Solved DVD drive won't read NEW DVDs it has burned

[malagast]

Gwarsh! Hope this isn't too long to be boring

Yes, what a weird problem it is: the dvd drive reads all the previous DVDs it has burned, but not the new ones. I tested the new DVDs on my other laptop (eMachines, Windows 8.1 Pro) which reads them perfectly. The problematic DVD drive also reads the new (and old) discs burned by that other laptop. I use Windows 7s own burner app. I've tested also CDburnerXP, which gave the same results.

This could be a problem caused by burning data from an external drive (I do this sometimes, usually by accident). And this is because Windows always copies the external data to a temporary burn folder on C-drive and I tend to take time designing the temporary to-be-burned data with the wizard: making new folders, deleting files, inserting new files, "resinserting" deleted files, completely deleting files and yet starting over with same files.

I've checked, and the temporary burn folders are empty. I have three drives: C, D, and E. Is it weird that I have three temporary burn folders when there's only drive E that uses the burner? There's one folder with today's date and the other are 1-4 years older. Should I delete the older ones?

I remember I've had this problem once before, a year or two back I think, but I remember even then the thing got fixed accidentally (meaning: something that didn't make sense to me at the time).

 

[jimbo45]

Hi there

DVD's should be FINALIZED before they will read in different DVD drives / standard DVD players etc. You might still have a session open on Multi-session.

Check also HOW you are burning DVD's - there's quite a few different things -- for example data (as a DVD-ROM), as an .ISO as a VIDEO DVD as a DVD rip etc etc. DVD authoring also requires a different setup such as "cloning" or copying DVD's. Also are the DVD's Double layer or what. All sorts of possible things here.

Subject is a bit too complex without more info.

Cheers
jimbo

 

[malagast]

Thanks for the fast reply!

I always burn DVD-R (single-layer) and as plain Data, and aim to always make the discs as full as possible, and never do multisessions because, like you said, they are unreliable. I rarely use disc images (.iso, .nrg,..) so it's really just plain Data.

I've also run Microsoft Fix-it with read and write functions, and it doesn't fix the thing or find anything wrong.

Edit: And now I've run scandisk to autofix errors etc., which didn't help. I've also checked and, if necessary, cleaned the system a bit with CCleaner.

 

[malagast]

Still troubled here, fellas. I'll give some more info if needed; don't know what though.
Well, as something like this did already happen once before, I sort of know the answer ain't just "buy a new one", haha.


Thanks for every help / spontaneus ideas you can give me here

 

[dsperber]

No immediate answer for you inability to re-read DVD's burned on your PC with the same drive that burned them in the first place. And yet, these very same recently created discs CAN be read in a second machine without a problem.

I don't believe there's any relevance to where you get the source data that you're writing to the DVD. Doesn't matter whether that data is coming from an internal hard drive or an external drive. It's just data, it's burned to the target DVD. And besides, if you take that burned DVD you CAN read it on a second machine, so this says there's nothing wrong with the DVD you just created.

But it sure sounds like there's a hardware problem in your DVD drive in the first machine. Perhaps it's burned results have errors, which are outside of the "error tolerance" when the drive is used to try and re-read the discs it has burned. Perhaps the "error tolerance" is higher on your second laptop where these same discs can now be read, even though they couldn't be read on the burning machine's drive.

Just to try something... can you download/install IMGBurn, which is another fine free product for burning discs of all types. Don't forget to take the "custom" rather than "express" install, and also to uncheck/opt-out of any crapware that might be offered as part of the installer. Sorry, but this junk may or may not be present.

IMGBURN will "verify" what you write, so right there immediately you'll be able to confirm that the drive can actually read what it just wrote.

Anyway, you push the "write files/folders to disc" button, click on the "show disc layout editor" to get a multi-pane source/target destination, and proceed. It's very intuitive, although for some reason there's not a "DONE" button when you're finished designating source files you want to write to the target. Just click on the "X" in the upper-right corner of the 4-pane Explorer presentation.

Then push the BUILD button back on the main GUI, and it will start.

I'm just suggesting this because I'm familiar with IMGBurn, and I know it does an auto-verify after burning which would be a very useful and informative result to look forward to, to see if it has a problem re-reading the disc it just finished writing or not.

 

[malagast]

No immediate answer for you inability to re-read DVD's burned on your PC with the same drive that burned them in the first place. And yet, these very same recently created discs CAN be read in a second machine without a problem.

