PC in Dire Straits ...

At the end of my tether with this now, any help would be greatly appreciated.
Problem trying to use my new Pioneer DVR-108.
Using Windows XP Pro (SP2), Athlon XP Pro1600, 512Mb DDR, 160Gb Samsung spinpoint drive, Asus A7A266-E board with updated BIOS.
I have an old Ricoh DVD+RW MP5125 which burns quite happily at 2x over the past year but I was looking for something better. Use DVD Decrypter(3.5.1.0), DVD2ONE(1.5.1), Nero(6.3.1.20)
I checked the Pioneer website where they have a firmware upgrade to 1.14 from the current 1.06 I sent them an email asking if they thought that I should carry out this upgrade as it’s not reversible and I don’t want to void my warranty after only 3 days!!
Still waiting on a reply.

I/O Error!
Logical Unit Communication CRC Error (Ultra-DMA/32)

Means nothing to me but Alcohol120 gives ..
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
(E PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-108 (1:0) detail information.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Vendor Identification: PIONEER
Product Identification: DVD-RW DVR-108
Production Revision Level: 1.06
Host/Target Number: 1/0
Support recording method: DAO, RAW SAO, RAW SAO+SUB, RAW DAO(96), DVD DAO
BURN-Free Technology: Not Supported
Auto-Select best write speed: Not Supported
Note: This information below is provided by the unit, it might be inaccurate.
This software does not use this information! Removable media: Yes
Version: ATAPI (INF-8090i/INF-8020i/INF-8028i)
Response Data Format: 02h
CD-R Read/Write: Yes/Yes
CD-RW Read/Write: Yes/Yes
Read CD-R Fixed Packet: Yes
Test Write: Yes
DVD-ROM Read: Yes
DVD-R Read/Write: Yes/Yes
DVD-RAM Read/Write: Yes/No
Audio Play: Yes
Composite Audio and Video Data Stream: No
Digital output (IEC958) on port 1 Supported: No
Digital output (IEC958) on port 2 Supported: No
Mode 1 Form 2: Yes
Mode 2 Form 2: Yes
Multi-Session: Yes
BUF: Yes
CD-DA Commands supported: Yes
CD-DA Stream is Accurate: Yes
R-W Supported: No
R-W De-interleaved and Corrected: No
C2 Pointers Support: No
ISRC Supported: Yes
UPC Supported: Yes
Read Bar Code: No
Lock media into the drive: Yes
Currently drive Lock state: Unlocked
Prevent Jumper: No
Eject Command: Yes
Separate volume levels: Yes
Separate channel mute: Yes
Changer Supports Disc Present: No
Software slot selection: No
Side change capable: No
P through W in Lead-In: Yes
Maximum Read Speed Supported (with current disc): 63X (9450 KB/Sec)
Maximum Write Speed Supported (with current Disc): 8X (1200 KB/Sec)
Current Read Speed Supported (with current Disc): 63X (9450 KB/Sec)
Current Write Speed Supported (with current Disc): 8X (1200 KB/Sec)
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
(F RICOH DVD+RW MP5125 (1:1) detail information.
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////
Vendor Identification: RICOH
Product Identification: DVD+RW MP5125
Production Revision Level: 1.38
Host/Target Number: 1/1
Support recording method: DAO, RAW SAO, RAW SAO+SUB, RAW DAO(96), TAO, DVD DAO
BURN-Free Technology: JustLink
Auto-Select best write speed: Not Supported
Note: This information below is provided by the unit, it might be inaccurate.
This software does not use this information! Removable media: Yes
Version: ATAPI (INF-8090i/INF-8020i/INF-8028i)
Response Data Format: 02h
CD-R Read/Write: Yes/Yes
CD-RW Read/Write: Yes/Yes
Read CD-R Fixed Packet: Yes
Test Write: Yes
DVD-ROM Read: Yes
DVD-R Read/Write: No/No
DVD-RAM Read/Write: No/No
Audio Play: Yes
Composite Audio and Video Data Stream: No
Digital output (IEC958) on port 1 Supported: Yes
Digital output (IEC958) on port 2 Supported: No
Mode 1 Form 2: Yes
Mode 2 Form 2: Yes
Multi-Session: Yes
BUF: No
CD-DA Commands supported: Yes
CD-DA Stream is Accurate: Yes
R-W Supported: Yes
R-W De-interleaved and Corrected: No
C2 Pointers Support: Yes
ISRC Supported: Yes
UPC Supported: Yes
Read Bar Code: No
Lock media into the drive: Yes
Currently drive Lock state: Unlocked
Prevent Jumper: No
Eject Command: Yes
Separate volume levels: Yes
Separate channel mute: Yes
Changer Supports Disc Present: No
Software slot selection: No
Side change capable: No
P through W in Lead-In: Yes
Maximum Read Speed Supported (with current disc): 32X (4800 KB/Sec)
Maximum Write Speed Supported (with current Disc): 12X (1800 KB/Sec)
Current Read Speed Supported (with current Disc): 32X (4800 KB/Sec)
Current Write Speed Supported (with current Disc): 4X (600 KB/Sec)

 

Completed a firmware upgrade to 1.14 as suggested by Pioneer engineer (good to see that their customer support is active).
Made no difference, tried new ribbon cable from motherboard, no difference.
Tried various brads of DVD and DVD speeds, no difference.

About to update Nero to 6.3.1.25 not giving this much hope either ...

Any ideas, please.