# DVD burns fail ??



## RA40 (Jul 3, 2009)

Lately I've been getting a lot of DVD burn failures. 

Burner is a Sony/Optiarc7190 and a 7290. 

Software is:

Nero OEM burning ROM 6.6.0.17
Nero Start Smart 2.0.0.27

Tried a variety of media, TDK and Sony and at different burn speeds on two different systems. Burned about 10 coasters.  

I dunno if it is the files themselves but the error from the software is reporting an error at disc at once something. (Lost the message.  )

??


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## NA8 (Jul 3, 2009)

For what it's worth I use some 8X Verbatim DataLifePlus DVD-R media
PN: 94852 which works well for me with Nero 6.3

http://ep.yimg.com/ip/I/supermediastore_2059_152659052

media ID MCC 02RG20,Mitsubishi,By Mitsubishi Chemical corp

Note the part number, not all Verbatim media is the same stuff. supermediastore.com and newegg.com both have it. 



Sounds like your Sony burner might be going bad though. I'd run some kind of cleaner product and see if that helps. You might want to double check your power supply voltages too. 

You might try downloading imgburn (free) and give that program a try in case it's your Nero acting up.

http://www.imgburn.com/


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## siklops (Jul 3, 2009)

What is the media code of the dvd? Use one of the dvd media code readers found on this page http://www.digitalfaq.com/reviews/dvd-media.htm
Then compare it with the quality guide found on the same page, ive found that brand name companies usually dont make there own disc's and are often subbed out to other companies. Have you tried using the media in another burner?


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## csshih (Jul 3, 2009)

I heard some of the TDK media swapped manufacturers, and now coaster rate is a bit higher.

For data, I'd do the slowest burn speed, but 10 coasters? There's something strange going on.


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## jrmcferren (Jul 3, 2009)

Although it would unlikely be the same problem on two burners, but when is the error occuring? I had a burner that failed every dual layer disc during the verify stage. Turned out to be a read issue and not a write issue. You may want to see if you can copy all of the data off of a known good data DVD to see if this is the problem.


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## gorn (Jul 3, 2009)

Could the problem be with the old version of Nero you are running? 6.6 is real old. I started having problems with Nero 7 burning coasters so I switched to different software. Nero is now into version 9. I haven't bought it yet but will eventually.


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## seaside (Jul 3, 2009)

Or is it old DVD burner failing?

I have lite-on DVD burner, which has been rock solid 100% succesful burner. I never had any failure with the drive for last 4 years. Then, about a month ago, it started develop whining and wobbling at the first stage of recording, power calibration error pops out, or it simply can't finish the recording at the end. Now I got lots of coffee coasters. The same OS, the same DVD media in the same box, the same Nero software, nothing changed. It fails to burn at 16X almost 100%, about 50% success rate at 8X. So basically my good DVD burner become DVD reader. I guess its time to buy another one.

How old is yours?


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## RA40 (Jul 3, 2009)

From the tool kit, the DVD +R media is showing as: SonyD21 and CMC MAG M01/TDK. 

I also checked the DMA/PIO modes and both are set to the highest settings. Before on another system, a bad cable gave errors but to have this occur on two different systems seems low. 

This well aged version of Nero in the past has performed well so I've not updated it. I have Roxio Suite 9 but that suite is such a tank. 

What I'm burning are AVI DIVX files to play in the DVD player. The AVI files themselves play fine on the pooter and through the USB port on the player. They don't appear to be corrupted. Just putting them them onto a DVD to play is a headache even if well below the maximum capacity of the disc. In this case, 3.4G of data.

This is the error log file:



> Windows XP 5.1
> IA32
> WinAspi: -
> ahead WinASPI: File 'd:\Nero\Ahead\nero\Wnaspi32.dll': Ver=2.0.1.74, size=164112 bytes, created 10/26/2004 9:35:32 AM
> ...



Thanks for your help.


