Problem With Cd Burner

[rizy102]

i have the exact same problem!
my cd burner (samsung sw-240) was fine a few months ago. i could burn at 40x no problem, but now i have to use 4x but still sometimes i get a write error!

i saved one of the log files on my computer, which displays all the writer activities. this one was at 4x and it still failed!

Log File from Nero error

[lynx]

Originally posted by rizy102@24 July 2003 - 22:34
i have the exact same problem!
my cd burner (samsung sw-240) was fine a few months ago. i could burn at 40x no problem, but now i have to use 4x but still sometimes i get a write error!

i saved one of the log files on my computer, which displays all the writer activities. this one was at 4x and it still failed!

Log File from Nero error

The problem is either that you have faulty media (I think this is unlikely) or your drive is faulty. My brother had a samsung drive (this was a DVD-reader,CD-RW combo), there were numerous reports of firmware problems with that drive, but samsung never bothered to solve them, although they did solve similar problems for the next model. I cannot definitely say that your problem is the same, but be warned that if it is, samsung probably doesn't give a damn about you. My family has resolved never to buy samsung products ever again and to warn others whenever we hear amout problems with samsung products.

[rizy102]

i sent en e-mail to samsung about why this was happening to my cd burner. i think it might help someone, so ill show it to you.

i wrote:

Question:  Hiya, I am having problems burning discs at a normal speed.  It always stops writing between the burn process and
displays the "write error" message.  The recorder was fine before, it used
to burn a music CD at 40x in three and a half mins, but now I have to shut
down all programs other than my burning program, and write at 4x!  And also,
when it is copying on 4x, then if I open a folder, for example, then the
write error message is displayed again and the burn process fails.  This
cannot be due to the computer, as it has a hard drive of 40GB and 256MB of RAM
and a processor speed of 1.5GHZ.  I hope you can find a solution to this problem.  Thank-you.

They replied:

Thank you for your E-mail.

* WRITE ERROR message can have several possible causes:

- Media incompatibility.
  Please try using one of the CD-R brands supported by Samsung such
  as: Imation, Maxell, TDK, Sony and Samsung.

- Software/Driver Conflict.
  Please try uninstalling any other recording software that you have
installed.
  Also, disable any programs that may be trying to access the drive
(Anti-Virus, Disc Managers...)

- Try recording at the lowest possible speed.
  If this solves the problem it may be that it was a buffer underrun.
  This can usually be solved by setting (U)DMA and using supported
  media.

* If you cannot set the recording to the maximum speed, please follow
these instructions :

This usually occurs when the JustSpeed feature is activated. This
feature checks the
recording environment prior to recording (Disc type, Transfer Rate etc)
and sets the
appropriate speed for the recording.

Possible solutions:
-Upgrade the Firmware to the latest version. You can find the latest
Firmware for your
drive on our www.samsungoms.com/eng/website at [Firmware]. If you
install the
LiveUpdate Program it will automatically install the latest Firmware on
your drive.
If your drive is not supported by LiveUpdate, you can download the
correct Firmware from the
ODD page under [Firmware Download]. Before upgrading the Firmware,
please check the
barcode sticker on the top of your drive for the correct model code.

Before flashing the new firmware, please read the installation
instructions carefully,
as an error during the firmware upgrade can cause irreparable damage to
the drive,
for which Samsung, like all other hardware manufacturers, takes no
responsibility.
Installation of this firmware is therefore at your own risk!

Please read carefully the instructions.
An error during upgrading the firmware may cause the firmware chip to
become blocked, making the drive unusable.
Errors during firmware upgrade can have several causes, the major ones
being a conflict with a program running in the background
(eg Virus Scanner, Screensaver...) or installing the incorrect firmware.

!!!!!! If your drive was included into your PC (supplied as an OEM
"Original Equipment Manufacturer" such as: Compaq, Dell, HP, Fujitsu
Siemens,
Packard Bell, Sony, Trigem, Tiny, ... the firmware, software and drivers
used are
different from the ones Samsung uses and therefore we are not
qualified to answer your inquiry.
Please contact the manufacturer Tech. Support for assistance on this
matter. !!!!!!!

-Set the transfer mode to DMA.

NT,XP,2000
In the [Device Manager] go to [IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers]. Right-click
on the IDE Channel
to which the drive is connected and click [Properties]. Go to [Advanced
Settings] and set the
transfer mode to "DMA if available".

95, 98, ME
In the [Device Manager] Right-click on the drive and select
"Properties". Go to settings.
By checking DMA you can enable DMA for your device.

If this does not solve the Problem you can always turn off the JustSpeed
feature.
Recorder - Select Recorder - Options (or Eject, in Nero) - uncheck
JustSpeed.

Note however, that this may degrade the quality of the recording.



Kind regards,
Samsung OMS Team

[Neo 721]

You could be using the wrong type of media.

[rizy102]

that is what i thought at first. i use datasafe media 80min cd-r, 52x silver premium. when i bought them i thought they would be good, so i bought 100. so now ive still got about 75 left and it looks like ill have to buy some different one and throw these away if thats the problem!

[rizy102]

right i had another cd writer and this one is sony crx140e. it is only 8x but i thought i should carry some tests out and try to determine whats wrong.
so, i tried to burn a file (700mb) with my samsung at 4x but write error.
then i tried burning the same file with my sony at 8x and it worked perfectly even though it DOES NOT have buffer under run protection.
so i came to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with my drive.
but it could still be the media i am using but that is very unlikely because i used to use this when my burner was working.
so if anyone else knows whats wrong please could you let me know.
thanks