Sony / Optiarc AD-7241S can't burn CDs?

[redk9258]

I have a Sony / Optiarc 7241 CD / DVD writer. I've been having trouble writing CDs. The CDs I have are the Fuji branded Taiyo Yuden that I have been using for several years now. (I stocked up when Best Buy had them for $5 AMIR). I have burned a few CDs with success with this drive, but not tonight. I had a blank Memorex so I tried it too. Another coaster! Is it possible that I have run into some bad discs? They fail at different points with an error something about media not being compatible. I ran the burn as a test and it passes. Does that rule out a driver or configuration problem? Is this drive just not a good CD writer? Maybe I should have bought a Lite On. I've tried several programs to write to a CD. The last one is ImgBurn. Here is the log...

I 00:29:36 ImgBurn Version 2.5.1.0 started!
I 00:29:36 Microsoft Windows 7 Professional x64 Edition (6.1, Build 7600)
I 00:29:36 Total Physical Memory: 4,193,332 KB - Available: 2,596,932 KB
I 00:29:36 Initialising SPTI...
I 00:29:36 Searching for SCSI / ATAPI devices...
I 00:29:36 -> Drive 1 - Info: Optiarc DVD RW AD-7241S 1.03 (M:) (SATA)
I 00:29:36 Found 1 DVD±RW/RAM!
I 00:33:58 Operation Started!
I 00:33:58 Source File: F:\MUSIC\Alexis\Alexis - Alexis.cue
I 00:33:58 Source File Sectors: 156,938 (AUDIO/2352)
I 00:33:58 Source File Size: 369,118,176 bytes
I 00:33:58 Source File Volume Identifier: Alexis
I 00:33:58 Source File File System(s): None
I 00:33:58 Destination Device: [3:0:0] Optiarc DVD RW AD-7241S 1.03 (M:) (SATA)
I 00:33:58 Destination Media Type: CD-R (Disc ID: 97m24s01f, Taiyo Yuden Co.) (Speeds: 8x, 16x, 24x, 32x, 40x, 48x)
I 00:33:58 Destination Media Sectors: 359,845
I 00:33:58 Write Mode: CD
I 00:33:58 Write Type: SAO
I 00:33:58 Write Speed: MAX
I 00:33:58 Lock Volume: Yes
I 00:33:58 Test Mode: No
I 00:33:58 OPC: No
I 00:33:58 BURN-Proof: Enabled
I 00:33:58 Write Speed Successfully Set! - Effective: 8,467 KB/s (48x)
I 00:33:58 Filling Buffer... (40 MB)
I 00:33:59 Writing LeadIn... (CD-TEXT)
I 00:34:16 Writing Session 1 of 1... (9 Tracks, LBA: 0 - 156937)
I 00:34:16 Writing Track 1 of 9... (AUDIO/2352, WAVE, LBA: 0 - 16337)
I 00:34:28 Writing Track 2 of 9... (AUDIO/2352, WAVE, LBA: 16338 - 34079)
I 00:34:38 Writing Track 3 of 9... (AUDIO/2352, WAVE, LBA: 34080 - 49237)
I 00:34:47 Writing Track 4 of 9... (AUDIO/2352, WAVE, LBA: 49238 - 63672)
I 00:34:56 Writing Track 5 of 9... (AUDIO/2352, WAVE, LBA: 63673 - 77819)
W 00:35:00 Failed to Write Sectors 71935 - 71961 - Reason: Write Error
W 00:35:00 Retrying (1 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (2 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (3 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (4 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (5 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (6 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (7 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (8 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (9 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (10 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (11 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (12 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (13 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (14 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (15 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (16 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (17 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (18 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (19 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
W 00:35:00 Retrying (20 of 20)...
W 00:35:00 Retry Failed - Reason: Invalid Address For Write
E 00:35:10 Failed to Write Sectors 71935 - 71961 - Reason: Write Error
E 00:35:10 Next Writable Address: 0
I 00:35:10 Synchronising Cache...
E 00:35:17 Failed to Write Image!
I 00:35:17 Exporting Graph Data...
I 00:35:17 Graph Data File: C:\Users\*******************i\AppData\Roaming\ImgBurn\Graph Data Files\Optiarc_DVD_RW_AD-7241S_1.03_SUNDAY-AUGUST-22-2010_12-33_AM_97m24s01f_MAX.ibg
I 00:35:17 Export Successfully Completed!
E 00:35:17 Operation Failed! - Duration: 00:01:18
I 00:35:17 Average Write Rate: 3,117 KB/s (18.1x) - Maximum Write Rate: 4,900 KB/s (28.4x)


Thanks for any advice. BTW, this drive works fine for DVDs.

