CD burning problem

[Tom41]

Recently I started to have a problem with the CD recorder on my main PC. I make the compilation, put the CD in and it records the disc without any signs of trouble. If I then take the CD to another computer and try to read it, it reads the first 200MB fine... and anything after that is unreadable (eventually stops with the 'cannot read from source' message). This also affects audio CDs - the first few tracks are fine, the rest either skip a lot or don't play at all.

Burning on a different computer (e.g. my Mac laptop or the PC at work), the CDs read perfectly - which leads me to think the CD recorder drive is faulty. I've tried cleaning the lens using one of those special discs with brushes mounted on it, but it doesn't seem to have helped. It's also odd how the first 200MB burn properly and nothing after it.

I seriously doubt this is a bad cap problem, but you never know! The PC in question has a motherboard packed with Rubycons - no bulging or spilling, and the PSU has recently been replaced (it had bad caps). Perhaps the bad power from the previous PSU caused some damage? Having said that though, this CD burning problem started some time before the PSU died.

I posted this in General Computer Discussion because it is, well, a general computer issue

[willawake]

Re: CD burning problem

what drive is it?

could be a cap issue https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...8&highlight=cd

or some other issue
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...0&highlight=cd
https://www.badcaps.net/forum/showth...7&highlight=cd

anyway if thats your main burner, best to replace.

[tiresias]

Re: CD burning problem

Recently I started to have a problem with the CD recorder on my main PC.

Hi Tom,

The problems you mention could be caused by any one of many possible faults with the mechanics or logic of the burner itself, some of which wouldn't be particularly easy to isolate and 'troubleshoot'.

On the other hand, I have a number of times been able to "miraculously cure" a seemingly dead or generally malfunctioning optical drive by following either of these two steps.

1. (Re)flash, or update, the drive's firmware. I had a "NU"-brand (generic, I guess) DVD writer which had never worked particularly well, it was very slow, would see nonexistent 'errors', and corrupt DVDs during writes. Flashing its firmware from 1.01 to 1.03 cured all these problems.

2. Check the IDE cable! A defective data cable will cause all manner of weird and wonderful symptoms.

[Per Hansson]

Re: CD burning problem

Yea, what he said^^

But have you ever been able to write good discs with these CD's?

Perhaps your burner simply does not work well with that kind of CD? (again a firmware update could fix that...)

[kc8adu]

Re: CD burning problem

or the laser is sick and its output drops as it heats up.

[Tom41]

Re: CD burning problem

I know for a fact that the CD burner did work properly when I first got it. I remember burning CD backups of important stuff, and all 700MB would read properly on another machine. The fault I mentioned is comparitively recent, and has happened with 3 different brands of CD-R.

I decided that if I was going to replace the CD burner anyway, I might as well upgrade it to a DVD burner Installed perfectly well, but had a few problems getting it going - Windows and Nero saw it as a standard DVD-ROM drive rather than a writer. Only after installing the latest version of Nero did the burner come to life.

I've burnt a full 4GB DVD-RW on it, and a full 700MB CD-R, both of which read perfectly well (100%) on other machines. I guess it was the CD burner that was faulty in the first place - time to take out the screwdriver and look inside!

[willawake]

Re: CD burning problem

what model did you buy?

[Tom41]

Re: CD burning problem

what model did you buy?

It's a BTC 16x DVD-Rewriter. (www.btc.com.tw). Apparently it supports DVD+R, DVD-R, DVD+RW, DVD-RW as well as the newer DVD-RAM format. And of course, it still supports normal CD-R and CD-RW writing.

The instructions say it also supports dual-layer format. Do you need special DL discs for that, or can you burn DL on a standard DVD-R/+R?

[stretch0069]

Re: CD burning problem

DL requires special DL disks. I'm not sure what they are now, but a year ago when I bought my DVD writer, DL disks were $10 a piece. I understand they've come down a bit though.

I thought DVD-RAM was an older format.

[spaced<->out]

Re: CD burning problem

Tom, just a basic thought that I don't think has been covered. Have you changed brand of disc?

