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Burn CD = crash for me?

J

JackieO

Gawd
Joined
Aug 16, 2004
Messages
933
Hey everyone,

So my PC is what I would consider pretty damned stable. I've been using it on this OS install for about a year now and I've never had a crash, reboot, memory dump, whatever. For reference it's a Shuttle SB75G2, P4 3.2, 1GB DDR, GF 6800gt, NU 8x DVD-R.

So I tried burning a cd today (just some pictures of the family) using a purchased copy of Nero 6.0 and as soon as the burn initialized (around 5% in, when the lead in is done) the computer crashes. I've updated all my drivers (which were all recent anyway), tried the DVD-R on the primary IDE and secondary IDE channel, tried different software (alcohol 120%), etc... and am getting the same problem.

I've been able to watch DVDs, play games, play CDs and so on with this DVD player without any problems until now.

Thoughts? Questions? Thanks in advance..
 
Two things to try:

- get a spare PSU, rig it to power up, and connect it to the DVD-R drive. Then turn the system on and see whether it still crashes while burning a CD/DVD.

- try this DVD-R drive in another system and/or another DVD-R drive in this system.
 
Thanks for the quick reply. I tried option #1 and it didn't work. Even though the shuttle PSU's are only 250 they seem to be pretty robust, so I am not surprised that wasn't it.

I am swapping the DVD-r to another comp right now and will put an old CDRW in this comp, will update momentarily. Thanks again!
 
Device manager reports no conflicts or problems whatsoever. All drivers (chipset (inf), ide, etc...) have all been updated. The only two IDE devices in this computer are a HDD on the primary master and the DVD/CD on secondary master. The crash seems to happen as soon as the disc tries to start burning (it spins up, mouse locks, computer reboots). I am also abl;e to rip CDs no problem, the only time I have an issue is burning CDs. I've tried 3 different CDs (two different brands), numerous different burn speeds...

I'm at a loss. Somethins is probably up with the IDE channel or something, but I don't know what to do about it.
 
When I used the CDRW from the second computer I brought the cable with it. I'll try one more new one just to be sure.
 
I had the lastest firmware, but you're right the two computers do use different chipsets (although they are both Intel chipsets). I am going to try putting the DVDr on as primary slave to see if that works (if so maybe my secondary channel is hosed). Will update. Thanks again for the tips.
 
Any useful error messages in the log?

Also, when the system crashes, does it immediately reboot, or do you get a BSOD? Did you configure Windows to reboot immediately after a BSOD?

At this point I would recommend stripping the system down to just the mainboard (placed on some cardboard or similar), the CPU (w/ HSF), RAM and videocard. Run tests like Memtest86+.

If no errors are reported, connect the HDD and a DVD-R or CDRW drive. Try burning a DVD/CD. If it crashes, put the DVD-R drive on another channel.

If it keep crashing:

- reset the CMOS;
- update the BIOS;
- try a fresh install of Windows;
- use another PSU;

Good luck!
 
I've heard that the CD-check program/anti-piracy feature (StarForce) that comes with some games, such as SuperPowers 2, can fuck up CDRW capabilities of a computer. Have you installed any new games since last burning a CD successfully?
 
Any useful error messages in the log?

Also, when the system crashes, does it immediately reboot, or do you get a BSOD? Did you configure Windows to reboot immediately after a BSOD?

At this point I would recommend stripping the system down to just the mainboard (placed on some cardboard or similar), the CPU (w/ HSF), RAM and videocard. Run tests like Memtest86+.

If no errors are reported, connect the HDD and a DVD-R or CDRW drive. Try burning a DVD/CD. If it crashes, put the DVD-R drive on another channel.

If it keep crashing:

- reset the CMOS;
- update the BIOS;
- try a fresh install of Windows;
- use another PSU;

Good luck!
Click to expand...

I am not sure how to check the log (boo me!), I will check if someone lets me know. When it reboots it is a reboot, no BSOD, no memory dump - the system locks for 1 second then reboots.

I reset the CMOS, BIOS is newest, and tried another PSU, same issue. I've had no other problems with this comp in a year. It's totally odd. I will re-install as a last resort. I used to re-install XP all the time but I honestly am too busy too take the time atm, hopefully it doesn't come to that.

I've heard that the CD-check program/anti-piracy feature (StarForce) that comes with some games, such as SuperPowers 2, can fuck up CDRW capabilities of a computer. Have you installed any new games since last burning a CD successfully?
Click to expand...

I installed Dawn of War. I will look into that, thanks!
 
Progress!

I put in a very old 12x burner today (this is the third one I've tried, just so no one gets confused), put it on the secondary master with yet another IDE cable, and it worked (although slowly :p). When you burn a CD with Nero it gets to about 7% and then starts the actual burning, this time it got past that point and burned a CD fine.

So I put the DVD burner back in and wham, reboot. So now the issue is, what's up with my DVD burner? I've had this thing ~6 months, burned hundreds of DVDs with it, and it burned CDs fine until this week. Is there any reason it would have just stopped being able to burn CDs? I am going to try the second burner here in a second and see what happens.


Edit - looks like it was the DVD burner afterall. Tried the second CDRW in my computer and it worked fine. Put DVD-R back in, reboot. I don't know why it would all of a sudden stop burning CDs, but I'm going to go ahead and e-mail NU about a replacement.

Thanks for all the help guys.
 
JackieO said:
I am not sure how to check the log (boo me!), I will check if someone lets me know.
Click to expand...
Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer

I've also had my share of CDRW drivers go haywire on me. One of them would randomly disconnected/connect (hardware removed/added icon in tray), another would crash the system while trying to burn a CD. I now use a backup system for burning CDs instead of my workstation.
 
Thanks - thats not a bad idea. I think I am going to go ahead and do that, it's too much hassle to have your computer lagging and rebooting while burning CDs/DVDs and trying to work.
 
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