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I've burned probably 300 CDs so far on my 48X burner here. Now, after about the 4th CD, it sounds like it has trouble spinning up to begin the burn process. If I keep on burning, eventually it gets to the point where the burner sounds like it just keeps on trying to spin-up, but can't, and the burn will never begin.

This all goes away if I let the burner "rest" for a bit. Sounds like the motor is crapping out or overheating.

What do you guys think?

Could be exactly what you said overheating, or (less likely?) motor issues.

Are you using different media lately by any chance?
Maybe it has a harder time calibrating the laser with the media you are using lately, and needs a rest every so often.
I am not an expert on lasers, so this theory is just an idea, and might not hold water...

I've been using only Tayou Yuden for a while. The reason why I though motor problems is because it didn't do this when the drive was new. I typically burn, or now try to burn, about 10 CDs in a sitting. Time for a DVD-R drive I guess.

The way you have described your burning procedures shows that you have lots to burn and not much time. A DVD-R drive is exactly the opposite. It will take quite a lot of time to burn DVDs which I think you don't have much of.

4.7 Gigs / 15 minutes (4X) == .313 Gigs/minute
.7 Gig / 3 minutes (40X) == .233 Gigs/minute

34% faster in just burning time? Add the amount of time I save setting up each image and it's even better.

I burn at 40X because decent 48X media is hard to buy right now. Even when that becomes availible, the numbers don't lie.

My problem isn't that I don't have enough time. My problem is that I hate switching CDRs in and out of the drive.

Like I said, time for DVD-R drive.

I have a Lite-On LTR-48125W and it was a champ when new, but about 100 CD-R's later, it occasionally is slow to spin up. Sometimes, it sounds like it is seeking something - the whirring sound waves up and down once every one second for about 20 seconds.

Also, when I run CD-Speed CD quality test on my recent burns, it tends to report a ton of errors and not all in the same place! For example, on one CD quality test, it will report 1000's of errors at 20 minutes, but the next time I run the test, it is OK at 20 minutes, but reports 1000's of errors at 40 minutes. Earlier CD-R's do not show this problem. This problem persists with CMC, Ritek, and Taiyo Yuden. Incidentally, all of the discs read no errors using my LTR-163D

I just ended up getting a new LTR-48246S and everything works great again.

Have you tryed cleaning the drive? Just wondering if cleaning actually works?

-Dave

Enonu wrote:4.7 Gigs / 15 minutes (4X) == .313 Gigs/minute
.7 Gig / 3 minutes (40X) == .233 Gigs/minute

34% faster in just burning time? Add the amount of time I save setting up each image and it's even better.

I burn at 40X because decent 48X media is hard to buy right now. Even when that becomes availible, the numbers don't lie.

My problem isn't that I don't have enough time. My problem is that I hate switching CDRs in and out of the drive.

Like I said, time for DVD-R drive.

I have both CD and DVD burners, and each CURRENTLY has its purposes.
However, yes, DVDs are definitely more the future trend than CDs.

Just as a note, your math is off for the DVD, since the "4.7 gig" they use is really 4.3 gigs.
.7 is about correct for CD-R.
So it is 4.3/15 = .2867 GB/minute instead of .313, still faster than 40X CD-RW though

DVD also saves you physical storage space (i.e. you don't need as many cd wallets, albums, jewel cases etc.).