Internal CD-RW 48x12x48 - Nightmare (Somewhat Urgent)

[Nuvix]

Well, I've had problems with this thing since I bought it... It is a Norcent RW481 48x12x48 Internal CD-RW drive.

I was originally running under Windows 98. The burner worked, but it would just stop working at random times. This may be due to the fact that I was using it as my main CD drive rather than my burner, so I could understand that... but here's where it gets annoying.

I recently upgraded to Windows 2000 Professional. I reinstalled the software that came with the burner(the drivers and Nero), and all seemed well. It wasn't. Everything I burn comes out... well... not working. The burn appears to go well every time, without errors, but afterwards I can't use the burned disc. It doesn't even recognize that there's a disc in the drive! It's not multisession; I already checked for that... and the CDs I burned before upgrading to Windows 2000 Professional work just fine.

This is really getting annoying since I'm on a fairly old HD(6 GB) and I need to make server backups frequently so I don't run out of disk space. As of right now... I can't do that. I'm sitting on 300 MB free with no way to fix it.

Has anyone else experienced problems like this?

Any help would be GREATLY appreciated.

[cfitz]

This is not meant to be insulting, but is there any chance you have the "simulate" box checked?

When you look at the underside of the disc after it has been burnt, do you see any evidence of it having been burnt? You can usually see some concentric rings on a partially burned disc (one that hasn't been burned to its full capacity) if you tilt it around to get in the right light.

What brand and manufacturer media are you using?

In the end, I think there is a good chance your drive is just bad. These Norcent drives have a terrible reputation.

cfitz

[Nuvix]

Yes, I checked if it was burnt, and it was. Nero, like windows, doesn't even recognize the discs as existing, blank or otherwise.

I tried running the burner at a much, much slower speed and it seems to have worked (at least once). I'm not sure why I can't use it at full speed like I could in 98, but at least it worked once.

Oh, and the CDs are Memorex...

[cfitz]

Memorex CMC or Memorex TY? Although I've had satisfactory results with Memorex TY media, the one batch of Memorex CMC discs I bought were probably the worst quality CD-R discs I have personally used. Combine that with the poor Norcent quality, and it wouldn't surprise me that things aren't working out for you.

Still, my best bet is that either the drive was crummy to begin with or has failed on you now.

cfitz

[dodecahedron]

It doesn't even recognize that there's a disc in the drive!

just after burning or later too?

just after burning a CD it often is not recoginzed, eject and then inject it.

[jase]

Try burning at 8x. A difficult pill to swallow but many a dodgy 48x drive has become a good 8/16x one It'll only take 10 minutes to burn a CD anyway and if the drive is in any way working it should give a good burn on any media at this speed.

If it doesn't, then it is probably time for the bin. Have you tried reading the discs it produces in a different CDROM?

These Norcent drives; they're the $9.99 ones from a few months ago aren't they? Did we ever get to the bottom of who makes them -- I seem to recall Optorite being mentioned but I'm not sure.

But yes, CMC discs are garbage in many, many writers (including some very good ones -- the LG 16x and Plextor 24x HATE them). Try if you can to get some Ritek, TY and Verbatim/Mitsubishi based discs and see if they work any better.

[Nuvix]

I'll have to check that out...

Even writing at 16x it's ruining 50% of the discs.