Hi - I hope someone can help out a total newbie at this whole thing...

This week I installed LG GCE-8481B 48x24x48 and Nero 5.5.9.9 - both seems to work fine so far on CD-R... but InCD and CD-RW is not working properly.

Burner was bundled with InCD v3.34.0 and similar to the post by MikeCG in the InCD Illegal Request thread http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=2162&whichpage=1 - I also cannot format CD-RWs !

The CD-RW format seems to get thru the "first stage" but fails about 3 mins into the logical format stage. The error message shown is :

0000-0000-0000-0000 (it also tells me to write it down carefully)

There is no reference on Nero site, in the "help" thingies, or anywhere about this error (which is annoying). Also BTW - anyone noticed that the Help menu of InCD is missing a lot of sections and is particularly poorly written ?

Anyway, InCD shows the disk as "full" (Session1 Track1 704MB ISO9660/Joliet Mode2 - yet Nero shows it as "empty"... and there is no way I can write to it (it never gets mounted).

I uninstalled InCD 3.34 (using add/remove progs) and updated to InCD 3.51.61 - no resolution. I then used Nero to Erase Rewritable, and the erase failed at both 10x and 4x.

But the wierd thing is that the CDs format perfectly as CD-MRW... I am able to write, read and delete perfectly. But that sorta defeats my purpose of using CD-RW to transfer files from home to work (replacing a dead ZipDrive, which I loved).

Can anyone assist me with this error ? I read a lot about all manner of stuff, and long and involved solutions involving updated DLLs etc) like in that Illegal Reaquest thread) which I am not feeling comfortable about attempting...

And I am I correct in thinking that until I can actually FORMAT a CD-RW, I can't use it - in which case how the hell can I format it if I don't use InCD ?

Also, I read some ppl say that packet writing is bad (prone to errors etc) - but what other option do I have to use the CD-RW as a virtual floppy drive ? Is there some FAQ or Newbie guide to CD-RW usage that will assist me ? The way I see it, CD-RW doesn't offer me much iuse if the only way to transfer files is by copying files to it, then to update I have to copy the files back off, erase all from CD and then re-burn the lot back on (I am sure I am missing something here)

Sorry if these Q's are lame, and/or have been covered B4 - whilst I'm very computer literate I have absolutely no experience in use of CD-R and RW and it's freaking me out !

Thanks heaps, John

OOOPS - the media I am having problems with is branded "Laser 10X" - I don't want to waste money buying other types if my problems in formatting are not media related... perhaps InCD is trying to format it at 10x and it really can handle only 8x ???

There are (too) many factors in packet writing, so consider the following points.

1. Check www.lge.com for the latest firmware for your LG GCE-8481B and recommended CD-RW media; also search www.cdfreaks.com and www.cdrlabs.com for users' experiences, and the Web in general for reviews of your burner. You may expect some problems: 24x re-writers are fairly new and probably not tested much on older media, whereas 24x media are hardly available.

2. I would advise you to get at least a couple of 4x-10x or 4x-12x CDRW discs from several better known vendors (see (1) above). Unfortunately InCD no longer allows you to control rewriting speeds. You could check which speeds are listed for your media in Nero itself (for a blank CD-RW), and in Nero InfoTool. BTW, you should upgrade Nero to the latest 5.5.9.17 (first remove InCD, then run the Nero update from www.ahead.de, and finally install InCD 3.51.61); this will update CD Speed and InfoTool as well.

3. If you wish to reuse a disc, don't try to save time by using any quick formatting or quick erase options; always do Full Erase in Nero| Recorder| EraseReWritable.

4. On my boxes, the help in InCD 3.51.61 doesn't work at all, and C:\Program Files\ahead\InCD\InCD.hlp behaves strangely. Download the InCD manual from Ahead; although outdated, it gives general ideas about InCD.

5. If CD-MRW works on your burner at home, to read CD-MRW on your work box you only need to install EasyWriteReader there. (If you inserted a CD-MRW disc on your work box, it would probably ask you to install the version of EasyWriteReader put on the disc by InCD; since this version frequently doesn't work, download the latest version from www.ahead.de and install it manually.) If your work box has a decent CD-ROM or DVD-ROM drive and a fairly clean OS (no remnants of other packet writers, burning plugins, etc), this may end your headaches.

6. Neither classical packet writing nor CD-MRW are reliable enough for true backup, so don't delete your home files before copying them at work. But CD-MRW may be enough for your purposes. For an 80min/700MB disc, CD-MRW can store 539MB of your data. If you organize your data directories properly, a program such as FileSync from www.fileware.com can be used to synchronize your home and work directories easily (FileSync can even do binary comparisons to ensure integrity).

