CD Burner won't burn

[Wxguesser]

I have an Optprite CW 5202 Cd burner that worked flawlessly up until about 3 weeks ago. Now if I try to burn a CD using Roxio Easy CD Creator 5 it will go into write mode but hangs when writing the TOC. The CD becomes a coaster, and I have to do a hard restart to get the thing to stop spinning.
Prior to these symptoms I had an issue with McAfee not being able to update. As part of that solution they had me run a Safe Mode/Command Window only scan of my system. It came up blank but there were a lot of files that it couldn't open. I am wondering if this scan didn't corrupt something.
Normally I would just simply uninstall and then reinstall Roxio but I no longer have the CD. If there is another way around this I hope someone here can help me. If not, ...

Jim W.

 

[cdogg]

Uninstall and reinstall is the next best step to take. If the burner is relatively new enough, perhaps you can contact Optprite's tech support about obtaining a replacement CD.


~cdogg
[tab]"All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind";
[tab][tab]- Aristotle
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Wxguesser]

An update. I uninstalled Roxio Easy CD creator 5 and installed Nero Burning ROM 5 and still the CD burner won't burn correctly. It destroys the CD. Cakewalk's Pyro 2003 does the same thing. I also obtained Roxio's Easy Media Creator 7 and it does the same thing version 5 did. The CD goes into write mode but the program hangs when writing the TOC. The only way to get it to stop is to hit the reset button. Killing the program in either task manager or Kill All shuts down the programs OK but the burner still spins and won't open until the whole machine is reset. I don't run all of these at the same time. Nero is now uninstalled and when I run Pyro, I disable Roxio.
A check of device manager shows that the device is working properly.

Could this be a corruption of the main driver or do I have a bad burner. I don't have another burner to swap out for the hardware check. The burner is past warranty and Optowrite's website leaves alot to be desired.
Any help would be appreciated.

Jim W.

 

[cdogg]

First of all to prevent more coasters from tyrannizing more of your desk space, I would start using a CD-RW until you get one to successfully burn.

Secondly, since it was working fine up until 3 weeks ago, I don't think there's anything wrong with your hardware configuration. About the only possibility here is that you recently bought a different type of media that's not compatible with your burner, or you added a new device.

Seems like a dirty lens. Use a can of compressed air and blow out the inside of the CD Burner. This is by far the safest method of cleaning - I just don't trust some of those CD laser cleaners with brushes.

If that doesn't do it, then try the burner in another PC to be sure it's at fault.

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Wxguesser]

I was thinking along those same lines.

The media worked before. I have used Verbatim for years with no problems.

Could be the dirty lens thing although the drive seems to read everything just fine. Maybe the write head (if there is such a thing in a burner) is dirty or it is clean enough to read but not enough to write.



Jim W.

 

[FlammerDylis]

there is only one lens in a cd-writer, doing everything

by the way, i was thinking on a bad ide connector, but you will have more errors on writing, so, i remember having this issue one time , but can't remember it sorry

 

[Crowley16]

what speed is your burner? and what speed are the cd's you're trying to burn?

I've had a similar problem before when I accidentally set the burn speed to beyond that suported by the cd...

also, have you tried to update the cd database? The burning software has that included but maybe it's been corrupted or maybe you're using out of date cd's... p.s. it's a pretty hefty download, and you should be able to access it somewhere in nero's config settings...

--------------------
Procrastinate Now!

 

[cdogg]

FlammerDylis,
Well, that's not "entirely" correct. Yes, there is only one lens in a CD-Writer, but it's not the lens doing anything. It's the lasers. A typical burner has 3: read, write, and erase. Therefore in this situation, it is very much possible that the write laser has failed, or there is some other mechanical defect in the laser assembly.

Check this link out:

http://computer.howstuffworks.com/cd-burner5.htm

Crowley16,
As the user stated in their 2nd post, they've tried two different software apps.


Jim,
It is possible that the lens is just dirty enough to affect the write laser, but not the read one. Again, the ultimate test is to try the burner in another PC. That would give you a better indication of whether the problem is software or hardware related.

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Wxguesser]

Here's an update.
I took the burner apart and the lens looks clean. I blew it off anyway (no touchee) and put it all back together, no joy.
I then scrounged an old Memorex 2x burner and tried that. It seemed to work but when I went to play back the burned cd, no data was on it but the tracks were there. Kind of like a hollow track, the track info is on the disk but no data is in the track.
Broke down and bought a new DVD burner (I wanted one anyway) and with Roxio 7 it gives me a logical unit communication failure 04/08/03 when trying to burn a data cd. At least Roxio lets you test the burn before actually writing to the disk. No coaster there.
Uninstalled Roxio and installed the Nero that came with the burner. Decided to take one more chance as Nero (at least the OEM version I have) won't do a preburn test. Burn started and then aborted due to hardware communication failure.