I had similar trouble here with my burner a few years back. First it burned GoTech media beautifully. Then I bought a spindle of Imation discs and many many of them failed in a similar way to what you describe - burns the first few hundred MB okay, then the rest doesn't get on (usually the burn process stopped and failed outright rather than appearing to successfully complete like you describe though).

It wasn't until I was down to the last few discs on the spindle that I figured out how to make them work. Drop the burn speed. The discs burned fine at about 12X, even though they were rated much faster.

[Tom41]

Re: CD burning problem

And barely 48 hours after installing the drive, it too has died

I burnt a DVD+RW last night, and it appeared to go well with the burning speed set down to 2x. BUT... none of my other DVD-ROM drives could read it. The DVD-ROM drive on my work PC could read it, but the files I copied to the hard disk were just blank files (full of hex FFs).

The drive no longer even reads store-bought movie DVDs. Only ONE out of eight DVDs I tried actually reads at all, and even then only half the movie plays before it gives up.
Usually, when I put a blank disc in, WinXP pops up a window asking what I want to do with the disc. Now, I've tried DVD +R, +RW, -R and -RW, and they all make the drive act as if there's no disc inserted. Frequently, the drive will just sit there flashing its LED and will not respond, not even to the eject button! I have to reboot the PC to reset the drive and get it to eject!

Oh well, guess I'll have to find the original packaging and take it back to the store. Good thing there's a 1-year warranty by default

[Per Hansson]

Re: CD burning problem

Check capacitors in your powersupply, but also for a poor Molex cable, a poor connection could perhaps cause this problem...

Had a harddrive do this, bought it brand new and it reported lots off bad sectors with the manufacturers tool, remembered that I had had problems with that connector before and picked another one, reran test and there where no problems... Go figure

[willawake]

Re: CD burning problem

imho btc is crap, i have two btc cdroms in the office, they scratch disks. get an LG or NEC etc, they are good price. in general avoid the off brand stuff but like suggested check the voltage off a molex under load.

[Rainbow]

Re: CD burning problem

BTC was always cheap crap.

[willawake]

Re: CD burning problem

if you want to buy any optical media or drive check http://club.cdfreaks.com first. even the best companies drop a turd now and then. and dont get me started regarding media i have seen so many companies switch from decent manufacturers to shit now that i just buy Taiyo Yuden own brand unless i just want some crap to burn some drivers for a build.

BTC is sold to Foxconn. they will sell CD writers under BTC and DVD writers under Emprex.

[willawake]

Re: CD burning problem



delivery! imagine this company is so retarted the delivery man wants me to come down to the parking to collect the box.

[Tom41]

Re: CD burning problem

It's certainly not a Foxconn or Emprex drive, it's branded as BTC and sold as a DVD-writer/rewriter (not simply a CD writer). In fact, I think I've only had ONE successful burn on this drive, the very first DVD-R I burnt works perfectly on my DVD players. I've also had it successfully burn CD-R media, but am having no luck whatsoever with DVD media now.

If I put a blank disc in, what should happen is either Windows will pop up a box asking "What do you want to do?", or Nero auto-launches. The fact that it just sits there and doesn't do anything seems to suggest it can't even find the ID code of the disc.

I've also run the laser cleaning disc (with the brushes) through the drive, and blasted compressed air (from a can) into the drive, still no help

I checked out the CDFreaks media compatibility list, but it seems we get different brands of media in the UK - their list is primarily US media manufacturers. I've been trying the following brands of disc - are they known to be bad?

Philips DVD+RW,
Mr. DVD DVD+RW,
Verbatim DVD-R
Verbatim DVD-RW
TDK DVD+R

[Rainbow]

Re: CD burning problem

The drive is probably half-dead. Not uncommon for BTC.

[willawake]

Re: CD burning problem

philips, tdk and verbatim dont make their own media. you can find the manufacturer of the media using a software i think this one is ok http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

[mutant]

Re: CD burning problem

I know this might sound odd to you but have you tried a different data cable?

Oh I see it's been suggested by tiresias.

I did have one computer that didn't like any cd-rom as master. It would only work reliably when set as a slave. Hope you get it resolved.