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## RA40 (Jul 3, 2009)

I burned other DVD's of varying sizes from 1G-4G...without problems. I dunno what it is with that particular set of files that causes the "Could not perform end of Disc-at-once", error message. Doesn't make sense. :shrug:


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## Lite_me (Jul 3, 2009)

I've used both DVD-R & +R. In my burning ware, Prassi ONES, whenever I try to burn a +DVD using Disk-at-Once, it stops w/ an info screen telling me DVD+R can not be written that way... I need to choose Session-at-Once. 

(bit of info) I don't use the Wizard, I use the manual interface of the program allowing me to choose what mode (Session at Once - Disk-at-Once, Open, Closed, burn speed, ISO 9660 type, etc. When changing types of DVDs, I'll get that notification because of course, it's still like it was from the last time.

Could this be your problem? Can you select Session-at-Once instead of Disk-at-Once in Nero? Could it have gotten changed? Prassi tells me +R can't do Disk-at-Once.


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 3, 2009)

I would strongly recommend that you post at one or more of these forums for more definitive answers:

http://forums.afterdawn.com/
http://forum.doom9.org/
http://club.cdfreaks.com/

There are many reasons this can happen, and is not always easy to track down. Could be a bad media issue, drive needs firmware update, dirty optics, burn speed, failing hardware/cables, loose cables, out of date software, etc.

Personally, I have ONLY ever used Plextor drives & Single Layer Taiyo Yuden DVD-R 8x, and ONLY burn at 4x. I have not had a single failed burn with thousands of discs.


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## Lite_me (Jul 3, 2009)

Why sure there can be many causes. I was reluctant to even reply, but I figured it was worth a shot. :candle:

I was making DVD coasters once a few years back and it turned out to be my power supply. I had no other signs indicating it was weakening.


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## RA40 (Jul 4, 2009)

LuxLuthor said:


> I would strongly recommend that you post at one or more of these forums for more definitive answers:
> 
> http://forums.afterdawn.com/
> http://forum.doom9.org/
> http://club.cdfreaks.com/



Thanks Lux...I'll have a read through their stickies.


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## clintb (Jul 5, 2009)

Sony D21 is good stuff, the CMC M01; not so much.

Download a copy of Nero Discspeed 2000, v. 4.7.7.16 and do a "Create Disc". That will tell ya if it's getting through the burn. After that, read it back with "Run Extra > Transfer rate" test; that'll tell how you drive is reading the disc.

Best forum out of all those, at least for CD / DVD, will be CDFreaks.

Quite honestly though, I suspect it to be a software conflict. The telling thing for me is:

```
Existing drivers:
File 'Drivers\CDRALW2K.SYS': Ver=8.0.0.212 , size=9464 bytes, created 4/1/2008 1:23:34 PM 
File 'Drivers\PXHELP20.SYS': Ver=3.00.56a, size=43528 bytes, created 4/1/2008 1:23:36 PM (Prassi/Veritas driver for win 2K)
File 'Drivers\atapi.sys': Ver=5.1.2600.2180 (xpsp_sp2_rtm.040803-2158), size=95360 bytes, created 8/4/2004 5:00:00 AM (Adapter driver for rec)
```
A quick Google on the first driver yeilds:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...mbyXBw&usg=AFQjCNEkBIxUQbWAwkIX7bLxOgKz_9baDQ
and the resulting link to the Microsoft KB.
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315345

Also use Imgburn to check out what's been inserted into the filter driver load order; "Tools > Filter Driver Load Order". Here's the output of mine, albeit on a clean system (read: no Nero). With Imgburn, you really don't need Nero.


```
===============================================
Filter Driver Load Order - ImgBurn v2.4.4.0
===============================================

Upper Device Filter:  redbook
 Upper Class Filter:  [None Found]
             Device:  CD/DVD-ROM Device
 Lower Class Filter:  [None Found]
Lower Device Filter:  imapi

        Filter Name:  redbook
          File Name:  C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\redbook.sys
       File Version:  5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2108)
   File Description:  Redbook Audio Filter Driver
       Product Name:  Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
    Product Version:  5.1.2600.5512
       Company Name:  Microsoft Corporation
          Copyright:  © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

        Filter Name:  imapi
          File Name:  C:\WINDOWS\system32\DRIVERS\imapi.sys
       File Version:  5.1.2600.5512 (xpsp.080413-2108)
   File Description:  IMAPI Kernel Driver
       Product Name:  Microsoft® Windows® Operating System
    Product Version:  5.1.2600.5512
       Company Name:  Microsoft Corporation
          Copyright:  © Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
```


