Hard Drive Problems (Optical Drives)

Hard Drive Problems (Optical Drives)

Problem: Your drive reads data very slowly.
Cause: This could occur if the drive is old, and the laser pick up assembly weakens. It might also happen when the pickup lensgathers dust.
Solution: Get a lens cleaning kit and clean the lens. If that doesn’t work, it’s time to get a new drive!

Problem: Your CD-RW drive ejects and reloads the disc during operation
Cause: This isn’t a problem; it’s a mechanism to clear the drive’s buffer. All CD-RW drives are provided with some buffer memory to smooth out the writing process. While some drives have a way to clear it out, some aren’t provided with any, in which case the drive might pop out the disc to clear the buffer memory.
Solution: Before buying a drive, make sure it has a way to clear out buffer memory. To find out what drives have this feature and which ones don’t, ask someone who already has the drive model you’re contemplating 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 immediately reject certain CDs. To make sure that it’s the drive and not the OS that is rejecting the CD, pull out the data cable from the drive and then insert a CD. If it is rejected, then the drive has a hardware fault. If the problem is with the OS, try disabling features such as auto-insertion notification.If the machine is powered on for some time and the CD-R was in use, then the resultant heat can at times lead to such rejection problems. The drive might needs realignment, and should be given to a service centre.

Problem: A multi-session disc has only the last-burnt data; you can’t see data from older sessions
Cause: This happens when you forget to link the data from previous sessions to the data in the latest sessions. Most CD-ROMs can’t view the data from older sessions unless they use an application that allows a selection of sessions to view.
Solution: This used to be a problem with older burning applications that simply over looked this problem. Newer applications default to saving the older sessions,or prompt for user input in this regard. If you are stuck with older software, update to a newer one that supports the session saving feature. Else in the older software, make sure you manually specify that the disc is a multi-session disc and that you want the older session to be saved.Also, applications such as IsoBuster and CD-R diagnostics allow accessing of older data sessions. However, some older CD-ROMs might not be able to work with this software, especially for retrieving 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 different media and see which one offers better compatibility with your drive.

Problem: You’re unable to copy game CDs
Cause: It’s illegal to try to copy game CDs! Today, most game CDs come with some form of copy protection to avoid piracy. The game publisher places blank or unreadable sectors on the disc, which confuses the copying applications.
Solution: There’s no “solution” we can provide! We only suggest you use your game CD carefully so you won’t ever need a copy.

Problem: You get a buffer under run error.
Cause: Almost all CD/DVD recorders come with a small amount of buffer memory to smooth out the burning process. The buffer reads ahead and provides the data required for burning in a linear manner. A buffer under run error happens when the data source slows down for some reason. Since the CD is spinning and there is no data to be burnt, it causes the burning process to be aborted, resulting in a coaster.
Solution: Unless you have a really old drive, you shouldn’t see this error. In fact, almost all recorders today have hardware support to ensure buffer under runs don’t occur. Moreover, burning software also have support for this feature - make sure you activate it; it’s just a matter of checking a box. If you have a drive that does not support this feature, make sure you use your hard drive as the data source, since a CD to CD copy will definitely result in a coaster. Also,defragment your hard disk regularly to avoid a slow-down during the 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 have been released. Sometimes, these patches will fix such an issue, if they 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 Ultra Speed+ (for drives supporting even higher burning speeds).
Solution: Choose the correct CD-RW media depending on the burning speed supported by your drive. Also, if you’re trying to use an Ultra Speed + media, it might not get detected, whereas a lower speed media will get burnt at its maximum speed.

Problem: Video DVDs stutter.
Cause: This is a common problem with most DVD players. During video playback, most drives drop down to a lower speed to cut down on the excessive noise they make when spinning at high speeds. In technical terms, this lowering of the speed is called rip lock. In poor-quality DVD drives, rip lock is responsible for videos Cutter.
Solution: When choosing a DVD drive, make sure it won’t suffer from video stutter - ask people who have bought the same model you’re contemplating. Essentially, opt for drives from known manufacturers.

Problem: Some DVDs aren’t recognized in your DVD drive.
Cause: The problem lies with the media type. There are two main DVD formats - +R and -R. -R format is more commonly available and hence 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 been manufactured to recognize 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. Unlike DVD±RW, DVD-RAM uses phase-change dual technology peppered with magneto-optic features. The main advantage of DVD-RAM is its defect 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. Drives manufactured by LG, Hitachi, and Matsushita (Panasonic) have support for DVD-RAM.

Problem: You can’t burn DVDs faster than the rated speed as youused to do with your CD-Writer.
Cause: Over speeding is a feature supported only by a handful of drives, and only on selected media types. DVD drives from BenQ andPhilips officially support over speeding; however, you need to use good-quality media or media specially developed for over speeding.
Solution: Buy a DVD drive that officially supports the over speeding feature. Also, make sure you use officially certified over speeding media, for example, Taiyo Yuden. It might be possible to get such media, 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 DVD drive that has the same region code. To control the release of their movies, the motion picture group divided the world into seven regions 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 in India 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 to modify the chip to make it all-region playable.