Since I upgraded my computer with a new motherboard, CPU and PSU I've gotten major problems when it comes to making back-ups of my data on both CD and DVD. Nearly every disc I burn fails data validation in Nero and I've also tested it with checksums, so the data is indeed not what it should be.

I used the same drive as I did before the upgrade as well as the same media and my back-ups never failed a validation before. Reading discs however works lika a charm and previousely backed-up data still matches the checksums I've saved when read from the discs. Still assuming there was something wrong with my DVD-burner (Pioneer 107) I bought a new one (LG GSA-H10) but the problem remained, I decided to try my old CD-burner as well with the same result. Thus I have 3 burners all failing to burn a disc of valid data, all reading discs perfectly, and 2 of them worked just fine before my upgrade.

Media: DVD: Traxdata, TDK (and Princo); CD: TDK, none of these has ever failed to result in a perfect burn before.
Drives: Pioneer 107, LG GSA-H10 (and some LG combi drive)

MB: ASUS A8V-E SE; RAM: PC3200 Twinmos 1024MB; CPU: AMD64 3200+; Case: Antec Sonata II

Windows SP2 with latest updates, Nero 6.6.1.4.

I'm now trying to locate the source of the problem and this is what I've done so far without success:
-Updated firmware, burning software and drivers.
-Terminated other activities and low speed burn.
-Removed other optical drives, switched slave/master settings.
-Tested the RAM with memtest86+.
-Installed aspi 4.6.
-Switched IDE cables.
-Did a full reinstall of Windows.

Starting to become desperate as I cannot figure out which part that is causing the trouble, I assembled the computer myself so I can't return the whole thing. Need to know more specific which part.

Did you verify you are running in DMA mode for your optical drives and IDE discs?  Do you have the latest driver pack from VIA Arena?  Defrag your hard disc before a burn...

Once that is done, do get some new media... try some from Taiyo Yuden or Verbatim.

Also, Nero produces a log, if you post it we might be able to get some information out of it.

(in reply to SWETiger)

All units are in DMA mode, disks are free from fragmentation and just now I installed chipset drivers aquired directly from VIA's hompage. This didn't help though.

The media I'm currently using (Ritek G04, TTG02 amd PRINCO) have burned flawless until now and I've burned quite a few of them, Taiyo Yudens aren't sold in stores around here but I think I could get my hands on some verbatims. The thing is, even if these Verbatims would burn I would still be puzzled as to why all the other discs all of a sudden would stop working? And I'm not sure I've ever heared of a CD-burner producing bad discs, as mine can't even burn CDs I am yet more confused.

Just out of curiousity I tried doing a duplication of a cd which this turned out to work without error. I did this twice with success and in between I tried to burn the same data from harddrive but failed doing so correctly.

My latest test burn:

---

Windows XP 5.1
IA32
WinAspi: -
ahead WinASPI: File 'C:\Program\Ahead\Nero\Wnaspi32.dll': Ver=2.0.1.74, size=164112 bytes, created 2004-11-02 12:54:31

NT-SPTI used
Nero Version: 6.6.1.4
Internal Version: 6, 6, 1, 4d
(Nero Express)
Recorder: <HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A>Version: JL02 - HA 1 TA 0 - 6.6.1.4
Adapter driver: <IDE> HA 1
Drive buffer : 2048kB
Bus Type : default (0) -> ATAPI, detected: ?
CD-ROM: <HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4480B>Version: 1.02 - HA 1 TA 1 - 6.6.1.4
Adapter driver: <IDE> HA 1

=== Scsi-Device-Map ===
DiskPeripheral : Maxtor 6Y120P0 atapi Port 0 ID 0 DMA: On
DiskPeripheral : ST380021A atapi Port 0 ID 1 DMA: On
CdRomPeripheral : HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A atapi Port 1 ID 0 DMA: On
CdRomPeripheral : HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4480B atapi Port 1 ID 1 DMA: On

=== CDRom-Device-Map ===
HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A E: CDRom0
HL-DT-ST RW/DVD GCC-4480B G: CDRom1
=======================

AutoRun : 1
Excluded drive IDs:
WriteBufferSize: 83886080 (0) Byte
ShowDrvBufStat : 0
BUFE : 0
Physical memory : 1022MB (1046960kB)
Free physical memory: 640MB (656136kB)
Memory in use : 37 %
Uncached PFiles: 0x0
Use Inquiry : 1
Global Bus Type: default (0)
Check supported media : Disabled (0)

