Plextor 16/10/40A no longer burning - Nero gives many errors

[madclown]

This just recently started happening... at first, every once in awhile the drive would work for a bit then the light would flash orange twice at a time upon inserting a disc, upon reboot it would work again.

When it came time to burn, it would occasionally stop and do the flashing orange thing... but now it wont burn at all. I even changed the serial cable, still I'm having problems getting power calibration errors and other stuff.

Using Nero 5.5.10.0 on Win 98SE, Plextor 16/10/40A, lots of HD space, 256 megs RAM, blew air into the tray to clean it out, same media I've always used (Memorex 700MB CDRs, spindle):

3:01:58 AM #17 SCSI -1106 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1393
SCSI Exec, HA 0, TA 0, LUN 0, buffer 0x02260000
Status: 0x04 (0x01, SCSI_ERR)
HA-Status 0x00 (0x00, OK)
TA-Status 0x02 (0x01, SCSI_TASTATUS_CHKCOND)
Sense Key: 0x03 (KEY_MEDIUM_ERROR)
Sense Code: 0x73
Sense Qual: 0x03
CDB Data: 0x2A 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x1F 0x00 0x00 0x00
Sense Data: 0x70 0x00 0x03 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0A
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x73 0x03

3:01:58 AM #18 MMC -1106 File Writer.cpp, Line 331
Power calibration error

3:01:58 AM #19 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 219
all writers idle, stopping conversion

3:01:58 AM #20 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 213
conversion idle, stopping reader

3:01:58 AM #21 CDR -201 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 194
Invalid write state

3:01:58 AM #22 TRANSFER -18 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 194
Could not perform EndTrack

3:01:58 AM #23 Text 0 File Mmc.cpp, Line 12011
<PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W1610A> start Close Session

3:01:58 AM #24 SCSI -1026 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1189
SCSI Exec, HA 0, TA 0, LUN 0
Status: 0x04 (0x01, SCSI_ERR)
HA-Status 0x00 (0x00, OK)
TA-Status 0x02 (0x01, SCSI_TASTATUS_CHKCOND)
Sense Key: 0x05 (KEY_ILLEGAL_REQUEST)
Sense Code: 0x2C
Sense Qual: 0x04
CDB Data: 0x5B 0x01 0x02 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Sense Data: 0x70 0x00 0x05 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0A
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x2C 0x04

3:01:58 AM #25 MMC -1026 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 233
Current program area empty

3:01:58 AM #26 TRANSFER -19 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 233
Could not perform Fixation

3:01:58 AM #27 Text 0 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 242
falling back to disc fixation

3:01:58 AM #28 Text 0 File Mmc.cpp, Line 12011
<PLEXTOR CD-R PX-W1610A> start Close Session

3:01:58 AM #29 SCSI -1026 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1189
SCSI Exec, HA 0, TA 0, LUN 0
Status: 0x04 (0x01, SCSI_ERR)
HA-Status 0x00 (0x00, OK)
TA-Status 0x02 (0x01, SCSI_TASTATUS_CHKCOND)
Sense Key: 0x05 (KEY_ILLEGAL_REQUEST)
Sense Code: 0x2C
Sense Qual: 0x04
CDB Data: 0x5B 0x01 0x02 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00
Sense Data: 0x70 0x00 0x05 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x0A
0x00 0x00 0x00 0x00 0x2C 0x04

3:01:58 AM #30 MMC -1026 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 233
Current program area empty

3:01:58 AM #31 TRANSFER -19 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 233
Could not perform Fixation

3:01:58 AM #32 Phase 38 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1649
Burn process failed at 16x (2,400 KB/s)

3:01:58 AM #33 Text 0 File Scsicmd.cpp, Line 406
SCSI not using temporary buffers
20 out of 20 temporary buffers allocated


Existing drivers:
File 'IoSubSys\SCSI1HLP.VXD': Ver=4.10.1998, size=19270 bytes, created 5/11/98 8:01:00 PM
File 'IoSubsys\NEROCD95.VXD': Ver=4.5.0.14, size=39882 bytes, created 3/11/02 11:55:38 AM
File 'IoSubsys\DRVWPPQT.VXD': Ver=3.10.36a, size=228223 bytes, created 5/11/98 8:01:00 PM
File 'IoSubsys\CDFS.VXD': Ver=4.10.1998, size=59133 bytes, created 5/11/98 8:01:00 PM
File 'IoSubsys\ESDI_506.PDR': Ver=4.10.1998, size=24406 bytes, created 5/11/98 8:01:00 PM
File '..\System32\Drivers\1394bus.sys': Ver=0.90.1380, size=45356 bytes, created 11/16/99 4:52:02 PM
File '..\System32\Drivers\Ohci1394.sys': Ver=0.90.1390, size=46380 bytes, created 11/16/99 4:52:18 PM
File '..\System\Vmm32\Ios.vxd': Ver=4.10.1998, size=69454 bytes, created 5/11/98 8:01:00 PM
File 'IoSubsys\Disktsd.vxd': Ver=4.10.1998, size=18805 bytes, created 5/11/98 8:01:00 PM

Registry Keys:
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Can someone please explain wtf is going on here?

[dodecahedron]

it's entirely possible the drive is dying.

but before giving up on it, why don't you try different media? even though it's the same you say you've always used - Memorex, it's possible that a particular spindle you have is from a bad batch. or maybe Memorex changed manufacturers (so even if the discs look the same to you, they aren't really).

[madclown]

ok check this out:

I just tried burning at 8x instead of 16x, and its WORKING. Someone mentioned on another forum that power calibration has to do with the lens having enough power to burn at a higher speeds, and that if the lens is dying, slower speeds could still work... im guessing this could be the case?

[dodecahedron]

perhaps...

i can't see the connection between a lens "dying" and not enough power. how can a lens "die" anyway? the laser on the other hand now that could die.
another possibility is that the lens is dirty, covered with dust. if you clean it it might improve things.
here's a link to a guide how to do this (with pictures). thanks Inertia!
http://www.geocities.com/liru67/clean/c ... art_1.html

i'm still of the opinion that the first thing you should do is try other media. good media. try Taiyo Yuden if you can get it, or Verbatim DataLifePlus.

[BurninMan921]

Had that happen to me awhile ago with a Plex 8x SCSI drive. It would burn fine up till it started to finalize the disk, then the "Can not perform fixation" error.

Solution? Got me. But I will tell you this: a 12 guage shotgun loaded with 3" Magnum Slugs will cause a CD-R drive to basically blow up