[RESOLVED] Sony USB CRX100E/X

[UbbaNub]

I hope that someone can give me some help or advice. When I am in the process of copying files to a CDR disc, in the middle of the burn, Windows 98 fails to recognize the drive and I get a crap-load of error messages. The copy process aborts. I have the patch for the program "Sony HotBurn" version 1.2.1 . I have tried to do a disc copy as well, but to no avail. The same thing happens. Is it the USB driver? When the above mentioned happens, I re-boot my system, Windows recognizes the drive, I try again for the burn process, and it works. This is very frustrating. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for listening.

[Grafman]

Go to http://www.fadden.com/cdrfaq/ and check out the site. It has a world of information about cdr, etc. The most frequent problem most folks have is buffer underrun, which means that the recorder is not receiving data fast enough to keep the buffer full at the selected record speed. Check to see what resources are available before the boot and again after the boot. The normal Windows memory leak will tie up lots of memory after running for a while, so this might be your problem. Try rebooting before you try to burn and see if it works better.
Also, most CD burning software uses the Windows\Temp as a working folder by default.
If the Temp folder is pretty full, this is a bottleneck. I have created a folder called CD Burn, and use it exclusively for nothing but CDR. Not a Frisbee yet. I use both NTI and Adaptec Easy CD Creator. No Probs with either.
I'd like to know if you solve your problem. Please advise.

One more thing: You will have much better results if you image to the hard drive before burning. See your manual for more info.

[This message has been edited by Grafman (edited October 03, 1999).]

[This message has been edited by Grafman (edited October 03, 1999).]

[UbbaNub]

Thanks for the information Grafman, I will take your advice and try your suggestions. I have also sent an e-mail to Sony.ca to see if they have any suggestions. I will keep you informed as to the results. Thanks for taking the time to give me some help.

[UbbaNub]

Grafman, just a thought. I tried all the tricks you suggested. It doesn't seem to be a problem with the write procedure, buffer underrun. I get an error code-- drive returned error code as not ready. It seems that the USB port just drops the drive from the system. I have two ports. I plug the drive into one, the drive isn't read. I plug the drive into the other port, and it is read. When I call up Explorer, it takes a few seconds for the drive to be read, and then drive E: flashes on and off. It seems that Windows is trying to read the drive but it cannot. Could it possibly be a problem with my BIOS settings? These are the things I have noticed. The drive is a very good product, and it doesn't seem to be the drive, but rather the connection to the computer. Would I be better off returning it to the retailer and getting an internal drive? Thanks again for listening.

[Grafman]

You didn't say, but is this your only USB device? If there are others, do they work?
As a general rule, Win 98 will pick up a USB device rather quickly. Your statement that one of your ports does not detect the drive, but the other one does, leads me to suspect that you might have a motherboard problem. You might also merely have a bad USB socket, or an intermittent cable fault. I believe that if it were a BIOS problem, the drive would never be detected. Try checking out your ports with another USB device and see if it is detected by both ports. If you get the same results, then it is not the drive.
As to the internal drive, that would depend upon your original reason for choosing the USB unit. Those are very good units and very handy if you have multiple computers.

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Are we havin' fun yet?

[UbbaNub]

Hi there again Grafman, I don't know if we are having fun yet, but we are getting close. This drive is my only USB device, in fact, it is the first time I am running a USB device. I got a reply from Sony of Canada, and they advised me to do a copy of the CD from an image file, as you suggested. I tried that this AM, but I got the same error message -- " Device not Ready ". The drive just seems to dissappear from my system. Very misterious !!!! I have copy 2 CD with .JPG files successfully, but I was only able to put 300MB of files on the disc, not 650MB. I kept on getting error messages, reboot the system, and recopy the files to the disc. Should I take my PC into the retailer and see if there is a problem with the Motherboard or the BIOS? The system is 6 months old, and have never had any problems, except a video ghosting problem. Know anything about ghosting? I am only able to run my system at 43Mhz, and the video is very grainy? I am rambling now, so I will sign off for now. Again, thanks for your patience and listening to me bitch. L8R... ATAG

[Grafman]

If your machine will only run at 43 Mhz, you very definitely should take it in for a check. I'm not sure what you mean by "video ghosting", but it sounds as though may have a freaky video card as well as the USB problem. Take it in!!

I will be interested in knowing what is found.

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Are we havin' fun yet?

[UbbaNub]

Thanks for all your advice. I am just waiting on Sony Canada's answer to my USB problem. If no solution can be found, I will most certainly take my system back to the retailer and have it checked out. But sometimes computers are like cars, you can never re-create the problem area when the technician is standing right there. " Honestly, sir, it does it at home!" Thanks for listening, and we are certainly not having fun anymore !!

L8R, ATAG

[UbbaNub]

Hiya there Grafman. Well, I finally had enough frustration and took back the Sony USB drive back to the retailer today. I followed everyones advice, re-installed Windows twice, and tried 3 other CD burning software programs, but to no avail. I think it was either a seriously screwed up product, or the Sony Hotburn software was seriously flawed. I've had enough with USB devices, until the industry can work out all of the bugs with this new standard, I'll be sticking to sticking my head inside the PC. I purchased an HP CD-Writer 7500+ (internal) with Adaptec Easy CD Creator software. Guess what, I was able to burn an entire CD today, with no problems what so ever. I commend Sony support for all of the help that they tried to give me, but alas, they sure didn't suggest that I return the drive. I am very happy with my new CD burner, and am now in Valhalla...... thanks again for listening.... L8R ATAG

[Grafman]

Hi Guy,
Glad to hear that everything worked out. I hope you can have smooth sailing from now on.

Good Luck,
G'man

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Are we havin' fun yet?