To sum up, since getting non-CD-MRW to operate could be troublesome, my advice is to check first readability of CD-MRW at work.

(in reply to JohnCoop)

Thanks KCK - that helps a lot !

Yes, I am burning at home (Win95b) and reading at work (WinME) - the idea of packet writing is just to transfer large gfx, ppt, etc that I am working on at home back to work for ppl to see the current status of. Since I do this every day, I'd waste 2 x CDR's every day (one each way) unless I use CD_RW or other re-writable media ! When each project is complete, I would transfer data permanently using CD-R.

Home box is Win95b, Celeron 300A @464MHz, 256M PC133, 6.4G (3x2MB partitions), WMP 6.4.07.1112 (I didn't go to newer one as MS state it's not suitable for Win95!). Never had any other burner software, the ZipDrive doesn't need any non-MS drivers and none are loaded. I have no idea (atm) how to get further relevant info about my installation, but am willing to do whatever I need to.

1. I can't find anything on the GCE-8481 at LG, either in Australia (where I am) or on the US site - in fact there is very few firmware updates for *any* of the LG writers. And I couldn't even FIND any media faster than 10X anywhere !

2. Yes, I'll get a couple of "name brand" 10x CD_RW's and see if they work. The update of Nero from 5.9.9.9 to 5.5.5.17 is a bit hard for me, since it's a 12MB download and I only have a dialup - I'll deal with that tonight...
- Yeah, I already read about doing a In-CD un-install before updating :-)

3. I can't erase using Nero anyway... it throws an error ! At the moment, I can't use either CD-RW disk (unless I format to CD-MRW)

4. I downloaded the InCD PDF - yes, it also is badly out of date. This whole experience tells me that InCD is probably just a "me-too" product hacked together by the Nero team, rather than a "proper" app.

5. Yes, I thought the same thing... today I will install EasyWriteReader at work and see if it reads CD-MRW there. That is not an ideal solution, but it might solve the immediate problem.

6. I acknowledge that packet writing is not a "PERMANENT" solution, but in my case it suits for transferring non-critical files. There is no need for file-sync.

------------------------------

2 more questions...

A.
I have a brand new install of Win98SE on another box, unfortunately that is only a P133/48MB Ram... and another P133 with 96MB Ram with a fairly fresh Win98SE. Neither has had any M$ updates or patches installed. I dunno if these 133 boxes have enough grunt ?

Is the CPU / RAM important on burners with Underrun Protection ? If I don't do any ripping, is there any reason why I can't burn at 48X CD-R on a old P133 box ? That would actually work out better, since I could burn on one of the old boxes while working on the fastest machine.


B.
What difference would a Nero update make anyway ? I am having a problem with formatting in InCD...

Umm.. what I mean is, what would happen if I had NOT installed InCD ? How could I burn to a CD-RW if I don't format it first ? And how could I format it in Nero, without InCD - is there another way of formatting CD-RW's that I have missed ?
...OR am I just getting confused, and the InCD formatting is only used for packet writing, and that I could use CD-RW in Nero as a "normal CDR" but have to fully erase it each time before re-using ?

C. Since InCD can't format properly, I am stuck with 2 x "half formatted" CD-RW's - these can't be erased in Nero, since the file system is invalid, so I can't use them. Is there a way to "reclaim" them back to "blank" disks again ?

D. Given all the problems with Packet writing, what exactly is the *POINT* of CD-RWs ? OK, you can (theoretically) erase them and re-write to them, but that is particularly cumbersome, since individual files can't be erased...

E. Why is InCD giving me this "Error Code 0000-0000-0000-0000". From what I read there is no really "reference" to the InCD errors, they get thrown but they are pretty meaningless (ie: "there was a error, we can't tell you what happened, but these numbers might make you feel happier"). I couldn't find any log files written by InCD either...

Perhaps I need to fix the ZipDrive - that was SO much easier for file transferring ! Problem is that there is no ZipDrive at my new work, and they are not interested in buying one... thus I am attempting to use CD-RW for file transfers. How does everyone else transfer (say) a 60MB file between 2 locations ?

Again, sorry for all these dumb Q's - I have searched extensively for "CD-RW FAQ", "PacketWriting for Dummies" type stuff, but only found very basic, generalised info but nothing definitive. If there is a good guide somewhere, I'd really appreciate a URL !

Thx, JC

(in reply to JohnCoop)

I'm confused about your needs. If you only need to transfer several large files to work each day, you may simply use Nero to burn an ISO compilation to a disc; if the file names don't change drastically each day, you may save the compilation info to your hard disc, then recall it next day and update the file names as needed before using it for burning the next disc. If you get a spindle of fairly cheap CD-R disc (24x or 32x say), the cost of one disc per day should be acceptable, and you won't face reading difficulties anywhere. But if you care about waste, a CD-RW disc could be used; maybe quick erase in Nero wouldn't take too much time each day.

