Why does my Lite-On DVD burners fail on 8x DL discs?

[Onceler2]

I have tried Memorex and Verbatum 8x DL media,it fails evey time even if I drop the recording speed to 2.4x on two different burners in two different computers
The firmware is the latest

[redwudz]

What program are you using to burn with? ImgBurn is the recommended program most times, especially for DL discs.
And can you post a burn log from your burning program? That may tell you why the burn failed.

[Onceler2]

nero burning rom 8
I drag and drop my video and data files to it and it turns out a coaster
I am not burning images

[jman98]

Throw the Memorex discs in the trash. If you ever get a reliable disc out of them, you are lucky. Now, use a Verbatim disc and use ImgBurn to burn it. Despite the name, you don't have to make images to use it. It has a newbie friendly GUI interface that you should have no trouble figuring out how to use.

Nero was notorious in the past for being incredibly unreliable for DL burning. This is why we keep harping on people to use ImgBurn. Using ANYTHING else just leads to bad burns.

[Onceler2]

it doesn't work with imgburn either
reason power callibration error

[Noahtuck]

I just recently had the same problem and im not sure why.

I had an Optiarc burner in one pc, burned about 38 verbatim DL+R's with zero issues over the last month or so.

Moved the burner to a diff. pc and halfway through the burn at the layerbreak it kicked up a power calibration failure and failed, burned two coasters

And both PC's have the same setup, same mobo, same ramm, just one has a 2.0ghz cpu and the other has a 1.8ghz cpu, other then that they are identical

Put the burner back in the first pc and no problems.

[redwudz]

Power calibration is where the burner adjusts the laser power to the particular media you are using. It's done before every burn. it's usually a problem internal to the burner and not the burning software.

A failure could be caused by a failing burner laser, or it could also be caused by dirt on the laser lens, or a failing power supply, or a brand of media the burner doesn't have a burning solution for. If you were using Verbatim, the latter isn't too likely.

I would try unplugging other drives, etc., to lighten the load on the PS and see if that makes any difference. Cleaning the laser lens is also worth a try. Also check your PS wiring to the burner, maybe hook the burner to a different PS rail if you have more than one available.

If that or a new PS doesn't make any difference, then maybe the burner itself is failing.

[Noahtuck]

Yep, i would agree except in my case

[jman98]

Noahtuck - try burning at lower speed. 4x or even better 2.4x and see if that fixes your problem.

[Onceler2]

I tried burning at 2.4x
it is an external burner but it has the same problem as the burner in my other computer which is internal and has a lot of juice from the power supply

[redwudz]

One other possibility with a PATA burner is the wrong IDE cable. They need the 80 conductor cable, though it's easy enough to spot the older 40 conductor. Also with PATA drives, setting the jumpers wrong could cause that problem.

But checking the Nero or ImgBurn log would probably be the best bet to narrow it down if it gives any more info than just a 'Power calibration error'. The error is almost always a hardware one internal to the burner.

Also, I would try updating the burner's firmware if you have had it a while. It's possible it doesn't have the correct burning solution for the media. I have a couple of Optiarc's in my computers and I burn Verbatim DL + discs on both with no problems, though I usually use the 2.4X ones.

[Onceler2]

In my other computer it is set up with an 80 conductor cable, it is comfigured as master without any other drives connected.
The drives have the latest firmware.

[johns0]

Sometimes buying a new burner is the easiest fix,only $25.

[Onceler2]

these should be working,I find it hard to believe that two different 8x dl burners can't burn to 8x media but work fine on 2.4x media

[MOVIEGEEK]

Time for a new writer.

[turk690]

It can be BOTH the burner and media. In the place where I am, I'd be lucky to get ANY DVD+R DL at all. For a long time, all there was only Memorex, which I used with a LiteOn 20A1S. Although recording speed was unpredictable (burning 10 copies of the same image from a same location sometimes the peak speed would be 4x, sometimes 6x, rarely 8x), there were no coasters. Then I bought a new batch of the hated Memorex, and out of 10, 6 were coasters (two power calibration errors, four OK burns but couldn't be played on a Panasonic S52 DVD player later).
I went out on a limb and got Verbatims; still, out of 10, 3 were coasters (burn OK but unplayable). I decided to replace the drive, still with another LiteOn iHAS322 and the Verbatims (and Princo ?!?!?) all burned OK, no coasters, all played perfectly on the S52.
With the cost of the drives down to the $20, I think it's best to look at the scene wholesale and just junk it if it acts odd. From my experience, this is when the drive is over about 18 months old and constant burning is done. With the days of reliable media numbered, the drives are following in their wake. Unless it's a Plextor. But that's another topic.

[Noahtuck]

A failure could be caused by a failing burner laser, or it could also be caused by dirt on the laser lens, or a failing power supply, or a brand of media the burner doesn't have a burning solution for. If you were using Verbatim, the latter isn't too likely.

I am sooooooo pissed!!!!!!!


