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cdrw buffer underun 2

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enviroman50

Technical User
May 15, 2002
20
US
I have a win98SE machine 1.2ghz duron with 192 meg ram. I have a 8x4x32 Phillips CDRW. When I try to copy a cd I keep getting buffer underun errors and screw up another cd. What's up? How can I stop this from happening?
 
This must be an early NON burn proof writer?
Several things:
1)If writing "on the fly" from CDrom to writer it is much more reliable to have these rom devices on seperate IDE channels/cables.
2) If reliability is what you're after then don't write on the fly (CDrom to writer) but write to the hard drive then back to the writer instead, I know it takes longer but is far more sucessful.
3) Check your recording media is up to your write speed and is good quality (cheap disc's have a much higher record failure rate) some writers just PREFER certain media!
4) Sounds obvious but SLOW your record speed DOWN! take it down to 4X or even 2X record speed.
5) With non burnproof drives, turn everything OFF in the background (especially screen savers and internet connections that may kick in half way through the burn process) and don't try to work on the PC whilst it is writing! just leave well alone.
These sujestions should help. Martin Please let members know if there advice has helped any.
 
Thanks for the information. When I copy a cd I write the information to the hd then burn it to a cd. Thats when the bottom drops out after the recorder starts to burn the cd. I had this burner in an older machine with just a 366mhz and 128 ram and never had a problem. I've made 5 coasters trying to copy one music cd. I have two hard drives on one ide channel and a 50X cdrom and the Phillips CDRW8432 on the other channel the same setup on the older machine. It's confusing to me that when I upgrade to a 1.2ghz Duron and 192 ram it doesn't work.
 
CD burners have gotten pretty cheap. I'd upgrade to one that has burn proof technology. "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing....." [morning]
 
"I had this burner in an older machine with just a 366mhz and 128 ram and never had a problem"

"I have two hard drives on one ide channel and a 50X cdrom and the Phillips CDRW8432 on the other channel"


Based on what you've said, it sounds like there is a resource issue - running low perhaps. This can be caused by the IDE devices on both channels not setup properly, or as paparazi mentioned, you have too much running in the background.

With a system like yours, I can't imagine that it's because there is too much running at once. Have you read much about enabling DMA? It sounds like either the hard drive or the burner isn't using it.


These links will get you started with DMA:





Since you mentioned that you have two hard drives, have you tried copying from each hard drive to CD? Maybe one is having trouble and not the other? Also, what software are you using? Have you tried burning at the slower speed of 4x to see if it makes a difference? ~cdogg
"We park in driveways but drive in parkways?"
 
What software are you using to copy ? and what version is that ?

older EZ CD creator tend to have this problem also
 
I had this exact problem. The problem didn't start until a while after I had my computer. I found out that I made the partition with my OS on it too small. When it began to fill up is when I started having this problem. Make sure there is enough extra space on your partition with your OS and your cd burning software. Hope this helps.
 
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