Pioneer DVR-110D - Internal target failure

[tjax]

Hi all.

I have a problem with my Pioneer DVR-110D, latest firmware. I'm using Windows XP SP3 32bit on an AMD 3700+ CPU, 1GB RAM, Seasonic PSU, MSI nForce 4 mobo.

I try to burn files with an overall size of 4200-4400 MB on 16x DVD+/-R, using Nero and 8x burning speed. I got the same results when using Nero 6.0.0.18 and 8.3.6.0.

I don't have any other burning software installed, the drivers used by the Pioneer are only the Microsoft ones, cdrom.sys, imapi.sys, redbook.sys and storprop.dll.

When using regular Verbatim DVD+R 16x MCC004 Made in Taiwan, the burning fails every time with an error. I tried using an older Verbatim printable / pearl white disc that's higher quality - I got a successful burning but afterwards the Pioneer writer didn't read the disc. When using a TDK DVD-R 16x disc, the burning failed.

I don't remember the exact Nero 6 errors, but Nero 8 fails with the errors "Internal target failure" and "Could not perform end of Disc-at-once".

Whether the burning fails or succeeds, the same things happens when trying to read the discs. In any other DVD player/writer, they read just fine. When reinserted in the Pioneer writer though, I can't access them and I get "Incorrect function" from Windows Explorer. Nero sees them as blank. I tried using a DVD diagnostic software in this case and I got "The last track in the table of contents is not the lead-out. The table of contents does not have a lead-out track in it. This can have an adverse effect on the ability of some programs to read the disc".

The problems seem to happen when writing over 4.1GB of data on a disc. I managed to write around 20 TDK discs without problems, being careful to stay below 4.1GB; then, when trying to write around 4400 MB, the burning failed.

Before taking the unit out and cleaning the lens - does anybody have any idea why this is happening? I attached a log from an unsuccessful burn of 4 files with an overall size of 4.19 GB.

[hech54]

If you cannot burn correctly with ImgBurn - your drive is dead.

[redwudz]

I'd agree with hech54. That appears to be a communication problem with the burner. You could check or replace the data cables. Clean the lens if you want, but if ImgBurn doesn't work after all that, I would just consider replacing the burner.

[jman98]

When using regular Verbatim DVD+R 16x MCC004 Made in Taiwan, the burning fails every time with an error. I tried using an older Verbatim printable / pearl white disc that's higher quality - I got a successful burning but afterwards the Pioneer writer didn't read the disc. When using a TDK DVD-R 16x disc, the burning failed.

In addition to what hech54 succinctly said, do note that just because a disc is made in Taiwan that it is not necessarily junk. MCC discs like you have are top notch. Taiwan was one of the first places to produce substandard cheap media for companies but that doesn't mean at all that just because a disc is from Taiwan that it's necessarily lower quality. I buy Verbatim's DataLifePlus discs all the time and these are only made in Taiwan and are top grade. Note that TDK media has been substandard for years now.

I suspect that your burner is failing, but if you want to risk a disc and try this, try burning at 4x speed and see if that results in better burns. The failure of lead out makes me think that your burner is just failing though. Even if the 4x works, eventually you will have to replace that burner. They don't last forever and they often don't last as long as their owners hope. It's just how it is.

[budz]

buy a new burner since they're so cheap now....

Here's some suggestions for SATA DVD Burners:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827118039

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827136216


IDE DVD Burner:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827151175

[tjax]

Thanks for all the replies.

@jman98:
I mentioned "made in Taiwan" because there's also MCC media made in China, India and Japan. As far as I know the Taiwanese one is better than the Chinese/Indian stuff - from what I've read and from my personal experience. Also from my personal experience, my older photo printable (pearl white) MCC discs seem slightly better quality than regular MCC discs. Finally, the TDK media I use is the one made in UAE by Falcon - really good stuff.

Anyway, I cleaned the lens and removed the little dust that was inside the drive. This fixed it. All the discs I burned since then are fine. The weird thing is that my previous unsuccessful burns, that were read fine in other drives, are now also read fine by the Pioneer. The diagnostic app I ran before now finds nothing wrong with the discs - no more missing lead-out. I guess this happened because the Pioneer drive read the discs incorrectly, not because the discs were actually improperly burned.

Also, I know that the Pioneer is not a reliable scanner, but I still use it for PIPO scans with DVDInfoPro. After cleaning the drive I rescanned a few discs and noticed that I get better PIPO results. However, the unsuccessful burns that were previously not read by the drive did generate some weird-looking graphs.