"Power Calibration Errors" what are the causes?

[Muppet Meat]

"Power Calibration Errors" when writing to DVD-R with Nero6. I cant burn DVD images, VIDEO_TS folders or Data DVDs. I never had this problem in the past and I use high quality Taiyo Yuden DVD-R as I have always done in the past. The firmware is up to date also. I get similar errors when using Adobe Encore DVD and DVD Decrypter to burn which indicates the problem is with the DVD drive and not the software. Should I concider my Pioneer drive to be trash already after only 2 years?

[handyguy]

Write at 1x, work from there.

Youre writing too fast for your writer. This can be cause your computer isn't fast enough, did you defrag lately? Or other things.

[Muppet Meat]

No I already tried that. My drives max write speed is 2x but I tried 1x also and I still get the same error. My drive is not fragmented either and my pc is 2.26ghz with 512 rdram so pc isnt slow either.

[johns0]

Sounds like its trashed,you might consider opening the drive and cleaning the lenses as a last ditch effort.

[Snakebyte1]

Hi

Try a different brand or batch of media. It could be a bad batch that your burners just doesn't like.

Not sure about DVDR but on CDRs the burner tries a small test burn on the media to calibrate itself. If that test fails you get the Power Calibration Error.

I had a batch of CDRs (DataLife) that did that. Some I could burn at 1X but others would not burn at all on my burner yet would on another one. I thought it was my hardware failing, but I tried a different brand and have never had any trouble since in well over a year.

[lenti_75]

that is firmware problem.....and is the burner, not the media or software

try to open it and clean the lens, just using caned air.....

if no, then flash it again.....if no.....then time for a new burner.

[pg55555]

I have a similar problem with my Optorite DD0401:
- After burning DVD-R without problems (I use Ritek G3 / G4), I want to burn a CD-RW: Impossible, I can't even erase them. Nero gives the "Power Calibration Error" message, CloneDVD just frezze and I have to reboot.
- Solution:I burn a DVD+RW (just a small file). After this, I can burn my CD-RW.

I have also experienced the opposite:
- After burning a CD-R, when I try to burn the DVD-R I get the "Power Calibration Error".
- I just burn a small file in a DVD+RW, and after this I can burn the DVD-R

I have contacted Optorite technical support, and they have answer requesting info about the media I'm using, but in my opinion is a firmware problem (I'm going to flash the latest 1.60E tonight)

My guess: My drive have difficulties to switch between CD-R and DVD- (and viceversa), because these processes are very different. In some way DVD+is a kind of intermediate process between them, so when I burn a DVD+ disc, I allow the drive to go trough an intermediate state from wich it is easier to move to CD-R or DVD-R than to move from CD-R to DVD-R directly.

It is a cumbersome solution, but it works for me, until a firmware revision resolves the problem.

Pablo

[lordsmurf]

1. Dirty laser
2. Bad media
3. Bad firmware
4. IDE issues (DMA/PIO)

[poncho]

Once I have that problem.....I solution...this way.......

My electric instalation was not good so. for some reason the voltage for the computer was too low... below 110 VAC... so when I buy it a UPS and connected to PC.. problem its gone........that was I do..........
hope help..........

[handyguy]

U can also try the website of the manf of your writer for hints.

[Muppet Meat]

I tried using a lense cleaning CD and that didnt help. The drive burns to CD-R just fine. I tried re-flashing the firmware but that failed because its already up to date. I will just buy a new drive I guess. Maybe a Sony DVD-RW Duel Layer burner this time.

[cymorg]

im having the exact same problem with my burner. everything was going fine and then one day it decided to stop working. i cant figure out what changed to make it have this error. i am using the same kind of discs that were working only a week earlier.

my burner is an I/O Magic 4x DVD+-RW/+-R and im using Pinnacle InstantCD+DVD. i had Pinnacle Studio 8 installed but after reading bad reviews and hearing bad things about it messing w/ peoples' burners, i decided to uninstall it. I'm still having the same error, though.

i flashed my firmware and upgraded it and stuff and nothing has changed.

i hadnt tried to burn anything for a few days and tried tonight to burn a dvd-r and it worked. i was suprised and tried to burn a 2nd disc and got the same error. it wont work again. what the heck!?!?

any progress on finding out what exactly the problem is?

[Muppet Meat]

Nope, Im still having the same problem on both of my drives using 4 different types of burning software. Im going into attach my spare Plextor drive this week to see if it works. If it doesnt work then it must have something to do with the motherboard, powersupply or possibly the hardrive. I reformatted my hardrive and installed XP again but that never helped so its not a software conflict thats for sure. If troubleshooting by process of elimination is the only way to figure this out then the next thing would be to try the drives on a different pc.