I don't believe there's any relevance to where you get the source data that you're writing to the DVD. Doesn't matter whether that data is coming from an internal hard drive or an external drive. It's just data, it's burned to the target DVD. And besides, if you take that burned DVD you CAN read it on a second machine, so this says there's nothing wrong with the DVD you just created.

But it sure sounds like there's a hardware problem in your DVD drive in the first machine. Perhaps it's burned results have errors, which are outside of the "error tolerance" when the drive is used to try and re-read the discs it has burned. Perhaps the "error tolerance" is higher on your second laptop where these same discs can now be read, even though they couldn't be read on the burning machine's drive.

Just to try something... can you download/install IMGBurn, which is another fine free product for burning discs of all types. Don't forget to take the "custom" rather than "express" install, and also to uncheck/opt-out of any crapware that might be offered as part of the installer. Sorry, but this junk may or may not be present.

IMGBURN will "verify" what you write, so right there immediately you'll be able to confirm that the drive can actually read what it just wrote.

Anyway, you push the "write files/folders to disc" button, click on the "show disc layout editor" to get a multi-pane source/target destination, and proceed. It's very intuitive, although for some reason there's not a "DONE" button when you're finished designating source files you want to write to the target. Just click on the "X" in the upper-right corner of the 4-pane Explorer presentation.

Then push the BUILD button back on the main GUI, and it will start.

I'm just suggesting this because I'm familiar with IMGBurn, and I know it does an auto-verify after burning which would be a very useful and informative result to look forward to, to see if it has a problem re-reading the disc it just finished writing or not.

Thanks for helping out!

I tried IMGBurn, and noticed the line Duplex Secure's SPTD driver can have a detrimental effect on drive performance. I removed all the other burning programs I have, and virtual drive programs (DAEMON Tools, Magic ISO,..). After that I did as you instructed, which still sadly got the same results from both laptops, and got the following IMGBurn-log.

I 15:50:23 ImgBurn Version 2.5.8.0 started!
I 15:50:23 Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium x64 Edition (6.1, Build 7601 : Service Pack 1)
I 15:50:23 Total Physical Memory: 8*370*252 KiB - Available: 4*954*336 KiB
W 15:50:23 Duplex Secure's SPTD driver can have a detrimental effect on drive performance.
I 15:50:23 Initialising SPTI...
I 15:50:23 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...
I 15:50:23 -> Drive 1 - Info: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GT32N AS00 (E (ATAPI)
I 15:50:23 Found 1 DVD±RW/RAM!
I 15:50:44 Operation Started!
I 15:50:44 Building Image Tree...
I 15:51:46 Checking Directory Depth...
I 15:51:46 Calculating Totals...
I 15:51:46 Preparing Image...
I 15:51:47 Checking Path Length...
I 15:51:47 Contents: 12 Files, 0 Folders
I 15:51:47 Content Type: Data
I 15:51:47 Data Type: MODE1/2048
I 15:51:47 File System(s): ISO9660, UDF (1.02)
I 15:51:47 Volume Label: New_test_disc
I 15:51:47 Size: 845*563*029 bytes
I 15:51:47 Sectors: 412*879
I 15:51:47 Image Size: 846*168*064 bytes
I 15:51:47 Image Sectors: 413*168
I 15:51:52 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:01:07
I 15:51:52 Operation Started!
I 15:51:52 Source File: -==/\/[BUILD IMAGE]\/\==-
I 15:51:52 Source File Sectors: 413*168 (MODE1/2048)
I 15:51:52 Source File Size: 846*168*064 bytes
I 15:51:52 Source File Volume Identifier: New_test_disc
I 15:51:52 Source File Volume Set Identifier: 463A7E5600064DE3
I 15:51:52 Source File Application Identifier: IMGBURN V2.5.8.0 - THE ULTIMATE IMAGE BURNER!
I 15:51:52 Source File Implementation Identifier: ImgBurn
I 15:51:52 Source File File System(s): ISO9660; UDF (1.02)
I 15:51:52 Destination Device: [0:0:0] HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GT32N AS00 (E (ATAPI)
I 15:51:52 Destination Media Type: DVD-R (Disc ID: MBI 01RG40)
I 15:51:52 Destination Media Supported Write Speeds: 2x; 4x
I 15:51:52 Destination Media Sectors: 2*297*888
I 15:51:52 Write Mode: DVD
I 15:51:52 Write Type: DAO
I 15:51:52 Write Speed: 4x
I 15:51:52 Link Size: Auto
I 15:51:52 Lock Volume: Yes
I 15:51:52 Test Mode: No
I 15:51:52 OPC: No
I 15:51:52 BURN-Proof: Enabled
I 15:51:52 Write Speed Successfully Set! - Effective: 5*540 KB/s (4x)
I 15:51:55 Filling Buffer... (40 MiB)
I 15:51:56 Writing LeadIn...
I 15:52:15 Writing Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 413167)
I 15:52:15 Writing Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 413167)
I 15:55:47 Synchronising Cache...
I 15:57:21 Exporting Graph Data...
I 15:57:21 Graph Data File: C:\Users\{USER_PATH}\AppData\Roaming\ImgBurn\Graph Data Files\HL-DT-ST_DVDRAM_GT32N_AS00_26-TAMMIKUUTA-2015_15-51_MBI_01RG40_4x.ibg
I 15:57:21 Export Successfully Completed!
I 15:57:21 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:05:29
I 15:57:21 Average Write Rate: 3*916 KiB/s (2.9x) - Maximum Write Rate: 5*468 KiB/s (4.0x)
I 15:57:21 Cycling Tray before Verify...
W 15:57:34 Waiting for device to become ready...
I 15:57:58 Device Ready!
E 15:57:58 CompareImageFileLayouts Failed! - Session Count Not Equal (1/0)
E 15:57:58 Verify Failed! - Reason: Layouts do not match.

