[Nick601]

Hi

i have just built a computer for a friend, it has got a Cyber Drive 32X 12X 48X cd writer. The problem occurs when trying to write a CD, the drive and software looks as if it is copying files to the cd and NERO says that the burn process was sucessful when finished.

The problem occurs when trying to read the cd in the same drive in windows explorer the cd cannot be read at all and this is in the same drive as the cd was created in

the computer is running windows 2000 with sp3
its a fresh install of win 2k
the cd drive is burn proof
the hard disk is 40 gb in size

i have also tried easy cd creator 5 platinum and the same problem occurs!! HELP!!!!

thanks

[adamvjackson]

Have you tried reading burnt discs in other drives?

[Mr.Guvernment]

Did you eject the cd, then put it back in?

As above, have you tried the CD in other cdrom drives?

u get all of win2k's updates (sp3)

check for new fireware for your burner

Update Nero
Update roxio

Does it physically look like anything is on the cd?

Sure you did not have it JUST on simulate, and not actual burn?

[Davros]

Sounds like you burned it in TEST MODE.

[Christianb]

I'm just wondering did you burn the CD in UDF format? If you did that and didn't have InCD running you wouldn't be able to view the data on the disc. However I think even in UDF format you should still see an installation program that once installed allows you to view the whole disc. Update Your Burner's Firmware, update your drivers, update your Nero suite, and update ASPI. You dont' have both Nero and Easy Cd-Creator installed. I understand that they can't co-exist without problems (sounds to me like they're a couple of kids who can't get along). You could also Remove and refresh the drive in device manager. You might make sure you're media isn't 12X and you're burning at 32, that wouldn't work. I suppose updating your computer's bios wouldn't hurt matters any. You could make sure your CD-Drive is clean: no dust, no grease, and no grime. Some drives have problems if they aren't the Master of a given IDE channel. Make sure you have your drive jumpered as either master or slave and that any other devices on the same channel are jumpered as the opposite. If you have a HD you might have it jumpered as Single instead of master and that would cause problems. You could use a new IDE ribbon cable or plug the drive into a different channel. YOu could enable DMA in Device Manager. You could also re-install and then update all your burner drivers and software.
Good Luck,
Christian

[adamvjackson]

Sounds like some good advice, got most everything covered in there...

[Nick601]

first of all thankyou for all the advice u posted!!

a few points:

When creating a CD in Nero the CD WAS ejected and then put back in again.

There is Only ONE drive in the computer (CD Writer obviously!!)

The whole system including the cd writer is brand new

SP3 has been installed

Nero and Easy CD Were on the system at the same time but Nero has now been uninstalled

Easy CD Has been updated to the latest version

When writing a CD it looks as if there IS data on the CD (Physically)

The cd drive now seems to copy files to the cd and CAN be read in explorer HOWEVER it has problems reading SOME files for example jpeg files and publisher files cannot be opened (publisher says it "Cannot Open File" and when attempting to open JPEGs it sas the file is invalid

I have also received a "Cyclic Redundancy Error"

The drive has ExacLink Burn proof technology

thanks again

[Christianb]

Hi Nick,
It sounds to me like your drive isn't working for one reason or another. Cyclic redunancy error means that it keeps sending the same data over and over again. Now when you said that you have the most recent version of Easy CD creator did you mean that you have the most recent version of 4.X or 5.X? Because I don't know that 4.x is a very good solution for newer Burners. Which came bundled with your drive Roxio or Nero? Considering the way things are I would try to get the bundled software working first, because hopefully both companies took the time to make sure they work togetehr okay. Have you tried contacting the manufacturer for support? Tell me this if you take a CD in impecable condition that was comerically burned (like Windows 2000 if it's large enough) and be sure to get a data CD that is almost entirely full, copy all the files to a folder on your HD, do you get an error? If that fails try buying a lens cleaner CD and then burn some more. If that fails then take that CD you burned and put it in somebody else's system what happens?
Best of Luck,
Christian

[Davros]

Try burning slower.
Try using better media.
Try hitting it with a hammer.

[Nick601]

Hey

just a quick post to say that im still alive and unfortunately so is the cd burner problem, i have not had much time to try out your possible solutions as i dont have the computer at my place.

a few bits of info though:

i downloaded the Easy CD Creator V 5x not 4x

the cd drive came bundled with nero burning version 5.5

i have tried burning at slower speeds anf no change to the problem

ill post again soon when i try using different media and copying files from a commercial cd

oh yeah one more thing, ill skip the hammer thing for now

[Kainz]

Hiya Nick,
I've got the exact same problem as I found out last night. Saw your thread so decided to register and respond.

My machine is an old one but hugely reliable, my writer is a old Philips 4x one, which has performed perfectly in the past, I only use it for occasional data backups every 4-5months.

Anyway, I'm running Win2k SP3 on a P2-450 with a gig of ram. Just last month I upgraded flawlessly to SP3 and everything was fine. This Win2k install has been rock solid from the start and still is. Last night I decided to burn my first cdr since SP3 and under Nero 5.5 it burned at 4x perfectly, the cd finalised and ejected at the end. I've only got Nero on this machine.