[pete2828]

i would do the folowing:
1- remove and disconnect the drive. and restart the computer w/o the drive. then with with it agian. make sure the drive is on the master of your IDE chanel and DMA enabled.
2- re-flash your firmware. if there isn't a newer one then reflash an older one and see if that works.
3- try different type of DVD discs, try reading some pressed discs / burnt discs.
4- try different media or rw version of disks or the other format (plus or dash) if you player supports it.

[redwudz]

My laptop has the laser exposed when the drive tray is open. Easy to get crap on it. I usually blow it out with 'canned air'. Helps most of the time. Sometimes I have had to use denatured alcohol and a swab. If you plan to replace it anyway, try a through cleaning.

The other problem burners seem to have is just plain wear on the rails the laser rides on. The idea of substituting it to another computer is probably the sure way to tell if the drive is the culprit.

If you want more info on power calibration errors, check the Nero site. I seem to recall they had a good tutorial about that error.

[cymorg]

ill check that out

thanks for the suggestions

[banger298]

This is what pioneer say about Power Calibration Error
What is a power calibration error?
Question
I have a DVD-RW drive, when I try to write to a DVD-R disk the drive gives me a Power Calibration error, what does this mean?
Answer
A power calibration error is caused by the inability of a DVD-RW drive to use a DVD-R or DVD-RW disk.

DVD-R and DVD-RW disks themselves have information written on them, within this Media ID code there is information that the drive uses to calibrate itself to the disk, when a drive first starts to write to a disk it will burn a small amount of data to a calibration area on the disc, using the calibration information in the Media ID code, and then try to read back the data that it has written. If it cannot be read, then disk will be ejected and fail with a power calibration error.

A power calibration error is normally caused by problems with the media. Should you be experiencing problems with your drive or the media, we recommend that a disk from a good quality manufacturer is used to test it.

For fault finding purposes we recommend the use of a disk of a known high quality, we recommend disks from;

Pioneer Video Corporation,
TDK Corporation,
Hitachi Maxell,
Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Verbatim),
Taiyo-Yuden Co. LTD,
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co.,LTD (Panasonic)
Sony Corporation

Please be aware that there are some copies of TDK, Pioneer and Verbatim disks on sale in the UK which are of poor quality. These disks are outside the normal DVD-R standards and are not recommended

ihave a pioneer 107 (hacked firmware) and i am geting about 2 in 25 mess up at 8x or 4x and they are good quality disks too
and about 5 in 100 cdrs

[cymorg]

i have been using Sony DVD-R discs, Memorex DVD+R, and Memorex DVD-R. the Memorex DVD+R discs worked fine, half of the Sony DVD-R discs have worked, and one of the Memorex DVD-R discs have burnt successfully.

could i have just gotten 1/2 a box of bad Sony dvd-r discs?

it seems this is the only possibility. but then the Memorex DVD-R discs didn't work either. Then one day I picked one up and it worked. Now my burner is back to not working with either discs.

[cloud79]

I am having the power calibration error recently as well, the error is mostly my recently brought Ritek G04 from Shop4tech. I was able to burn fine on Prodisc 4x. Then I try lower the speed of G04 to 2x and it didn't has the problem and burns fine. So the fact is Ritek g04 is getting worse.

[proxyx99]

My first Pioneer A04 started having power calibration issues just weeks after turning its first anniv. I tried all different media and flashed FW with all known versions that I could lay my hands on to find out what ver. and how affected the drive.
The outcome was that I could burn only on 2x media. Drive ignored 4x totally even though FW was supposed to support that. Media recognition was slower and less reliable. I've had few coasters but loss of time and uncertainty was worse then that. Spoke with Pioneer and they agreed to test the drive. The outcome was: replacement. Pioneer supplied new 105 and confirmed laser focusing issues through their testing.
Without getting into too much detail I can say I was able to use the drive and manipulate its operation with different FW upgrades but that was far from convenient. Bottom line, power calibration error is a sure sign that your drive is limping now. Cleaning the lens (did that directly with opened box) is not going to fix anything. I went through the full routine to try to prove myself wrong (my gut feeling and logic suggested to accept the harsh reality, but I just wanted to "fix" it). So, you may be able to use it for some time though. Question is how is it going to affect the quality of your burns and ultimately longevity of your backups.
I think it's time to bite the bullet and go with a new one. I tried reviving mine for about a week and can say with clear conscience: not worth it.

[blade9z]

I used to get this error when my drive have a older firmware that does not recognise the media. Firmware upgrade usually add support the newer medias so if you go to the maufacturer's web site you may be able to find a newer version. ***Reflash it at your own risk***