CRC errors on both CD & DVD - could it be M/B ?

[Preston16]

Any help gratefully accepted!

Getting CRC errors (and data verification errors in Nero) with both CD's and DVD's.

DVD: NEC 3520aw
CD: TEAC W548

Tried lots of media; for DVD - Verbatim +R's burnt at 2x are the best.
But even then I get CRC errors when reading back a LOT of the time. Even burning CD's at slow speeds give me more errors than I'd expect.

I've seen other people on here who have had problems with NEC 3520's reading discs they've just burnt, but looking for any other possibilities that don't involve me spending money!

I think my NEC drive might just be dodgy, since it doesn't always read DVD-ROM's very well either, but was wondering if either a bad EIDE controller on M/Board OR corrupt hard disk might be adding to the problems.

Going for a complete XP re-install from formatted disc...as soon as I can get enough stable burns to back-up from!!

thx for help.

[gll99]

Bad eide is not likely but easy to check. Just swap the cables. You may also have to adjust the bios settings to boot from the second controller after the swap but that depends on your bios.

First I'd check this:
Is your 40 pin ide ribbon an 80 cable type or the older 40?
Have you checked your system devices to make sure dma is on?
Did you try to update the firmware on your DVD drive?

[Preston16]

Both ribbon cables are 80 cable type.
DVD is secondary master, CD secondary slave.
DMA is definately on and flashed firmware on NEC to 3.06.

Odd thing is that Nero sometimes reports Data Verifcation as passed, but then copying files (data) back from CD or DVD gets CRC errors?

[redwudz]

I would suspect the drive being the problem also. If you've had it a while, it might be worth giving the laser lens a cleaning. But if it's always been like that, I would just save yourself the headaches and replace it.

[ROF]

The 3520 is an odd piece of tech. Some are great while others ship dodgy. The solution I've found when you get one that reads odd is to manually clean the laser head. If you aren't up to the task of removing the case cover of the drive and the tray protector, I'd find someone that is. It's a quick solution to reading and writing problems with this drive. Once you get inside you should immediately notice why it's not performing correctly. There is a greasy film on the laser head. Those commercial cleaner discs won't help. A manual wipe down with a lint free cloth or a cottom swab with alcohol will do the trick.

[Preston16]

Nice one!
Will give that a try...and always quite likely that my CD burner is dirty inside too, its a few years old and I've never cleaned it.

[ROF]

becareful if you remove the case cover for the Teac. This company is like samsung in that the PCB chips use the case cover as a heatsink. You will notice a layer of white compound on both the case and on top of those chips. make sure this compound does not spread out onto the board otherwise you may just kill your drive.

The NEC does not have this issue.

[Preston16]

Paste a bit of arctic silver back on the chips?

[ROF]

Paste a bit of arctic silver back on the chips?

if your careful you shouldn't have to. Just pull the cover straight up and off and if the paste has lost it's pliancy than yes, remove the excess and re-paste. The paste should still be good, so as long as you don't "slide" the cover off, you should be able to just seal the case back up using the same paste already on the chips. remember too much paste is just as bad if not worse than too little. These chips are not like the CPU where the heat is extreme so the paste doesn't harden into clay over time. It may after 10 years or so but it should be just fine. You may even get lucky and have one that doesn't use this method of heat distro, but I just thought I'd warn you that the reason why the cover won't come off so easy after removing the screws is because of the paste. Just remember, same as CPUs, straight up and off, never at an angle.