29.10.2006
ISO-kompilering
23:23:21 #1 Text 0 File Isodoc.cpp, Line 6475
Iso document burn settings
------------------------------------------
Determine maximum speed : FALSE
Simulate : FALSE
Write : TRUE
Finalize CD : TRUE
Multisession : FALSE
Burning mode : DAO
Mode : 1
ISO Level : 1 (Max. of 11 = 8 + 3 char)
Character set : ISO 9660
Joliet : TRUE
Allow pathdepth more than 8 directories : TRUE
Allow more than 255 characters in path : TRUE
Write ISO9660 ;1 file extensions : TRUE

23:23:21 #2 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 531
ReadBuffer-Pipe got 81920KB of Memory

23:23:21 #3 Text 0 File Reader.cpp, Line 124
Reader running

23:23:21 #4 Text 0 File Writer.cpp, Line 122
Writer HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A running

23:23:21 #5 ISO9660GEN -11 File geniso.cpp, Line 3312
First writeable address = 0 (0x00000000)

23:23:21 #6 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 3305
Turn on Disc-At-Once, using DVD media

23:23:21 #7 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 281
Last possible write address on media: 2298495 (510:46.45, 4489MB)
Last address to be written: 2234719 (496:36.19, 4364MB)

23:23:21 #8 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 293
Write in overburning mode: NO (enabled: CD)

23:23:21 #9 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 2612
Recorder: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A, Media type: DVD-R
Disc Manufacturer: TTG02 -
Disc Application Code: 64, Disc Physical Code: 193

23:23:21 #10 Text 0 File DlgWaitCD.cpp, Line 459
>>> Protocol of DlgWaitCD activities: <<<
=========================================

23:23:21 #11 Text 0 File ThreadedTransferInterface.cpp, Line 847
Setup items (after recorder preparation)
0: TRM_DATA_MODE1 ()
2 indices, index0 (150) not provided
original disc pos #0 + 2234720 (2234720) = #2234720/496:36.20
relocatable, disc pos for caching/writing not required/ required, no patch infos
-> TRM_DATA_MODE1, 2048, config 0, wanted index0 0 blocks, length 2234720 blocks [HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A]
--------------------------------------------------------------

23:23:21 #12 Text 0 File ThreadedTransferInterface.cpp, Line 1059
Prepare recorder [HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A] for write in CUE-sheet-DAO
DAO infos:
==========
MCN: ""
TOCType: 0x00; Session Closed, disc fixated
Tracks 1 to 1:
1: TRM_DATA_MODE1, 2048/0x00, FilePos 0 0 4576706560, ISRC ""
DAO layout:
===========
__Start_|____Track_|_Idx_|_CtrlAdr_|_RecDep__________
0 | lead-in | 0 | 0x41 | 0x00
0 | 1 | 0 | 0x41 | 0x00
0 | 1 | 1 | 0x41 | 0x00
2234720 | lead-out | 1 | 0x41 | 0x00

23:23:21 #13 Text 0 File SCSIPassThrough.cpp, Line 38
SPTILockVolume - completed successfully for FCTL_LOCK_VOLUME

23:23:21 #14 Text 0 File SCSIPassThrough.cpp, Line 83
SPTIDismountVolume - completed successfully for FSCTL_DISMOUNT_VOLUME

23:23:21 #15 Phase 24 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1685
Caching of files started

23:23:21 #16 Text 0 File Burncd.cpp, Line 4145
Cache writing successful.

23:23:21 #17 Phase 25 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1685
Caching of files completed

23:23:21 #18 Phase 36 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1685
Burn process started at 4x (5 540 KB/s)

23:23:21 #19 Text 0 File ThreadedTransferInterface.cpp, Line 2685
Verifying disc position of item 0 (relocatable, disc pos, no patch infos, orig at #0): write at #0

23:23:21 #20 Text 0 File DVDR.cpp, Line 2707
Recording mode: Sequential Recording Mode

23:23:21 #21 Text 0 File DVDR.cpp, Line 2863
Start write address at LBA 0
DVD high compatibility mode: Yes

