Crackling/ popping noise

nmpaulcp

Im new here trying to find some help. I did a search of the problem and have tried everything I found . I am getting a popping /crackling noise on my left channel of burned cds. Sometimes worse than others. The noise is not on the source files either wav or mp3s. I have tried using Roxio, Nero and have the problem with both programs. I have changed ide cables , updated drivers, tried moving the drive to slave and master and alone. I also have a dvdrom on the same cable. On thing I haven't tried is putting the burner on ide1 as master, I thought i had to have my harddrive as master. If this is possible to do I will try that. Please advise. It seems as though this is common problem but no defined solution. I was thinking of buying a new burner and or software such as fiero or alcohol but thought id try here first, any help would be appreciated.
Hardware:
ECS K7SEM
Athlon950 Tbird
Philips 3210cdrw (Burner)
Ricoh 9060a DVDrom
Maxtor 40gb 7200
Western digital 40gb 7200
Sound blaster Audigy Platinum
ATI 7200 64mb VIVO

Wishmaster

I am having the same crackling popping noises.I have updated all my drivers,nero software etc.I have even taken the cdwriter back for testing and I was told there is nothing wrong with the writer.
My system specs are :

AMD Athlon XP 1500
256MB PC133 Ram
Geoforce 2 64MB
Fujutiu 20GB Drive
Aopen 48X12X50 CDRW
Aopen Sound Card
GA7ZXH Gigabyte Motherboard

I am messing up more cds than anything else,I have tried various brands of cds all with the same result.

Verbatim,Tridata,Maxell,Iomega,Traxdata and many others.

|nsomnIac

Well I have used Nero for a long time to make my Audio CD's and have never had that sort of a problem even when I had my low end machine try turning off background programs to free up Processor and Memory,try re-installing Nero, also try Updating the Bios for your Mobo (if suported), try chaning cables (new ones) altho the more I think about it i read around here (so use the search option) for Cd's to veryfy that your CD-RW's have good audio extraction capability... hope some of this helps

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nmpaulcp

I did not mention i have 512mb pc133 ram and am running Win 2000 SP3. I have a msconfig rip from xp installed and I have everything turned off I can. Like I was saying in my post I might try running it with the Burner as the Master on ide1. I have heard that it will run like that, Might as well try it. I have used every type of media imaginable. I'll post back if it works, but have to get some shut-eye now.

minix

Are writing in TAO mode?

> ECS K7SEM : DMA problems?
Have you tried disabling DMA?

> Gigabyte GA7ZXH : Via Southbridge data corruption bug?
First disable DMA and try to Update BIOS.


Do those noises appear when you rip that CD to WAV or only when playing? Are those noises along all track?


> Philips 3210cdrw (Burner)
Have you tried slower speeds?


You can try other software, but it seems a hardware problem.

Wishmaster

My Previous cdwriter was a Acer 8X4X32 and everything worked fine.But then i decided it was time for an upgrade.

I have updated my Bios last year,I have checked the web site and i have the most current bios,(April 2002).

I have disabled DMA,tested a few cds with DMA on and then DMA off.Same result.

I have tried burning at 8X,12X,24X,32X,40X and 48X.The cdwriter(Aopen 48X12X50) is only 1 month old.

The noises only appear on playback,when i play either the wav or mp3's on my machine they sound perfect.

I disable all background devices before burning.I actually sent the cdwriter back to the shop where i bought it and they took it back to the manufacturers with the reply that the cdwriter has no problems and burn your cds at the speeds specified on the cds.

I am currently using Nero v5.5.1.0 (or something) downloaded last week.

I read some reviews on Feurio and i will try that tonight

I am currently writing in DAO,maybe I should try TAO?

But the crackling noises never seem to be in the same place.I wasted 5 cds yesterday testing.The first 2 the crackling appeared on the later half of the cds,the next 2 was at the beginning of the tracks and the last disk was on the beginning of the very last track.

Besides the crackling on those few songs the cds are perfect......so what is causing the interferance?


But thank you everyone for the help......it is really appreciated......i will keep track off the forum.....

minix

Do you mean the WAVs that were burned or the WAVs extracted from the CD that fails?
I mean that you could extract the failing tracks to WAVs and check if the noises are there...
That's because there are players that can't read very well burned CDs... But if you say that the CDs made with Acer sounded good then it's the AOpen that is failing...
(I don't know AOpen 48x, but the AOpen 40x (Ricoh inside I think) is quite unreliable and doesn't like a lot of CDRs).

No. Music must be written always in DAO mode. In TAO mode the laser turns off between tracks, and can produce noises there.

If you tried different media, then it's probably a problem with AOpen.

nmpaulcp

I have the K7sem. I tried DMA enabled disabled. Theonly thing to try now is moving the drive to the master position. If that doesn't work I am going to try and find a good cdburner.

Wishmaster

Problem solved

Downloaded Feurio,uninstalled Nero.Ran a system test using Feurio and it pointed out that there were some .vxds on my pc that might cause a problem when burning.I deactivated all these .vxds include Via busmastering and installed the standard windows bus mastering device.I also downloaded the latest ASPI driver.I tested the program by burning at 40X and the cd works without any static(crackling noises etc)

All problems have been solved.

