDD breakdowns …
So I will look into your suggested line-up of backup solutions.
Sverker Hahn, Stockholm
Slower is better!
Sony EX1
Final Cut Studio 2
iMac Intel
MacBook Pro 15″ -
Not all brands are the same. I use Verbatim R+ DL-DVD 95123 and they’ve been reliable so far.
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I have had weird errors like that before when copying to an external firewire drive. Try copying it to the DVD-R contents to the desktop (or anywhere on the internal system drive) then copy it to the external drive. I hope it works for you.
Cheers,
Nick
I wish I was good at one thing rather than average at many, but oh well.
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I have tried to first copy to the internal drive. No luck.
This DVD-try is not longer attractive to me. Slow, unreliable.
Right now I have mirrored 1 TB hard disk drives. Tape solutions seem to have high initial costs, even the tapes are quite expensive. It is easy to store the tapes elsewhere, but an extra hard drive stored elsewhere is just as easy, isn´t it?
And in the field – one or two USB-disks with 320 GB (WD Passport) are enought for even two weeks of travel, at least for me.
I have found a company in my area that specializes in recovering CDs/DVDs/HDDs. Some $90 for examining a DVD – but I have more than 10 🙁
Sverker Hahn, Stockholm
Slower is better!
Sony EX1
Final Cut Studio 2
iMac Intel
MacBook Pro 15″ -
Please mention the brand(s) involved because sometimes it a manufacturer issue. Not all DL-DVDs are of the same quality.
One can have bad tape stock. That does not mean all tape is bad. One can have a hard drive crash. That does not mean all hard drives are equally risky.
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The brand is Aone. Not expensive, and I have had some that wasn´t verified properly and therefore trashed. But I thought that a properly done verification process should be trusted …
I complained about these DVDs to the dealer. He thought that the SuperDrive in the new MacBook Pro could be the culprit, since he had this experience with his own MacBook. Could this be true? Can this drive be tested?
And talking about faulty hard disk drives: of the four Iomega 1 TB drives I have purchased, only one is still alive. Yes, everything will go wrong, given time …
Sverker Hahn, Stockholm
Slower is better!
Sony EX1
Final Cut Studio 2
iMac Intel
MacBook Pro 15″ -
https://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm
If it isn’t in the 1st class category the disc is the risk and likely the issue. DVD-DL is VERY SECURE if you get good discs.
I get Verbatim only and if I had to chose another it would be Taiyo Yuden.
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Craig is spot on here. Not all DVD media is created equal and you have to be sure you don’t get stufff that says it’s Verbatim or Taiyo but is actually just some cheap counterfeit brand using their code. Around the industry Taiyo Yuden is accepted as the best quality optical media. Verbatim are very good but you can still get the odd bad batch as they use other factories outside their own (strictly supervised) to produce media and brand label it. Taiyo do not use this process. Do not buy of eBay unless you know the dealer to be reputable.
Verifying disks (as you have discovered) is no guarantee that they will still work a week from now. Cheaper brands use dyes that deteriorate over time.
Try using a program like DVD Decrypter on a PC to see if you can do a sector by sector copy of your files. Try a different disk drive – some drives may pick up the data better than others. If the disk surface has been handled at all (they shouldn’t be) try washing the disk in warm soapy water and using a soft cloth to blot it dry. Don’t use tissues unless they are lens cleaning grade as others contain wood fibres which can scratch the disk. Never wipe or clean in a circular motion – always straight across the disk from the centre to the outside.
Apart from BluRay and DVD I see no other viable long term storage for digital data. Hard drives are less reliable than good quality optical media.
Sorry about your problems.
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