23:23:21 #22 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 8647
---- DVD Structure: Physical Format Information (00h) ----
Media Type: 0, Layer: 0, Address: 0 (0 h), AGID: 0; Length: 2050
Book Type: DVD-R (2), Part Version: 2.0x (5), Extended Part Version: 0.0 (0)
Disc Size: 120 mm, Maximum Rate: <not specified> (F h)
Number of Layers: 1, Track Path: Parallel Track Path (PTP), Layer Type: recordable
Linear Density: 0,267 um/bit, Track Density: 0,74 um/track
Starting Physical Sector Number of Data Area: 30000 h (DVD-ROM, DVD-R/-RW, DVD+R/+RW)
End Physical Sector Number of Data Area: 26127F h
End Sector Number in Layer 0: 0 h (LBN: FFFD0000 h, 4193920 MB)
Data in Burst Cutting Area (BCA) does not exist
Start sector number of the current Border-Out: 2FE10 h
Start sector number of the next Border-In: 2FFA0 h
Media Specific [16..63]:
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 02 FE 10 00 02 FF A0 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................
00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 - 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 00 ................

23:23:30 #23 Text 0 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 1200
23:23:30.578 - E: HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A : Queue again later

23:37:34 #24 Text 0 File WriterStatus.cpp, Line 116
<HL-DT-ST DVDRAM GSA-H10A > start writing Lead-Out at LBA 2234720 (221960h), lenght 0 blocks

23:37:34 #25 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 228
all writers idle, stopping conversion

23:37:34 #26 Text 0 File DVDR.cpp, Line 3103
EndDAO: Last written address was 2234719

23:37:55 #27 Phase 37 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1685
Burn process completed successfully at 4x (5 540 KB/s)

23:37:55 #28 Phase 78 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1685
Data verification started

23:39:06 #29 SectorVerify 11 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 9771
Sector 209678 on disc has different content to source

23:39:12 #30 SectorVerify 11 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 9771
Sector 211275 on disc has different content to source

23:39:18 #31 SectorVerify 11 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 9771
Sector 229806 on disc has different content to source

23:41:47 #32 SectorVerify 11 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 9771
Sector 251437 on disc has different content to source

23:42:11 #33 SectorVerify 11 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 9771
Sector 882895 on disc has different content to source

23:42:57 #34 SectorVerify 11 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 9771
Sector 999554 on disc has different content to source

23:45:37 #35 Text 0 File ThreadedTransfer.cpp, Line 228
all writers idle, stopping conversion

23:45:37 #36 SectorVerify 11 File Cdrdrv.cpp, Line 9771
Sector 1246644 on disc has different content to source

23:45:37 #37 Phase 81 File dlgbrnst.cpp, Line 1685
Data verification failed


Existing drivers:

Registry Keys:
HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\WinLogon\AllocateCDROMs : 0 (Security Option)

---

Thanks alot for digging into my problem,
SWETiger.

(in reply to SithTracy)

A recommendation on CD-R media of good quality would be greatly appreciated as well to save some money on the testing process.

(in reply to SWETiger)

<YUK - I can't read this log in Firefox 2.0 with this font - bleeds all over the web page - might be a bug>

Anyway, What I can see, the firmware on your LG GSA-H10A is a little dated.  Pick up the latest at The Firmware Page.  You're on JL02 and the latest is JL04.  I also have that drive but I crossflashed it to an H10N and will likely wait for the firmware to mature and go ahead and crossflash it to an H12N (18x speeds, not that important to me though).

The other thing I was going to ask you to do is clean your %TMP% and %TEMP% folders... you may have a lot of junk in them.

If you can, edit your post with the log and change the font... I can't see it all in Firefox 2.0.

(in reply to SWETiger)

I've edited the log, hope it's looking better now. ;)

Updated the firmware for the DVD-writer and the temp folder contains no more than 20 files/folders (it's a fresh install of windows after all). Did another burn giving Nero a folder of its own (_:\Nero Temp) for the cache, the source of the data was different physical drive which was newly formatted. I'm still failing to get a valid disc out.

(in reply to SithTracy)

Just now I managed to successfully duplicate a full DVD at full speed on princo media, making it 3 of 3 successful dublications. I'm guessing there's either something wrong with my harddrives or the communication between primarey and secondary IDE channels, which would make the motherboard responsible for the mess?