Thank you all for all your help.

minix

Feurio! is the best and its "System Diagnosis" is great in Win98...

I thought that disabling DMA in Windows was enough to not allow Via drivers interfere, but it seems that I was wrong...
I always install Via 4in1 drivers except the busmaster driver... I don't know why, but now I have a reason... Windows drivers are as fast as Via's.
What version were you using?

ASPI 4.7x don't work for me with Feurio. In XP they're not necessary for Feurio.

nmpaulcp

I am still trying to get mine going. does anyone know if the diagnostics in Feurio Works on Win 2000?

minix

It works, but most drivers are unknown to Feurio in W2K/XP. (It is in the "Extras" menu in Feurio CD-Writer).

Try the same thing: deinstall SiS busmaster drivers and install Windows IDE controller drivers. (althought maybe that chipset is unknown to Windows).

nmpaulcp

If I remember right the last time I had another problem I uninstalled the ide controller and re installed and if I remember right I think it did record fine till I reformatted. Could you explain how to do the following, as far as deinstalling the SiS busmaster drivers And installing the Windows Ide Controller drivers . I would appreciate it. Before I try more software or a new drive !

Try the same thing: deinstall SiS busmaster drivers and install Windows IDE controller drivers. (althought maybe that chipset is unknown to Windows).

minix

I'm not sure.
I guess that in "Device Management" you can uninstall the IDE controller. (But please, be sure that you don't uninstall the controller where the boot disk is).
Next time you boot Windows will find new hardware...

Or maybe just changing the driver of the IDE controller in its properties...

Anyway, try to find the SiS driver and disable it. (Maybe Feurio "System Diagnosis" can help you).

nmpaulcp

I just installed Feurio! and this is the type of program i've been looking for ! After using the Diagnostics and bus speed test I have decided that my CD Burner, "Philips pcrw3200" Is a piece of CRAP! I am going to Install a new processor and new cdburner.
Any help finding a new, fairly inexpensive burner? One that is compatible with Feurio! ? I'll give an update after I complete the rebuild. Thanks for all the help. I really like this forum.

minix

Philips burners aren't know for their quality, but, well, I don't know any burner able to do the Feurio bus speed test... don't worry about this.
Also, the CPU is never a problem, but the mainboard... SiS chipsets aren't so "compatible" as Intel ones.

For cheap burners I'd only try with LG, LiteOn and known clones (Sony). Compatible writers with Feurio nowadays:
http://www.feurio.com/English/cd_writer.shtml

But I wouldn't be so sure that the problem is the burner and not the mainboard...
Have you tried to burn a disc with Feurio and the generic driver?

nmpaulcp

Just got my pc back up. New Athlon 1600, and a Cyberdrive CW078D Cd-R/RW. It is recording fine now. No popping/clicking noise. One thing though , prior to burning I get a messge that I need to upgrade the firmware. But I am running Win 2000 and I am not sure how to start up In MS-DOS. I have to make a Disk so that I can start in Dos in order to start without windows running also.

minix

If you have Win98 you can create a boot disk easily ("Add new programs").
You can also look in internet for boot disks already made.

Make sure the diskettes where you flash from, are in perfect condition. If you have FAT32 partitions the best would be to store the firmware and the flasher in the harddisk.

Why do you need to update firmware?

nmpaulcp

I just get a message that my firmware is not up to date and that is why I cannot test the bus transfer rate, that I cannot close cd correctly and that the current firmware has major problems. It seems to be recording fine and I get no noise. The driver is a perfect match though. I really hate to mess with flashing the firmware as I am running Win 2000, and I need to run in dos which you cannot do without a boot disk, Also I am not sure of the procedure after making the boot disk, or if I make the disk and load the firmware on the same disk, I hate to mess it up now that it is recording ok.

minix

You have to read carefully the instructions included with firmware. And yes, you have to update that firmware if Feurio told you all that (I guess that it was Feurio).
Usually, it's a flasher program wich loads a firmware file into the drive.

You can put those files in the boot disk if there's enough space, but diskettes are very unreliable and you should try to do it from harddisk if you have FAT32 partitions.
If you do it from diskette, make a complete scandisk of that diskette to check bad sectors.

nmpaulcp

Yes feurio! is the program that says that. I am running Win 2000 and do not have a fat32 sector. I guess i'll buy some new floppy disks and check them for bad sectors and try that. I think the best thing to do is write to Cyberdrive and see if they can give me more detailed instuctions.
Thanks for your help.

minix

I've seen the Cyberdrive updates, and it's only one executable file for Windows.
You don't need to boot in DOS. Just make sure to disable DMA before updating.

The 130E version explains the changes inside the ZIP:
http://www.cyberdrive.de/en/download...titleA&show=10

There's also a 140E version in the FTP only, but there's no info inside so I wouldn't use yet.

You'll have update the firmware more times probably to get better performance in new CDRs:
http://www.cyberdrive.de/down/discs-cw078d.zip

nmpaulcp

When I try to run the exe program for the firmware I get an error message that says Model Mismatch !
I tried the firmware version 110E and it opens fine. The documentation with 130E says that if you get an error message that you have to start the machine in MS-DOS.