[redk9258]

Well I tried again at 16x write speed and succeeded. I guess this drive sucks for writing CDs. Any thoughts? Is it a drive problem or configuration problem? I have SATA configured as AHCI instead of IDE. Is that a problem? I've NEVER had a problem writing CDs at full speed with any of my Lite On drives, except the one that quit working with CDs altogether.

[redk9258]

I went to Micro Center today and bought a Sony / Optiarc AD-7260S for $20. No lightscribe, but after owning two lightscribe drives, I still have yet to use that function. I unplugged the AD-7241S and plugged the new drive in it's place. I burned two CDs in a row with different software and different brands of CDs. I guess the drive was bad. Is Sony / Optiarc good about warranty replacement? On their website, Newegg says to contact the manufacturer. On Sony / Optiarc's website, they say to contact the vendor. Guess I'll send them both an email.

Since the drive was OEM / bulk, the cashier didn't know how to ring it up. I showed it to her in the ad. The ad didn't even have a model number. I could have had a Blu-Ray drive for $20 and she would not have known the difference!

[SithTracy]

I've never had good luck burning CD-R's with any NEC based drive from the ND-3500A through the Optiarc drives. I own a LITE-ON *GASP* for that now. I burn more CD's than DVD's, but that said, even CD use is minimal.

[Ian]

Is Sony / Optiarc good about warranty replacement? On their website, Newegg says to contact the manufacturer. On Sony / Optiarc's website, they say to contact the vendor. Guess I'll send them both an email.

If its an OEM drive, its usually handled by the vendor

[redk9258]

Newegg says to contact Sony / Optiarc. They'll probably say too bad. We'll see though.

EDIT: I got an email from Sony / Optiarc today. They say they are contacting Newegg and I should hear from Newegg about getting a RMA soon. Am I the only one that tries to get a warranty honored? I wonder why Newegg wants to play these games.

[redk9258]

I got an RMA number from Newegg today. They also gave me a UPS shipping label. I guess Newegg listens to Sony but blow off customers.

[Ian]

Big thumbs up to Sony for smacking Newegg.

Big thumbs down to Newegg for the hassle.

[Dartman]

When I had issues with my original 7240 I noticed New egg was only offering a 30 day replacement warranty even though supposedly Sony offers a year as far as I remember. Egg wouldn't do anything becuase it was like 5 months old when it finally overheated and Sony said I had to deal with the original seller though I can't remember now if I actually tried to e mail Sony directly.
I just said the heck with it and bought another one next time they went on sale as it was so cheap it wasn't worth the hassle and it worked so well up to that point.
Glad to hear they are actually stepping up now and forcing them to honor the warranty as they also wanted extra to give you one year free replacement after the 30 days was up. You really need to read the fine print on some of Eggs warranty deals on the cheap drives.

[redk9258]

Well it says on Newegg's product page..

Manufacturer Warranty

Parts
1 year limited

Labor
1 year limited


If Newegg knows that Sony wants the distributor to deal with warranty returns and don't want to be bothered with it, then they should say "30 DAY WARRANTY". I spent a lot of money on that particular invoice, so they should be willing to deal with a warranty claim. Too bad Micro Center didn't open locally until after I made this order. Maybe I'll just buy from them from now on.

[Dartman]

Well I'm pretty sure they never really said anything but 30 days when I bought it but usually I never have to worry about a drive dying unless it does so right after I get it so I wasn't worried about it till the drive actually had issues then I looked closer at what they were actually offering and the wording and realized I was probably hosed.
If it had been something expensive and critical I would have made more noise about it. I'll still buy things from them just fine, I just have to make sure exactly what I'm getting and what they'll cover themselves.
The newer one has worked fine so far, including making about 15 burns back to back when it was almost as hot in here as the day the original overheated, and the 7260 runs exactly the same. I think they really heat up fast when you start pushing over 20x speed, and that earlier drive just couldn't hack it, plus the excessive heat in my room that day.
Anyways I don't want to say Sony or New Egg sucks just you need to read the fine print on things so you don't figure out later when something happens and it sounds like Sony is now stepping up to the plate to help as well.

[redk9258]

Looks like since Newegg no longer sells the 7241, I'm getting a refund. I didn't really expect that. I expected Sony to send a replacement after Newegg sent it to them.

[Ian]

Time to upgrade to a 7261S?

[redk9258]

I bought a 7260S from Micro Center. I've never used Lightscribe so the 7260S will probably do for now. If it starts acting up writing CDs, I'll switch to another brand. Lite-On or Asus.

[redk9258]

Got my refund today . Hope the 7260S holds up better.