A few hours after posting, i came downstairs by my pc, and as i sat down... POOF!!!!!!
My power supply died

Thanks goodness i always have a shelf full of spare parts

[lordsmurf]

Yeah, well, join the club. Mine died too, last night. For a temp solution, I swiped the one from my secondary system. Already ordered a new one from Newegg.com. While I was inside, I tinkered with my fans, and the system is very quite now -- it used to be more wind-tunnel-like.

[JohnnyBob]

it doesn't work with imgburn either
reason power callibration error

Turn off the power calibration in Imgburn. It isn't necessary and is known to cause problems in some cases.
Imgburn > Tools > Settings... > Write tab, uncheck "Perform OPC Before Write" (in Imgburn v2.4.4.0)
However Liteon burners are not the best for DL discs according to my many Nero DiscSpeed scans. I have a Liteon and a LG, and always use the LG for DL discs. The Liteon is fine for burning single layer discs.

[johns0]

However Liteon burners are not the best for DL discs according to my many Nero DiscSpeed scans. I have a Liteon and a LG, and always use the LG for DL discs. The Liteon is fine for burning single layer discs.

Liteon burners are fine for d/l burns,i wouldnt trust any nero scan tests,lg can be bad for d/l burns as well.

[budz]

I've always used my Liteon burners for strictly ripping....burning dvd media I've always used my Benq's, Pioneer's and Samsung drives.
Pioneer drives burn Verbatim DL media very well.
Just my 2 cents!

[Noahtuck]

Yeah, well, join the club. Mine died too, last night. For a temp solution, I swiped the one from my secondary system. Already ordered a new one from Newegg.com. While I was inside, I tinkered with my fans, and the system is very quite now -- it used to be more wind-tunnel-like.

Yeah... i think redwudz jinxed me!!!!
:P

Actually just a bad weekend... my 3rd pc lost it's mobo friday
So this afternoon i was down to only 1 PC
Actually have 4 running at all times but my son don't allow me to touch his unless he needs something fixed

I think it has something to do with a big storm that rolled through a couple of weekends ago now that i think about it, Gadgetguy probably knows what i am talking about, had all kinds of weird $h!t going on that night, had one of my mains in my breaker box fry and fixed it saturday morning.

The bitch is, the mobo is $75.00 and it's only a socket A that just has IDE, uses DDR & is pretty outdated and cost's more then the last one i bought, they have not made them for some time... so i am just building a whole new setup with SATA everything and a dual core CPU.

Time to move forward a little...

[johns0]

The bitch is, the mobo is $75.00 and it's only a socket A that just has IDE, uses DDR & is pretty outdated and cost's more then the last one i bought, they have not made them for some time... so i am just building a whole new setup with SATA everything and a dual core CPU.

Time to move forward a little...

Go quad core

[Noahtuck]

The bitch is, the mobo is $75.00 and it's only a socket A that just has IDE, uses DDR & is pretty outdated and cost's more then the last one i bought, they have not made them for some time... so i am just building a whole new setup with SATA everything and a dual core CPU.

Time to move forward a little...

Go quad core

Yeah i may..... i am looking at like a hundred diff. components, i just know i am going to go totally SATA for burners and HDD's instead of a mixture.

I'm from the old days when 120mhz & 75mhz were at the top or their game & it took a day or more just to encode a movie in VCD to fit on a single cd
So 4 hours to encode a dvd is nothing to me

I know when i have worked on other peoples dual core i always thought, this is kind of nice :P

Man.... did i drag this post OT or what

redwudz's fault for jinxing me 8)

[lordsmurf]

I have a motherboard that I gave up on last week, too. :P

[gll99]

However Liteon burners are not the best for DL discs

Shows you how hard it is to rely on anecdotal evidence. In my case I found the exact opposite to be true but they are on different systems.

To the OP:

I also had some 30% failures with Memorex (before I knew better) but with Verbatims rated 2.4x but supposedly up to 6x, in limited burns (about 10) they were all successful. My 2 main writers burn best at the default rated speed of the media.

Just some thoughts: Are the Verbatims from the same batch? Could it just be a bad batch. Also try burning something else, I just wonder if there is something weird with the input media or the layer break.

[redwudz]

A few hours after posting, i came downstairs by my pc, and as i sat down... POOF!!!!!!
My power supply died

redwudz's fault for jinxing me

Sure, blame the messenger. As long as it didn't take the rest of the PC with it when it died. The last one I had blow, only a Mitsumi floppy drive survived and I had no use for it. Of course it was entertaining when blue sparks and smoke shot out of it. Lucky I was there.

We get very impressive lightning storms around here, but they are mostly horizontal lightning that rarely hits the ground. And I do have surge protectors on my PCs. One popped fairly loudly a couple of weeks ago during a storm and I thought something shorted behind my entertainment console till I saw the red light on it. I just tossed it in the junk box and plugged in another.

But...... Getting back to optical drives, I have about six different brands and haven't had a coaster in a year or so with any of them. But I laid in a big supply of the 8X TY silver top discs a couple of years ago and I still have about 200 left. And I only use Verbatim DL + discs, no coasters there either. Most times I burn them on my Sony Optiarc DVD burner. I do have a new Pioneer BD burner, but haven't got around to using it yet, too many other things to do.