What could be wrong with my DVDRW?

[The 47th Ronin]

I am using Nero 6, and every time I try to Burn, it ses burn process failed.

I have Toshiba

And I am using Datawrite 4X REDs v2.

[The 47th Ronin]

Also, whenever I put in one of the discs, my computer starts running really slowly, and the drive emits a constant sound. It is as if it is trying to read it but cant?????

[da_ging]

sounds like a b0rked drive if its not reading the disks that or it really doesnt like the datawrite reds ,have you tried any other brands of blank discs?

[Firelord]

Turn busmastering off and just have PIO running for the device.

Had similar prob with a Pioneer and set it to PIO and worked fine

[SilentDeath]

firstl get your self some decent media. I dont know which dye is used in the datawrite disks you have, but usually datawrite use teh cheapest crap they can get, hence the change of brand name every few months (datawrite, datasafe, etc..). disks with ritek dye i have found to be good.


doubt PIO will help, and if it does, it will be slow as hell. Also bus mastering is for pci cards, PIO is for drives, = unrelated. turning UDMA or multiword dma will end up with PIO, which in mode 4 gives a max of 16mb/s and uses up a LOT of cpu time in doing that.
Its most likely the laser in the drive has gone. It happens with about 30% of b0rked drives. You can fix it by taking it apart, you should find 2 very small pcb POT's which can be used to tweak the lasers. This can help, and I done it to get a b0rked PS2 to read cd's but the DVD laser couldnt be fixed. For a pc drive id have to recommend you just RMA it if its in warrenty, or if not get a new one. Its not easy to fix borked lasers. You can get replacement laser units (for ps/ps2 anyway) but iirc they cost more than a new drive.
Find out if it just happens with each of these:
burning dvd's, burning cd's and reading of printed cd's and dvd's. most drives have seperate lasers for dvd/cd and maybe buring aswell (cant remember). Then read below.
If it only happens with dvd, or just cd, then i expect your drive has a laser for each and one is borked. If its just burning it could be the same problem or just dodgy media.
Also i have found on my pioneer 105 that if it is not screwed down securly in case it will viabrate which suprisingly causes burn errors so check that too...

[The 47th Ronin]

OK, It works with everything apart from blank Media. Unfortunately, I do not have any alternative media to test it with??

Where should I go from here?

[MurphmanL]

I made a similar mistake and thought my DVD RW wasn't working after burning the first DVD bundled with it. But it was because i used the wrong sort of media.
Some steps to follow:

1. Ensure you use the correct media, your Toshiba uses DVD-R/-RW do not even try to burn +R/+RW with that drive as it wont detect it as usable media.

2.Get media from a good brand, Imitation have never let me down and tend to be quite cheap, or if you have loads of cash then go Phillips.

3. You could have a dodgy drive, try the steps above then try putting the drive in another machine and try with appropriate media to be sure it isnt ur IDE cable. If still no go then return the faulty drive

[The 47th Ronin]

Ok, I have just succesfuly burned a CDR using windows, but it was ridiculously slow (20 mins approx???)

Why

[MurphmanL]

We shall cross the optimization bridge once we have crossed the bridge of getting it to work with DVD's.

[DeludedGuy]

I also have a Toshiba DVD-R/RW, They burn Ritek DVD-R at 4x, its decent.

[DeludedGuy]

These work well with the Toshiba, they brun at 4x and no firm update is needed.

http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...duct_uid=56087

[The 47th Ronin]

OK, Problem solved. I reinstalled Nero 6, and freed up space on my HD. I think it was because I didnt have sufficent space to buffer, so it kept failing.

Thx for those CD's Deluded Guy, I might try em out once I have run out of these puppies.

[The 47th Ronin]

Take back the last comment. The peice of **** works sometimes, then doesnt others.

All i have been trying to do is burn on 650 megs movie files, and sometimes it works sometimes it doesnt?

WTF should I do? : (

[The 47th Ronin]

OK, Firmware updated. But stil no luck

CDR's keep failing at 4-6 percent , and i am losing so many cds here as a result.

It now starts crashing my comp when burning?

Please someone help e, b4 i lannch the whole lot out of the window.

[DeludedGuy]

What CDs are you using?

[The 47th Ronin]

Mediastar CD-R 80