Calibration error, WTF!? Now my Nec ND3500A is dead... =(

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Aug 15, 2004
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It's the DL+-RW drive, and I was trying to erase a cd-rw on it the other day. When it was hooked up to my old machine (466 celeron @ 567). Halfway through it; it gave me some sort of a calibration error, and from that point on it refused to work at all. Doesn't read anything doesn't erase, or write. When attempting to read something, it makes floppy drive sounds (tap! tap! tap!). Plugging it into my new machine (3200+"cg" clawhammer @ 2.4) yeilds exact same results.

The trouble is, NEC is a shitty company, and they don't have any kind of warranty for their optical drives. The store's warranty has run out long ago, as it was indeed working properly before the incident. Anything I could do to fix it? Or at least, anyone know why this happens? My old computer killed it's original cdrom drive (or it died on it's own, I'll never know..) Either way, that 40x asus drive no longer works. It kind-of killed the cd-rw drive as well, althought that one still works. It works very poorly (it's maximum write speed is now about 1.2x, as opposed to 48x it was advertised as). Reads just fine, though, and erases rewritables, etc, even re-writes at up to 12x (which is indeed, it's rated maximum speed).

:(
 
I don't think the 466 has the PCI bus overclocked... Although, I DID overclock it to 567, but I lowered the bus divider (it has one).

My A64 rig, however, has a working bus lock. It stays at 67Mhz no matter what... and PCI, is obviously, AGP/2
 
so have you tried reflashing the firmware?

do you recall if it was a power calibration error?
 
Ice Czar said:
so have you tried reflashing the firmware?

do you recall if it was a power calibration error?
No, I don't know how to flash these things.

Yes, it was indeed a power calibration error.
 
well TechHead is much better at this sort of thing than I am
a much larger specific experience compared to more limited firsthand experience
there are a few flashing FAQs at the top of the board
Ive flashed several drives, however like a graphics card or a BIOS, you really want to make sure it the proper firmware, and that all the drives on that channel are set to PIO mode for the flash if done inside the GUI as opposed to DOS
(or at least that was the case with the last 2 drives I flashed from inside the OS best to follow the manufacturers recommendations)

power calibration errors are sort of a catchall message
usually associated with bad media, dirty lens, software issues
It can also refer to a power calibration fault with the laser inside the drive itself
its also possible its actually a power issue

Id recommend, reducing the components that need powering
cleaning the lens with a special disk, trying a different brand or batch of media
reloading the software your using (for a burn inapplicable for a read)
then trying a reflash

at least its a place to start, some of that is pretty easy to rule out considering the context
TechHead will likely answer later tonight hes in India and is out of synch with us most of the time
 
How'd I miss this thread :( ?

Okay.. Ice has covered most of the stuff I would have recommended. A power calibration error often comes about due to crappy media being used. My guess is that the CD-RW you were trying to use was really messed up, so it's knocked the lens out of sync. That tap-tap sound might be the lens trying to position itself to read the disc, but failing to do so.

I'd recommend the following:

1)Use a drive lens cleaner to clean the lens and then try reading a disc off it.
2)Which CD-RW disc were you using? Was it a 32X disc? If that's the case, the NEC can't write to them, so it may have failed.
3)Flash it with a new firmware version. Instructions and files are
here, and I'd recommend you scroll down to the NEC ND-3500AG section and download the BETA TDK 1616N Version reporting as "_NEC DVD_RW ND-3500AG" firmware for Windows.

4)Try different media.. get some other brand of CDRs and see.
 
It was a 10x rewritable, and I've tried many things, it doesn't read ANYTHING. Where can I get a cleaner-disc? Err... drive lens cleaner? I suppose I could just disassemble the drive, and clean the lens with high purity alcohol. It has no warranty anyway, I got nothing to lose..
 
You could try that, but we get lens-cleaner CDs here,do you get those in the States?
Also, you might want to try realigning the laser head, there will be 4 screws around it. Give them a tweak, 1 way or the other, and try. I fixed an old Pioneer slot DVD-ROM drive this way.
 
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