DVD-burner problems, would appreciate help

[korrupt]

Hello Everyone,

I am new here and you guys seem like knowledgeable people so I figured maybe you could help me solve my problem. I have been backing up my 400 large DVD collection using my LG Gsa-4167b and recently the burn process would randomly fail after 5% to 30%. This was burning at 8x or 16x using Nero and DVD shrink. My 300 previous DVD’s I have burned at either 8x or 16x with no problems but now I have to burn at 4x to work. I realize that my DVD burner has probably passed its lifespan. It is however, still in warranty and I am already getting it replaced but I want to be sure this is the problem. What exactly happens? Does the laser simply wear out? I can also attach an error message that I got if this would help but email me if you need that because it makes my post just that bit more boring.

Once again, at random the burn process will fail at 8x or 16x but it is getting less now that I burn at 4x, I however want to burn at 8x because the quality is good and I haven’t got the patience to burn anything below 8x.

Here are some specs if this may help.
processor: 2.8ghz Intel Celeron
RAM: 512mb DDR
Graphics: 128mb Geforce fx-5200
HDD: 80gb

I realise I run a pretty basic system but it has done me good untill lately and it cannot be a full HDD because I reformatted a few weeks ago and have 70% hdd free.

I would greatly appreciate any help you can give me and am looking forward to your reply. It would also be good if you could e-mail me. My email is jorrit@jortec.com.au.

Sincerely,

Jorrit

 

[iss]

There are a couple of things to be aware of. first DVD burners tend to be picky about what media they like. dont buy memorex, or some off the wall house brand that is usually CMC media and it's crap. and will cause just the sort of problem you are describing. use verbatim or maxell media. second how old are the DVD's your backing up? if they are newer DVD's then they may have protections on them that the outdated Shrink cannot handle ( shrink has not been developed in more than two years.) and last make sure that your burner is operating in DMA mode and not pio. you can check in device manager under "IDE ATA|ATAPI Controillers" look under the advanced tab.

 

[korrupt]

thanks for your reply

thanks for your reply,


Yes I had also concidered those options but the weird part is that it is quite randomly. This suggests that it is not the software but the hardware. I have been using 1x-16x TDK dvd-r and they have been treating me very good. If it was in pio mode wouldnt that mean that it wont work ever at all? The dvds are relatively new but the encoding process goes well with all output files saved and when i open the files using shrink it burns fine. Can it be that the laser has been weakened due to overuse and does not burn too well at high speeds. Hope to hear from you soon.

regards,

jorrit

 

[iss]

Your burner could still burn in pio mode it would just be slow. it is entirely possible that your drive is failing.

 

[korrupt]

thanks

by "drive is failing" you mean the problem is a hardware problem?

thanks,

jorrit

 

[iss]

it is possible it is a hardware issue. the drives laser may be going bad. or as I allready indicated it could be a media issue. the problem with brrands like TDK is you never know what your getting TDK does not make media they simply market other peoples media under thier bradn name. and the quality therefore is determined by who thier supplier is at the moment. when that changes so does the quality of the media.

 

[korrupt]

thanks for your reply

Mhhh,

I see. I also thought about that but there were bad ones from 2 spindles... First 90 worked fine, then the 10 screwed up, and then on the next spindle they stuffed up right from the start. Is it possible to see on the packaging who their current supplier is? Is there any other media brands that are around the same price and available in 100 spindles? I payed $60 Australian for my pack of 100, which is approx $45 USD. I heard Taiyo Yuden is a very high quality media brand? Are their products also available in Australia? I had a look on this website http://www.digitalfaq.com/media/dvdmedia.htm which shows the media brands and quality and TDK was concidered top quality media which is why I purchased them.

I appreciate all the help you are given me,

regards,

jorrit

 

[iss]

Unfortunately there is no way to tell who the actual maker of the disks is from the outside packaging. in general TDK is fairly good media. I dont know who makes the current crop for them. at one point it was ritek. Taiyo Yuden is good quality media but usually expensive. one of the better brand is Verbatim which is the brand name or MCC. ( mitsubishi Chemical Corp.) I buy 100 spindle packs of verbatim 16X DVD+R for 36.00 U.S.

you can find out who the maker of your TDK is with a freeware app like DVD Identifier. http://dvd.identifier.cdfreaks.com/

 

[korrupt]

Thanks,

is Verbatim also available in dvd-r? And how does verbatim compare to TDK in quality rather than success rate? Is lifespan the same? And are the materials as good quality? I have only really had one dud TDK out of about 300 disks, except for the last few days which is why I was worried.

So the symptoms I have described are also the same symptoms for a weak or damaged laser? How much would those expensive disks cost?

regards,

jorrit

 

[iss]

Yes verbatim makes DVD-R also. Verbatims are very good quality and consistent. Dont know how much Taiyo Yuden runs in Australia, but here They are considerably more expensive than verbatim and not really much, if any, better at all.

I just reread your initial post and noticed that you had reformatted recently. did you reinstall the motherboard drivers after installing windows? are there any devices in device manager with a yellow question mark or yellow triangle next to them?

 

[korrupt]

Uhm,

I'm not entirely sure. I am not at home at the moment but will check on monday. Do you have any experience with TDK because they are easy to obtain and if they are as good as verbatim, I will not swap over.

Thanks,

Jorrit

 

[korrupt]

The problem is fixed,

I got a new one and it's all good.

I appreciate everyone's help.

This thread may now be closed.

Regards,

Korrupt