Upon reading it on both my Philip's cd drive, and my Creative dvd drive, the cd just sits there constantly being accessed, I can get dir listings in Explorer and Dos, I can access the files but they take extremely long to load up. The media I've been using for a long time is pretty good stuff (Philips multipurpse 1-12x). Old cdr's and retail cd's work perfectly in both drives also. I build pc's for living but cd writers were never my strongpoint at all, so i'm lost.

I've uninstalled and let Win2k re-detect both drives with no luck. I've just re-written a second blank cdr and its giving out the same problem right this moment. Dunno what to do myself now

PS. Must add this. While writing my post above, the cd was constantly being accessed for a stargate episode.avi file, media player generated this message as I ejected the cd - Data Error (cyclic redundancy check)...

[Nick601]

Hey!

In a way im glad someones having a similair problem!!

i was thinking that it could have been a memory problem, the machine the cd writer is in is running 128Mb DDR on win 2k.

I built this machine myself too

the weird thing is that if the cd drive was faulty then i wouldnt have been able to install windows and all the applications that are on the system right??

Do you think it might be SP3????

i was considering putting win 98 on and seeing what happens

another thing, i bought the CD Drive from Novatech, have you heard of that Kainz??

thanks for writing by the way!

[Christianb]

And Kainz you have the most recent version of Nero too? Guys I had this problem twice with two different Plextor drives and both times it meant the drive was bad or had gone that way. Sometimes they read okay and don't write correctly or vice versa. It's often only on the outer tracks too, so a 450MB (that is the files are about that size while compressed on the CD) windows 2000 installation might never hit the problem.

[Kainz]

Heya guys,
I can't see this as a Ram related problem, theres just 3 things that I point my finger at being the troublemaker.

1. Either both our cd writers have died on us

2. The lens has a bloomin big patch of dirt on it (just cleaned mine)

3. SP3 has changed or altered something that is causing this problem.

I burned a cdr a few days before installing SP3 and that went perfectly. I'd install Win98 (ack ack) but haven't got too much room on this machine. My HD is only 6.4gb and has a 1gig spare. As for my writer having a problem, it could have one. Its very old but rarely used - only written about 25 cdr's since I bought it years ago. Nick, I've heard of Novatech yeah from a while back, they're just as good as any company though.

[Nick601]

[Christianb]

First off computer hardware has about a 25% DOA (Dead on Arrival) record so of course your new product could be defective. I consider 1/4 odds to be a sign of the kind of crap the computer industry is selling us these days you just can't get quality anymore from anyone. They are so cost conscious they save pennies by not testing their products before they ship them and let their customers go through that. Isn't that nice? The funny part is I don't think it saves them too much, because sooner or later their support staff will have to help these poor individuals. Which do you think would take more time, having an experienced professional test the drives, who knows exactly what they're supposed to do, or having a tech support person walk an inexperienced user though a trillion and one steps and multiple phone calls?
Oh well that's "show" business,
Christian

[Christianb]

First off computer hardware has about a 25% DOA (Dead on Arrival) record so of course your new product could be defective. I consider 1/4 odds to be a sign of the kind of crap the computer industry is selling us these days you just can't get quality anymore from anyone. They are so cost conscious they save pennies by not testing their products before they ship them and let their customers go through that. Isn't that nice? The funny part is I don't think it saves them too much, because sooner or later their support staff will have to help these poor individuals. Which do you think would take more time, having an experienced professional test the drives, who knows exactly what they're supposed to do, or having a tech support person walk an inexperienced user though a trillion and one steps and multiple phone calls? And the guy with 6.4 and a 1 gig why don't you temporarily move all your data to the 6.4, install Win98 on the 6.4 and try burning. I can almost guarantee you that you will have the same problem. In case you haven't noticed, but the burner market is absolutely bloodthirsty. Those companies are getting products out so fast their engineers hardly know the names. These products are invariably ridden with defects.
Oh well that's "show" business,
Christian

[Kainz]

The 6.4gb is the only hd I have, I've got 1gb of hd space left over. If I had an additional 500mb, then I'd have installed Win98 no sweat. Instead I've got 600mb worth of data here taking up that possible win98 space, which needs to be backed up lol.

[Christianb]

Hola Amigo,
Hard drives are dirt cheap, maybe somebody will lend you one. If not you can always buy a newer or older one. Either would do the job. Just go to Half.com or Ebay and pick something up.
-Christian

[Kainz]

Yeah, I've been putting off buying a new HD for a while because I'm really better off building a new machine with todays specs lol, which I'll be doing soon anyways.

As for my CD Writer, I've come to the conclusion its bit the dust, even though I've not used it much. I uninstalled and reinstalled Nero again last night, and burned my last 5 cdr's with various sized files all 5 had CRC errors, although my last one had files that actually could be read but the remaining files had CRC errors.

Time to remove it and twat it repeatedly with a very large hammer :p