BTW, I am using Verbatim 48X blanks and I set my speed to 40X just to be on the safe side. I even went to as low as 16X on the original burner which has never given me any trouble until now. Did the same on the new burner as well.
I have burned successfully with this batch of disks before so I don't think it's the disks.


I am beginning to think it may be IDE related. I am going to try replacing the IDE cable and see if that helps. The only thing I have added after the last successful write was a USB hub. Device manager shows no conflicts or bad drivers and I really don't think they would interfere with one another as they are on different busses. The burner and my DVD reader both act normal in read mode. It's just write that seems to be bad. I don't think 3 drives in a row would be bad. Odds are against it. If I can get into another PC, I'll try the original burner in it as a test as well. I'll almost bet that it will check out OK.

Thanks for all the input so far.


Jim W.

 

[cdogg]

Definitely try swapping out the IDE cable. Try both a 40-pin and 80-pin cable, as some burners are sensitive to the type that you use. Some newer Pioneer drives for example, specifically state that you should use a 40-pin cable (trust me, that didn't make sense to me either, but it's true!).

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Wxguesser]

Latest update,

Tried new IDE cable, again, no joy.

Tried the old burner in other PC. Seems to be working just fine. I am formatting a CD-RW and it seems to be working as it hasn't ejected the disk with some kind of error and it's been going now for over 19 minutes. Before it would spit it out in about 10 seconds or so. I will have to check it once it is finished.

Questions: After some thinking I realized I had also installed a new printer. Epson CX4600 all in one. Could its drivers be interfering with the IDE channel? I don't know how as it is on the USB bus and that should be totally separated. However, strange things can happen sometimes.

I am going to try hooking the burner up to the same IDE channel as the hard drive and see what happens. If this works would a bios flash help fix the other channel? What would cause a partial failure of an IDE channel? I am stumped.

Jim W.

 

[Wxguesser]

Old Optowrite burner works just fine in the other PC.

New Maddog works just fine on same IDE channel as hard drive.

Now what??
I'll try a google search or something while I wait for an answer.

TIA

Jim W.

 

[Wxguesser]

Latest in the ongoing saga,

Tried putting a hard drive on the secondary IDE channel. At first, all indications were that all was normal. I was able to open, read, and write to the drive. However, when I reinstalled it onto the primary IDE channel, all the data on it was corrupted. The extended partition was no longer readable and the primary's data was toast. Glad there were no irreplaceable files on it.

As stated earlier, the burner seems to work fine on the primary IDE channel, albeit slower. I can't use it this way though because of the distance between where my hard disks reside in the case and the nearest 5 1/4" bay. It was on the floor during the test.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the IDE drivers to no avail. Unless there is another solution, I think it may be the mobo. I don't know what else it could be. The rest of the system works just fine. I am stumped!!

Jim W.

 

[cdogg]

Go ahead and try the BIOS flash. After you reinstall Windows, the clean registry may also make a difference in the performance of the secondary channel.

If both don't help, then it may be a bad controller on the motherboard.

~cdogg
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[Wxguesser]

I think I am going to go ahead and replace the mobo. I have quite a few irreplaceable files on the primary drive and I don't want to slick it and start over. As an alternative, I may just use the secondary drive to reinstall Windows and just use it for the OS. It's a small 10GB HD and it should handle that without a problem. It's an older technology drive so it will be slower without the ATA66 being available on it but oh well.
Thanks everyone for all the help. I learned a lot.

Jim W.

 

[Wxguesser]

Final update.

Called Zuke, the company that made the computer and they suggested an IDE controller card. Now why didn't I think of that? Got one and tried it with no joy. Every time I put a blank disk in the drive, the whole system locked up. No keyboard response, no mouse, nothing. I even waited about 10 minutes or so to see if it cleared, no go. I tried it with all 4 drives hooked up to it and the machine booted normally after a bios change but it still hung when a blank disk was inserted.
Took the card back and got an Intel D865PERL mobo. Vive la differance!! All is well again!! I can burn with the best of them and the new mobo isn't maxed out with the old 533 mHz FSB. This mobo is sweet.

Life is great again.

Jim W. A+
You CAN teach an old dog new tricks!!