Hey fellas. I'm having a problem burning in the last week or so. I'm producing coasters maybe 25% of the time now. For the last 4 years I have not produced a single coaster that wasn't my fault... I'm burning alot of different stuff with the same success rate which leads me to believe its my pc config. I have a 16X Pioneer DVD writer in there now, (I did try switching to my old single layer DVD writer with the same results). I'm getting kinda mixed error msgs and I've even tried three diff burning suites (nero, dvd decrypter, and CloneCD), again with about the same success rate of 25% failed... I have noticed something new since the problem began... it seems to take a few seconds/minutes longer to even start the burn. It sometimes takes up to a minute to get to even 1% then it goes on which seems normal speed. I've tried turning down the speed to all options incase of a buffer underrun (even though both drives have buffer underrun protection). Again, didn't fix it. The only thing I can possibly think of is I *might* have switched the IDE cable it was on when I was setting up a xbox HDD. I'm not 100% sure I moved it to another but could it have something to do with it? My IDE config looks something like this. Primary: 1) c: drive (os drive) 2) DVD writer Secondary 1) d: media driver. i burn alot off this drive. 2) e: another media drive, i also burn alot off this. I dont burn much off c: drive but burn ALOT off the other 2 drives. Whats the best config for setting up the IDE in my situation? It's the only thing I can think off thats giving me problems. Anyone that can shed some insight into this would greatly be appreciated. Maybe I'm missing something. Heres one of errors I get with DVD Decrypter. Also I almost forgot, the media I'm using used to work fine in the drives. I've been using the same media forrrever. Thanks!
Your firmware is one revision behind and could be giving you some media errors. Current version is KSOB and can be found here: http://forum.rpc1.org/dl_firmware.php?download_id=2056
Thanks for pointing that out, I did also think of that, I upgraded it last night, burned 3 DVD isos since and have had 0 coasters. As I posted I get coasters about 25% of the time, I'm gonna give it some more burns to see if that truly fixed it! Thanks again my friend. I'll keep the thread updated for the sake of anyone else that could have the same problem.
Another factor that could contribute to the coaster situation is the brand media you are using....I suggest Verbatim (MIJ and MIT) or Maxell (MIJ only).
I've been using this same batch of DVDs forever. From the same spindle. Bought in bulk long ago. Had no problem, then suddenly bam. coasters. OK, said I'll keep the thread updated. I just produced another coaster which means updating firmware is not the problem. Damn. I'm gonna defrag and scan HDDs for errors. I do go thru so many files that it could be fragged to hell. download > repair > extract > burn > download > repair > extract > burn on and on. I'm thinking its fragged pretty big. Any suggestions?
Alright, I havent found a solution. This is hurting business badly. I'll pay someone $10 whoever gives me the solution first. I don't have any reason to rip you guys off, I just need this fixed quick. Its not the Blank DVDs. Its Not the Drive, I tried it two different drives, same problem. I did change the IDE cables around and tested those to no avail. This might help, it might not. It seems like it always gets stuck at the start of the burn, sometimes when successful it takes like 2/3 minutes to start the burn and get to 1%. In the past this was almost instant.
Can't believe that I didn't suggest trying Imgburn a shot, it is given to us by the same guy that gave us DVD Decrypter and is actively updated where DVD Decrypter is not. I stand by guns on the media, your 25% failure rate is indicative of dodgy media....see above for suggestions. Download and run this free tool to see who is really making your discs: http://www.afterdawn.com/software/video_software/dvd_tools/dvd_identifier.cfm How fast are you burning? It isn't recommended to burn at more than half the rated speed of the blank.
Thanks for the reply. I did try IMGBurn to no avail. I will try different media once again. Thanks for the suggestion, if it is the media you'll get the money. I'll check it!
Get a whole pack of Taiyo Yuden..the pack of 100 or 600 might be actuall ycheaper and in better quality.
Trash the Imations and stick with the verbs...could be you got a bad spindle. What speeds are they rated, and are they DVD+ or - R.
I'm not sure what the media drives are you're referring to on your secondary IDE controller, but having your burner as a slave on your primary controller along with your hard drive as master is definitely NOT a good situation! I'm not sure how you got away with it in the past, but you mentioned switching things around recently, which makes me wonder if something in your physical hardware configuration has changed that you're not aware of. Your hard drive(s) should always be ALONE on the primary controller, even if there's only a single HDD. Your DVD burner should be set up as master on the secondary controller. Or master and slave if you have two burners. Since I have three optical drives in both of my computers, I used to use a separate PCI bus card IDE controller for my hard drive. This freed up my two onboard IDE controllers for a DVD-RW drive (master on the primary controller), a CD-RW drive (master on the secondary controller) and a DVD-ROM drive (slave on the secondary controller). Since I've gone to a new motherboard with SATA/SATA RAID controllers built-in and a SATA HDD, I've been able to eliminate the add-on IDE controller while still having my primary and secondary onboard IDE devoted to my optical drives, but the principle is still the same - ALWAYS separate your HDD's from your optical drives, controller-wise!
WOW, really. Thats very interesting. I always figured it'd be best to have them on the same cable so the data could do directly to the device without even hitting the motherboard. I'll switch it back. Someone suggested I format c: since it could be thousands of different things. I did hit a bad patch of spyware/adware/maybe virii when I was looking for a keygen But I figured it was fixed because I restored a system restore point from earlier in the day then when I messed up.... It's formatting now. I'll also switch the devices back. What would my optimal setup be for... - a main drive with os files - dvd burner - a media drive - a temp dir i keep downloads in until sorted and put on the media drive I'm guessing 1,3 then 2,4? Thanks alot for the info man!
Can you define "media drive"? Usually "media drive" refers to a memory card reader. These are almost exclusively USB devices, NOT IDE. Most are external and connect to your external USB ports, although some are installed in a drive bay and connect to an internal USB header on the motherboard. They will however, be assigned drive letters, same as your IDE devices. The drive letters assigned will usually follow those of your IDE devices. In my case the partitioned SATA HDD is C: & D:. The IDE optical drives are E:, F: & G:. My external USB dual card reader shows up as H: & I:. Where you create a TEMP directory has no bearing on the issue. How many IDE devices and of what type do you actually have? If your "media drives" are actually USB devices, forget them. They're not IDE devices, even if they do have drive letters. Set your single HDD jumpers as Master on the Primary IDE controller and set your single DVD burner jumpers as Master on the Secondary IDE controller. Read your system manual to find out where the Primary and Secondary IDE connectors are on your motherboard. If you had your HDD and DVD burner both on one cable, you will have to get a second IDE cable for your DVD burner. Without knowing a lot more details about your system, I won't even try to get into PIO (Programmed Input/Output) vs. DMA (Direct Memory Access) settings for your drives. Hopefully, you're using an updated version of Windows XP, which usually makes the right decision for you on PIO/DMA settings for devices.
