Problems with Liteon and AOpen Burners

[CodeDragon]

Hi all, what a way to return to the boards

I've been having CD-writing issues under Windows XP Pro for a while.

I purchased an AOpen 48w-12rw-50r drive before Christmas, and ever since then I've been having the problems.

Firstly, disks were always corrupted. This didn't seem to affect smaller files (<50MB) on data CDs, but larger files, particularly image files from Drive Image or Ghost, and large self extracting exes or zip files, would often report corruption when I tried to use them. For example, the install files for JBuilder7 were zipped on a disk, and a CRC error was reported every time I tried to extract the install exe, which was ~ 90MB in size.

Anyway, I tried a new CDRW, this time a Liteon 52w-2rw4-52r drive. Same issue as before.

For both these drives, I've also noticed that, 9 times out of ten, Nero's validator returns that files have changed after writing.

Also, after writing a few CDs, Windows bluescreens. Unfortunately, all I can remember about the errors is the message: IRQL_NOT_EQUAL. Having run the error through the Windows OCA, I know that it's a driver issue, but more than that I can't say. This isn't a regular thing, btw. Sometimes it occurs on validation, sometimes during writing or simulation, sometimes after writing when you come to shut down the system, sometimes if you run an application shortly after writing, sometimes not at all.

I've tried the AOpen drive in a same-spec machine running Windows 2K, and found no issues at all.

I've disabled XP's built in CDRW software. Any other suggestions?

The specs for the system are:

Windows XP Pro
512MB PC133 SDRAM
VIA KT133 Chipset (latest 4in1 drivers installed)
40GB Maxtor HDD: IDE 0,0
16GB Maxtor HDD: IDE 0,1
Creative DVD Rom, IDE 1,0
CDRW: IDE 1,1
Latest Nero Version

Thanks in advance,

CodeDragon

[CodeDragon]

An Update - if this helps:

I've managed to get some non-coasterized discs out of the writers, by limiting them to only writing at 16x, no matter what they are rated at. Media that's rated at 48x is being writtten to at 24x after a Nero speed test, but that was still corrupting the data. Reducing to 16x seems to have stopped the corruption.

I'd still like to write at full rated speeds, so ideas are welcome...

Cheers

CD

[constructor]

Just a thought

Assume the Writer is on the same ribbon as the Creative DVD.
Disconnect the DVD and see if the problem disappears.

Have generally found that the lifespan of the Creative units is about 1 year then they start creating problems.

The Lite on unit works very well with 48x disks.

[CodeDragon]

Originally posted by constructor
Just a thought

Assume the Writer is on the same ribbon as the Creative DVD.
Disconnect the DVD and see if the problem disappears.

Have generally found that the lifespan of the Creative units is about 1 year then they start creating problems.

The Lite on unit works very well with 48x disks.

No joy.

Something that I've noticed though:

If I set Nero to do a speed measurement before burning, and watch the read speed as it's measured, it's usually about 35x or some such (it varies).

But when the burn starts, the read speed drops off to 8x or less. At one point it drops to 90KB/s, then it picks up to around 20x and doesn't get any faster.

Could this be the reason for the discs being corrupted at speeds > 16x?

Cheers

CD

*** UPDATE ***

I've just used the AOpen drive in a Win2k machine and it's worked fine, burning a full CD at 48x without any issues. Data verification is fine and checking the DI image that I burned reports no issues.



So, next step is to throw a 2k image on the WinXP machine and try out Liteon drive under that. If it works, fair enough. If not then it has to be a dicky motherboard or some such.

If there are any more suggestions, I'd love to hear them. Otherwise I'll keep you posted.

[CodeDragon]

Okay, here's the situation so far:

Both drives work under Win2k without issue

Both exhibit the same problems under WinXPPro, even after I've reinstalled.

Both drives are supposed to be designed for XP.

HELP!

[constructor]

Originally posted by CodeDragon
Okay, here's the situation so far:

Both drives work under Win2k without issue

Both exhibit the same problems under WinXPPro, even after I've reinstalled.

Both drives are supposed to be designed for XP.

HELP!

AAAAAGH
Thinkin about it

No Logical Homles!

[mrwilhelm]

Have you tried updating the firmware on either drive? You can get the Liteon firmare update here, and the AOpen here.

Why don't you give that a shot. If it works on the first you can try the same with the second.

[CodeDragon]

Originally posted by mrwilhelm
Have you tried updating the firmware on either drive? You can get the Liteon firmare update here, and the AOpen here.

Why don't you give that a shot. If it works on the first you can try the same with the second.

Yes, I've already done that. Though I haven't updated my BIOS yet, so that's something to consider.

At this point I'm starting to suspect my IDE Controller. I have another system with a VIA KT133 mobo, so I'm going to throw WinXP on that and see if the CDRW works there. If not, then its a Windows issue and all this is academic. If it does, then it could be hardware.

The other thing that I need to look at carefully is my RAM, since the last two STOP errors (0x4e and 1x8e) could also be caused by defective memory.

Waaa!

[NooNoo]

Have you turned off XP native burning? (it needs a reboot, although it doesn't ask)

[CodeDragon]

Originally posted by NooNoo
Have you turned off XP native burning? (it needs a reboot, although it doesn't ask)

Yup, first thing I tried.

Ironically, I'm doing a Windows XP System Internals course at Uni at the moment, and Crash Dump analysis takes up most of tomorrow's timetable :S

When I get home I'm going to install XP on another system that has the same spec. Literally, the only difference between them is the mobo manufacturer being Gigabyte rather than AOpen, and the fact that the GB mobo is newer. Hmm.

Since all the problems are memory related, I'm starting to suspect RAM being at fault. But that doesn't explain why the drive works under Win2k... The same goes for the IDE controller theory...

This is wearing me out now. I'm so tired. *yawn*

[NooNoo]

How about a nice new aspi layer?

worth a shot - it runs on my xp nicely with nero.

[CodeDragon]

Originally posted by NooNoo
How about a nice new aspi layer?

worth a shot - it runs on my xp nicely with nero.

Okay, done that...

It seemed that this had solved the bluescreen issue, though the drive is still corrupting CDs, but then Services.exe crashed and I had to restart.

Anyhoo...

I've tried the drive in another system using exactly the same spec as in the one causing the issues. Voila! It works! I've swapped memory about, and it still works. Ergo, it has to be the motherboard.

So, once I've swapped those, I'll see what happens...

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for your help guys...

CD

[CodeDragon]

How very interesting...

Okay, having played about with the system a lot, I finally figured that it wasn't the IDE controller (this was after I swapped to a GigaByte mobo, but what the hell...).

Anyhow, with my newfound knowledge of windows crash dump analysis, I took a look at the kernel dump that was generated when I wrote a CD, and found that the image that was killing things was none other than wl90Xbc.SYS.

So, after removing the 3Com EtherLink 905B, I found the system worked just dandy. Disabling it in WIndows has the same effect.

So, I'm off to 3Com's site to get updated drivers

Thanks for the help guys... Sorry that it turned out to be so obscure...

CD

[NooNoo]

A nic stops a burner burning at full speed.... - I hope it solves it for you!