(in reply to SWETiger)

Could be faulty IDE controller on the mainboard... It happened to me on an ASUS A7N8X-Deluxe and I got the board replaced.  I'm at work now, will try to review your log later this evening.

(in reply to SWETiger)

You say this is a data burn and it looks like a bin/cue... As long as it is data, you can try to burn it with ImgBurn.  It is a great image burning program and I think it can burn the .bin file and verify it.

Give it a shot.

(in reply to SWETiger)

I'm not burning disk images, most of the data consists of uncompressed audio data (not an audio disc though). Not sure how to create a data image that would work with that program but the problem does appear with other burning software as well, if that's a parameter you're seeking to rule out, as I've tested it with Windows' built-in writer software and verified the disc with predetermined checksums.

If I assume it is the IDE controller that is at fault here, is there any way I could verify this? It is likely since the motherboard is one of the parameters I've changed before the problem revealed itself and since direct cloning of discs seems to work fine, what speaks against this is the fact that I can copy data from the optical drives to the harddrives without any errors. Is it possible it's a problem in just one direction or do you have any idea if the data stream is treated different depending on if it's read from a DVD to a harddrive or from harddrive to DVD?

Once again thanks alot for helping me out (and keeping me sane),
SWETiger.

(in reply to SithTracy)

You might try the drive fitness test here:

http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Now, I'm not claiming the drive is bad, but if you are certain the drive is good, you should get errors on it.

The other thing is top get a Promise PCI IDE controller and see how things work on that... and then it might be time to seek warranty service on that motherboard.

(in reply to SWETiger)

Decided to really convince myself that my assumption that I didn't have any trouble copying data from the optical drives to the harddrives so I entered 2 full DVDs in both of the optical drives I currently have installed and did checksums on both simultaneousely (to maximize stress on the IDE channel), after this was done I copied all the data from both optical drives each to its own physical harddrive (again to maximize the stress on the IDE channels). When I then tried to match the checksums it turned out that 40% of the files was incorrect. I will continue with trying the same thing but between the physical harddrives and hopefully this will tell me clearly if it's the motherboard or the drives that are at fault.

Kind of hoping it's the harddrives but it doesn't seem likely that both drives went bad at the same time. Such a bother to disassemble the entire PC and being forced to wait for the replacement.

Anyhow I really appreciate you patience and kindness and I will be back with the result in case anyone would ever find himself/herself in my situation.

Thanks,
SWETiger.

(in reply to SithTracy)

I copied the data that had been trasferred from the DVDs (taking note of the new checksums) between the two physical harddrives, to maximize the stress of reading and writing at the same time I arranged it so that the data was copied simultaniousely from each drive to the other. The result of verification was a success and thus the harddrives are probably not at fault.

My conclusion is that the motherboard is at fault (correct me if it's still to early to be sure of this) and that the source of the problem lies in the communication between the primary and secondary IDE channel. The only thing I could ask for now is maybe the term used for the component responsible for this task as to facilitate my warranty claim.

I really wish noone ever get this kind of trouble but if it happens my hopes are that some comfort can be found in my struggle.

(in reply to SWETiger)

Did you try setting up your IDE drives like this?

PRI IDE  - HDD 0:0:0 / ODD 0:1:0
SEC IDE - HDD 1:0:0 / ODD 1:1:0

See if you are have issues there as well...

Also, what are you using to compare MD5SUM's?  I use Gnu Privacy Guard (GnuPG/gpg):
gpg --print-md md5 datafilename

If you have a specific tool, others may be interested in it.

(in reply to SWETiger)

After some rearranging of cables and some questionable positioning of devices I performed a successful burn with a harddrive and optical drive on the same IDE channel (primary), I also tried to do a burn across channels (HDD secondary, ODD primary) and as expected it ended up with a failed validation.

I use QuickSFV to create checksums, it's a lightweight application which is very easy and comfortable to use. You can download QuickSFV at Download.com.

(in reply to SithTracy)

What BIOS is on your ASUS board? If you have not yet tried the latest, I suggest you do... 1010 is the latest for that board.

nVidia user myself and my A8N-SLI Deluxe board has been running string for about two years now.  I might have to break down and try an ATI Crossfire board this spring since Intel is rumored to buy nVidia.  I'm torn... I never cared for VIA too much.... ahh, off topic, sorry.

(in reply to SWETiger)