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## RA40 (Jul 5, 2009)

Thanks clintb...will make those changes. 

I don't recall installing Roxio components on either system. I suspect it was bundled into one of the other programs as a "convenience" feature. :scowl: Easily fixed. 

Edit: Cdralw2k.sys was the only sys file that showed up. Went into regedit and the value that showed up was the lower filter. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Cdralw2k was not present. nor were the others. Left me scratching my head. 

On reboot, it freezes at the splash screen. Obviously missed something so I'll have to examine it more closely. The drive is getting full so it is a timely matter to stuff a new drive in and begin with a fresh OS install. In looking through the logs seems that Google Updater has had a long history of causing errors. 

Weird.


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## RA40 (Jul 15, 2009)

Just started using ImgBurn and of 4 burns, they were successful. This fifth one gave this error message:



> W 02:26:34 Potential 'WaitImmediateIO' Deferred Error - (99%, 0/3) - Program Memory Area Update Failure
> W 02:26:34 Finalise Disc Failed! - Reason: Program Memory Area Update Failure
> W 02:26:34 Retrying (1 of 3)...



This is what ImgBurn lists as the filter driver order:



> ===============================================
> Filter Driver Load Order - ImgBurn v2.4.4.0
> ===============================================
> 
> ...



Baffling...
I'm not alone with this new Sony/Optiarc burner. Such is life....oh well.


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## JohnR66 (Jul 15, 2009)

I find the lasers get "tired" after a lot of burning and the drive becomes unreliable or fails. Try a new drive. They cost under $40 these days. I've been through a few.


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## jrmcferren (Jul 15, 2009)

Kinda odd that you are getting a program area update memory error. While I am not a programmer the only three things that I think would cause this are corrupted memory, faulty memory, or a Protection error (accessing memory the program is not allowed to). With the first two that should be a guaranteed Blue Screen and the second should cause the program to crash at least.


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## RA40 (Jul 15, 2009)

What I came across in reading was that it seems to be a firmware issue with various Lite-On and Samsung drives. The Sony-Optiarcs seem to be twins of the Lite-on's. I'm likely to give a shot at Pioneer which in my boxes has had a dismal failure rate at 1 year marks even if doing minimal burns. Haven't had a Plextor in years but now I dunno what inside. 

New area...what are some recommended burners?


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## rookiedaddy (Jul 15, 2009)

For IDE, you can try LG. I've got good results from them, quiet and stable, ~US$25. I have 2 burners in my XP box: LG + Samsung. I found that life-span for these burners are ~1 year with 15-20 writing a month. :shakehead


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## Lite_me (Jul 15, 2009)

I must be having good luck then. I have a 5yr old 1693s Lite-On that has around 2000 burns on it using Prassi ONES to burn. It's still going.


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## fire-stick (Jul 15, 2009)

Check and see if you've got a little box checked that says "burn at once" I've had allot of trouble with that box. I unchecked it and it's worked fine since..


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 16, 2009)

RA40 said:


> What I came across in reading was that it seems to be a firmware issue with various Lite-On and Samsung drives. The Sony-Optiarcs seem to be twins of the Lite-on's. I'm likely to give a shot at Pioneer which in my boxes has had a dismal failure rate at 1 year marks even if doing minimal burns. Haven't had a Plextor in years but now I dunno what inside.
> 
> New area...what are some recommended burners?



