DVD Writer Power Calibration Error

[ddvlad]

My DVD Writer (it's a NEC ND-3520A) keeps failing to write DVDs. I use Nero 6.6.0.8 and it usually fails in the first minute or so, although at times it writes up to 25% of the DVD before failing. It makes funny (and disturbing) noises, like scratching the medium, though there are no evident marks on it. I haven't tried to uses other software, because it is my strong belief that the drive is to be blamed. It is about three months old and worked fine until about three weeks ago. It is still under guarantee, but I'm pretty sure they'll end up saying it is my fault (I've dealt with the exact same people before -- no offence to the one of you dedicated to your jobs). Any advice would be welcome, just s long as I don't ruin any more DVDs (It's annoying and expensive in my country).

Thanks in advance,
Vlad

 

[BadBigBen]

Hola,

this can happen when both the firmware of the DVD and or NERO don't correctly recognize the media in use...

suggest:

1.) update firmware for the NEC drive, this will tell the drive about new media...

2.) update Nero (v6.6.0.15a is the newest I believe)...

3.) try other manufacturer's media...


Ben

If it works don't fix it! If it doesn't use a sledgehammer...

 

[ddvlad]

Perhaps it would be wise to tell you that:
* I have written the same media before, using the exact same configuration (including software and OS)
* The media (Verbatim DVD+Rs) are on the drive's compatibility list
* NEC lists WinXP SP2 as a minimum requirement, but I have no SP installed. This didn't keep me from writing the same edia before, however.

I have updated the firmware, but, aside from adding a letter to my drive's name (!), nothing has happened. It still won't burn the media. I'll try to update Nero ASAP, as well as install the Service Packs.

Many thanks for your suggestions,
Vlad

 

[cdogg]

Did you add any hardware or software to your system around the time the problem started?

Does it read CD/DVD's OK?

Is the drive on its own IDE channel? If not, what is it paired up with?


Aside from trying the drive in another PC, it's going to be a lot of guess work to narrow down the cause of the problem. It does sound like a hardware issue so far.

~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[garebo]

It does sound like a hardware issue but you never know. I would suggest you give us a list of programs that you have installed, along with any hardware.
There are programs, like Itunes for instance, that are known to cause problems. If i recall correctly, Itunes causes problems when its uninstalled, but still there could be a software app or hardware that is causing this.

Cdogg made a good point when he said to try the writer in another pc and another good point when he asked what hardware is on the same ide channel.



Good advice + great people = tek-tips

 

[ddvlad]

The drive is paired up with a hard drive rack which I had beforehand and which works fine -- I've had the chance to test it after the DVD-RW problems started. As for software, I've heard of a copy-protection called StarForce which may be used my some of my games. As far as I know, StarForce causes problems with software such as Alcohol 120% (which I have installed but rarely use). Hopefully, an OS reinstall (which I plan on doing tonite for this reason and others) will fix the problem if it is software-related. If not, I will try to get a friend to test the drive on his own computer and if it still doesn't work, it's off to technical support.

And you are right, garebo, people here at tek-tips have proved extremely helpful and knowledgeable every time.

 

[cdogg]

First of all, get rid of Alcohol 120%. I've had countless problems with this software. It creates a virtual drive and some burners are just not compatible. I had a similar issue where I could not write from Nero or Roxio until I uninstalled it.

Furthermore, can it write CD's OK? And what kind of DVD's are you trying to make? Data or MPEG-2?

A clean install of Windows is definitely a sure fire way to eliminate software from the equation, but sometimes it is good to know what the culprit was to help prevent the same problem from reoccurring.



~cdogg
"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - Albert Einstein
[tab][navy]For general rules and guidelines to get better answers, click here:[/navy] faq219-2884

 

[ddvlad]

I did a reinstall but decided to go for Mandrake 9.1 instead of Windows. I haven't had the chance to write any CDs since the problems began. The DVDs I was trying to write were data.

I hope to find some program to burn DVDs in KDE (I'm kind of a noob). Hopefully all goes well. Point taken about Alcohol 120%. I only used it to emulate disk images anyway, so I am better off with Daemon Tools.

Thanks a bunch,
Vlad