Hard Drive Problems (Optical Drives)
Problem: Your drive reads data very slowly.
Cause: This could occur if the drive is old, and the laser pickupassembly weakens. It might also happen when the pickup lensgathers dust.
Solution: Get a lens cleaning kit and clean the lens. If that doesn’twork, it’s time to get a new drive!
Problem: Your CD-RW drive ejects and reloads the disc duringoperation
Cause: This isn’t a problem; it’s a mechanism to clear the drive’sbuffer. All CD-RW drives are provided with some buffer memory tosmooth out the writing process. While some drives have a way toclear it out, some aren’t provided with any, in which case the drivemight pop out the disc to clear the buffer memory.
Solution: Before buying a drive, make sure it has a way to clear outbuffer memory. To find out what drives have this feature and whichones don’t, ask someone who already has the drive model you’recontemplating buying.
Problem: Your CD-ROM drive immediately ejects an empty disc.
Cause: This can be either a software or a hardware problem.
Solution: Certain hardware faults can cause the drive to immediatelyreject certain CDs. To make sure that it’s the drive and not theOS that is rejecting the CD, pull out the data cable from the driveand then insert a CD. If it is rejected, then the drive has a hardwarefault. If the problem is with the OS, try disabling features such asauto-insertion notification.If the machine is powered on for some time and the CD-R wasin use, then the resultant heat can at times lead to such rejectionproblems. The drive might needs realignment, and should be givento a service centre.
Problem: A multi-session disc has only the last-burnt data; youcan’t see data from older sessions
Cause: This happens when you forget to link the data from previous sessions to the data in thelatest sessions. Most CD-ROMs can’t view the datafrom older sessions unlessthey use an applicationthat allows a selection ofsessions to view.
Solution: This used to be aproblem with older burning applications that simply overlookedthis problem. Newer applications default to saving the older sessions,or prompt for user input in this regard. If you are stuck witholder software, update to a newer one that supports the sessionsavingfeature. Else in the older software, make sure you manuallyspecify that the disc is a multi-session disc and that you want theolder session to be saved.Also, applications such as IsoBuster and CD-R diagnostics allowaccessing of older data sessions. However, some older CD-ROMsmight not be able to work with this software, especially forretrieving older data.
Problem: A disc fails repeatedly.
Cause: The problem probably lies with the media and not the writer.
Solution: Media compatibility is critical for proper CD writing.Cheap blank CDs are the culprit—their reliability is questionable.Always use reliable CDs, even if they are more expensive. Try out differentmedia and see which one offers better compatibility withyour drive.
Problem: You’re unable to copy game CDs
Cause: It’s illegal to try to copy game CDs! Today, most game CDs comewith some form of copy protection to avoid piracy. The game publisherplaces blank or unreadable sectors on the disc, which confusesthe copying applications.
Solution: There’s no “solution” we can provide! We only suggestyou use your game CD carefully so you won’t ever need a copy.
Problem: You get a buffer underrun error.
Cause: Almost all CD/DVD recorders come with a small amount ofbuffer memory to smooth out the burning process. The bufferreads ahead and provides the data required for burning in a linear manner. A buffer underrun error happens when the datasource slows down for some reason. Since the CD is spinning andthere is no data to be burnt, it causes the burning process to beaborted, resulting in a coaster.
Solution: Unless you have a really old drive, you shouldn’t see thiserror. In fact, almost all recorders today have hardware support toensure buffer underruns don’t occur. Moreover, burning softwarealso have support for this feature - make sure you activate it; it’sjust a matter of checking a box. If you have a drive that does not supportthis feature, make sure you use your hard drive as the datasource, since a CD to CD copy will definitely result in a coaster. Also,defragment your hard disk regularly to avoid a slow-down duringthe burning process.
Problem: Despite the write process completing, a CD turns upblank.
Cause: It’s not clear why this happens.
Solution: Try using different media. Go to the burning software’sWeb site and check whether any patches to fix the problem havebeen released. Sometimes, these patches will fix such an issue, ifthey don’t, try an alternative application.
Problem: A recorder won’t work with blank CD-RWs.
Cause: This is a common problem. CD-RWs are rated as Slow (1x to4x), High Speed (4x to 10x), Ultra Speed (12x to 24x), and UltraSpeed+ (for drives supporting even higher burning speeds).
Solution: Choose the correct CD-RW media depending on theburning speed supported by your drive. Also, if you’re trying to usean Ultra Speed + media, it might not get detected, whereas a lowerspeedmedia will get burnt at its maximum speed.
Problem: Video DVDs stutter.
Cause: This is a common problem with most DVD players. Duringvideo playback, most drives drop down to a lower speed to cut down on the excessive noise they make when spinning at highspeeds. In technical terms, this lowering of the speed is calledriplock. In poor-quality DVD drives, riplock is responsible for videostutter.