I have used 5 different Plextor drives over the years, and NEVER have any problems with any of them. (Just upgraded because I wanted faster speeds & new capabilities). Generally Lite On, Samsung have good reps, but first thing I would do is spend some time at those forums I linked to see what the experts say. Also if it is a firmware issue, you can sometimes flash up or down to other versions. Generally flashing up to later version includes more capacities and new media.


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## Coop (Jul 16, 2009)

had a similar problem once... perfectly good burner turning into a coaster plant. Turned out the burner was just fine, but the PSU feeding was dying. 
Installing a new PSU solved the problem.


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## Lite_me (Jul 17, 2009)

Me too. See post #12.


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## RA40 (Jul 17, 2009)

It is a possibility with the PS. I have similar errors on two systems running Corsair 520 and 620 HX PS's. I'll try a $30-60 burner first and if it errors, I'll go to the next step. Will also try a different cable. Both are Sony-Optiarc one is a 7190A and the other 77720A. The 7190a does minimal burning so it is of secondary importance. The joys of chasing down an error.


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## Egsise (Jul 17, 2009)

gorn said:


> Could the problem be with the old version of Nero you are running? 6.6 is real old. I started having problems with Nero 7 burning coasters so I switched to different software. Nero is now into version 9. I haven't bought it yet but will eventually.


Nero 9 is an epic fail, stay away from it.
Nero 7 is considered the newest stable one.


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 17, 2009)

Egsise said:


> Nero 9 is an epic fail, stay away from it.
> Nero 7 is considered the newest stable one.



I continue to use Nero 6.6 with no problems in thousands of burns. This was the last update 6.6.1.15a


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## clintb (Jul 19, 2009)

RA40 said:


> It is a possibility with the PS. I have similar errors on two systems running Corsair 520 and 620 HX PS's. I'll try a $30-60 burner first and if it errors, I'll go to the next step. Will also try a different cable. Both are Sony-Optiarc one is a 7190A and the other 77720A. The 7190a does minimal burning so it is of secondary importance. The joys of chasing down an error.


You've already stated the system needs an OS reload; go ahead and do that. You can then load Imgburn and give it a try. No cash outlay with that plan, and you get a nice, clean, clutter free OS load!

The Optiarc AD-7240S is a very highly regarded burner at CDFreaks, and uses an NEC chipset. I have the predecessor, an AD-7200A, it's a fantastic burner.


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## seaside (Jul 19, 2009)

Coop said:


> had a similar problem once... perfectly good burner turning into a coaster plant. Turned out the burner was just fine, but the PSU feeding was dying.
> Installing a new PSU solved the problem.


 

My DVD burner did the same thing. 
It failed to burn DVD, then it started to fail as a DVD reader too. 
So it basically is a CD reader right now.

The PSU is just fine. So I was like, what the heck, disassebled the drive to see if there's any obvious problems like failing capacitors or dirty lens. And nope. Can't find any. I cleaned the lens, reassemble, and put it back in. Still no go.

Something I found while I opened the drive was, the thing is not as sturdy as my old 2x CDR drive I bought about 10 years ago. less parts, way thinner plastics. Must be the newer technology that made them able to use less parts for more functionalities though, it smells like they cut the cost little too much in these days.


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## RA40 (Jul 19, 2009)

clintb said:


> You've already stated the system needs an OS reload; go ahead and do that. You can then load Imgburn and give it a try. No cash outlay with that plan, and you get a nice, clean, clutter free OS load!
> 
> The Optiarc AD-7240S is a very highly regarded burner at CDFreaks, and uses an NEC chipset. I have the predecessor, an AD-7200A, it's a fantastic burner.



I swapped in a back-up HD drive, wiped it and loaded the OS up. Imgburn had an error when finalizing. It did have a successful burn on a much smaller burned disc, 3.2G. Seems that between certain disc capacities, 3.8-4.2G I'm getting these errors. Same burn sizes experienced with Nero 6.6.XX.

Reading through threads on CDFreaks, these burners are more complex than I thought. Took these for granted...good schooling on that site. 

