Need Help: I'm 2nd guessing whether my Blu-ray writer is dying or not

[Happy Hopping]

2 days ago, as I try to burn a 50GB media, the first media failed. These Verbatim media are made in Japan and I never have one that failed in the past 10+ years.

So I burn a 2nd Verbatim BD-R media, this time, it works, but at 4X, it should finish in 45 min. But it took 1.5 hr., then it spends 30 min. to 1 hr. (don't remember exact time) to verify. Since there is no software that can alter a 4X burn speed from 45 min. to 1.5 hr., and the fact that the 1st disc dies earlier on, I thought the drive is dying.

Then yesterday, I burn 4 CD-R, 1 DVD+R, no problem, no error, flawless

Can a intermitent Blu-Ray writer only fails on BD_R but would works fine on CD-R and DVD+R? I can burn another Bd-R, but I have no new data to burn another 50GB for now

 

[SmokeRngs]

I'm pretty sure CD and DVD use a different laser from BD for burning so it is possible there is a problem only affecting BD burning.

As for media, a couple of discs which don't work right is nothing. I don't care where the discs are manufactured, you're going to get bad discs. In the case of multi-layer discs the chance for bad media will increase. That and cost are one of the reasons why I've only purchased single layer media. I only recently purchased a bluray burner so my experience is still practically zero as only a few single layer BDs have been burned. That said, I've had no problem with the few I've burned so far and they are Verbatim although I don't know and don't really care where they were manufactured.

No matter what, you're simply not going to find many, if any consumer tier burners or media made in Japan simply because the margins are so low on the burners and media that it's not financially feasible to make the items in Japan anymore. There's a reason there are very few remaining companies which make burners or media, the volume simply isn't there for profit except for a few companies.

I've run into bad burns with my old DVD burner multiple times in a row with multiple discs. Quality isn't as high for media as it used to be. I also used to have a habit of trying to fit as much as I could per disc which caused issues. Burn speed was always low because there would be little or no spare space in case of bad spots on the disc so the burner dropped speed to avoid as many issues as possible and try for a "perfect" burn. Even with slow burn speeds there were issues in case of too many bad spots on the disc and not enough spare space to make up for it which resulted in a failed burn or a burn which had problems reading back at anything but very slow speeds. I've had practically no issues with media since I stopped trying to fill up the discs.

It's possible that your burner is dying, at least for the bluray portion of it but it's more likely you got a couple of discs with more defect areas and there wasn't enough spare space to easily make up for it. For single layer BD-R I usually aim for 20-22GB of data to leave enough spare space to offset bad areas on the disc.

I'm using an LG WH16NS40 for a burner. It was most probably manufactured in China but works well enough and quite popular without breaking the bank. It's not silent but seems that way compared to my old 16x DVD burner. There have been times while burning or reading back from a disc that I thought something might be wrong because I wasn't hearing the sounds I was used to with the old DVD burner. There is also the WH16NS60 which is more expensive but basically identical to the WH16NS40 except that it has 4k bluray playback enabled in firmware. Many of the S40 drives are supposedly able to downgrade firmware to an older version which still supported 4k bluray playback although I haven't bothered to do so with mine as I don't currently need that function.

 

[Happy Hopping]

so my blu-ray burner c/w 2 separate laser beam? I didn't know that. I thought it's the laser changing inside to fit Cd , DVD or blu-ray.

however, as to country of manufacture, the ones that I bought that is made in taiwan, CDC Magnetics brand, a few of them have failed. Data put in, years / months later, unable to read it

the ones made in japn, no problem. Not for the past 10+ yr.,until the other day. I'll try again if I have enough data for a 50GB burn. If it fails again, then I know it's the laser

I appreciate the spare space issue, I never thought about that.

it's like your Lexus, you pay $100K for your Lexus, that's made in Japan. Your Honda civic, you pay $25K, that's made in USA