[ravens_creed]

Hi and thanks for reading/responding to my post. I truly am baffled by this one, so thanks in advance for helping me out here.

Here's the short version...

I've recently installed XP SP3 (built-in, so pretty new copy) on a brand new machine. Everything has been great so far except for one huge problem... I can't seem to burn anything! Initially, I didn't even notice anything was wrong. The drive shows up in "My Computer" and whatever is in the drive shows its respective icon. In essence, the drive "reads" perfectly. I've been playing games, looking at pics on cds, etc. Not a problem. When I try and burn an audio cd, however (for example)... my computer freezes, nothing is responsive and I have to reboot every time. I've tried working around this... I've tried booting up Nero Express as its own process, rather than letting the auto-play handle it. In that case, I can get as far as selecting files, but still, the moment any burn activity is attempted... FREEZE. I thought, ok, maybe my poor drive has just been over-used and the laser is getting weak. So I bought a new one! SAME PROBLEM! I don't think it's a memory problem. I have 2 gigs in there and neither stick is faulty. All other applications start and run lightning fast. There isn't any driver/firmware update available either. I DLed one, only to realize the drive was 2 versions higher out of the box. I also thought that maybe Nero was just incompatible with other software I've installed (I keep a pretty clean PC, there isn't much on here except a few games and your basic apps)... but Cyberlink Power2Go crashes as well. It's strange. The drive will read games and the content on discs, but ask it to burn a cd or dvd..... FREEZE. And to the best of my knowledge, nothing is over-heating, the memory isn't being strained, and the drive is brand new. So, What the....

I guess I'll try and be more specific before I post. My drive is an LG GSA-H55N (super multi).
I insert the disc drive and put a blank in. Eventually auto-play runs and I click on "make audio cd" (using Nero.... I've tried it with 7 and 8..... and Power2Go 6). The box that would usually show the contents of my would-be disc doesn't display, and instead the program box on the desktop turns to grey, the cd spins/thinks for a bit.... the cpu seems to work a lot more than it should, and then after they've had enough, they stop and everything is frozen. I can get it to freeze faster if I try and use the mouse on anything, though. I click an icon, right click.... the mouse cursor will freeze and I have to reboot.



I'll be trying to chill out in the meantime. Thanks all!



Geeks2go rocks! I have been RELYING on GTG for all my trojan/malware issues for years, and I have never not gotten the solution I was looking for. Long live the GTG!

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hi ravens,

open My Computer
Right click the drive-the cd/dvd drive
Click properties
Click the recording tab
Make sure-
'enable recording oin this drive'
has a check mark in it.

[cmpm]

hi ravens,

open My Computer
Right click the drive-the cd/dvd drive
Click properties
Click the recording tab
Make sure-
'enable recording oin this drive'
has a check mark in it.

[ravens_creed]

... "enable recording on this drive" is and was checked (as in, the box has always been ticked)

Edited by ravens_creed, 13 August 2008 - 07:45 PM.

[ravens_creed]

I have also checked to make sure that DMA status is enabled.. (it is)

[cmpm]

Ok, after putting recordable media in the drive.
Open My Computer and see if it still shows it as a recording device or just a cd-rom.

If it shows as a cd rom go to this site and follow the instructions exactly, it is a registry fix.

http://support.micro...b;EN-US;Q316529

If that does not apply, let's see if it's a software problem.
Download annd try this program for burning.

http://www.cdburnerxp.se/

[ravens_creed]

The plot thickens...


I checked to make sure that it is enabled as a recording device (as per the registry check suggested) and it has always been setup for recording. The registry fix wasn't the issue.


I installed "cdburnerxp" and popped in a blank. To my amazement, nothing crashed or froze! It gets better.... this time, after selecting tracks for a music cd, I clicked on the burn button.... and again, it didn't freeze! It burned the entire thing! ... EXCEPT, all the tracks are blank apparently! The correct number of tracks is on the cd, but each track when played (I've tried my drive and my car's cd player) gives nothing! I have a cd with 13 tracks of silence!


At least it burned something without freezing. Still, something is obviously not right, but we're making progress.


** Update: I tried burning a data disc and it crashed as usual before any writing processes could be started. That seems to be the crucial point in this.... the minute my computer starts compiling data in the burn process, or tries to access the drive for any prolonged periods of time, it craps out.

Edited by ravens_creed, 14 August 2008 - 08:52 AM.

[cmpm]

Well....hmmmm......

I'm out of bullets.
But here's what I personally would try.
Hopefully we will get the brighter folks in on this.

First I'd try uninstalling all Nero programs.
and try cdburnerxp.

If no go there,
2nd - uninstall all codec packs from add remove programs and install this one that I know works.

http://filehippo.com...ite_mega_codec/

Install the default as recommended.

If you have codec packs on your computer, it will find them and prompt you to uninstall them. There should only be one codec pack like this one on your computer. Or there will be conflicts.

K-Lite mega will notify of needed codecs.
Hopefully this is the problem.
All media type software comes with codecs,
which is normal,
but some will not respond.

I've heard of problems with Nero after version 6 in a few forums on the net.
Not that I know much, but a little.

So one of the geeks or more will pick this up I think.

The fact that it recorded but could not be read tells me it's more of a software problem. But like I said these are the things I would do.

[ravens_creed]

Thanks a bunch for your help, cmpm.

Ok, another update here.

I uninstalled all Nero software.
I uninstalled my old codecs, the XP codec pack 2.0.8.
I installed the recommended K-Lite Mega codec pack.

I tried burning an audio cd from mp3s in the "my music" folder in my documents using CDburnerXP.
Unlike before, where the disc burned but the tracks were blank, this time it failed after burning 3 tracks and told me that the disc (Ridata) might be of poor quality. I tried the same thing using a blank Taiyo disc, but this time it failed before it started writing a track, citing the same error as the Ridata disc.
Then, I tried burning a few small video files onto a blank memorex dvd-r. It worked fine!
I then tried burning an audio cd on both kinds of blank cds on another drive, also an LG comparable to mine, on another computer... worked fine.

I suppose there's always the possibility that my particular drive is fussy about what kind of discs it gets, but I think there's still another problem elsewhere relating to how my computer handles the burning of blank cds specifically. The dvds seem to burn fine.

[cmpm]

I'm not sure if this is progress or not?

Try Nero again I reckon.
At least the thing is gasping for air....

You could also try XP's built in burner by dropping files onto the drive.

Edited by cmpm, 14 August 2008 - 04:10 PM.

[cmpm]

Just a thought.
Might want to clean out those temp folders after burning attempts before trying again.

http://www.geekstogo...amp;showfile=21

[The Skeptic]

Download Cheetah DVD Burner. It's free for 30 days. Try burning with it. If it works well on reputable disks then the problem is with Nero. Nero has about a million version. It's very popular because it's given free with many CD drives. I have seen lots of problems with it.