Edit: I ran another burn/read-test-run after succesfully removing SPTD through it's own installer/uninstaller. IMGBurn gave the same burn log, except for the SPTD warning which was gone. Thankfully, I own a lot of blank DVDs to test with.

 

[dsperber]

I 15:51:52 Write Speed Successfully Set! - Effective: 5*540 KB/s (4x)
I 15:51:55 Filling Buffer... (40 MiB)
I 15:51:56 Writing LeadIn...
I 15:52:15 Writing Session 1 of 1... (1 Track, LBA: 0 - 413167)
I 15:52:15 Writing Track 1 of 1... (MODE1/2048, LBA: 0 - 413167)
I 15:55:47 Synchronising Cache...
I 15:57:21 Exporting Graph Data...
I 15:57:21 Graph Data File: C:\Users\{USER_PATH}\AppData\Roaming\ImgBurn\Graph Data Files\HL-DT-ST_DVDRAM_GT32N_AS00_26-TAMMIKUUTA-2015_15-51_MBI_01RG40_4x.ibg
I 15:57:21 Export Successfully Completed!
I 15:57:21 Operation Successfully Completed! - Duration: 00:05:29
I 15:57:21 Average Write Rate: 3*916 KiB/s (2.9x) - Maximum Write Rate: 5*468 KiB/s (4.0x)
I 15:57:21 Cycling Tray before Verify...
W 15:57:34 Waiting for device to become ready...
I 15:57:58 Device Ready!
E 15:57:58 CompareImageFileLayouts Failed! - Session Count Not Equal (1/0)
E 15:57:58 Verify Failed! - Reason: Layouts do not match.

Fascinating.

And yet you say this very same just-burned disc (which failed the IMGBurn VERIFY step) CAN in fact be read successfully in a second machine, without any problem? This is really the amazing part.

Certainly sounds like a CD/DVD drive hardware failure in your first machine. Hard to imagine that it's not a burn-time issue, except that the same disc can be read without a problem in a second machine. Hard to imagine it's not a read-time issue, except that your discs burned on this machine a while ago read without a problem.

Based on your story that you can still read discs in this same drive if they were burned a while ago, but can't read discs burned recently, I'd guess this is a recently born hardware problem. But a hardware problem nevertheless.

Can you read "commercial" discs on this drive, like audio CD or DVD movies?

What about blank discs burned with content on the second machine? Can you read these problem-free on the first machine with the mysterious CD/DVD drive problem?

 

[malagast]

And yet you say this very same just-burned disc (which failed the IMGBurn VERIFY step) CAN in fact be read successfully in a second machine, without any problem?

Yes, the other laptop reads them in, and uses the content fast and without problems.

Based on your story that you can still read discs in this same drive if they were burned a while ago, but can't read discs burned recently, I'd guess this is a recently born hardware problem.

Yes, it is a quite recent problem. One or two weeks before submitting my topic here, I think.

Can you read "commercial" discs on this drive, like audio CD or DVD movies?

Just tested, and yes, the problematic DVD drive reads commercial DVD-movies and Audio-CDs.