Solution: When choosing a DVD drive, make sure it won’t suffer fromvideo stutter - ask people who have bought the same model you’recontemplating. Essentially, opt for drives from known manufacturers.
Problem: Some DVDs aren’t recognised in your DVD drive.
Cause: The problem lies with the media type. There are two mainDVD formats - +R and -R. -R format is more commonly available andhence is usually supported by lot many older drives than +R format.If you have an older DVD drive, then it is possible that it has beenmanufactured to recognise only one format.
Solution: Check the formats supported by your drive and use mediaof only that format.
Problem: Your DVD-Writer doesn’t play DVD-RAMs.
Cause: Not all DVD-Writers are equipped to handle DVD-RAM. UnlikeDVD±RW, DVD-RAM uses phase-change dual technology pepperedwith magneto-optic features. The main advantage of DVD-RAM is itsdefect management and faster access speeds. However, as we’ve mentioned,this format incompatible with most drives.
Solution: Select a drive that features support for DVD-RAM. Drivesmanufactured by LG, Hitachi, and Matsushita (Panasonic) have supportfor DVD-RAM.
Problem: You can’t burn DVDs faster than the rated speed as youused to do with your CD-Writer.
Cause: Overspeeding is a feature supported only by a handful ofdrives, and only on selected media types. DVD drives from BenQ andPhilips officially support overspeeding; however, you need to usegood-quality media or media specially developed for overspeeding.
Solution: Buy a DVD drive that officially supports the overspeedingfeature. Also, make sure you use officially certified overspeedingmedia, for example, Taiyo Yuden. It might be possible to get suchmedia, but it is not commonly available.
Problem: Some movie DVDs don’t play on your DVD drive
Cause: The movie is region locked, and will only play on a DVDdrive that has the same region code. To control the release of theirmovies, the motion picture group divided the world into sevenregions or zones. Each zone has its own region or zone number.When a specific movie is released in a particular zone, it is encoded with the zone number. DVD players, too, have a zone number.Hence, a movie released in America plays on all DVD players manufactured in the US, but not on DVD players manufactured inIndia such as those from Onida, Mitashi, Sony, etc.
Solution: Many DVD players can be hacked using software to doaway with the region locking encryption. This voids the warranty,but it isn’t illegal to do so. On some drives, however, you need tomodify the chip to make it all-region playable.
Cause: This could occur if the drive is old, and the laser pickupassembly weakens. It might also happen when the pickup lensgathers dust.
Solution: Get a lens cleaning kit and clean the lens. If that doesn’twork, it’s time to get a new drive!
Problem: Your CD-RW drive ejects and reloads the disc duringoperation
Cause: This isn’t a problem; it’s a mechanism to clear the drive’sbuffer. All CD-RW drives are provided with some buffer memory tosmooth out the writing process. While some drives have a way toclear it out, some aren’t provided with any, in which case the drivemight pop out the disc to clear the buffer memory.
Solution: Before buying a drive, make sure it has a way to clear outbuffer memory. To find out what drives have this feature and whichones don’t, ask someone who already has the drive model you’recontemplating buying.
Problem: Your CD-ROM drive immediately ejects an empty disc.
Cause: This can be either a software or a hardware problem.
Solution: Certain hardware faults can cause the drive to immediatelyreject certain CDs. To make sure that it’s the drive and not theOS that is rejecting the CD, pull out the data cable from the driveand then insert a CD. If it is rejected, then the drive has a hardwarefault. If the problem is with the OS, try disabling features such asauto-insertion notification.If the machine is powered on for some time and the CD-R wasin use, then the resultant heat can at times lead to such rejectionproblems. The drive might needs realignment, and should be givento a service centre.
Problem: A multi-session disc has only the last-burnt data; youcan’t see data from older sessions
Cause: This happens when you forget to link the data from previous sessions to the data in thelatest sessions. Most CD-ROMs can’t view the datafrom older sessions unlessthey use an applicationthat allows a selection ofsessions to view.
Solution: This used to be aproblem with older burning applications that simply overlookedthis problem. Newer applications default to saving the older sessions,or prompt for user input in this regard. If you are stuck witholder software, update to a newer one that supports the sessionsavingfeature. Else in the older software, make sure you manuallyspecify that the disc is a multi-session disc and that you want theolder session to be saved.Also, applications such as IsoBuster and CD-R diagnostics allowaccessing of older data sessions. However, some older CD-ROMsmight not be able to work with this software, especially forretrieving older data.
Problem: A disc fails repeatedly.
Cause: The problem probably lies with the media and not the writer.