Egg is out of stock on the 7240S...hopefully they get some in soon. I'll have to make the rounds at the local shops otherwise.


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## bshanahan14rulz (Jul 21, 2009)

Doesn't have to do with burning DVDs, but on a similar note, I commonly create disk images of bootable hard-drives at work. Basically, the imaging program takes a snapshot of the harddrive that I hook up and saves it to one of my internal drives. 
Noticed that when I tried to verify that the operation completed successfully, I'd get an error stating that the image was corrupt. After researching and troubleshooting, I found out that my motherboard was failing and causing wrong bits to be written to my memory before being sent on to the destination hard drive.

While it may be a far shot, if you have no other leads, try checking the basics. Have you gotten a BSOD lately? if so, might be a memory problem, try downloading memtest 86+ and running that. IIRC you just unzip and mount image to a floppy or cd. When you run this program and you get the same errors in the same places, you probably have some bad memory cells. In my case, it detected tens of thousands of errors, but each one was random, and the DIMMs tested 100% perfect on another computer.


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## RA40 (Jul 21, 2009)

Tracking down these errors is fun...not.  

There was a firmware update available for the 7190 drive so what the heck. That update took it from V 1.01 to 1.05...sadly, this didn't fix it and another PMA error message was generated in finalizing. The 7220 drive does not have a firmware update available to try. Doubtful of the PS...to have two Corsair units on the way out at the same time seems a low probability. Enough overhead available too. No BSOD's or shutdowns.

Yesterday I went shopping for drives but there must be a bunch of other frustrated DVD users like me...the shelves of known good drives was nil. I've not seen a Fry's with such bare shelves before. My local builder was likewise but a few Pioneer drives. 

High on the suspicion list is the Sony DVD +R media. I should be more skeptical of the Costco stuff but it had been great on another system. I didn't think twice to stocking up at the last few coupon sales.  Did pick up some Verbatim DVD +R media and did a few burns...no problem.  Ironic, Sony drive won't burn Sony branded media. Fingers crossed that the problem is solved. Nice that that Costco has a generous return policy...I have 2-100 pack spindles sitting here.


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 21, 2009)

See who is actually making the media. There can be problems with some brands sporadically in a batch, or if it is being done cheaply.

I have only ever used Taiyo Yuden DVD-R media, and never a single failure. All discs made 6-7 years ago are still readable.

Check this article which I had bookmarked. They give a quality ranking, but not sure how old this is.

Digital FAQ appears to have more current rankings.


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## RA40 (Jul 21, 2009)

Thanks for the links Lux. :thumbsup:

Just to test it...did the same burns on the Sony media...guess what...no failures in 20 discs. I'm  Wonder if in that section of the spindle those discs were coasters. I'm going to switch media anyway after this interesting learning experience.

Oops hit send to quickly...
It was also enlightening to see the graphs of the Verbatim media across different burners:
http://forum.imgburn.com/index.php?showtopic=542


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 21, 2009)

RA40 said:


> Thanks for the links Lux. :thumbsup:
> 
> Just to test it...did the same burns on the Sony media...guess what...no failures in 20 discs. I'm  Wonder if in that section of the spindle those discs were coasters. I'm going to switch media anyway after this interesting learning experience.
> 
> ...



That is interesting, and had not see that before. You can drive yourself nuts trying to figure all these variations and nuances of media, hardware, firmware, age, cleanliness, quality control, power supply, etc. Even connector ribbons/wires can develop oxidation on contact points over time that interferes with data integrity. It's why I have ONLY used TY over the last 7-8 years (or whenever DVD media first came out) from this same site. Not a single coaster. Ever!


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## RA40 (Jul 22, 2009)

Spoke to soon. Just did a series of coasters with the Verbatim discs... :hairpull::hairpull:
Maybe some -R next. I'll also try some of the TY discs...my suspicions are shifting. Will run memtest though failures on two systems leads me to suspect the Sony Optiarcs.  

Rough tally...about 30 coasters.


