I don't have the coin for a shiny new HDD for my newly-modded Xbox, so I've decided to backup my games by burning copies. After checking some tutorials, I went ahead and did it several different times, as follows:

1) I FTP'd into my 'box (with an original copy of Vice City in the DVD-ROM) with FlashFXP to pull everything off the disc. Once that was complete, I used Qwix to make an ISO out of the folder I put everything into (it doesn't do individual files, just folders, unless I'm mistaken). When the ISO was ready, I used Alcohol 120% to burn to a Memorex 4.7GB DVD-R. It didn't work.

2) With all the same variables as above, I added a dummy file to the tune of 3 gigs to the folder before making an image.

3) I tried burning the original ISO (sans dummy file) with Nero v6.6.

None of these have worked, and before I waste a fourth disc on a Nero burn +Dummy file, I'd like to know if I've done anything wrong. It seems like it should work, I've heard nothing but good things about Qwix.

You need to read the link in my sig about media quality before attempting another burn.

For a future reference, a dummyfile on a xiso isn't needed as they're usually 1gb+ which is plenty enough for the reader to not hassle on, just the media is your rut.

Thanks for the info, both of you. I'll have to remember to check my media for a "made in Japan" marking in the future, and I'll save time from burning pointless files. Just as an update - I checked Newegg for DVD-R's and found a 120 GB HDD on a huge sale for about $15 more, so...yay.

Nice find. I usually don't recommend newegg.com for DVD-R media (although they are having some great sales on Verbatim right now). http://www.rima.com would be my recommendation for ordering DVD-R media online. You can order unbranded Taiyo Yuden (the high quality Japanese made media that you are looking for) without having to bother to look at the packaging as you always get Taiyo Yuden. Rima.com has a customer service reputation that is even just a hair higher than newegg so you can order with complete confidence. If you decide to go the store route, keep an eye out for the sales on 8x Sony DVD-R or DVD+R (made sure to look for the Made In Japan media) as they are also made by Taiyo Yuden.

Also, what do you see on one of the game discs you made when you put it on your computer? You shouldn't see any files on the disc if it burned successfully in GDF format.

Just to check the basics... you are burning the ISO as an image and not just burning the actual ISO to the CD as a file?

I've been having trouble with burning games lately myself. I back-up everything to either my HD or a disk and I usually use UltraISO. I sometimes use Nero 7 as well.

The last batch of games I've done though haven't worked, (The Godfather, Rainbow Six: Critical Hour, and Driver: Parallel Lines), even though I haven't changed my process. What I end up with are DVDs which read as unknown in my Xbox or else I get the "the disc you are using is not an Xbox game..." message. I can see by looking at the back of the dics that something is there and my computer reads the disc as empty (as Mr. Ed pointed out), but they just won't work.

If anyone can tell me why this is it would be appreciated. I mostly use Sony DVD+R or Maxell DVD-RW. I have had no problems with either of these types until recently. In fact, almost every game I've done has been on the Sonys.

Thanks.

i WAS ABLE TO GET EVERY ONE OF THEM GAMES TO WORK BY NOT LOADING THEM INTO THE HD BUT TO LOAD THEM OFF THE D: DRIVE WHILE THERE IN. I USED QUIX-PATCHED THE XBE AND CREATED A WORKING DISC
PS. I DIDNT TRY GODFATHER YET

What do you mean by "patched the xbe"?

He patched the default.xbe. The deal is that a couple of years back, MS made a slight variation to the signed code that they put on their discs so that the traditional XBOX modified bioses (modchip or otherwise) wouldn't be able to read them even if they were copied. Most people who have modded their XBOXs in the last couple of years don't need to worry about this since the newer bioses are prepared for this. Those of us with old bioses though, can circumvent this by patching the default.xbe before burning the ISO. Thereby making the game file itself compatible with the older bios. Does that make sense?

Yes it does actually. Thanks for taking the time to type all that out.