Unable to read CD-R disks on CD-RW *after* Win98 -> WinXP Upgrade

[kwthom]

Greets!
*whew*

Been reading for a couple of hours to little avail...here's hoping
there's a solution to this problem out there.

If I've cross-posted this to an improper group (I think they're all
valid...), please change Follow-Up to appropriate group.

System: Asus P2B 192Meg RAM, 40GB Hard Drive (divided into three
drives), Teac CD-R55S, Yamaha CDW3200E (this is the issue...),
upgraded this weekend to Windows XP with SP1 from original Windows 98
installation, Radeon 7000 video, Initio SCSI controller, NIC, et. al.
(further details upon request...)

Problem: Unable to read CD-R media (TDK 700MB) recorded on the Yamaha
CDW3200E drive. I am able to read a couple of audio CD's, as well as
several commercial data CD's. All of the CD-R media was recorded on
the Yamaha -- I've also got some older media burned on a Teac CD-R55S
(SCSI...) that will not read in the Yamaha either.


I noticed this as I was attempting to perform an upgrade install of
WindowsXP from a licensed CD-R copy of Windows XP slipstreamed with
SP1 in the Yamaha. Switching over to the Teac, I was able to complete
the install with no problems. I have read several CD-R disks fine
with the Teac; not a disk (out of a dozen...at least!) with the
Yamaha.

Now, the odd part of the whole situation is that the original Win98
had a Nero 5.5.10.0 install. I've been able to burn data disks with
no issues using Nero; in fact, I used the Teac to check them out; they
seem to be fine!

I don't think this is a software issue; but I'm not that sure of when
I was last able to read a CD-R with the Yamaha. I'm fairly sure that
reading & writing from both drives were fine before the upgrade; but
how long before, I don't recall.

Going into Device Manager | Properties, then pulling up the device,
there's no question mark indicating error, pulling up the Properties
tab on the device, then hitting Volumes, will pull up the fact the
drive has media installed, but it can not recognize what kind it is.
(same trick on the Teac brings up correct media information).

So the drive can basically see it has media; audio data it can play --
standard commercial audio CD's play fine. It doesn't like anything to
do with reading CD-R media.

Any clues?

Thanks; reply to the group; email address is valid, and can be used to
reply as well.

 

[Vince]

It is unlikely to be Windows or software's issue. Go to Yamaha web page, try
to find if they have a firmware upgrade for the drive you have, I am sure
they should have. Download the right firmware version is important,
upgrading is simple but need being careful.

good luck

vince

 

[Arno Wagner]

Greets!
*whew*

Been reading for a couple of hours to little avail...here's hoping
there's a solution to this problem out there.

If I've cross-posted this to an improper group (I think they're all
valid...), please change Follow-Up to appropriate group.

System: Asus P2B 192Meg RAM, 40GB Hard Drive (divided into three
drives), Teac CD-R55S, Yamaha CDW3200E (this is the issue...),
upgraded this weekend to Windows XP with SP1 from original Windows 98
installation, Radeon 7000 video, Initio SCSI controller, NIC, et. al.
(further details upon request...)

Problem: Unable to read CD-R media (TDK 700MB) recorded on the Yamaha
CDW3200E drive. I am able to read a couple of audio CD's, as well as
several commercial data CD's. All of the CD-R media was recorded on
the Yamaha -- I've also got some older media burned on a Teac CD-R55S
(SCSI...) that will not read in the Yamaha either.

I have a similar situation with a TEAC CD-W540E and a Toshiba SD-M1212.
When I record at 40x on the Teac the Thosiba cannot read the disks
or gets many errors. Disks recorded at 8x are fine. This is with 40x
Imation CD-Rs.

My explanation:

Don't expect too much from a cheap, mass market media like CD-R,
that has in adition not been around for a long time. These things
are not designed for reliable data storage. Instead they are
designed to be cheap.

Arno

 

[kwthom]

It is unlikely to be Windows or software's issue. Go to Yamaha web page, try
to find if they have a firmware upgrade for the drive you have, I am sure
they should have. Download the right firmware version is important,
upgrading is simple but need being careful.

Thanks for the reminder...

I actually checked this *before* upgrading.

The drive firmware appears to be current.

good luck

Thanks; this is going to be an odd one to sort out, I'm afraid.

 

[kwthom]

I have a similar situation with a TEAC CD-W540E and a Toshiba SD-M1212.
When I record at 40x on the Teac the Thosiba cannot read the disks
or gets many errors. Disks recorded at 8x are fine. This is with 40x
Imation CD-Rs.

I believe my son's computer has that Teac drive in it.

The Teac can only burn at 24x max on CD-R's; granted, faster than
some, but I never thought to do a read test...

I've picked up a few ideas to try... ::taking notes:: ...and will
perform some additional experimentation after the fog has lifted a bit
more from the brain.

My explanation:

Don't expect too much from a cheap, mass market media like CD-R,
that has in adition not been around for a long time. These things
are not designed for reliable data storage. Instead they are
designed to be cheap.

True -- to a point.

Arno

Thanks!

 

[Eric Gisin]

An upgrade from Win 98/ME to 2K/XP rarely works, especially when third-party
drivers like Nero's are involved. You should have uninstalled it before
upgrading.

Install Win XP to another partition and see it works.

 

[kwthom]

Roughly four more hours; and it's now 'working'...

* Tried using drive; burned a disk at slower speed (8x); still no
difference. Media able to be red on CD-ROM and Teac CD-RW in my kid's
room with no problem. Not media; must be drive!?

* Played with UltraDMA - PIO settings on controller channel drive is
attached to (second channel; master FWIW...); started to be able to
read disks when in PIO mode; didn't seem to be very reliable -- or
repeatable. (worked a bit; then quit!)

So - powerdown; disconnect & remove drive. Open drive; carefully
sprayed lens area with canned air (...not directly on lens!). Moved
shuttle by hand a small amount; nothing bound up. Reassembled drive;
returned to computer. Powered briefly to insure drive was active.

Plugged most everything in right now; no issues.

Unit actually was recognized in PIO mode on controller. Ran Nero
DriveSpeed; results not bad, until you start looking at CPU load (36%
at 8x!). Just now swapped back to DMA mode 2; DriveSpeed much better
(6% load at 8x!)

Only thing left to do is to shut system down once more, and cold
reboot once more and see if things are still functioning.

Wish me luck...

(Thanx to those who responded; your suggestions helped...)

--Ken

 

[Arno Wagner]

I believe my son's computer has that Teac drive in it.
The Teac can only burn at 24x max on CD-R's; granted, faster than

That might be the CD-W524E.

some, but I never thought to do a read test...

I use the DVD drive now for verify-reads. If it passes the DVD,
it should be readable on most modern drives. This is also how I
found out that there is a degradation in write quality from
16x on, even with the Imation 40x media. No problem at all so far
when burning 4x or 8x (the bruner does not do 12x).

I did not expect the problem to be quite that bad at first and
actually suspected a bad writer. But I could observe a similar
problem with a writer from Plextor (don't remember which model).

I've picked up a few ideas to try... ::taking notes:: ...and will
perform some additional experimentation after the fog has lifted a bit
more from the brain.

Good. ;-)

True -- to a point.

Thanks!

You are welcome. These things are just too complicated today to
figuer out alone, expecially since most things actually require
tests.

Arno