DVD Burn Failure

tjg79 · 27 Oct 2015

strollin said:

Maybe you got a bad batch of discs? Have you previously burned discs successfully on either optical drives?

The first few disks that I used out of this 100-pk that bought over a year ago burned successfully. Yes, I recall burning successfully on the Pioneer DVR-216R before. I can't recall if I've burned a DVD on the Samsung (TSSTcorp) SH-S223Q before. I've used the LightScribe feature on the Samsung to engrave the disks though.

I probably should have done some test burning when I got the media to see if everything was working, but since I've never noticed any issues before, other than drive doors that respond intermittently at times, it wasn't a concern.

AddRAM · 27 Oct 2015

You should be able to burn + or - in the + burner no problem, it`s not a software issue.

If all still fails, buy and use a single new burner, they are so cheap.

And I really don`t think it`s the blank dvds either, they last years before going bad.

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourcei...20last&es_th=1

For another test, try this program, always at slow speeds.

Free ISO Burner

Also, are you positive the iso file is good ? Do you have more then one to test ? Do you get the same result with all of them ?

Layback Bear · 27 Oct 2015

Something simple.
Try using the Windows 7 built in burner.

AddRAM · 27 Oct 2015

He`s said he`s tried that in his 1st sentence Jack :)

Layback Bear · 27 Oct 2015

I either missed that or forgot it; I can't remember.

The only things I can think of is trying another DVD/CD burner and some new DVD's. I have been up way to long so my 3 brain cell might be in remission.

All those burning programs can't be bad all at the same time.

tjg79 · 28 Oct 2015

Thanks for the replies guys.

Yes, I'm having problems burning with two programs, the Win 7 burner program and imgBurn. Also, every DVD burn is a failure in either optical drive. Although, I've only used one brand of DVD media and it's all from the same package. The CD media doesn't seem to be an issue. I'm going to test each drive one more time on my Win 10 install. If they fail there, then I think the drives are highly suspect. I know the ISO was good, because I checked it with CD Check utility and just installed it with a bootable USB. I think they make these optical drives so cheap that they start going bad just plugged into a computer after a few years. They don't get much use at all.

I may crack one of these drives open and test all the circuit components to see what's going bad. There might be some cheap Chinese electrolytic capacitors going bad on the inside.

There's not much you can do with these optical drives other than plug them in. I'll give that other burner program a try. About all you can do to troubleshoot this type of hardware is to buy another and swap them out to see if a new drive fixes the problem. If it does, then it's a good assumption that the drive is going bad and there's nothing you can do except disassemble and test and replace circuit components.

Regards

cyclops · 28 Oct 2015

If you are going to crack one open, first thing I suggest is to gently clean the laser lens. Use 91% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab or lint free cloth. Just be gentle and not a lot of moisture.

strollin · 28 Oct 2015

Do you have access to another computer so you can try to burn a disc there? Although it's certainly a possibility, the odds that both of your drives have failed at the same time is rather high.

RolandJS · 28 Oct 2015

What happened when, within Device Manager, the two DVD drives were uninstalled, and Windows was forced to reFind and reLoad appropriate drivers?

tjg79 · 28 Oct 2015

cyclops said:

If you are going to crack one open, first thing I suggest is to gently clean the laser lens. Use 91% isopropyl alcohol on a cotton swab or lint free cloth. Just be gentle and not a lot of moisture.

That is likely the next best task to perform in the troubleshooting process. This machine and drives are six years old and it's got four 120mm case fans. Although the case has two filters that capture a lot of dust, it's not well sealed and gets dirty inside. I had a cheap card reader installed that was open from behind and allowed a lot of dirty air to deposit dirt and dust inside and on the various card slot connections. When I replaced that card reader, I specifically looked for one that was in a closed case to minimize air flow. My optical drives are in closed cases, but they aren't anywhere near a good seal to minimize air flow. I suspect there is just enough dirt and dust accumulation on the lasers that it's interfering with their performance. A careful cleaning with isopropyl alcohol might resolve this issue.