Bad burner, what to do?

[The_Other_One]

Hmm... The last few times I've tried to burn stuff(totally legal videos I've made) my internal burner messes up. However, my external one I move around works just fine... I know this whole system is still under warrenty, but I don't care to return the whole beast unless I have to.

Has anyone ever delt with compaq and similar problems? I know they wouldn't just send me another drive to stick in here... Costco should refund my money no problem, but obviously I don't care to return the WHOLE computer.

Ugh, damn stuff, stop giving out!

 

[StrangleHold]

Have you tried to remove it or uninstall it in control panel and reboot to let it reinstall and see what happens or make sure its not running in PIO mode

 

[Bobo]

What do you mean by "mess up?" The disk doesn't play at all in anything? It won't burn at all?

 

[OvenMaster]

Has anyone ever delt with compaq and similar problems? I know they wouldn't just send me another drive to stick in here... Costco should refund my money no problem, but obviously I don't care to return the WHOLE computer.

You sure they wouldn't just have a warranty parts exchange deal? If eMachines can do it, why not Compaq? I'd call 'em and ask.
Tom

 

[The_Other_One]

Hmm... I would must rather do a parts exchang... Just most companies don't want use going inside the computers, even though we probably know more than their techs...

The problem is that the disks either won't work in any of our DVD players or the burning software will just lock up(the burn light still flashing)

Oh yeah, I contacted Costco and returning the machine for a full refund shouldn't be a problem(including shipping) So, I might play around with it a bit then look into that if it still seems to be acting up. But if I do get a new one, I could upgrade to a 7300(woot , hehe)

 

[magicman]

You might try reflashing the firmware on the burner, I remember having similar problems a while back, and while you might not expect it to do much, it did actually solve my problem.

 

[The_Other_One]

Hmm...that's worth a shot... I just have to find what model the drive is. Or maybe I'll destory it so there's no question about my return

 

[magicman]

Hmm...that's worth a shot... I just have to find what model the drive is. Or maybe I'll destory it so there's no question about my return

I really don't think that they'll refuse to accept it if you for whatever reason mess up the flash. I mean, if you just fail to mention that you flashed it at all, just say it's stopped working, and leave it at that, that'd be fine. I'm sure unless it's a mechanical fault, they'll just reprogram the thing, repackage it and sell it again themselves.

But I've never had a flash go wrong, so long as you get the right firmware version it's pretty much foolproof.

 

[The_Other_One]

Yeah, I just hate flashing anything because it's so easy for it to mess up! But I flashed my other DVD-Burner a few months back. Of course, it's the one that's working just fine now!

 

[The_Other_One]

Hmm... I tried to burn a disk again in Premiere and it didn't work. Basically it gets to a certain point(it's hard to say were as it's all with bars, no numbers) But anyway, the drive just set there flashing. Even when I forced Premiere to close, it continued until I rebooted...

I also tried to do a direct copy of a DVD(yes, it's legal ) and it worked... Now, realize this DVD I copied was made in premiere using my other burner, so it's not that my computer can't use premiere's DVD-Burning software or something...

 

[magicman]

Very strange....looks like you'll be after an RMA at this stage.

 

[The_Other_One]

Yeah, I suppose... Costco said I shouldn't have any problems returning the machine, however I forgot to mention I clipped the bar-code from the box for a rebate. I still have it scanned and all and a copy of the rebate form, so HOPFULLY we can work around this... -.-

Well, I might be upgraded from a 6200 to a 7300 if I do return this Their new comps don't come with the 6200 anymore

 

[Starman*]

How about starting off with some basic checks on the installation?

Check the ribbon cable is correctly installed
Check the master/slave jumper setting is appropriate
Check audio cable (not relevant to burn problem) is connected to appropriate digital or analog pins on motherboard

In Control Panel / System / Device Manager, go to IDE/ATA controllers, choose IDE channel the drive is on, right-click, Properties / Advanced Settings. For the dvd drive device, "DMA if available" should be the Transfer Mode and Current Transfer Mode should be something like "Ultra DMA Mode 2". If not you may have to go into the BIOS. If it's PIO as Stranglehold mentioned, you need to change.

