DVD Player - Disk Type Not Supported - Combining multiple CDs on a single DVD

[BocaDave]

Do any of you wonderful folks have an idea that will accomplish my goal of putting multiple music CDs on a single DVD, and getting my Genesis to recognize and play the music?

Here's some background on the problem, and what I tried to accomplish (unsuccessfully) so far:

I have hundreds of hours of music on my PC, virtually all originally "ripped" from CDs. The CDs were originally copied by "ripping" them to my PC in WMA (Windows Media Audio) format on my PC.

I copied the music to a single DVD, still in WMA format, thinking (incorrectly) that they could be played on my cars DVD player, fitting dozens of CDs worth of music on a single DVD.

The DVD loaded with music worked fine on my PC, and on another PC, but didn't work at all on my car's DVD player. I got an error message on the display - "Disk Error - Disk Type Not Supported."

I like to drive cars, and use computers, but I'm certainly not expert in either field.

Do you have any idea that will accomplish my goal of putting multiple music CDs on a single DVD, and getting my Genesis to recognize and play the music?

Thanks

 

[billybojangles]

Convert the music from WMA to MP3 (Google it) and then burn a regular Data Disc using a DVD.. Any of the normal burning softwares can do it. (Nero, Roxio, hell Windows can even do it. ..)

 

[ctrcbob]

Convert the music from WMA to MP3 (Google it) and then burn a regular Data Disc using a DVD.. Any of the normal burning softwares can do it. (Nero, Roxio, hell Windows can even do it. ..)

A friend of mine did this exact thing for me. (I'm a computer dummy). He took a few of my Music CD's and put them on a blank CD in the MP3 format. I.E. I now have MP3CD's in my 6 Disc Player. Each MP3CD holds what was on at least 5, 6 or 7 CD's.

The player in the car recognizes that the discs are in MP3CD format, and the screen shows what songs in in the "folder" being played at the time. "Folder" means the same as what was a CD, so each MP3CD may have 5 or 6 or 7 "folders" in it. Took me a while to learn how to use it and to see what songs I had on each disc, but I listen to it often on my long trips, when I'm not listening to XM.

BTW, the reason I say 5 or 6 or 7 regular CD's, is because I only gave him 35 or 36 CD's to convert to MP3CD's. Each MP3CD may take even more. I don't know. Like I said before, I'm a computer dummy.

 

[mcconh]

I have the same car (2010 premium with NAV).

I have a DVD audio disc that will play (586 tracks 32 hours). It is a Slide Show DVD with AC3 Dolby Digital sound, authored with Pro Show Producer. Each CD is loaded as a single AC3 file with slide show pictures and it is/was played on my TV/Stereo as a movie. Different themes ie. Jazz, Country, Rock etc. could be selected on the master menu. A theme or a single CD could be selected and it would play them in order.

I just tried the DVD and it plays the menus/slides/music when the car is parked and plays the music/CD type menu while moving. I was quite surprised that it did work in audio only while moving.

If you want AC3 sound it can be done but it is a lot of work.

My solution was to put most of my Music collection on to a 16GB USB flash drive authored in MP3 format. This is much simpler than the DVD method.

Now that I know it works I will also use my two Audio DVDS that I completed a few years ago. The sound quality is a lot better with the AC3.

 

[billybojangles]

I stick to the USB flash drive..

I just don't like how it snaps back to the top of the list moving between folders..

 

[sherrod]

I stick to the USB flash drive..

I just don't like how it snaps back to the top of the list moving between folders..

Yep. I find that annoying too. The "Back" button should move up a level and select the last folder in the next higher level folder. Having to scroll down from the top every time is annoying.

 

[BocaDave]

Thanks to all of you for your quick and useful responses to my question. You are truly an amazing group of folks!

I was able to find a number of free converter downloads on the CNET web site, after doing a Google Search.

Here's a link to one of them. If it doesn't handle batch conversions, I'll try other downloads, but I think it will do the trick.

http://download.cnet.com/Free-Mp3-Wma-Converter/3000-2140_4-10442362.html?tag=mncol;pop

Does anyone have a favorite piece of converter software they recommend?

I'll post my results this weekend, after trying a few alternative programs.

Thanks again

 

[Disaster]

You don't need to download anything. Any Windows machine will rip CD's into WMA or MP3 format. It is an option in Mediaplayer. Likewise, you can download Itunes for free and set it up to rip to mp3 (by default it uses Apple's proprietary MP4 format.)

