SOSD: New Superdrive Woe

I just replaced my original Pioneer DVR-103 Superdrive with a new NEC ND-3540A. Using Toast 7, the first CD-R I burned worked without a hitch. The second disc failed (coaster) with 3 seconds to go, as did the third. (I don't recall the error message I received, but it stayed constant). I looked around in Toast, and all seemed well. I looked in SysProf, and all seemed well with the new NEC drive. Just to be safe, I ran patch burn, although I know there is native support for the NEC superdrive in Tiger. After all that, CD-R #4 failed with 3 seconds to go in Toast, so I went into Finder and tried to burn from there, but had a similarly unsuccessful result. All the media were the same (Imation CD-R's). All the coasters uniformly formatted until the very end of the disc (about 1cm of space remains at the edge of all discs -- where the formatting stopped). The amount of data I was trying to save was the same throughout (600 - 650MB), although I did try different combinations of files in case the data I was attempting to save was somehow corrupted. Soooo, I'm baffled. Has the drive gone bad after one disc?

I know the NEC drive comes highly recommended by folks here at discussions, but I think I might have gotten a bum specimen. If anyone can help me identify my problem, or offer any solutions, I would be very, very grateful.

What I can't figure out is, why did the first CD-R burn with no problem when subsequent discs failed? Why do the discs burn until the tantalizing last cm or so?

Here are the drive specs from SysProf (the last line is a bit mysterious to me):
_NEC DVD_RW ND-3540A:

Firmware Revision: 1.01
Interconnect: ATAPI
Burn Support: Yes (Vendor Supported)
Profile Path: /Library/DiscRecording/DeviceProfiles/PatchBurn- necdvdrwnd3540a.drprofile
Cache: 2048 KB
Reads DVD: Yes
CD-Write: -R, -RW
DVD-Write: -R, -RW, +R, +RW, +R DL
Burn Underrun Protection CD: Yes
Burn Underrun Protection DVD: Yes
Write Strategies: CD-TAO, CD-SAO, CD-Raw, DVD-DAO
Media: No

Posted on Sep 21, 2005 4:43 PM

49 replies

Oct 10, 2005 5:03 AM in response to Mark Swetz

Hi Mark,

Just wanted to check on you and see how you are coming along with your problem.

Regards
Duke

Mark Swetz Author

Level 1

45 points

Oct 10, 2005 9:19 AM in response to Dukeblue91

Hi everyone--

I fell off the radar for a bit while I worked through some eureka & frustration, in equal parts.

The short version is, duh, iDVD4 vs. 5. I managed to borrow a friend's copy of iDVD5 and was able to burn HP & generic discs with the NEC. I have also been successful burning Imation CD-R's with Toast. That's the good news.

The confounding part is in two parts:
1. When I tried to use an Imation 8x DVD-R's with DVDSP, it was first recognized by finder as a blank CD, then ultimately, it froze Finder; upon restart, it was 'unrecognized' by Finder. I didn't try other DVD-R's with DVDSP, but that is only because that program is now acting odd and I gave up on a new project after two days... I wasn't going to post this, til I figured out the problem with DVDSP, but here I am... I will limit this post to the drive issue.

2. The drive still seems to be causing the occasional program crash. For example, yesterday I put in a burned CD of music which iTunes (gracenotes) correctly ID'd. If I did not play the CD after a certain amount of time (30 minutes?) when I would come back to play it, iTunes would freeze and I would have to do the all-too-familar reboot to extract the disc. This happened 3 times in a row. Based on a recommendation a while ago, the computer is set to go to sleep 'never', so I can't imagine there is a sleep issue. Is there any chance the drive, independent of the system, goes to sleep on its own & doesn't like to be 'woken'?

I was hoping to write after taking a bit of time to reflect, but two weeks of missing DVD project deadlines put me in a bit of a frenzy & with things (e.g. DVDSP) not working like they did before the NEC, I have not been in a good mindset to post objective stuff. Long story longer, I'm resigned to the use of the NEC it deigns to give me and hope the Imation coaster was a one-off. As I eluded to in an earlier post, I don't think iDVD4 was the root of all problems, but I probably fixed the initial problem earlier on with all the troubleshooting (probably with the firmware flash?) and didn't realize it was fixed because I was testing DVD-R's with iDVD4. When I first started posting, I was making DVD-R coasters with Finder, Toast7 & iDVD. I am also usually very thorough troubleshooting things on my own; the iDVD4 problem was uncharacteristically lazy on my part.

Anyway, I think my saga is over for now (I say optimistically), unless anyone has new thoughts on my iTunes freeze/drive narcolepsy. I don't think the RAM is a problem, as programs behave unless the drive is involved.

Conclusion: if you get an NEC, do the firmware flash using the GUI that is linked on the site Jeff gave me above; you will also find links on that site (or the NEC site that another user posted) for various firmware versions. Ultimately I used 1.W6 and that seemed to work. For those who don't know (like I didn't), iDVD4 does not work with non-Pioneer drives. When I was considering what superdrive to get for an upgrade it was between the NEC & a Pioneer 109 (I think), as these were the two most highly rated by users here on discussions.

If I had it all to do over again, I would not get the NEC. (Sorry NEC & all the NEC faithful.) If I could have just installed a Pioneer and been done with it, I would have. At least now I know how to flash firmware without an overcoat.

Thank you all, one last, mighty time. Feel free to keep posting here to let me know your thoughts, and I will update any problems or miracles that develop. I will be out of contact however for the next two weeks (overdue vacation)... time to get away from the computer.

With respect & gratitude-
Mark

ps-- I returned the external drive.

Mark Swetz Author

Level 1

45 points

Dec 5, 2005 10:52 AM in response to Mark Swetz

Back from hibernation.
Not sure if this thread is still active, but I hope that it might reconnect with all the gurus that were helping me the first time round.

new info.

after burning 4 dvd's in one session about a month ago, the NEC drive stopped writing anything, Cd's & DVD's. It read one commercial DVD after this episode, and then stopped reading DVD's & CD's; in various programs (Finder doesn't even recognize them). I reinstalled the old, original Pioneer drive, and it, too, didn't read or write anything. The tray still opens, but that's about it. I have checked & double checked all the connections & cables, and they look fine, but I question if I really would know if I saw something I need to.

When installed, SysProf recognizes both drives for what they are (all the correct info), they just don't do anything. When I was trouble shooting before, I switched (ribbon) cables, with no noticible effect, so I went back to the original cable.

Two questions:

1. The fact that both drives don't work *at all*, in any program, with any media (comercial or blank)... does this tell you anything?

2. If it is a hardware issue outside of the drives, what is my next step? Can I buy a card to connect the internal drive to or should I just resign myself to finding an external drive that works?

There have been no other problems with the computer since the drive(s) "died" [for those of you following this saga from the beginning, my finder issue has disappeared with my drive functionality].

Thanks, as always, for any light you can shine on the dark recesses of my problem.

With respect-
Mark

G4 dual800 Mac OS X (10.4.2) NEC DVD_RW 3540A; firmware 1.W6

G4 dual800 & G3 iBook 500 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Mark Swetz Author

Level 1

45 points

Dec 11, 2005 4:37 AM in response to Mark Swetz

Lost cause?

G4 dual800 Mac OS X (10.4.2)

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SOSD: New Superdrive Woe