One of the most basic checks that nobody does but me, is if there is a headphone jack in the drive, put in a cd and play it. If the laser and general electronics are working you will hear sound on headphones.

There have been quite a few posts lately about updating the firmware. If you are playing a cd and using the analog output, the firmware from 10 years ago should work. On a new machine the drive should work without updating unless someone omitted it in the factory. Fine if you are trying a new dvd format. Otherwise a grossly overrated, last-resort fix imo.

The other route if you think it's a faulty drive is just buy a new writer. They are so cheap now. Compare time and money to install with the time it will take you to line up at Costco, reinstall all your software and files in an exchange pc.

Starman*

 

[The_Other_One]

I skimmed your post, Starman, because the drive works fine...most of the time. As I mentioned, I copied a DVD last night using it. And usally, it's the one I use to read disks because it's the internal one.

However, it did act up some last night... I had a disk with my videos on it(just loaded on there, not an actual video DVD) and the drive just froze up. I was able to eject it, resulting in a read error. I guess soemtime today I'll try the same disk in my other drive and see if it acts similarly...

 

[Starman*]

I got the impression (I think from your later comments) that the drive was not working at all well. My mistake. If the drive had been working well until recently, then there is nothing wrong with it as-installed. Connections, jumpers, firmware. Something has changed in the drive or the pc. It sounds as though the pc is quite new so the drive is not going to be bunged up with dust.

Any other things going on in the pc? Progs running, internet communications, malware. You could try opening Task Manager/Performance before you run that video to monitor cpu and memory.

I was going to ask if the drive works OK at slower burn speeds but if you are getting read errors, burning is not the problem. Have you been using different media lately?

I was checking online prices on another thread and you can get a dvd rom for $15 and dvd rw for 30$.

Starman*

 

[OvenMaster]

I skimmed your post, Starman, because the drive works fine...most of the time. As I mentioned, I copied a DVD last night using it. And usally, it's the one I use to read disks because it's the internal one.

However, it did act up some last night... I had a disk with my videos on it(just loaded on there, not an actual video DVD) and the drive just froze up. I was able to eject it, resulting in a read error. I guess soemtime today I'll try the same disk in my other drive and see if it acts similarly...

I had a problem with the NEC combo burner that came with my eMachines: it simply wouldn't recognize rewriteable CDs as such after six months. DVD-ROMs, DVD±R/RWs, CD-R, CD-ROMs, Red Book CDs... all fine. Rewriteables? Nero, Roxio, and XP's built-in burn functions all said RW's were CD-ROMs. The NEC burner got replaced under warranty with a LiteOn and it's worked fine ever since.
Tom

 

[The_Other_One]

I know I can get cheap drives, but I paid fairly good money expecting this machine to work. Seeing as it's DEFINETLY still under warrenty, I'm not spending any money on it...

I usally just burn at whatever the media allows. The last disk was 2.4x I beleive...

Well, this will detect disks, and usally start to write. Just after a while(at least with Premiere) it just locks up. I'm debating if I want to get a refund and build another machine myself or what...

 

[Starman*]

I don't use any media applications for burning disks. I make the media files or dvd folders then use Nero to do the burning. It's a good way to have all the disk records in one place. You only have consider the quirks of one burning application.

I'm not saying Premiere (assume you mean Adobe) is necessarily bad, but burning disks is not Adobe's primary technology. I'm a believer in using the best I have for each task, not the most convenient. I've found Premiere to be quirky at times, even when making wmvs with Cleaner. Press the Cancel button at the wrong time while rendering, it locks up and you have to close Premiere.

I would not like to start burning just after rendering video. Who knows what crap is being held in memory. If I really had to use the app, I would save, close down and restart before doing any burning.

Anything to report on that video that locked up yesterday?

Starman*

 

[The_Other_One]

Premiere does a great job burning the files most of the time, and it's very quick and easy. I mean I don't think there's a way to export other than to MPEG2, then I'd have to re-encode to the DVD folders and such, then I'd have to burn. Or maybe I'm just lazy

I've never had any real problems with Premiere's rendering features, and usally not burning ones either. And as I mentioned earlier, it seems to only be with this one burner, not my older, external NEC drive.

Ah, never tried that disk again. I'll do it now.