Burner Problems (I think its a buffer problem)

[PokeythePenguin]

This is the second times its happened.

THe first time I sent it back to the guy I bought it from and he sent me a new one.

BUt is there any way to fix it?

The burner works fine for about a month, then all of a sudden, it won't be able to complete a burn. I use DVD Clone and about half way through it says error, possibly because of bad media, however when I use InstantCopy, it says its a buffer underrun error (or overrun, i don't remember what its called).

Is there anyone way to fix this? Or do I have to send it in somewhere to fix it?

Could it also be a media problem. I currently use Memorex 8x DVD+R which I haven't ahad a problem with.

btw, I have a Sony DVD RW DW-D26A External DVD writer.

[redwudz]

How much free space do you have on your harddrive? The burning program may be using up all the space there for buffering. There is also an internal buffer on the burner, but it's usually only a MB or two.

Most newer writers have 'burn proof' by that or other names that pauses the burner if it runs out of data from the harddrive. See if that is enabled in your burner program.

Finally, using an external burner can complicate things because of communication between the burner and the computer. What interface does it use? USB 2.0 or Firewire? Are you are using a laptop?

[PokeythePenguin]

I should have sufficient space. I have about 10.5 gb of free space.

I currently am using 2.0USB to my Laptop...is that a problem or could that cause a problem?

Everything works fine for about a month, then all of a sudden it stops working.


Last time this happened, about 10% of the time, it would complete, but the rest no.

any help would be appreciated...thanks

[redwudz]

The only strange thing is it working for only a month. Most of the rest can be explained. USB2.0 isn't the greatest for external burners, but it works for a lot of people. The buffer underrun with Instant Copy could be because it doesn't use 'burn proof'.

Does your USB 2.0 bus have anything else hooked to it? It may be marginal for transfer. Or something may be accessing the USB bus when you are burning. Media is also a possibility. Try some different brands.

Your USB external case could also cause problems. I have one of those burners, they are inexpensive, but fairly dependable. How about dust? Especially dusty or smoky environment?

That's about all I can come up with. If it works when you first try it, it should continue to work. I would try the external burner and case on another computer and that would tell you if it's the drive or the computer.

[Bodysurf]

I currently am using 2.0USB to my Laptop...is that a problem or could that cause a problem?

It could be.

I cannot burn reliably faster than 4X on either Firewire or USB2.

8X is problematic and 16X is impossible -- the device buffer constantly bounces between 0 and 100, the burn proof kicks in and off, and the resulting burn speed is no faster than 6X.

I stick the same drive directly into the motherboard's IDE controller and it burns at 16X perfect.

I try connecting it to a Promise UltraIDE add on card and the abovementioned USB2/Firewire problem kicks in again.

How fast are you trying to burn at?

[budz]

I currently am using 2.0USB to my Laptop...is that a problem or could that cause a problem?

It could be.

I cannot burn reliably faster than 4X on either Firewire or USB2.

8X is problematic and 16X is impossible -- the device buffer constantly bounces between 0 and 100, the burn proof kicks in and off, and the resulting burn speed is no faster than 6X.

I stick the same drive directly into the motherboard's IDE controller and it burns at 16X perfect.

I try connecting it to a Promise UltraIDE add on card and the abovementioned USB2/Firewire problem kicks in again.

How fast are you trying to burn at?

Using a PROMISE IDE CONTROLLER CARD for optical drives such as a dvd burner isn't the best to use. It is well known that PROMISE IDE CONTROLLERS do not work well with dvd burners. If you want a controller card to work with it then use a Silicon Image chipset controller card. I just got one a few weeks ago and it works well with one of my OEM BENQ 1620 drives. I purchased mine from computergeeks.com during their SIZZLING SUNDAY SALE. This is the one I got:
http://www.geeks.com/details.asp?invtid=SY-SIL-133R&cat=CCD

I paid $12.99 during their SIZZLING SUNDAY SALE. As redwuz mentioned it could be the external case that is causing the low burn speeds. Using a external case with the PROLIFIC chipset works better with internal dvd burners.

[stackner]

just a thought but from my hundreds of dvd burns DEFRAG can be your friend.

[budz]

I just reread the OP and realized the problem could also be media related. Memorex dvd media isn't the greatest to use. Download DVDINFO PRO or DVD IDENTIFIER to find out the media ID. My bet is it is either prodisc or CMC which for some is crappy media. Your external drive is a REBADGED LITEON.

[PokeythePenguin]

Okay, I'll try the above from everyone, thanks.

I do have several things using USB, which could explain it. My mouse is USB, I have my iPod and PSP which are all hooked up through USB that I usually have plugged in...


I'll also try and get the dust out to see if that works,
and I'll do a good old DEFRAG, which I haven't done since I reformatted my laptop about 3 weeks ago.

Thanks for the help, if that doesn't work then I'll let you know!

[SCDVD]

Another thing that is worth checking is to make sure the IDE channel that your drive is on is set to DMA, not PIO. There are several threads on this forum that describe this problem in detail. Basically, if your system encounters too many errrors on a disc, it automatically switches the IDE channel that the drive is on to PIO mode and once in PIO mode it stays that way even when you put in another disc. The problem is that PIO mode is WAY too slow to support the data rate requirements of your drive when you are trying to burn a disc. Search the forum for DMA or PIO and you can read about it in more detail as well as learn how to fix it.

[budz]

use this link on how to ENABLE DMA in WINDOWS XP:
http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=7625

[PokeythePenguin]

YAY!! I tried it and it worked! Thanks guys.

I did the DMA thing, and it said it was already set to that.

So i dusted out the case,

and I disconnected all other USB cords from my PC and it seemed to work fine!

SO thank you all! I appreciate your time and help

[SCDVD]

That's great. I'm happy to hear that you got it going. A tip for others who are using a USB connection. The speed of USB 2.0 is needed to support DVD burning. If you assembled the computer yourself, you need to install the USB 2.0 driver that comes with the mother board. If you don't, Windows will seem to be happy with the USB port but it will treat it as a USB 1.1 port, not 2.0. Without the 2.0 driver, you are SOL. If you have an older motherboard that doesn't have USB 2.0 hardware, a 2.0 driver won't help. Your only option in that case is to install a USB 2.0 PCI card.