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 22, 2009)

RA40 said:


> Spoke to soon. Just did a series of coasters with the Verbatim discs... :hairpull::hairpull:
> Maybe some -R next. I'll also try some of the TY discs...my suspicions are shifting. Will run memtest though failures on two systems leads me to suspect the Sony Optiarcs.
> 
> Rough tally...about 30 coasters.



I'm assuming you are using a quality UPS that stabilizes/conditions your electricity, as bad power from the grid could cause significant problems. If you have a lot of dust, pick up one of those CD/DVD cleaning discs and run it.

At this point, given the frustration, uncertainty, and wasted time...if I were in your shoes, my next steps would be to buy a quality burner (either that Samsung with 118 positive ratings) for $26 or the Plextor for $50 if you are using IDE. 

If you only have a SATA setup I would probably get a USB2 burner because they are so much cheaper, and some TY media from my earlier link (which will never be a mistake). 

If you have failures after those steps, my next move would be to use new cables, then a new power supply. Still problems, I would consider the mobo suspect...which is a major hassle because of Winblows needing to be re-authenticated, and MS likely won't do it with an OEM version. Make sure you don't see any capacitors with bulging/leaking tops. 

If you choose carefully and/or use a local BestBuy type source, you may be able to return what you don't need (minus a stocking fee). What an adventure....but what a learning experience.


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## flashburn72 (Jul 22, 2009)

If you are useing ide I would check the ribbon cables. A bad cable can cause all sort of weird stuff. If they are stock or if the computer is older its a good bet. When my writer started to not work anymore it would pick up then drop the disc, wobble,not spin up.


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## RA40 (Jul 23, 2009)

Stopped by Micro Center...what a variety of OEM drives. After weeding through them, I found and bought a Sony 7240S $35 and Samsung 223 $25. We'll see how they do.  Decided on SATA this round because I have a wealth of cables to swap. IDE not so much, this was a cost decision. Whatever will burn the next 20 coaster free I'll go back for a matching drive. 

I can only hope it isn't any additional hardware to track down.  

System specs:

Asus M3A79T Deluxe 
7750 Kuma AM2+
2G G. Skill DM9 
EVGA GTX260 C216
Corsair 520HX
Sony 7190 DVD/CD

MSI K9A2 Platinum
5600+ AM2
2G Patriot EPP
EVGA 2-8800GT
Corsair 620HX
Sony 7220A DVD/CD

Both stock speeds, no OC'ing.


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## LuxLuthor (Jul 23, 2009)

One more thought, although it's not a likely prospect....have you tried slower burn speeds?

I got in the habit of slower burn speeds because back in the day of "elite trading protocols," there were rules of which media(s), burner(s), firmware, and slower burn speeds because it gave more reliable laser burning performance, and greater disc data integrity and longevity. If you didn't comply, you were banished.


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## RA40 (Jul 23, 2009)

Yup, down to 6X. When I removed the 7220 drive (manufacturer date March '09), the ribbon cable did have a hard kink. Whether that is the cause, dunno. Might buy a cable just for the mental resolution of all this. The SATA cables are easier to route so they eliminate the twisting and kinking of the large IDE ribbon cables. The rounded IDE are nice, these have been problematic for me though. One day it's working, next day access or other data errors show up. Round...ugh maybe a year or less. It's not like I'm in there constantly unplugging them either...they just die. 

The 7240 did successfully burn a project that had failed in ~6 attempts. Just to rule out a fluke, it did it 3 times successfully. After getting so many errors previous, there is still a high level of skepticism. Time will tell. 

*Edit:* Got the Samsung into the other box. Did a few burns and so far, good. 

Both drives are quiet though the Samsung more so. However, the Samsung is noticeably slower reading and writing. Burn times for 4G of data is about 20-35's apart. Not huge though this could add up when it is a big burn session. Since the Samsung is in the system that burns less, it won't be a big deal. Just glad it is working...so far. 

Thanks to all! What an adventure...I hope this is the end.


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