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/knowledgecenter/mediaadvice/0080.mspx

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/how_do_i_have_itunes_rip_cds_into_mp3_format.html

http://www.askdavetaylor.com/produce_mp3_files_from_a_cd_with_windows_media_player.html

 

[Pahaska]

WMA works perfectly fine in my 2009 TAU, both on a USB stick and on a DVD.

 

[QCTLG]

Regarding MP3's...

If you want the best possible sounding MP3's ripped from a CD, you owe it to yourself to use:
EAC (Exact Audio Copy)
and LAME to compress to MP3.

It's not the easiest to use but once properly setup the quality of the rips will make your Genny beautiful.

Regards,

______________________________

Help support this site so it can continue supporting you!

 

[Sayantsi]

Do you really need to convert your WMA manually? I know WMA sucks as a format, but I'd think your music library application would do the converting for you if you chose a music-DVD to burn to. Do you not have that option in your music app? Are you using Windows Media Player? If so, you are out of luck...

Otherwise, if you still have the original CDs, you will be better served by re-ripping them into a proper format like mp3 or mp4. Something like 256VBR mp3 is a good balance between fidelity and file size.

WMA is not a standard and it does not compress as well, and by copying from a compressed format to another compressed format you will end up with dull sound - you will have lost too much fidelity going to WMA, and then to mp3.

Right now, you are probably best off just using a USB drive so you can play your music as is without much hassle and without losing any more sound quality.

 

[Sayantsi]

It is an option in Mediaplayer. Likewise, you can download Itunes for free and set it up to rip to mp3 (by default it uses Apple's proprietary MP4 format.)

Mp4 isn't an Apple proprietary format although it is based on Apple's Quicktime ISO standard. Mp4 is an ISO standard, but not as well-known as the mp3 format. Mp3 is around 20 years old, mp4 is around 5 years old. Mp4 offers superior compression to mp3. AAC is also a superior open ISO standard, but few hardware devices support it, so you don't see many AAC files.

Apple is the only company that widely uses mp4, which is why its strongly associated with it. M4p and M4a are also mp4, the proprietary format is m4p, and m4a is commonly used for audio files. M4v is for video... They are all the same file format however.

WMA was windows attempt at making its own proprietary codec, but it is inferior to the mp3/mp4 codecs. Most people use it because it is the default codec in Windows Media Player and they never change it to a better format.

 

[Disaster]

WMA is not a standard and it does not compress as well, and by copying from a compressed format to another compressed format you will end up with dull sound - you will have lost too much fidelity going to WMA, and then to mp3.

WMA is better than MP3, and arguably, equal to MP4. MP3 is the oldest of the standards and requires higher bit rates to achieve the same quality. I assumed he was going to be ripping from the original CDs. If not, he only has to copy them to a CD and burn it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Windows_Media_Audio

Like AAC and Ogg Vorbis, WMA was intended to address perceived deficiencies in the MP3 standard. Given their common design goals, it's not surprising that the three formats ended up making similar design choices. All three are pure transform codecs.

Mp4 isn't an Apple proprietary format although it is based on Apple's Quicktime ISO standard. Mp4 is an ISO standard, but not as well-known as the mp3 format. Mp3 is around 20 years old, mp4 is around 5 years old. Mp4 offers superior compression to mp3. AAC is also a superior open ISO standard, but few hardware devices support it, so you don't see many AAC files.

Apple is the only company that widely uses mp4, which is why its strongly associated with it. M4p and M4a are also mp4, the proprietary format is m4p, and m4a is commonly used for audio files. M4v is for video... They are all the same file format however.

WMA was windows attempt at making its own proprietary codec, but it is inferior to the mp3/mp4 codecs. Most people use it because it is the default codec in Windows Media Player and they never change it to a better format.

When I was referring to Apple's proprietary format I was talking about, ACC, a proprietary format of MP4. It is not compatible with any player but Apples. If you want compatibility with most players you need to use MP3 or WMA.

WMA is NOT inferior to MP3. Yes, it is MS's attempt to set it's own proprietary format, but everything MS touches isn't crap. While MP3 has remained stagnent, MS kept developing WMA into a better and better compression algorithm. You will find technical proof to this on the web.

Because, MS is such a big force, WMA is played by most modern audio players, including the Genesis's system. Apple, however, chose not to play it's rivals format.

I am always amused at how much people will argue over the tiniest difference between one standard or another when, meanwhile, people will download horrible, compressed rips from the web, and be happy. The reality is most people can't hear the difference unless there is huge differences in quality and they are in a quiet environment with a very good audio system.