Solution: Media compatibility is critical for proper CD writing.Cheap blank CDs are the culprit—their reliability is questionable.Always use reliable CDs, even if they are more expensive. Try out differentmedia and see which one offers better compatibility withyour drive.
Problem: You’re unable to copy game CDs
Cause: It’s illegal to try to copy game CDs! Today, most game CDs comewith some form of copy protection to avoid piracy. The game publisherplaces blank or unreadable sectors on the disc, which confusesthe copying applications.
Solution: There’s no “solution” we can provide! We only suggestyou use your game CD carefully so you won’t ever need a copy.
Problem: You get a buffer underrun error.
Cause: Almost all CD/DVD recorders come with a small amount ofbuffer memory to smooth out the burning process. The bufferreads ahead and provides the data required for burning in a linear manner. A buffer underrun error happens when the datasource slows down for some reason. Since the CD is spinning andthere is no data to be burnt, it causes the burning process to beaborted, resulting in a coaster.
Solution: Unless you have a really old drive, you shouldn’t see thiserror. In fact, almost all recorders today have hardware support toensure buffer underruns don’t occur. Moreover, burning softwarealso have support for this feature - make sure you activate it; it’sjust a matter of checking a box. If you have a drive that does not supportthis feature, make sure you use your hard drive as the datasource, since a CD to CD copy will definitely result in a coaster. Also,defragment your hard disk regularly to avoid a slow-down duringthe burning process.
Problem: Despite the write process completing, a CD turns upblank.
Cause: It’s not clear why this happens.
Solution: Try using different media. Go to the burning software’sWeb site and check whether any patches to fix the problem havebeen released. Sometimes, these patches will fix such an issue, ifthey don’t, try an alternative application.
Problem: A recorder won’t work with blank CD-RWs.
Cause: This is a common problem. CD-RWs are rated as Slow (1x to4x), High Speed (4x to 10x), Ultra Speed (12x to 24x), and UltraSpeed+ (for drives supporting even higher burning speeds).
Solution: Choose the correct CD-RW media depending on theburning speed supported by your drive. Also, if you’re trying to usean Ultra Speed + media, it might not get detected, whereas a lowerspeedmedia will get burnt at its maximum speed.
Problem: Video DVDs stutter.
Cause: This is a common problem with most DVD players. Duringvideo playback, most drives drop down to a lower speed to cut down on the excessive noise they make when spinning at highspeeds. In technical terms, this lowering of the speed is calledriplock. In poor-quality DVD drives, riplock is responsible for videostutter.
Solution: When choosing a DVD drive, make sure it won’t suffer fromvideo stutter - ask people who have bought the same model you’recontemplating. Essentially, opt for drives from known manufacturers.
Problem: Some DVDs aren’t recognised in your DVD drive.
Cause: The problem lies with the media type. There are two mainDVD formats - +R and -R. -R format is more commonly available andhence is usually supported by lot many older drives than +R format.If you have an older DVD drive, then it is possible that it has beenmanufactured to recognise only one format.
Solution: Check the formats supported by your drive and use mediaof only that format.
Problem: Your DVD-Writer doesn’t play DVD-RAMs.
Cause: Not all DVD-Writers are equipped to handle DVD-RAM. UnlikeDVD±RW, DVD-RAM uses phase-change dual technology pepperedwith magneto-optic features. The main advantage of DVD-RAM is itsdefect management and faster access speeds. However, as we’ve mentioned,this format incompatible with most drives.
Solution: Select a drive that features support for DVD-RAM. Drivesmanufactured by LG, Hitachi, and Matsushita (Panasonic) have supportfor DVD-RAM.
Problem: You can’t burn DVDs faster than the rated speed as youused to do with your CD-Writer.
Cause: Overspeeding is a feature supported only by a handful ofdrives, and only on selected media types. DVD drives from BenQ andPhilips officially support overspeeding; however, you need to usegood-quality media or media specially developed for overspeeding.
Solution: Buy a DVD drive that officially supports the overspeedingfeature. Also, make sure you use officially certified overspeedingmedia, for example, Taiyo Yuden. It might be possible to get suchmedia, but it is not commonly available.
Problem: Some movie DVDs don’t play on your DVD drive
Cause: The movie is region locked, and will only play on a DVDdrive that has the same region code. To control the release of theirmovies, the motion picture group divided the world into sevenregions or zones. Each zone has its own region or zone number.When a specific movie is released in a particular zone, it is encoded with the zone number. DVD players, too, have a zone number.Hence, a movie released in America plays on all DVD players manufactured in the US, but not on DVD players manufactured inIndia such as those from Onida, Mitashi, Sony, etc.
Solution: Many DVD players can be hacked using software to doaway with the region locking encryption. This voids the warranty,but it isn’t illegal to do so. On some drives, however, you need tomodify the chip to make it all-region playable.
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