CD burner gets tired???

[jeremyp969]

Ok, here is my problem. I bought a Lite-On 48161H about a month ago. I typically burn about 10-15 cd's a night(doing b&p and trades). It works fine for the first 6 or 8 cds(changes night to night). Then it'll burn a cd, but for the entire time it's burning the light will be red, sometimes the cd will still come out ok sometimes it will say burn failed. Usually it will say something when it's done though. Occasionally it will just keep "burning" in other words the light will stay red forever, even though Nero says it's at 100%, but never pops up the screen that says CD complete or burning failed. So then I have to reboot to get the cd out. After I make one coaster, it just keeps putting out coasters until I reset or do a simulate.

Now I thought it might be that I'm using crappy media or that I'm burning too fast, but I'm using Maxell 36x CD-rs and burning them at 24x. After it makes a coaster if I do a simulate and then a burn it will work fine.

I'm using Nero 6.??? Could it be that the drive is overheatting?? Has anyone seen this before? I got an RMA number, should I just return it or does anyone else have a suggestion???

Thanks guys!

[Sony]

Overheating ? maybe... try separate it from other devices (move/remove other drives)... Also burn 6 disc, pause for 15-min & then again....
If dont work - burn six, restart & again burn six.. (maybe its software related)...

I once burned 60 mp3 cd in the row on my lg cd-rw.. ppls here has probably burn lot more....

[bokkasrealm]

This used to happen to me too. It is a problem with the RAM being used up. I would say either buy more ram or reset every 6 or so as suggested.

[fslove]

If your using an OS like WInXP/NT/2000/2003 there would be no problem with memory (which the problem would actually be with system resources) as these OS's do NOT use system resources. The only memory problem would be a memory leak but since Nero is not a program known for memory leaks it's not that. I would concentrate on the heat problem which seems more likely. Either try geting the drive away from any heat sources like HD's, CPU etc.. or even better get a external drive bay and place it in there. Also adding a fan or two may help dissipate the heat as well.

[jeremyp969]

Well, thanks for your replies. Here is an update on the problem:

I sent the DVD CD-RW combo back to Newegg, and they should be sending out a new one soon. In the meantime I went to bestbuy and bought a 52x Lite On CD-RW, which I'll just return when my new drive comes. This drive behaves better. I haven't made a coaster with it yet(knock on wood). However sometimes when I burn the light is orange, sometimes when I burn the light is red. I looked in the instruction manual and it says when it's green it's reading, when it's red it's writing. So apparently there is no orange and I'm imagining things.

I guess it could be the heat of the unit, or even the power consumption. I don't believe it's a memory problem, because I'm running Win 2k with 384 MB of RAM and nothing but Nero and IM is running when I burn. Before getting this drive I only had an 8x burner, and obviously the faster the drive the hotter the CPU is going to run while decoding and burning and the more power both the CPU and the CD-RW drive are going to consume. If I get my new drive back and it has the same problems, I'll probably try getting some new fans.

Thanks for your suggestions! Anyone else have any ideas?

[erayboul]

I have the Lite-On 52X CD-RW drive, and I've noticed that the LED lights up orange when the buffer has run empty and the buffer underrun prevention is doing its thing.

[jeremyp969]

I have the Lite-On 52X CD-RW drive, and I've noticed that the LED lights up orange when the buffer has run empty and the buffer underrun prevention is doing its thing.

Now that's wierd, because mine is orange most of the time, and red not often. My buffer stays at 90-98% through the entire burn. I've noticed the few times I got buffer underruns it's turned red and stayed red through the burn, even after the buffer is full again.

[jeremyp969]

Just wanted to update everyone on this. I got my RMA'd drive from newegg the Liteon 48161H and it had the same problem. So then I thought it could be a heat problem(although I didn't think cd burners ran that hot). I had the cd burner in the slot directly under my dvd-burner so maybe the heat was getting trapped between the two and not dissipating, so I moved the cd-burner down a slot. NOw there is an empty slot between the cd-burner and the dvd-burner and for the most part this has fixed the problem. I've made one coaster since(a "Write Error") whatever the hell that means. Nice they give descriptive messages.

But just a warning to anyone who purchases this drive...IT IS HEAT SENSITIVE.

Thanks all for your help!!!

[Gazorgan]

Well Duh. I bet it's wedged in your case with something above and below it. Yes they get very very hot. A home unit isn't designed to burn continously like a duplicator is (which has mega cooling).

If you are going to burn more than 3 disks in a row, you need a full size tower(and the extra cooling fans) or empty space above and below the drive.

However:

I typically burn about 10-15 cd's a night(doing b&p and trades)

is against the forum rules.
And

I went to bestbuy and bought a 52x Lite On CD-RW, which I'll just return when my new drive comes

is plain unethical.

[RabidDog]

what is B&P and trades?

[freestyler]

http://www.etree.org/bnp/

[jeremyp969]

However:

I typically burn about 10-15 cd's a night(doing b&p and trades)

is against the forum rules.
And

I went to bestbuy and bought a 52x Lite On CD-RW, which I'll just return when my new drive comes

is plain unethical.

First of all I don't see how doing b&p is against the rules if the bands permit it(Dave Matthews Band). And as far as being unethical, it might be, but I doubt I'm going to bankrupt Best Buy by returning one $60 cd burner.

[JohnnyCNote]

I'm sure this has been discussed before, but there are plenty of bands that are outside of the traditional corporate controlled music distrubution system, whether by choice or simply because they haven't been signed. Having had a band myself in the 80's, I would have welcomed trading my my music because I wanted the exposure.

Also, I doubt it would have hurt us had people continued to trade our music had we been signed. Just because a band is under contract is no guarantee its music will gain any wider exposure than it did before. I've seen it happen to more than a few. In fact, being signed can be a very mixed blessing. Look at how many popular bands seem to fade from view after just a few years. A good local example is Limp Bizkit.

Moving on to Best Buy, I strongly suggest everyone check out Best Buy Sux....