A1:The DVR-A05 uses the driver included in Window 2000. Also, check that the drive is the only device set to Master or Slave. This issue occurs when two or more devices are jumpered as the Master (MA) or the Slave (SA) on the same ribbon cable. Only one device can be jumpered as a Maser and the other device jumpered as Slave on a shared cable.
A2: Sonic CinePlayer does not currently support playing a DVD-RW disc with the Content Protection of Recordable Media (CPRM). CPRM is a newer copy protection scheme developed for broadcasts so that a transmitted video sequence can only be recorded once and not copied. Pioneer's DVR-A05 is one of several newer devices that recognizes CPRM-capable DVD-RW discs. However, Sonic's CinePlayer does not recognize CPRM technology thus gives the key exchange error message. This message displays even if you have not recorded a CPRM broadcast onto a DVD-RW. To avoid the problem, use DVD-RW media that does not support CPRM or play the DVD-RW with CPRM on another DVD playback application. However, the Pioneer DVR-A05 can interpret CPRM media. Sonic is aware of this issue and is working on a solution.
A3: Yes. Multi-border writing, writing data to a disc in separate sessions, is supported on both DVD-R and DVD-RW media. Two of the software programs bundled with this drive support multi-border writing, Roxio Easy CD Creator and Pinnacle InstantWrite.
A4: When using disc-to-disc copy on the DVR-A05, the bundled programs default to 1X writing because the application does not know if the target disc will support faster writing speeds than 1X. To burn a disc at higher speeds, copy the data to the computer first. Use one of the other copy functions on your software to burn the data from your PC rather than from the original disc.
A5: When the drive is installed in a G4 or other MAC system and is using Toast Titanium, the application version must be Toast 5.2.1 or later. Earlier versions fail to recognize the DVR-A05.
A6: Not all 2X media is certified to work with the DVR-A05. If the media is not a recognized brand it might only burn discs at 1X speeds. This is not a failing but by choice from Pioneer-Japan to provide the highest-quality recordings possible. Recognized brands include the following manufacturers: Pioneer, Mitshi, Verbatim/Mitsubishi, TDK, Panasonic, Maxell, and Tanyo Yuden.
A7: If using Nero on a Windows XP system, the system may automatically reboot towards the end of a recording session. Try turning the Automatic Insert Notification (AIN) feature OFF before starting the burn again. Refer to the Operating System manual for assistance.
A8: Vertias programs were released prior to the introduction of the DVR-A05. Vertias is working towards recognizing the DVR-A05 and will release updates to existing programs or write new programs to support this and later drives.
A9: A free program called the Firmware Version Checker is available from drive's support page on the Pioneer website. The program identifies the model and firmware version. The support page includes downloadable firmware updates as well.
A10: Pinnacle's Instant Write has three "Quick" features; Quick Format, Quick Finalization, and Quick Grow. Quick Format writes a beginning border, a small section of writing area, then an ending border. The media is ready within one minute! Quick Finalization does just what is says – no need to take the time to fully finalize (add lead-out so data equals 1GB) the disc before playing back the content on another device. Quick Grow refers to appending and/or editing content on to a DVD-RW disc in chunks.
A11: The MAC operating system will sometimes report kernel panic errors when the Energy Saver mode is used with non-Apple drives. In most cases the disc in the drive is no longer accessible and can't be ejected. To access the drive, reboot the computer and turn off the Energy Saver option so the drive does not go to sleep. Follow the steps below to turn OFF the sleep option.
1) Launch System Preferences (located under the Apple Menu).
2) Double-click on Energy Saver located under the Hardware section.
3) Click on the Sleep tab.
4) Uncheck the "Put the hard disc to sleep when possible" box.
Another option is to use the slider under "Put the computer to sleep when it is active for" and slide the arrow to 3 hours or Never.
A12: The MAC operating system will sometimes report kernel panic errors when the Energy Saver mode is used with non-Apple drives. In most cases the disc in the drive is no longer accessible and can't be ejected. To access the drive, reboot the computer and turn off the Energy Saver option so the drive does not go to sleep. Follow the steps below to turn OFF the sleep option.
1) Launch System Preferences (located under the Apple Menu).
2) Double-click on Energy Saver located under the Hardware section.
3) Click on the Sleep tab.
4) Uncheck the "Put the hard disc to sleep when possible" box.
Another option is to use the slider under "Put the computer to sleep when it is active for" and slide the arrow to 3 hours or Never.
A13: The simplest way to solve this issue is to upgrade your software to MyDVD 4.0.3. If upgrading is not possible, follow the steps below to correct this error. The problem occurs when registering DLLs on certain systems during installation. To work around this issue, the contents of the three folders listed below need to be copied to the root of the MyDVD target directory.
1) Copy the 46 files from the following folders:
* C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic Shared\Ligos\Decoders
* C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic Shared\Ligos\GoMotion
* C:\Program Files\Common Files\Sonic Shared\MainConcept
2) Paste these files in to the following folder:
* C:\Program Files\Sonic\MyDVD
3) Register all ten .ax files by dragging them into regsvr32.exe (located at C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\REGSVR32.EXE)
A14: Only MACs shipped from Apple with a SuperDrive are able to use these programs. Since the release of iDVD version 1.5, the "i" applications only supports bundled SuperDrives.
A15: This message is generated by the MAC operating system. With Apple OS X, the OS now has support for data recording from the main desktop, just like Windows XP. Ton initialize the disc, drag and drop files then drop them on to the disc icon or in to the trash can. An option window appears asking the user if they would like to either record the files to the media or eject the disc. If 'record the disc' is selected, the files that were originally dropped into the disc icon are recorded. Once this process is done, the drive tray ejects your new data DVD disc. If 'eject the disc' is selected the blank disc ejects and no information is recorded to the disc.
A16: To check drive visibility on DVD Studio Pro, begin a media-burn session. When the application requests the blank media, the program recognizes the drive. If the program fails to ask for a blank disc, contact the application manufacturer, Apple, for further assistance.
A17: Technically the Pioneer-branded drive functions like the Apple SuperDrive. However, the Apple SuperDrive has different firmware version that is released through Apple and the SuperDrive works with Apple's iDVD program.
A18: Pioneer does not have firmware updates for the MAC SuperDrive. Apple provides firmware updates to their optical drives via its Apple updater. The Apple updater is available for both Apple OS 9.2 and OS X.x opeating systems. Users also should have the latest version of their OS.
A19: Apple DVD Player is included with the Apple OS X 10.x but will only work if it was preconfigured from Apple with a DVD-ROM or DVD-R drive. If you have an earlier OS or your G4 was not bundled with a DVD drive, contact Apple for assistance.
A20: To check the drive model, look up the drive description in the Apple System Profiler. Firmware versions of the Apple SuperDrives are different from the Pioneer-branded drives. Refer to the drive support page for Pioneer-branded models' firmware information.