From bottom to top:
Do you think it could be a Nero 5 issue and 6 would perhaps solve it?
What version of Nero are you using? The latest is
5.5.1056. I would update to that before upgrading to ver. 6. Many in this forum prefer v.5.5x to 6 for reliability and stability. Of course, you can demo 6 for free.
I know I'm not the only one who the Samsung 52x32x52 does not write Verbatim x32. However no more clues as to the problem. Samsung says the drive can do it....but nobody with this drive I know can't.
If, as you’re implying, the Samsung has a “known” issue with 32x media and
you’ve updated to the latest firmware — and there are no other issues with your system, more on that below — then I would suggest seeing if you could get a replacement drive from Samsung. See if that one works and if it doesn’t you’ll need have to deal with Samsung the best way possible — a different drive or something commensurate.
InfoTool says the drive can only do x24 even though it supposed to do x32.
If InfoTool says the drive can only do 24x and it’s ‘specced’ out for 32x, it would seem you should be thinking about getting a new or different drive. My 52327S shows both speeds available in Burning ROM and InfoTool.
"And what are these "unknown media error" messages exactly? "
That was the message Nero was coming up with...useful huh. Latest Nero says 'Power Calibration Error'.
Regarding your “Power Calibration Error,” you might do a search throughout these forums if you haven’t already (and
www.cdfreaks.com) to see what you come up with. You can start
here. Media incompatibility seems to be the main culprit (firmware update, please!). I have experience with this issue, but it went away for me only after I replaced the suspect drive (with the same model), got a better power supply, and reinstalled the OS (driver issue possibly). I’m not saying you should do all these, but I guess these are some things to consider. And the thread (thank you, Inertia) points to a
link that suggests that an underpowered power supply could be the issue.
I've written Verbatim x24 CDRW many time no problems on this drive.
Using the x32 at x24 fails, the drive tries to initalise several times before giving up.
As the preceding suggests, media incompatibility and, perhaps, power supply are possible suspects. The symptoms suggest such, I hazard to say. By the way can you burn any CD-R media at 32x or faster? I don’t know if CD-RWs require more “juice” than CD-Rs do. Once again, I would guess that you can, based on what I see as your “presumptions.”
Do the search and see what else you might come up with.
Ok.... XP cd writing is now disabled.
I would keep it that way permanently. BTW OOI (out of ideas).
Hope this helps!