Why do you write about "2 x CDR's every day (one each way)". Does it mean burning one disc at home, and another at work?

Now, back to your InCD problems. Your main Win95b box should be fast enough for InCD, provided you don't run heavy applications while copying to InCD discs. As for previous points:

1. LG is not famous for firmware updates. To find out about practical rewriting speeds of your burner on various media, consult the sources mentioned previously in (1); just search those forums or simply use Google.

2. Upgrading Nero won't hurt you; the main point here is that it will also install the latest versions of CD Speed and InfoTool (these utilities are useful for troubleshooting).

3. If Nero gives an error on Full Erase, decribe it accurately. Also check NeroHistory.log in C:\Program Files\ahead\Nero.

4. Your "me-too" impression is too harsh: Relative to other companies, Ahead typically wins on features and stability, but looses on documentation and tech support.

5. I don't see why being able to read CD-MRW at work wouldn't suit you. For your needs there is little difference between CD-MRW and classical CD-RW packet writing (where formatting 10x media takes about 10 minutes).

6. This is outside the subject, but I use FileSync for primary backup to other networked boxes.

A. For your old boxes, check the LG system requirements for your burner. It's not just CPU/RAM; HDD transfer rates could be the bottleneck.

B. See (2) above re Nero update. Nero can write to blank CD-RWs; InCD must format them first. (If you're old enough, you'll remember having to format floppies before preformattied floppies became available.)

C. See (3) above, and the thread

http://www.cdrinfo.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=7665

Apparently some other programs can erase CD-RWs, but stay away from anything that requires special ASPI, at least for now.

D. I'm using InCD (CD-RW and CD-MRW) discs on various boxes just like floppies, also reading them in DVD-ROM drives.

E. The error codes could assist Ahead in debugging; well, why don't you try to contact their tech support? Even a canned answer would be better than nothing. As far as I know, InCD has no log files.

I understand your desperation, but one of the solutions outlined above should eventually work for you. Otherwise, get a DSL or cable connection at home, and convince your network administrator at work to allow FTP uploads, VPN, whatever...

For basic info, search for CD-RW in the FAQ of www.cdrfaq.com.

(in reply to JohnCoop)

Thanks again KCK - that really helped too !

2 x CDs per day coz I work on my stuff in both places and have to transfer between - that's 10 CDs per week !

Yes, I could erase each time and re-burn, but packet writing would be a LOT LESS hassle

3. Nero error on Full Erase, decribe it accurately. Also check NeroHistory.log in C:\Program Files\ahead\Nero.

There is nothing to describe - I try it at both 10X and 45X and it takes about the correct time, but reports "Erase Failed" - that is all ! There is no entries added to NEroHistry for these events.

I didn't check CD-MRW at work today, fires in Sydney took down the cable connection so I couldn't DL the latest EasyWriteReader - buit it looks like CD-MRW is the only way I can do what I want.
- it doesn't really matter much, but it wopuld have been very nice to use a format that didn't require special drivers to be installed on the other comps !

Anyway, I'll keep battling with it after I get some other media to test with...

Thanks again, JC

(in reply to JohnCoop)

i dont know if anyone still reads this post i found it through google and its from last year but i am having the same problem with incd. i too know nil about cdrw's. incd starts formatting almost to completion and then i get the all 0's error code. why aren't they more descriptive of the error :(. im using cd-rw discs are these not the right type?

i am also trying to burn music cds on to these cd-rw discs and the nero burning program says invalid media. the program says i need cd-r/rw and it also says i have a cd-rw in the drive. how could this be invalid media when i'm using the disks it says i need?

system: amd 1700 socket 478 motherboard windows 98se latest nero software(downloaded 03-30-03) 52-24-52 cdrw

the bought the system from tiger direct as a bundle they said they tested it and nero is the software they sent with it. so far i haven't been able to do anything with nero.

any help would be appreciated i may eventually have to goto nero support but judging by there vague help files on disc and online i think they know less about their product than i do (lol).

(in reply to JohnCoop)

Yes, your InCD problems could be due to CD-RW media that are not suited to your burner. Have a look at the InCD guide:

http://www.cdrlabs.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=9597

As for Nero, it can only write to blank CD-RW discs. Thus if you want to re-use a disc that has been written to by InCD or Nero, you must erase it first with Nero. Nero should offer this option when it detects a non-blank disc; otherwise do full-erase in Nero | Recorder | EraseReWritable.

(in reply to JohnCoop)