What about blank discs burned with content on the second machine? Can you read these problem-free on the first machine with the mysterious CD/DVD drive problem?

Yes, I tested that one right after noticing the problem, and the new and old discs burned with my other laptop work just fine with this problematic one.

Quoting myself: I've had this problem (with the same symptoms) once before. It disappeared after I tackled around with it for a while. Not sure I remember this right, but I think it had something to do with a failed burn session left open within Windows (or whatever controls the drive) and I had to force the old process come back up in Windows' disc burn "wizard" and null it by deleting its temporary burn files. I checked the temporary burn folders within User/App folder and those were already empty.

 

[dsperber]

Quoting myself: I've had this problem (with the same symptoms) once before. It disappeared after I tackled around with it for a while. Not sure I remember this right, but I think it had something to do with a failed burn session left open within Windows (or whatever controls the drive) and I had to force the old process come back up in Windows' disc burn "wizard" and null it by deleting its temporary burn files. I checked the temporary burn folders within User/App folder and those were already empty.

That's exactly why I suggested trying a completely different approach to burning discs, namely using IMGBurn. It is totally independent of Windows and "burn folders", etc., and I can't imagine how anything "left over" using Windows approach could possibly impact IMGBurn.

Does this only affect writing to DVD? Or can you write a CD without a problem, or does it also fail to verify with IMGBurn? I wouldn't think there should be any difference and if one fails so should the other, but I'm curious to know.

 

[malagast]

Thanks for all the ideas & help so far!

Does this only affect writing to DVD? Or can you write a CD without a problem, or does it also fail to verify with IMGBurn? I wouldn't think there should be any difference and if one fails so should the other, but I'm curious to know.

I did a CD burn-test-run (Windows disc burner) with both laptops and the results were ludicrous: new and old CDs burned with, either the problematic or the other laptop, run in both laptops without any problems.

After this I immediatelly tested out burning a new DVD with the problematic one, but nothing has changed on that part. So I guess the problem's only with DVDs.

After some more digging with Google Search, I found a page that mentions a registry path for Windows 7 Disc Burner: \HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\CD Burning\StagingInfo.
I'm not yet entirely sure what those burn volumes are, but I rebooted the laptop and still have SEVEN of them showing up which seems weird at least. Gonna dig this matter until the door to the light opens!

 

[malagast]

Finally got the DVD drive working properly! Though sadly, it doesn't feel like a permanent state.

Eventually, I didn't change(mess) anything with the registry, and began to do just some of the same steps I've done many times already.

1. Removed final traces of MagicISO. There was a single annoying .dll file remaining which had to be first renamed and then deleted.

2. Did a sfc /scannow in cmd.

3. And finally, once again, went to Device Manager > Uninstall DVD device, and Checked for device changes (let Windows install the device drivers).

4... And also did a few back'n'forth reset things in Automatic launcher options.

This time around the reinstall did something, and the DVD drive somehow works... again. The problem ain't entirely solved, but things are ok for now.

Thanks for helping out, fellas! Special thanks to user dsperber, for the ideas that kept the issue going! I think I'll find a cleaner disc to spin a few runs... again.

 

[dsperber]

Fascinating end to the story.

Your steps to get things working again point to a clear software-related cause, rather than anything hardware. The fact that it was specifically related to READ (i.e. WRITE worked perfectly, as confirmed by use of the burned discs on a second machine), and only to DVD (since you also said newly burned CD's were READ back correctly on the burning machine but burned DVD's were not) was very challenging. But the fact that you only performed software-related remedial steps imply it couldn't have really been a hardware problem at its root.

I do not use any outside burning products other than IMGBurn (because of its simplicity, reliability, and ability to do whatever I want to do... including handle ISO). Your experience with MagicISO may have in fact discovered "the culprit", so that getting rid of that final DLL may conceivably have actually been the magic step.

Anyway, congratulations on sticking with it and eventually "emerging victorious" (as I like to say after not giving up until the problem is actually found, when the war is finally over and we have "won").

 

[jraju]

Hi, Malagast, Please see your post about solution to the problem
would you elaborate on it so that users like me, having the same problem would be thankful to you for giving the correct tips.
your line
And also did a few back'n'forth reset things in Automatic launcher options.
Please would you say, what you have done to burn without verified failed message.
and yours is win 7, where as mine laptop having windows xp. Should we delete the entries of entries found in the staging info. The same disc with imgburn or nero burned successfully at other computers.
i did clean with cd cleaner disc.